tye strickland

tye strickland

After being proposed to and then dumped on The Bachelor 13, and then being dumped by viewers on the Dancing with the Stars 8 finale, Melissa Rycroft is once again engaged. This time, it's to her boyfriend Tye Strickland, who she'd dated before going on the show. Gossip magazines reported the engagement Monday, and minutes ago, Melissa confirmed it on Twitter, writing, "Guess the secret's out...Thank you all so much for being so great and... keep reading »

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the bachelorette wes girlfriend

the bachelorette wes girlfriend

You know a wise man once told me "love...don't come eeasssyy." Seriously, truer words have never been spoken. Every now and then I have those really odd "I'm the host of The Bachelor/Bachelorette" weeks. This week has been one of them. It started off trading texts and tweets with Trista (we're way too cool to just talk on the phone, that's so '08). Got a nice call from Jason Mesnick and caught up with him and Molly. They're doing great, by the way. Then I get a call from my old friend Byron. He and Mary are alive and well, still engaged, and doing great as well. I had my weekly talk with Jillian about life, love, and this week's episode. Then my wife and I were out to dinner and ran into Juan. He told me he's ready to dish at the Men Tell All special. Then we stopped by a party only to run into DeAnna and Holly. Oh...and to top it all off, the family and I were having dinner with the Firestones this week. Like I said, just one of those weeks, but it's also one of the things I truly love about hosting this show. I've formed some wonderful friendships that will endure long after the cameras are turned off. Hey, Guiney, give me a call, man! Before I jump into hometown visits and this week's episode, I want to clear up the schedule from here on out because more than a few of you seem to be confused. As you know we are now down to our final four. They are taking off for a week in Spain, but this is not the typical "exotic date" location. That will come the week after. The finale for this season will be Monday, July 27, followed by an After the Final Rose special on Tuesday night July 28. Hope that helps your party planning.

Now, let's get down to business because we have much to discuss. I would just skip to the dessert and Wes' hometown date but then I'd get grief for skipping over the other guys, so we'll give them their due...kind of. One thing you didn't see on Jill's date with Reid was at the condo when she dropped a full bottle of champagne and it smashed on the floor. She said she was a bit nervous. Before Jillian met Reid's grandmother he warned Jillian that she could be a little cranky and that she isn't that easy to talk to. They hit it off immediately and you couldn't separate the two of them. Reid's hometown was great. Jillian loved every minute of it and I think it's clear to see why he got a rose this week. Their relationship gets better and better each date.

Moving on to Valencia, Calif., and Michael. I'm guessing as you're reading this blog there is no shortage of women who are madly in love with Michael...or his twin brother. By the way, Jillian was impressed with herself that she didn't fall for the ol' identical twin swap one bit. Jilli told me Michael had everything she was looking for in a man but they just didn't have that romantic connection. She also said if there's one guy on the show she would like to help find love it's Michael. I think we could all tell there was just something missing between them. That's too bad because he's a great guy and handled himself with extreme class. One last note on Michael's hometown: When Jill was leaving she was holding a plate. That was a plate of cookies not leftovers.

Kiptyn's parents started their visit by teasing Jillian about her hot tub scenes. For the record, Jill is not ashamed whatsoever about her hot tub time and thought it was really funny that Kiptyn's parents gave her a hard time about it. One thing I continually notice about Jillian when she's around Kip is that she's always wondering if she's good enough for him instead of vice versa -- an interesting dynamic between them that we'll have to keep an eye on. Jesse's hometown date in Carmel was good and for the most part uneventful. The only hitch was that somewhere along the way Jillian had all her personal jewelry stolen. So if you're wondering what to get her for her birthday or Christmas, I suggest jewelry. The best part of Jesse's hometown was his brother. When he asked Jill if she and Jesse had been naked together her reaction was priceless. Jesse ends up going home and I doubt many of you were shocked by this. Their relationship was always a little strange. It's hard to put your finger on it but watching them together I just never saw "it."

Okay, I paid my dues. I talked about the other guys; now let's eat dessert together...let's talk Wes! So Wes decides the first people he wants to introduce Jillian to are his band members. We learn about the new CD and that his ultimate goal in life is for this CD to do well. Wes also shares with us that no drug, no woman can make him feel like he does when he's on stage. Ladies, the line forms to the right. I can't wait to read your comments this week about Wes. As if things weren't awkward enough with the band once again proclaiming "love...don't come eeeasy" everybody's favorite airline pilot, Jake, decides to drop in on Jillian and give her a little news. Not only does Jake tell Jillian about Wes' girlfriend but he tells Jill her name is Laurel...that's it. He's finally going down now...game, set, match, right? Wrong. Wes turns on the Texas charm and two-steps right out of this mess. I'm saying right here and now that I'm not responsible for anything that was thrown at your TV. Was it just me or did anybody else think Wes sounded just like Bill Clinton telling us "I did not have sexual relations with that woman!" Wes never even flinches when Jake strolls in and even gives him a little shot when he opens the door and says "well, Jake...man of character." When Jillian decides she's seen and heard enough, she says goodbye to Jake and he proceeds to start crying on the railing or what we like to call in the biz, gives us his best Jason. On a scale of 0-Jason, I give this railing cry about a 5.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Jake's decision to show up and tell Jillian the truth. I have mixed emotions about it. Jillian decides ultimately that Wes is telling the truth and this is confirmed in her mind when she meets his family. According to Wes' sister, this happens to Wes quite a lot. Apparently there are many who are just jealous of all that Wes possesses. Jillian finally recovers from her hometown dates and is preparing for the rose ceremony when there's a knock at the door. Ed is back. Jillian was obviously happy about his return but she was also very hesitant to give him a rose. She had feelings for Ed but they hadn't had that much time together. She wasn't sure if their relationship was as strong as it was with some of the other guys. As you saw, much to the chagrin of Michael, Ed strolled into the rose ceremony and back into Jillian's heart.

As you saw in the previews for next week the drama with Wes is far from over. Jillian is now down to her final four guys and things really kick up a notch from here on out. I leave you with this thought to ponder til I talk to you again next week: "Some say love it don't"...I can't do it to you again. I will tell you this though, no drug, no woman makes me feel as good as this blog does.

rasmussen

rasmussen

NEW YORK - Each week Fox TV | Rasmussen Reports polls will explore the latest hot topics.

This week the Fox TV | Rasmussen Reports poll surveyed people's feelings about the political sex scandals.

Check back here each Monday night where you'll find exclusive polls on the topics people are buzzing about. Let's get to this week's results.

Survey of 1,000 Adults, June 24 - 25, 2009

1. Do most members of Congress have extramarital affairs or other inappropriate relationships?
37% Yes
24% No
39% Not sure

2. If a politician or public official has an affair, should they resign or be forced out of office?
40% Yes
41% No
19% Not sure

3. If a politician or public official is caught in a sex scandal or has an affair do you trust them less than other politicians?
61% Yes
31% No
8% Not sure

4. Are gun sales in the United States up because of the fear of increased crime or fear of increased government restriction on gun ownership?
23% Fear of increased crime
57% Fear of increased government restriction on gun ownership
20% Not sure

5. Is road rage in the United States increasing, decreasing or staying about the same?
36% Increasing
8% Decreasing
42% Staying the same
14% Not sure

NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

michael jackson autopsy leaked

michael jackson autopsy leaked

8st 1oz, no food just pills in his stomach, bald, bruised, his ribs broken by CPR, 4 needle wounds near his heart...

Harrowing leaked autopsy details show the singer was a virtual skeleton — barely eating and with only pills in his stomach at the time he died.

His hips, thighs and shoulders were riddled with needle wounds — believed to be the result of injections of narcotic painkillers, given three times a day for years.

And a mass of surgery scars were thought to be the legacy of at least 13 cosmetic operations.

Experts found the distressing evidence of Jacko’s physical decline while investigating his startling death in Los Angeles last week.

The examination showed the 5ft 10in star — once famed for his on-stage athleticism — had:

PLUNGED to a “severely emaciated” 8st 1oz. It is understood anorexic Jackson had been eating just one meagre meal a day.

Pathologists found his stomach empty aside from partially-dissolved pills he took before the painkiller injection which stopped his heart. Samples were sent for toxicology tests.

LOST virtually all his hair. The pop pin-up was wearing a wig when he died and pathologists said little more than “peach fuzz” covered his scalp.

A scarred section of skin above his left ear was entirely bald — apparently the result of a 1984 accident when his hair caught fire as he filmed an ad for Pepsi.

SUFFERED several broken ribs as frantic rescuers pumped his chest after he collapsed in cardiac arrest. Four injection sites were found above or near to Jacko’s heart.

All appeared to result from attempts to pump adrenaline directly into the organ in a failed bit to restart it.

Three of the injections had penetrated the heart wall — causing damage — but a fourth missed and hit one of the 50-year-old star’s ribs.

The autopsy also found unexplained BRUISING on Jackson’s knees and on the fronts of both shins. And there were CUTS on his back, indicating a recent fall.

The King of Pop’s once handsome face bore a network of plastic surgery scars, while the bridge to his nose had vanished and its right side had partially collapsed.

As inquiries into the tragedy last night focused on the star’s personal physician Dr Conrad Murray, a source close to the Jackson entourage said: “Michael’s family and fans will be horrified when they realise the appalling state he was in.

“He was skin and bone, his hair had fallen out and had been eating nothing but pills when he died. Injection marks all over his body and the disfigurement caused by years of plastic surgery show he’d been in terminal decline for years.

“His doctors and the hangers-on stood by as he self-destructed. Somebody is going to have to pay.”

Cardiologist Dr Murray was thought to have given Jackson the final injection of painkiller Demerol.

He is facing serious questions about his resuscitation attempts, which began when he started CPR as Jacko lay unconscious on a bed. Basic first aid guidance says patients must be face-up on a hard surface before compressions.

Experts yesterday expressed amazement that a trained cardiologist could have made such an error, potentially wasting vital minutes.

Additional damage was believed to have been caused by oxygen masks and tubing inserted during resuscitation attempts. But in an ironic twist, the probe found Jacko was recovering well from skin cancer — with an op to shave cells from his chest a total success.

A second autopsy demanded by the Jackson family was carried out at a secret location on Saturday after the first ruled out foul play.

Family friend Rev Jesse Jackson said the family were deeply suspicious about what caused his death.

Dr Murray was hired just 11 days ago by AEG Live — the firm masterminding Jacko’s 50-date residency at London’s O2 Arena, which was due to start next month.

Sources claimed the family were preparing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the cardiologist.

Detectives were unable to find the doctor at Jackson’s home and his car was taken away for analysis as police sought him for questioning. He surfaced late on Friday and was quizzed over the weekend.

The Sun told on Saturday how Jacko had developed stage fright for the first time and was terrified of performing the comeback gigs.

Aides claimed the ailing star even believed he would be KILLED if he pulled out on health grounds. We also revealed he was taking a potentially toxic cocktail of drugs.

Sources last night said prescriptions for drugs for patients other than Jacko were found at his home. Those patients were due to be quizzed.

maria belen chapur photos

maria belen chapur photos

Maria Belen Chapur Photo' was one of the most searched internet trends last week until the death of Michael Jackson - but exactly who is she More details are emerging about Governor Mark Sanford's 43-year-old mistress and more photos of Maria has surfaced. A video of her doing a news report surfaced on the Internet last week.

Now she's speaking out.

ABC reports: 'Maria Belen Chapur, a former television producer, remains under the radar because of intense media scrutiny surrounding her. But in a brief statement conveyed through a television report on Buenos Aires' C5N channel, the 41-year-old said she indeed was involved with Sanford and that the published e-mail correspondence between the two was obtained from her account by a "hacker."'

ABC News has more here.

A Video of Maria linked here.

gale storm actress

gale storm actress

Gale Storm, who shot to the top on television as the vivacious star of two popular 1950s situation comedies, "My Little Margie" and "The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna," has died. She was 87.

Storm, who also had a successful recording career during her TV heyday, died Saturday of natural causes at a convalescent hospital in the Northern California community of Danville, according to her son Peter Bonnell.

A summer replacement for "I Love Lucy," "My Little Margie" ran from 1952 to 1955, with Storm starring as the plucky young Margie Albright and Charles Farrell as her widower father, Vern. Although critics generally panned "My Little Margie" as a lightweight farce, the public fell in love with the mischievous Margie. A 1953 poll of the most popular TV stars listed Storm at No. 2, behind TV comedy queen Lucille Ball.

After "My Little Margie" ended, Storm starred in "The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna," in which she played social director Susanna Pomeroy aboard the luxury liner the SS Ocean Queen. The situation comedy, featuring Zasu Pitts as the ship's flighty beautician Elvira "Nugey" Nugent and Roy Roberts as Capt. Huxley, ran from 1956 to 1960.

Storm was a pert and pretty 17-year-old Houston, Texas, high school senior named Josephine Cottle when she arrived in Hollywood in late 1939 as a finalist in the nationwide "Gateway to Hollywood" talent contest.

Born on April 5, 1922, in Bloomington, Texas, the auburn-haired Storm had played the leads in numerous plays and musicals in school, but two of her teachers had to push her to enter the "Gateway" competition.

The winning actor and actress were promised contracts with RKO Studios and guaranteed a role in a major motion picture. And, as Hollywood tradition dictated, they would be given new, marquee-suitable names.

During the elimination period in Hollywood, the male and female finalists acted in scenes broadcast live Sundays over CBS Radio, with the home audience spurred to tune in the following week to find out:

"Who will be Terry Belmont?"

"Who will be Gale Storm?"

If young Josephine Cottle was Cinderella, her Prince Charming was her male co-winner, the newly christened Terry Belmont: Lee Bonnell, a handsome Indiana University drama student from South Bend, Ind.

In 1941, Storm married Bonnell, who became an insurance executive after a short-lived film career. Their marriage lasted until Bonnell's death in 1986 and produced three sons and a daughter.

Beginning with "Tom Brown's School Days" in 1940, Storm appeared in 36 movies during the next dozen years. Dropped by RKO after six months and two pictures, she appeared in a variety of B-movies at Republic, Monogram, Allied Artists and Universal.

Among her film credits, which included musical comedies, film noir dramas and westerns (three with Roy Rogers), are starring roles in films such as "Freckles Comes Home," "Where Are Your Children?," "Campus Rhythm," "G.I. Honeymoon," "Sunbonnet Sue," "Swing Parade of 1946," and "It Happened on 5th Avenue."

But by the early '50s, her movie career was in a slump and she was resigned to devoting herself to her family full time when she received a call from producer Hal Roach Jr., who wanted her for the lead in a proposed TV series, "My Little Margie."

Her success with "My Little Margie" -- and a radio version with original episodes -- led to her being approached to do a nightclub act in Las Vegas during the summers of 1953 and 1954. After hearing Storm sing on one live TV show, Dot Records signed her to a contract.

Her first record, the rhythm and blues song "I Hear You Knocking," soared to No. 2 on the Billboard chart in 1955. Other Top 20 hits followed, including "Teenage Prayer," "Memories Are Made of This," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," "Ivory Tower" and "Dark Moon."

Storm, who received three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame recognizing her work in TV, radio and recordings, saw her career decline dramatically after her second series ended in 1960.

"My whole life has been a pattern of success," Storm told The Times in 1981. "So many marvelous things that I would never even have dreamt of wishing for [have] happened to me."

But there also was an unexpected downside.

In 1980, she returned to the limelight as the commercial spokeswoman for Raleigh Hills Hospital, the now-defunct alcohol treatment chain where she had been treated for a serious bout with alcoholism.

Alcoholism, she told The Times in 1988, "is a disease of denial. I had been the kind of alcoholic -- as so many women are -- that I was so careful. You talk about a secret drinker."

She had been in and out of a number of hospitals before she heard of Raleigh Hills.

In 1979, she underwent detoxification at Raleigh Hills Hospital in Oxnard, followed by its aversion therapy and counseling program. Afterward, she said, she never craved alcohol again.

Through it all, she said, her husband offered his support. "It was absolutely a great marriage," she said.

In 1988, two years after Bonnell's death, Storm married retired ABC executive Paul Masterson, a widower whom she met through a mutual friend. Masterson died in 1996.

In addition to her son Peter, she is survived by sons Phillip and Paul and daughter Susanna Harrigan. She is also survived by eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

lashley vs sapp video

lashley vs sapp video

Ultimate Chaos: Lashley vs. Sapp took MMA to Biloxi, Mississippi Saturday night with a mixed lined up that at the top offered plenty to scrappy fights.

The main event featured super heavyweights Bobby Lashley up against Bob Sapp, and Gilbert Yvel fighting Pedro Rizzo. The undercard featured UFC veterans as well as Affliction Entertainment Vice President Tom Atencio in his second MMA fight.

If you don’t want to know the results, flick straight to the video.

Ultimate Chaos Lashley vs Sapp Results

James Orso (5-4 MMA) defeats Danny Abbadi (3-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) by Unanimous Decision.

Brandon Harder (1-0 MMA) defeats John Harris (0-1 MMA) by Submission (arm triangle choke) @ 4:31, Rd 2.

Tom Atencio (2-0 MMA) defeats Randy Hedderick (1-1 MMA) by TKO (unable to continue) @ 5:00, Rd 2.

Waachim Spiritwolf (6-4 MMA) defeats Brett Cooper (9-5 MMA) by TKO (strikes) @ 3:41, Rd 1.

Chris Horodecki (13-1 MMA) defeats William Sriyapai (12-5 MMA) by Submission (rear naked choke) @ 4:02, Rd. 1.

Javier Vasquez (12-2 MMA) defeats Mark Kergosien (0-3 MMA) by Submission (guillotine choke) @ 0:59, Rd. 1. Mark Kergosien was a late replacement for Din Thomas (24-8 MMA, 5-4 UFC).

Colin McKee (4-2 MMA) defeats Lance Thompson (1-1 MMA) by Submission (strikes off of the back) @ 4:16, Rd.1.

Gilbert Yvel (36-12-1-1 MMA) defeats Pedro Rizzo (16-8 MMA) by TKO (strikes) @ 2:10, Rd. 1. Possible late stoppage, but Yvel checks with Rizzo to make sure he’s OK. He is.

Bobby Lashley (4-0 MMA) defeats Bob Sapp (10-5-1 MMA) by TKO (strikes) @ 3:17, Rd. 1.

kendra wilkinson wedding

kendra wilkinson wedding

Kendra Wilkinson finally walked down the aisle yesterday and married Hank Baskett at the Playboy mansion. About 500 friends and family, including Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt who served as bridesmaids, attended the wedding. Her brother, Colin, ended up giving her away instead of the rumored Hugh Hefner.

“Watching Colin walk Kendra down the aisle was really emotional and beautiful,” the bride’s mom, Patty Wilkinson, said. “She looked breathtaking.”

The two said their vows on the front lawn of the mansion next to the famed wishing well. The ceremony may have been short and sweet, but according to some of the guests it had a lot of glitz and glam.

“It was a fairytale wedding,” Mary Wilkinson, Kendra’s grandmother, told E!

“Holly cried like a faucet and I held back tears,” said Marquardt before heading off to the reception. “I’m usually the emotional one. The ceremony was short and sweet and bombarded by helicopters. [Kendra's] dress was like a princess and I’m going to catch the bouquet!”

Congrats to both the bride and groom!

adrian cronauer

adrian cronauer

Internet coverage of the election in Iran is sweeping the globe in spite of the Iranian governments attempts impose an international media blackout. This is one of the first large scale examples of the true power of global social media, and its ability to change the world.

There is a saying in urban culture, "The revolution will not be televised", which first appeared on the 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, by Scott-Heron. The phrase has since attached itself to pop culture in reference to the common political strategy to control the media in times of crisis.

Just think "Good Morning Vietnam." In the film Robin Williams character Adrian Cronauer witnesses a bombing and rushes into the army radio station to report the story. He is stopped by the censors who say:

"What do you think you're doing? You know you're forbidden to read anything not checked by this office."

"What was there to check? I was there."

"You know the rules, airman. If this is a legitimate news story, it must go through proper channels."

"Look, tweedledee, it's an actual event." Cronauer replies while pointing to the blood stains on his shirt. "What do you think this came from? Shaving? It's the truth. I just want to report the truth. It'll be a nice change of pace."

"This is not official news, airman. As far as I'm concerned, it didn't happen."

Cronauer retaliates, "It did happen... What are you afraid of Dickerson? People might find out there's a war going on?"

That of course, is exactly what Sergeant Dickerson and his Army censors were afraid of, and what all military tacticians know to be an important element of maintaining control. Censorship and propaganda are weapons as powerful as any bomb.

All throughout history those in power have attempted to control the free flow of information, from the burning to the great libraries of Alexandria to the Iranian election of last week. Spin doctors are the NBA all stars of global politics. Press releases and newsfeeds from the top are manipulated to seem like they came from "the grass roots." The gatekeepers choose what goes into print and what appears on television, spinning it either right or left, based on the beliefs of editorial boards and people in power pulling the strings. Oh yes, that is not to say we lack dedicated and honest news people out there. Quite the contrary: They are legion. But any old time news hound will tell you, the walls of censorship do exist, and the fight to report unbiased truth is the eternal battle of ages.

In the old days, a three channel television and a one newspaper town were common. The people took in what was spoon fed, and developed their opinions accordingly. But that has all changed. The Genie has been let out of the bottle. The post election riots in Iran this week are a perfect example. In spite of the fervent attempts of the Iranian Government to cut off the flow of information about the election protests, the people have pushed back. After the election, text messaging was blacked out in Iran, social networking sites like Facebook were shut off, cell phone and land line service became spotty, and satellites for major networks like the BBC were jammed, preventing newsfeed transmissions from getting out of the country. On Italian television station reported their interpreter was beaten by police while confiscating their video tapes. At least four reporters are known to have been arrested inside the country and the whereabouts of ten others are currently unaccounted for.

But this time the media blackout did not work. The rise of the geeks has begun. Young tech savvy progressives are finding ways around every blockade, reporting first person accounts on blogs, Youtube and twitter, they are finding ways around the old guard attempts to control. They are circumventing downed networks, and uploading thousands of videos and pictures live from the scene. The gatekeepers no longer hold the keys. The uncensored voices on the internet are unstoppable, growing like a magic beanstalk, beyond any earthly means of control.

Yes folks, this revolution will be televised. The people have spoken, and in the process, they are changing the global face of power forever.

one step ahead

one step ahead

OMAHA, Neb. -- In each of his first three at-bats in Monday night's opening game of the College World Series championship series, LSU center fielder Mikie Mahtook felt lost like never before.

"My first three at-bats were probably my worst three at-bats of the year," Mahtook said.

Mahtook, a freshman from Lafayette, La., faced Texas ace Chance Ruffin three times in the first six innings at Rosenblatt Stadium. He struck out swinging all three times -- on three pitches in the second inning, four pitches in the fourth and four pitches in the sixth.

"I was chasing balls down in the dirt," Mahtook said. "They weren't even near strikes."

Yet, when Mahtook went to the plate with the score tied at 6-6 in the top of the 11th inning, he felt confident he would deliver the hit that would put the Tigers within one victory of winning a national championship.

LSU's DJ LeMahieu led off the 11th with a walk, and with two outs, he stole second and moved to third when Texas catcher Cameron Rupp's throw bounced into center field. After catcher Micah Gibbs walked, Mahtook fought off a couple of 1-2 pitches from Longhorns reliever Brandon Workman before ripping an RBI single up the middle for a 7-6 victory.

"My first three at-bats, it wasn't like I just struck out," Mahtook said. "It was three terrible at-bats. When I got into the dugout, guys were telling me to make sure I keep my head straight. Jared Mitchell told me I was going to come back up again with a big at-bat, and you're going to come through for us. That helped me out a lot."

With one swing of the bat, Mahtook put LSU in position to win its sixth national championship and first since 2000. By rallying from a two-run deficit with two outs in the ninth, the Tigers also turned the tables on a Texas team that seemed to have found every way to win during the NCAA tournament. The Longhorns hit five solo homers Monday, but the Tigers delivered when the game was on the line in extra innings.

"I'm so proud of these kids," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. "To have their backs against the wall on that kind of stage and to come up with that kind of effort, it's one for the ages."

If the Tigers are able to beat Texas again -- they have to win once more in the best-of-three championship series to claim the title -- they'll look back at Mahtook's hit in the 11th inning as one of the biggest in LSU's storied baseball history.

After struggling in his first at-bats, Mahtook needed intravenous fluids to treat cramps in the sixth inning. The temperature at Rosenblatt Stadium was 93 degrees when Ruffin delivered the first pitch at 6:11 p.m. CT. The heat index was 107 degrees.

Mahtook, MVP of the SEC tournament, seemed to be wilting in the stifling heat and pressure of playing for a national championship. After striking out three times, he bounced into a double play in the eighth. He was responsible for five of LSU's first 24 outs.

But after the Tigers rallied to tie the score at 6-6 on LeMahieu's two-run double with two outs in the top of the ninth, Mahtook knew he'd get at least one more chance at redemption. He slapped a single to right in the 10th, but LSU left the bases loaded by striking out twice.

Mahtook knew LSU couldn't squander another opportunity to score in the 11th.

Before Mahtook stepped to the plate with runners at first and third, he looked down at his black cleats. He writes "No. 54" on his shoes to remember his father, former LSU linebacker Mike Mahtook, who died of a heart attack 16 years ago. Mahtook was only 4 when his father died, but he's learned bits and pieces about him from his father's four brothers and two sisters.

Mahtook believes that on the day after Father's Day, his father was with him at the plate in the 11th inning.

"That's his late Father's Day present," Mahtook said. "He's with me all the time. When I got up to bat, I knew he was going to do something big for me. I spent the past 15 Father's Days without him. Today, I just happened to be in Omaha playing in the biggest game of my life, and he was here with me."

Tuesday night's game against Texas will be even bigger for the Tigers.

As big as LSU's victory was Monday night, Mainieri knows the College World Series is far from over.

"I think they understand that we haven't won anything yet," Mainieri said. "I've been drilling it through their heads that we didn't play for the national championship tonight. We needed to win a game before we played for the national championship. Now we get to play for it."

And the Longhorns, who are trying to become the first national No. 1 seed since Miami in 1999 to win the title, are still standing in LSU's way.

"Georgia wiped out Fresno State in the first game last year and was ahead in the second game," Texas coach Augie Garrido said. "Fresno came back and waltzed off with the national championship on the third day."

michael jackson autopsy results

michael jackson autopsy results

Despite initial reports, it could take a few weeks to find out what killed Michael Jackson. His brother, Jermaine, confirmed that the King of Pop suffered cardiac arrest; but it is still unclear what led to that.

MTV.com is reporting that autopsy on Jackson's body is currently underway in Los Angeles, but the toxicology reports could take a few weeks.

"The likelihood is very slim that we will have any results to release today because of the extensive [tests] that we're going to be performing," Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said at a press conference. "We will be performing toxicology tests and an extensive exam, and it could take up to six to eight weeks before we will have the final results from the onset, from last night."

It does, however, seem that if the cause of death is apparent after Friday's autopsy; then an announcement could come immediately.

melanie oudin

melanie oudin

WIMBLEDON, England — American Melanie Oudin has advanced to the third round in her first appearance at Wimbledon by beating Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Oudin became the last woman to make the round of 32 with a victory that ended at twilight Thursday. She benefited from 48 unforced errors by Shvedova.

A native of Marietta, Ga., Oudin will play former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic on Saturday.

elvis presley age at death

elvis presley age at death

I’m eating dinner at some restaurant in Michigan on August 16, 1977, and the waitress tells us that Elvis Presley had died. I will never forget that moment or that waitress, or my aunt’s reaction. I was on vacation with my aunt and uncle and cousin. I had no clue what I was going to be in for when I got home the next day!

We arrived home the day after Elvis had died. As we turned the corner onto my block you could hear Elvis music blaring down the road. I was so embarrassed, cause I knew it was coming from my house!! My mom was a HUGE Elvis fan. Sure enough, we walk in my house and there’s my mom literally balling her eyes out in the living room listening to REALLY LOUD Elvis music. Again, I was so embarrassed.

Obviously, Elvis’s death was huge. Just like today, Michael Jackson’s death is huge. For us, who grew up with Michael Jackson’s music, it’s as if a part of our childhood has died. It’s the replaying of the videos of when Michael was young and with the Jackson 5 that makes me cry. His voice, especially for that age, was just incredible. And those songs were incredible. I remember arguing with kids on the block (not the band, literally kids on our block) that the Jackson 5 was way better than the Osmond Brothers. I did agree Donny was way cuter than any of the Jackson 5, but the Jackson 5 were way better talent wise. That’s because they had Michael Jackson.

As time went on, Michael Jackson provided so many FUN memories, especially in my college days:

The Thriller Video: The first time I ever saw the Thriller video was at midnight at Dibbos in Hudson, WI. Everybody stopped dancing and just watched it. It was just incredible!

Billy Jean: Every song on that album and the Thriller album is awesome and gives me so many wonderfully fun memories of times when we were still innocent, and free, and YOUNG.

Michael’s Moon Walk: How on earth did he do that? And no one could ever duplicate it the way he did it. (so sad to write about him in the past tense)

The Pepsi Commercial: Here’s something I haven’t heard about today. Remember when his hair caught fire filming the Pepsi commercial. Now that was funny, but not really.

Anyway…. even though Michael Jackson ended up such a different person in the past years, his music and his videos, and all the work he has done for charities is timeless. He is a legend.

*An interesting observation: Elvis died when he was just 42. My mom was 42, and I was entering 7th grade. Now I’m 43 and my son is entering 6th grade. I just find that interesting – the ages reflect what I had titled this post as – Michael Jackson was the Elvis of our generation.

michael jackson music online

michael jackson music online

Michael Jackson was a cultural icon and a musical legend. So you could be forgiven, on this Friday, if you try to get some Michael Jackson loaded up on your PC or smart phone, even at the office. If you don't own any albums, there are plenty of free ways to check out the massive quantity of Michael material online, whether you're at your PC or on the go.

Pandora. A customized Michael Jackson radio station on Pandora.com will start with Michael Jackson himself, heading into other artists with "disco grooves, a subtle use of vocal harmony, mid rhythmic syncopation, antiphony and mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation." More likely than not, you'll hear music seriously influenced by Michael - whether it's one of his family's bands (like The Jacksons, the Jackson 5, or Janet Jackson) or music in a similar vein (Pandora gave me Rick James within six songs.) You can log into Pandora through your Web browser, or use a smartphone client on iPhone, BlackBerry, or Windows Mobile. Check out our reviews of Pandora on the PC and on the iPhone.

Slacker. Slacker has the same trick of creating a customized, Michael-themed radio station with a lot of other Jackson family content, as well. But much more than Pandora, Slacker loads up their custom station with modern descendants of Jackson's music, artists like Beyonce, Usher and Justin Timberlake. Check out our reviews of Slacker on the PC, iPhone and BlackBerry.

Nutsie. Nutsie has a mobile app which taps into your own iTunes library, but what we're most interested in here is their Web site, which serves (among other things) as a weird sort of YouTube search engine. If you search for Michael Jackson songs, it will pull semi-random YouTube tribute videos to those songs, giving you a very serendipitous look at Jackson's effect on pop culture.

YouTube. There are lot of Michael Jackson videos on YouTube. Remember, the "real" version of Thriller is more than 13 minutes long. The "real" version of Bad, directed by Martin Scorsese, is 16 minutes, but I couldn't find it on YouTube. You can get YouTube on the iPhone and many other smart phones, through customized apps or the Web browser (go to m.youtube.com)

MTV.com. MTV.com also has tons of Michael Jackson videos, of course, including that crazy-long version of "Bad" that I had trouble finding on YouTube, where Jackson plays a young man named "Darryl."

farrah fawcett playboy images

farrah fawcett playboy images

Actress Farrah Fawcett died in California Thursday following a three-year-battle with anal cancer at the age of 62. Fawcett died at 12:28 p.m. EST at St. John's Health Center.

"She's gone. She now belongs to the ages," her longtime partner, actor Ryan O'Neal told People magazine. "She's now with her mother and sister and her God. I loved her with all my heart. I will miss her so very, very much. She was in and out of consciousness. I talked to her all through the night. I told her how very much I loved her. She's in a better place now."

Fawcett was best known for her role as an 'angel' on the 1970s private eye television show "Charlie's Angels."

A famed poster of Fawcett wearing a red swimsuit sold millions of copies and helped make her a 1970s pop-culture icon. She retained her sex-symbol image for decades, posing for Playboy magazine at the age of 50. Her playboy images are here.

She also was an advocate for domestic violence victims and fought for patients' privacy in hospitals. More than 8.9 million viewers tuned in last month to watch "Farrah's Story," a video diary documenting her courageous battle against cancer, which ran as an NBC special.

The actress is survived by O'Neal and their 24-year-old son Redmond O'Neal. She was previously married to actor Lee Majors. (c) tPC (c) UPI

mark sanford mistress photo

mark sanford mistress photo

This is an update on a series of articles I have been writing on South Carolina Governor, Mark Sandford's affair.

It has recently became public knowledge that Governor Mark Sandford had an affair. During the Sandford press conference, South Carolina Governor, Mark Sandford acknowledged the fact that his wife Jenny Sandford had known about the affair for at least five months.

The shocking news of the affair, with a woman named "Maria" from Argentina, came shortly after Governor Sandford resurfaced, after a week long period where no one knew his where abouts, including his wife Jenny. this information has prompted the public to search for any tidbit, concerning Governor Sandford's private life, especially what his wife Jenny Sandford looks like.

A picture of Sandford's wife Jenny is a particular curiosity, if Google Trends is to be believed. Well, obviously, it is not that easy to find many pictures of Jenny Sandford. Especially pictures which do not have a copyright.

I have found this video, of Jenny Sandford, on You Tube, which might calm you curiosity, for now at least.

I have yet to find a picture of Mark Sandford's mistress "Maria", but rest assured, as soon as I find a picture of Gov. Mark Sandford's mistress, I will let you know.

joanna philbin

joanna philbin

Good Morning America Tiger Woods; Brides magazine editor Millie Martini Bratten. (KSTP, Ch. 5)

The Early Show Ryan Reynolds, Dede Wilson. (WCCO, Ch. 4)

9 a.m.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Steve Martin. (WCCO, Ch. 4)

Live With Regis and Kelly Joanna Philbin, co-host; Shia LaBeouf, Il Divo. (KSTP, Ch. 5)

The Morning Show With Mike & Juliet Victoria Stilwell; Ray Liotta; Alec Greven, author of "How to Talk to Dads." (KMSP, Ch. 9)

10 a.m.

The Bonnie Hunt Show Tom Bergeron. (KMSP, Ch. 9)

The View Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, Darius Rucker. (KSTP, Ch. 5)

AFTERNOON

12:30 p.m.

Tavis Smiley Francis Ford Coppola; Nigerian musician Femi Kuti. (LIFE, Ch. 17)

2 p.m.

Rachael Ray Kevin Connolly. (KARE, Ch. 11)

EVENING

10:35 p.m.

The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien Sacha Baron Cohen as "Bruno"; Cirque du Soleil. (KARE, Ch. 11)

The Late Show With David Letterman Johnny Depp, Megan Fox. (WCCO, Ch. 4)

11:35 p.m.

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Tiger Woods, Evan Rachel Wood, Dinosaur Jr. (KARE, Ch. 11)

The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson Larry David, Wolfgang Puck. (WCCO, Ch. 4)

LATE NIGHT

12:05 a.m.

Jimmy Kimmel Live Shia LaBeouf, June Diane Raphael, Eric Hutchinson. (KSTP, Ch. 5)

2010 census

2010 census

This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," June 24, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO, GUEST HOST: It's hard to have a vote of confidence in the 2010 census when controversial groups like ACORN are recruiting headhunters.

But a freshman lawmaker says he's found a way to put confidence back into the census count while also helping our postal service dig its way out of a budget deficit.

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz is here with his solution. Congressman, welcome here.

• Video: Watch the segment

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, R-UTAH: Thanks, Judge.

NAPOLITANO: So, what should the post office do that the census people shouldn't?

CHAFFETZ: Well, the Census Bureau has been given some $11 billion to conduct the census on April 1st of 2010. The problem that I have with it is that they're partnering with nefarious organizations — like ACORN — in order to hire 750,000 people to go out and do this counting.

Now, at the same time, we have a postal service with 760,000 employees who is a trusted entity, who already is charged with going door-to-door to every home in America.

So, it just seems to me that we already have a federal workforce in place. They are a trusted organization. And I do not trust ACORN, do not want them to be part of the process. I'd much rather have the postal service execute on this.

NAPOLITANO: All right. The postal service loses about $2 billion to $3 billion every quarter. So, the taxpayers subsidize the post office. Does it help them, or does it cost us more money when they have more work to do?

CHAFFETZ: Well, the post office has been losing money. We actually haven't appropriated federal money since the early 1980s. But this year, they're totally upside-down financially.

So, here we're going to be spending over $11 billion. We might as well be spending that on an organization that we're going to continue to have in place, who doesn't have the nefarious background that ACORN and the others have, and we have can a have a postal holiday, not deliver the mail on the Census Day.

NAPOLITANO: Right.

CHAFFETZ: And have these postal workers go out and do the enumeration that needs to be done to fulfill our constitutional duty of a census.

NAPOLITANO: How would the government, how would the Obama administration, Congressman, possibly think that it could get away with hiring a group like ACORN? After all we've been through, after all the fraud, proven and alleged, after all the indictments, after all the charges, after all the wasted money, we would entrust the census, which determines how many members of the House of Representatives each state gets, to a group like this.

Does the White House really think the public would stand for something like that?

CHAFFETZ: Well, I think this is a common sense business approach. I hope that it's met with open arms. I've worked the unions there at the postal service. I've talked to the postmaster general. I want to talk to the White House and my Democratic colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

But we're going to be — the census is so important because it's the makeup of the United States Congress and the federal government also hands out about $300 billion as a direct result each year on what the census numbers show. So, it is critically imperative that we have the trust and confidence of the American people when we go out and collect this data.

NAPOLITANO: All right. So, under your proposal, would the postman or postwoman simply knock on your door and say, how many people live in this house, or would they give you that four or five or 10 or 20-page form and ask you how many showers you have and how many bathrooms and what the educational level and income level is of the people living there, and how many times you go to church during the week?

(LAUGHTER)

CHAFFETZ: It's not as comprehensive as the one you just articulated. It's the basic information about the age, the number of members in that household, the race, when they were born, so we can better understand what's happening within the population as a whole.

So, it's actually a fairly quick form, but, you know, if there are multiple members of your family, it's intended to be finding out what each and every member, how old they are, and what race and background they are.

NAPOLITANO: Right. I got to tell you, I hope this passes, because it's going to save us a lot of money, and for all of its faults in the post office, it's certainly a lot more honest than ACORN.

CHAFFETZ: Exactly.

NAPOLITANO: But when people ask me what the law is, what do they have to tell the census taker, I'll tell them, simply this: How many people live in that house and nothing else. It's none of the government's business when they were born, what their race or what they earn.

Good luck with this, Congressman. Thanks for joining us.

CHAFFETZ: Thank you, Judge. Thank you.

Content and Programming Copyright 2009 FOX News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC, which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon FOX News Network, LLC'S and CQ Transcriptions, LLC's copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation

neda agha sultan youtube

neda agha sultan youtube

PHOTOS. Here again are pictures and YouTube Video of Neda of Iran identified as Neda Agha Sultan (aka Soltan) by her fiance. Neda Agha Sultan is the complete name of the woman in Iran featured on LALATE last weekend and around the globe during a horrible event in Tehran.

Neda Iran Pictures
Neda Iran Photo 1
Neda Iran Photo 2
Neda Iran Photo 3
Neda Iran Photo 4

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

Her fiance Kasamin Makan today confirms her complete name to BBC News. Makan says:

“Neda’s goal was not Mousavi or Ahmadinejad, it was her country and was important for her to fight for this goal. She had said … it was important for her to continue in this path.”

As LALATE reported last weekend, the above photos of Neda Agha Sultan are now being used in protests worldwide, from Los Angeles to Tehran. Her video was first posted online three days ago, on June 20, with a description that the event occurred on Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi St:

“A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests”.

The videographer YouTuber, who states to be a physician, describes the video as:

“…. basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house…. [S]ome of the protesting crowd were running… towards Salehi St.”

Last Sunday in Los Angeles local residents gathered at the Federal Building in Westwood, California with posters of Neda Agha Sultan in hand.

college cost reduction and access act

college cost reduction and access act

Student loans are very hard to pay back in this economy. Studies show that in May 2009 15.5 percent of people age 20 to 24 are unemployed. This is the age of an average college graduate, which is very likely to have student loans to pay back. Now everyone start to remember the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.

College Cost Reduction and Access Act was signed into law in 2007. it created a special income based repayment program for student loans to help the college graduates to make their loans manageable.

The Department of Education has gone one step further with a new law that will cap student loans, based on one's adjusted gross income. It is called Income Based Repayment Plan and will go into effect since July 1st of 2009. This new student loans repayment program is a new repayment plan for the major types of federal loans made to students. Under Income Based Repayment plan, "your required monthly payment is capped at an amount that is intended to be affordable based on your income and family size," reads the information on the website of the U.S. Department of Education.

Income Based Repayment plan eligibility requirement is very simple. Any student may enter into this student loan repayment program if his or her federal student loan debt is high relative to your income and family size.

Call it a student loans bailout program, but it is good and encourages education. Here are two more benefits among others. If you repay your student loans under Income Based Repayment Plan for 25 years and still have a balance, the rest of your student loan is canceled. If you work in public service and have reduced loan payments through IBR, your remaining balance after ten years in a public service job could be canceled if you made loan payments for each month of those ten years.

High student loans have saddled the gradutes. They face a very difficult job market in this economy. Therefore programs like College Cost Reduction and Access Act and Income Based Repayment plan are just in time to bailout the student loans. At least this is a better type of bailout as we invest in knowledge and education, not in bonuses.

lenny dykstra

lenny dykstra

In a provocative piece scheduled to air on the HBO program "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" tomorrow night (10 o'clock), correspondent Bernard Goldberg updates a segment that initially aired in March 2008 on Lenny Dykstra, the former Phillies star who has since become the target of some 20 lawsuits from his activities as a financial entrepreneur.

On the heels of widespread claims that the jet-setting Dykstra has left a string of unpaid bills in his wake - in fact, he would appear to be broke - Goldberg assembled six people who say that Dykstra has stiffed them, including a flight attendant who said that Dykstra charged $10,700 on her credit card to reserve a private plane in Ohio. Others said they are owed even more by Dykstra, who is entangled in a web of personal issues that includes the divorce from his wife of 23 years and the foreclosure of the $18.5 million estate he purchased from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. HBO provided the Daily News with an advance copy of the program.

Goldberg found a defiant Dykstra at his unfurnished mansion, where the door had been left unlocked. When no one answered, Goldberg walked inside and began calling out for Dykstra: "Lenny? Anybody home? Hello? Mr. Dykstra?"

Close to a half-hour later, Dykstra came downstairs for their scheduled appointment, which resulted in what Goldberg called "something vaguely resembling a conversation." Dykstra denied owing anyone money, including the $280,000 allegedly owed to the printer of The Players Club, the glossy lifestyle magazine for pro athletes that Dykstra launched last spring.

DYKSTRA: Who? Tell me who I owe?

GOLDBERG: Let's go through a few people. The printers . . .

DYKSTRA: F--- the printers. The printers are criminals.

GOLDBERG: The flight attendant?

DYKSTRA: F--- the flight attendant . . . They all think they can come here and steal my money.

Dykstra says the legal cases against him are "all bull----."

Goldberg asked Dykstra what he would say to people "who think once upon a time you were flying high and now you're broke?"

Dykstra laughed and withdrew a wad of bills, which he began counting. Goldberg said, "OK, so you've got $75 in your pocket, that doesn't make you rich." To which Dykstra replied, "I never carry less than $1,000. But flying high? Looks like I'm still flying pretty f------ high. And by the way, I'm flying higher."

But a woman who worked for Dykstra as his personal assistant told Goldberg otherwise. She said that 90 percent of her day was occupied by "consoling people who were owed money" by Dykstra, who became a celebrated supplier of stock picks via his newsletter "Nails on the Numbers." The personal assistant said vendors told her that they "fronted [Dykstra] with the hope that [they] could trust him."

Goldberg asked, "This was commonplace?"

"It was all day, every day," said the former personal assistant, who won a $7,400 judgment from Dykstra in small claims court that is still unpaid. "There were calls at 6 a.m. screaming at me, cursing at me."

Dykstra told Goldberg he is the victim, and has filed civil suits himself against some of his alleged creditors. Goldberg points out that no prosecutor in any jurisdiction has filed criminal charges against him.

Few players were as colorful in the annals of Philadelphia sports as Dykstra. Cited as a steroid user in the 2007 report by Sen. George Mitchell into performance-enhancing drugs in baseball - a fact the HBO piece did not address and which Dykstra has denied - Dykstra played for the 1986 world champion New York Mets and 1993 National League champion Phillies. A chronic back injury forced him to quit baseball in the spring of 1998.

He opened three car washes in southern California, sold them for a reported $55 million and began what Goldberg called his "unlikely journey into finance," which later led to publication of his newsletter and magazine. He also became obsessed with the world of private jets, $400,000 German cars and sprawling estates.

Goldberg said Dykstra is now "wife-less, car-less, plane-less and may soon be homeless," unless he can come up with enough money to forestall eviction.

But Dykstra does not appear to be concerned.

He showed Goldberg a photo of a dog he planned to buy for $10,000.

Dykstra said proudly, "That's a world champion, that's the only dog I'll buy." *

linda pizzuti

linda pizzuti

Sox owner John Henry and his fiancee, Linda Pizzuti, are trying hard to keep the details of their wedding hush-hush, and who can blame them? But the big day is fast approaching, and people are talking. The precise location of Saturday's ceremony is top secret, but we do know that as many as 450 people will convene afterward at a lavish party in the outfield at friendly Fenway. As you might expect, Henry and his missus have enlisted an extraordinary wedding band: Maroon 5. That's right, Adam Levine and the lads will be performing. You'll recall that Maroon 5 was the surprise musical guest at the BoSox bash in Colorado after the team's four-game sweep of the Rockies. That night, Levine channeled his inner Freddie Mercury, singing “We Are the Champions’’ for Big Papi, Josh Beckett, and the rest of the world-beaters. (Maroon 5 played for free at the Palm in Denver, but something tells us they're getting paid for Saturday's gig.) If the reception proves to be as entertaining as it sounds, the couple may need a day or two to recover before embarking on their honeymoon.

cash for clunkers 2009

cash for clunkers 2009

The federal government launched a Web site Monday for the cash for clunkers plan passed by Congress last week, but the rules to oversee the program may take up to a month to craft.

The Web site, www.cars.gov, offers information on how the process of trading an older vehicle for a more-efficient model will work, and urges customers to call dealers to see if they will register for the program.

On Thursday, Congress sent the $1-billion measure to President Barack Obama for his signature. The program should put $3,500 to $4,500 in the pockets of about 250,000 people trading in older gas guzzlers for new, more environmentally friendly vehicles.

Automakers and suppliers cheered the news, even though the plan was pared back from an original target of $4 billion and one million vehicles. But some analysts have questioned how many owners of older vehicles that qualify for the vouchers could afford a new model, even with $4,500 off the sticker.

CNW Marketing/Research said that the delay in getting the plan approved by Congress pushed it out of the range of a surge of shoppers in the traditional June and July selling season, and would also suffer from a Nov. 1 cutoff.

Many of the shoppers are likely "in large part going to Asian automakers," the research firm said in a report. "The environmental impact will be minuscule considering the number of vehicles actually being replaced."

Contact JUSTIN HYDE: 202-906-8204

amanda staveley

amanda staveley

From the outside, BlackRock's $13.5 billion acquisition of Barclays's money-management unit looked like any other smoothly orchestrated deal. Behind the scenes, though, the announcement was preceded by a high-stakes, last-minute tussle with a major backer who failed to come through with what BlackRock expected.

On the evening of June 9, BlackRock Chief Executive Laurence D. Fink was finalizing the details of the deal to acquire Barclays's money-management unit, Barclays Global Investors. The acquisition would make BlackRock the world's largest money manager, overseeing $2.8 trillion in assets. And it would propel Mr. Fink, who long dwelled just below Wall Street's top rungs, to a perch above his peers.

Enter Amanda Staveley, a 36-year-old British citizen who has for years been plying the Persian Gulf. Ms. Staveley runs PCP Capital Partners, which has brokered investments from the Gulf into British companies. Ms. Staveley is credited with placing a £3.5 billion ($5.77 billion) investment from Abu Dhabi into Barclays last fall. Just months earlier, she earned the title of "Queen of British Football" after arranging the takeover of soccer club Manchester City for buyers from Abu Dhabi. All this has earned her the adoration of the British press, which constantly reminds readers that Ms. Staveley once dated Prince Andrew and was a fashion model and aspiring Olympic sprinter.

Weeks before, Ms. Staveley and Mr. Fink had begun discussions about cooperating. Ms. Staveley said that she could deliver billions of dollars from Gulf sovereign-wealth funds to help fund the deal, said people familiar with the transaction. After a late May visit to Abu Dhabi and Qatar, Mr. Fink penciled in at least $2 billion from Ms. Staveley as part of his acquisition plan, said these people.

Mr. Fink and his advisers planned to announce the transaction the following morning, on June 10, said people familiar with the deal. That Tuesday evening they called on Ms. Staveley, then in the Gulf, to deliver the final paperwork. The most important element was commitment letters from the sovereign-wealth investors. Those letters legally commit investors to a deal, and provide a grounds for lawsuits in the event that the investors renege.

It is here where things went awry, said the people familiar with the transaction. Ms. Staveley didn't produce letters directly from the investors, but rather from a special-purpose vehicle managed by Ms. Staveley. That wasn't satisfactory to BlackRock, which wanted to know exactly who was investing in the deal. A person close to the investment vehicle said that such requests were made only at the end of the transaction, and weren't a requirement in the weeks leading up to the deal's closing.

Moreover, Mr. Fink expected that sovereign-wealth funds, notably the Qatar Investment Authority, were putting money into the transaction. Yet BlackRock and its lead advisers at Citigroup couldn't get a clear sense of just where the $2 billion-plus was coming from, said the people familiar with the transaction.

Eventually, BlackRock executives gathered it was coming from a group of wealthy individuals. But Ms. Staveley wouldn't specify exactly whom, these people said. A person close to the investment vehicle said prospective backers demanded anonymity as part of any investment, a common practice in the Gulf region, and that she had the full amount in hand.

The two sides got into a shouting match, these people said. Late Tuesday night, BlackRock and its advisers became restless. "Where is the money?" they repeatedly asked. Eventually, bankers at Perella Weinberg Partners were called in to assess Ms. Staveley's investors. One of the bankers called the Qatar Investment Authority, which happened to be a backer of Perella Weinberg. They were told that Ms. Staveley wasn't working for them, the people familiar with the matter said.

A person close to the investment vehicle said there had been direct negotiations involving Ms. Staveley's firm, the Qatar Investment Authority and BlackRock in the days leading up to June 9.

By Wednesday, BlackRock had become frustrated and cut off dealings with Ms. Staveley. But that left a $2.3 billion hole. BlackRock needed the money in hand by Friday. Its exclusive deal was set to expire then, leaving a rival free to pick up BGI.

Mr. Fink didn't panic. He started making calls. Within hours, the commitments came in. PNC Financial Services Group, a longtime BlackRock shareholder, stumped up for cash. As did sovereign-wealth funds from Singapore, China and Kuwait. Next was Highfields Capital Management, a hedge fund. In less than 24 hours, Mr. Fink had enough clout to find $2.8 billion and save his deal.

When BlackRock and Barclays announced their transaction the next morning, the companies' statement made only the slightest mention of "institutional investors" purchasing a total of $2.8 billion in BlackRock stock. In Wall Street's deal game, the things that look the simplest probably aren't.

uw madison

uw madison

The longtime assistant director of the Office of Professional and Instructional Development for the University of Wisconsin System has been named the next secretary of the academic staff at UW-Madison, interim Provost Julie Underwood announced today (June 22).

Donna Silver will begin her new position in mid-July. She succeeds Colleen McCabe, who will retire July 1.

"Colleen has served the university in a variety of roles for many years," says Underwood. "Her dedication and service — particularly as secretary of the academic staff — have been significant, and we're deeply grateful to her."

Silver has been assistant director of the UW System's Office of Professional and Instructional Development since 1987. In that role, she has coordinated the Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars Program and the Faculty College; planned conferences and Staff Council meetings; and organized multiple grant programs. She also administers the UW System Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award and is co-coordinator for the System Advisory Group on the Liberal Arts. She has been elected by her peers to serve four consecutive terms on the UW System Administration Academic Staff Committee.

Silver earned her bachelor's degree in art history from Beloit College, and a master of arts in library science and a master of science in continuing and adult education, both from UW-Madison.

As secretary of the academic staff, Silver will facilitate the work of the Academic Staff Executive Committee (ASEC), Standing Committees and the Academic Staff Assembly. She'll be a resource for academic staff members, act as a liaison between ASEC and university administration, and assist on any other matters related to shared governance.

"Donna impressed us as a truly collaborative leader who brings a great deal of energy and creativity to setting an agenda and solving problems, and a master multitasker whose organizational abilities will keep the committees on track," says Carla Love, a distinguished lecturer who chaired the search committee. "We especially appreciated her initiative in promoting participation in academic staff governance at UW System and her enthusiasm for working together with ASEC to strengthen the role of academic staff as a vital partner in shared governance at UW-Madison."

dorian from college hill

dorian from college hill

MediaTakeOut.com just learned that Dorian from BET's College Hill had his website hacked allegedly by one of his former lovers. And it gets worse, the hacker put up all kinds of nekkid pics of Dorian on the site.

The hacker also posted a number of celebrity's personal information (including Megan Good's phone number and Solange's address) and some extremely damaging comments about Dorian - neither of which are we posting here.

Obviously we can't post any of the pics, cause they're WAAAAAY to explicit. But for all you freaks:

lydia hearst

lydia hearst

Want to know what it’s like to go to a major award show? The model (and Hearst heiress) gives PEOPLE.com the inside scoop on getting ready for Fashion’s Oscars — and hanging with fellow guests Blake, Heidi and Justin! Click here to see all the stars at the CFDA Awards.

6am: Going to be a crazy day. Nice long bath, then straight over to an early morning photo shoot with Terry Richardson. They were incredible, fun, crazy pictures. I was wearing men’s clothes, lingerie, dressing up as animals. Such an eccentric shoot.

3pm: Grab some food on-set: Thai curry chicken, pasta and rice. I won’t be able to eat once I go to the CFDAs. I’m wearing white so I definitely don’t want to take the risk of spilling anything on the one-of-a-kind dress Marc Bouwer made for me!

5:20pm: Oops. We had so much fun at the photo shoot, and ran over. Now it’s pouring rain! Here I am looking for a cab, still wearing all the black eye makeup and hot pink lips; my hair is sticking straight out from all the products. I looked like a drowned rat.

5:45pm: Home! Thankfully my dress already got dropped off. Jump into the shower and rinse off faster than I ever have. Didn’t even bother with my hair. It was already soaked with rain. I wanted a sort of a 1920s, old Hollywood, Veronica Lake look. My makeup artist Jasen Kaplan and hairstylist Ricardo Rojas have to work on me like crazy — it’s such a miracle.

6:20pm: Marc Bouwer picks me up, and we head over to the CFDA Awards gala at Lincoln Center. I felt like a princess. My dress was actually sheer white, but I put a nude body suit under it. Thankfully you couldn’t see anything!

Click through for more details on Lydia’s star-studded night!

6:40pm: Spotted my best friend Michelle Trachtenberg on the red carpet! She said she might be moving to N.Y.C. I’m trying to convince her. She has a couple things in the works, but I’m not allowed to say!

7pm: Heading inside. There are no tables this year or even a cocktail party. It’s more Oscar-style.

8:30 pm: Got to meet Molly Sims and Heidi Klum, who is definitely one of my idols. Saw Blake Lively too. We met when I did Gossip Girl. It is really nice to reconnect with people and catch up.

9pm: The speeches were so moving. Marc Jacobs talked all about his fiance. And wow, Diane Von Furstenberg didn’t even have to use the teleprompter!

9:30pm: I wish I could have met Justin Timberlake. But unfortunately he was on stage, and other than that, he was busy.

10pm: Going downtown! Everybody picks up and moves down to the Calvin Klein event at the Highline. Met up with my sister Gillian and reconnected with Michelle.

12am: Heading home to go to sleep. There’s only so much I can handle!