Fluff O' Meter - 5 out of 5
Winners - The blogosphere, Hookers seeking stardom
Losers - Governor Spitzer, Charlie Sheen
Showbizspy.com story link
The hooker at the heart of the New York Governor sex scandal once dressed as a cheerleader during wild threesomes with actor Charlie Sheen, according to U.S. reports.
Ashley Alexandra Dupre? is said to have been just 19 when she went with another hooker on nights of sexy role-playing which cost Sheen a staggering $20,000.
Jason Itzler, a self-styled ‘King of All Pimps’, says Dupre? worked for him under the name ‘Victoria’ years before her tryst brought down one of America’s most famous men, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. And he claims he sent her and another girl, Cheryl, for steamy sessions with Platoon star Sheen.
He claims Sheen got the girls to dress up as cheerleaders - and chant his name while performing sex acts.
‘They loved Charlie,” Itzer has previously said. “They said he was a great guy, a great lover.
“One time, he had them dress up like cheerleaders and they chanted, ‘Charlie, Charlie, he’s our man! If he can’t do it, nobody can!”
Itzler also said that Sheen liked to pretend to be an X-rated movie director and asked the two women to act out various lesbian scenarios for him.
Sheen, who has a history of being accused of using hookers, denied the story when it first hit U.S. newspapers two years ago, before Dupre’s notoriety.
“Charlie says the story is 100 percent bogus,” Sheen’s publicist, Stan Rosenfield, said when the story first hit U.S. media.
But now Itzer has insisted once more that it’s true - revealing that Dupre was one of the girls. He says everyone who went with the girl who is now the world’s most famous hooker left satisfied.
“This was probably the sexiest, hottest girl I had,” Itzler said. “She’s no joke. She’s an awesome, awesome, super-cool girl.”
Itzler served jail time in 2006 after confessing to running high-class prostitution ring NY Confidential.
Ironically it was the most high-profile prostitution ring to be busted while Eliot Spitzer was New York state attorney general.
“How funny it is - what goes around does come around,” Itzler said. “I’m the king of all pimps. He was the king of hypocrites.”
Itzler claims he met Dupre? in New York’s super swanky Gansevoort Hotel and she instantly caught his eye.
Itzler said he gave the then-19-year-old his card and she called him two days later after visiting the NY Confidential Web site.
He recalled: “She says, ‘Hey, Jason … I want to work for you.’
“When I caught my breath, I said, ‘Do you know what I do?’
“She’s like, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Get over here.’ “
He rechristened the Jersey-girl-turned-call-girl “Victoria,” and she quickly became a favorite of the Confidential clientele - four years before she became $4,300 hooker “Kristen” and torpedoed Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Itzler, 41, claimed Dupre? attracted a large and grateful clientele - and soon started earning tens of thousands of dollars a month.
After her first date, Itzler claimed, he rewarded her with a $2,000 pair of Manolo Blahniks - the favored footwear of Sarah Jessica Parker’s character on ‘Sex and The City’.
“I used to get e-mails saying, ‘Now I can die happy,’” Itzler said of Dupre?.
Dupre?’s lawyer has not responded to the report.
He says she was a workaholic who was on the job six days a week and was often called for repeat business.
“She thrived on it, like a fish in water,” he said. “Almost like an actor on stage on Broadway. Alive, you know?”
Itzler was jailed in 2006 after pleading guilty to running the $25,000-a-night prostitution ring. He was released early last year.
The woman federal wiretappers heard Spitzer arranging to meet at a Washington hotel in February was identified in court papers as “Kristen”, working for Emperor’s Club VIP agency.
The New York Times later identified her as Dupre, 22, an aspiring singer from New Jersey.
Dupre? posted a simple online message on her MySpace.com page: “Yeah, I did it.” The page was later changed to read: “Thank you all for your support, it means alot to me.”
Spitzer’s resignation Wednesday marked a stunning fall from grace for the former state attorney general once known as “Mr Clean” for taking on organized crime and Wall Street corruption, and once seen as presidential material.
The Bigger Question: Are you kidding?
Friday, March 21, 2008
I Was Waiting for His Name to be Mentioned... Now Charlie Sheen Has Been Linked To The Governor Spitzer Hooker Scandal
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
This is What Happens When a Coffee Shop Tries to Rule the World
Fluff O' Meter - 2 out of 5
Winners - Common sense
Losers - Megalomania, Starbucks, Inc.
Reuters story link
Believe it or not, the Starbucks corp is currently facing declining sales, including a stock price that is off 40% over the last 12 months. Just like all trends and fads, apparently the idea of a $4.00 beverage with no alcohol in it is wearing thin on the American consumer.
Since this site is all about deconstructing the news for the rest of us, I know a lot of "the rest of us" who find it very hard to believe that a company who has a store every 1/4 of a mile (or less) is having financial problems.
I mentioned the word "fad" in the first paragraph because that is exactly what's going on here. I've never been a CEO or the president of a company, but I could have told you a couple of years ago that the Starbucks "American addiction" wouldn't last forever. Nothing ever does. How in the world could Starbucks not see this fad slowing down? I have a feeling that if Starbucks was a hula hoop company in the 1950's, you would have seen a hula hoop store on every corner followed by an angry sexually confused cashier behind the counter.
The Bigger Questions: I truly believe that capitalism is the best economic system for a free society. However, at what point does the quest for maximum profit turn into unabashed greed? Is "going public" really worth it in the end when you have all this continual pressure to top yourself quarter after quarter and please a bunch of anonymous people who repeatedly remind you in conference calls that they own you? Give me two In and Out Burger franchises and a Jiffy Lube and let me know how sales are going as I'm running a metal detector over the white sands of Waikiki. That's my idea of old man success. I'll take it... Actually, skip the metal detector part. Those guys always creep me out.
America is No Longer Red, White, and Blue. It's Black, White, and Race. Welcome to Racism 2.0
Fluff O' Meter - 1 out of 5
Winners - The "Race Industry"
Losers - People of America
The dominating headline in the news lately hasn't been the exploits of Britney Spears or even the fragile economy. Apparently, racism got itself a brand new publicist because it's back in a really big way. It's getting so much play lately and there's not even a crotch shot involved. We aren't talking about the old fashioned white on black racism. This is a new form of hybrid racism, which I affectionately term as Racism 2.0.
So many white people seem to be legitimately shocked that a large percentage of black churches actively engage in Racism 2.0 as part of their fire and brimstone Sunday sermons. I'm not an expert on African American churches, but even I could have told you that racial and anti-government themed sermons ala Rev. Jeremiah Wright have been going on for years in our inner cities. It's a mainstream aspect of the black church experience. I'm sorry if you find my words inflammatory. A fact is a fact.
At the same time, I am not a member of the thought police. In a free society, we have the right to think and say as we feel. This even applies to hate speech. In church or out of church. No matter how horrible it is, freedom of speech needs to thrive in a free society. Black people have a right to believe and communicate this racist ideology that we've been hearing from Rev. Wright. However, I do not want my future president to share these same values. That is where the big problem lies with most Americans.
The Bigger Question: Sen. Obama made a "race" speech on television today where he basically told the American people that we all just have to tolerate Racism 2.0 for what it is and move on. Too bad Don Imus didn't get that memo last year. Should there continue to be a double standard in American society where racism is tolerated when perpetrated by blacks and castigated when spewed by whites? Is there an opportunity for race relations to improve under a President Obama?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Steve Jobs' Weapon of Mass Destruction
Fluff O' Meter - 1 out of 5
Winners - The blogosphere
Losers - The MacBook Air owner who missed his flight, TSA Agents, people who use airports
Yahoo! story link
On his blog, programmer Michael Nygard (by way of the Unofficial Apple Weblog) writes that during a recent trip through the airport, his solid-state MacBook Air stopped TSA agents—puzzled by its lack of rear-facing ports or a standard hard drive—in their tracks.
Nygard said the agents put him and his suspicious "device" in a holding cubicle as security staffers huddled nearby, looking at X-ray printouts of the sinister-looking Air and scratching their heads.
A younger TSA agent—who, apparently, was aware of Apple's newest laptop—tried explaining to the group that the Air uses solid-state memory in place of a traditional hard drive. The senior staffer, however, was still reluctant to let it go: "New products on the market? They haven't been TSA approved. Probably shouldn't be permitted," Nygard writes.
Finally, after booting up the Air and running a program, the agents let Nygard go, he said—but only after he'd missed his flight.
The Bigger Question: Am I supposed to be surprised that something like this occurred? Have you traveled through an airport lately? I had a 70 year old Filipino grandmother pat me down the last time I flew out of Oakland. I swear to God I noticed a faint smell of Depends wafting through air as I sat on the ground trying to maneuver my Stride Rite's back on. Don't ask me how I know what Depends smell like. That's my personal business...
Monday, March 17, 2008
Hillary Clinton Sells Out the Troops to Sure Up Her Democrat Base
Fluff O' Meter - 3 out of 5
Winners - Hillary Clinton and her democrat base
Losers - The troops, families of fallen solders, American morale
Reuters story link
Sen. Hillary Clinton took the stage in Washington today, beating her chest with both fists mightily, in an effort to remind us all that no matter what the official delegate count is, Hillary is still queen of the jungle. Or village, depending upon if you have a child who needs some raising.
Based on her vast military experience and her desire to strengthen her voter base, Sen. Clinton felt it necessary to stand at the chalk board this afternoon, before letting us out for recess, and reprimand us all that the war in Iraq cannot be won.
The Bigger Questions: I do not have a problem with anyone debating the pros and cons of the war in Iraq. I certainly have my own questions as to why we are not utilizing the oil in Iraq as payment for our efforts. However, is it right for a sitting senator who's running for president to flat out tell the world that she thinks we cannot win the war, even though she has no specific evidence to back up her claims? Even though General Petraeus, who's out there on the front lines in Iraq, has said otherwise? Also, how would you feel if you were sitting at home watching Hillary Clinton make this speech while mourning the loss of a family member who died in Iraq fighting for his country? Is telling a family that their loved one died in vain a successful campaign strategy to be proud of?
The Audacity of Rev. Wright. The Obama Honeymoon is Officially Over
