(Predictions made using Slowplay.com Power Ratings)

An AP story was put out today…

The story doesn’t say what the new url will be but TOPDOG08 guessed…and he was right:

OSM.ORG

It looks like the front page may be locked out until the official debut tomorrow but you can still browse the site by going directly to one of the subpages and using the sidebar.

Go here: Top Stories

Nifty logo:

…but the site doesn’t seem like anything special.

All eyes were on Kanye West tonight at a live Telethon for Hurricane Katrina relief. The rapper caused controversy on his last Telethon appearance with racial charged remarks about the president. Program organizers had said they will not censor political comments from the telecast.

In addition to some comments about not being able to imagine being homeless or without his family, Kanye West DID send out a hidden message. He changed a line in the song he performed, “Jesus Walks”, to indicate that he hasn’t changed his mind.

The original line was:

They say you can rap-about-anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes
But if I talk about God my record won’t get played, Huh?

The altered line on Friday’s Telethon was:

They say you can rap-about-anything except for Jesus
That means guns, sex, lies, video tapes
But if I speak the truth my record won’t get played, Huh?

This certainly isn’t as inflammatory as his earlier remarks, but it will probably slide under the radar.

–

MORE KANYE: Apparently he was on the Ellen DeGeneres show this morning:

He said, “Back in the days when it was time to clean the kitchen I would try to sweep the dust under the kitchen sink instead of really taking care of it, and if you spilled something on that floor all that dust came right up in front of your face. That’s basically what the flood did.

“They have been trying to sweep us (African-Americans) under the kitchen sink and it was so in people’s faces and so on TV… that they couldn’t even hide it any more.

“Down there, people are living below the poverty level to start off with, before this happened.

“A year ago I was on tour with USHER and we had a hurricane hit Florida and everybody was saying, ‘If this hurricane went to Louisiana, if it went to Mississippi, they wouldn’t be able to handle it.’ (That was) a year ago - and there was nothing done about it.”

Drudge had reports that he was Booed during last nights NFL pre-game show:

‘THE BIG BOO’ CROWD HISSES KANYE WEST
Fri Sep 09 2005 10:30:28 ET

The chart topping hip hop rapper star who used a network hurricane fundraiser to charge “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” was loudly and lustily booed during last night’s NFL kickoff show.

The appearance of Kanye West, who was beamed into the Boston stadium via remote from Los Angeles, received a strongly negative response from the crowd.

“The boos were thunderous and lasted for much of his number,” reports the BOSTON GLOBE.

Developing…

From its coverage, it’s obvious that MTV News knows who is responsible for the Katrina devastation: The (Republican) federal government. They also know why the federal government response was “delayed”: because most victims were black. It looks like viewers think the same thing in a poll they bill as Kanye West vs. George Bush:

On a nationally televised benefit concert, Kanye West suggested that the federal government’s response to the Katrina disaster was not taken seriously because the majority of victims were black. What do you believe was the biggest reason for the delay in getting aid to the victims?

Aid was delayed because the majority of victims were black. 38%

Aid was delayed because the majority of victims were poor. 20%

Aid was delayed because of poor planning and coordination. 34%

The government responded as fast as it could have under the circumstances. 8%

Plenty of fellow rappers were there to stand behind Kanye West’s comments: Jay-Z, Diddy, David Banner, Twista, T.I. and others went off on everything from the war in Iraq to America not concentrating enough on the “pain in the music” that they make. They charged the government with “looking at them as less than human”. David Banner even said he doesn’t want to hear the national anthem around him anymore.

Another MTV News article, “Federal Agency Delayed Katrina Response, According To Internal Memo“:

According to the wire service, Katrina raged for five hours before Brown petitioned Chertoff with his first request for aid: 1,000 Homeland Security workers who’d be dispatched to the region two days later to lend their support to localized rescue efforts and “convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations and the general public.” He also suggested that an additional 2,000 personnel be sent over the course of the following week.

So, according to the story, “internal documents” show that he waited 5 hours from the initial impact of Katrina before making his first request? That was the federal delayed response the title is referring to? Five hours?!? The title suggests that there was something ready to go but a decision was made not pull the trigger just yet (because the victims were black?).

Brown is then criticized for discouraging out-of-state, non-federal support crews from scrambling to the affected areas without first have a specific request (by a local or state government) to go there. Apparently, this is an unreasonable request and we should just have everyone rushing in as fast as possible and not wait to see what and where things are needed.

In a touching article, MTV finds what it was looking for in a 24-year-old Jessica Strahan who was crying because “she was three months pregnant and it was too late to consider having an abortion.”

They also found someone who went to the Astrodome to complain to the Red Cross because she wasn’t getting all the free stuff that she heard others were getting:

Annie Gonzalez, a 23-year-old, stopped by the Astrodome to complain that the Red Cross wasn’t providing her with enough assistance, since she was staying with a friend nearby and not at the shelter there. When Red Cross VP Darren Irby pointed out that she at least had shelter, she explained that she was but one of a dozen people crashing with a friend, and that she wasn’t getting access to the free food, medical attention, clothing and other donations the evacuees at the Astrodome were getting. “Food costs money, clothing costs money,” she said, pointing out that she had run for her life and had just as few resources as the rest of the people there did.

Of course, everyone in the article who had evacuated early or had insurance was classified as “lucky”.

After a disgraceful tirade by Kanye West, NBC has pulled the comments from its West Coast airing of Concert for Hurricane Relief. The comments were broadcast live Friday Night to the East Coast.

Zebrality has the video.

The Drudge Report had this up almost immediately after it was broadcast:

KANYE WEST ON NBC FUNDRAISER: ‘GEORGE BUSH DOESN’T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE… They’re saying black families are looting and white families are just looking for food…they’re giving the (Army) permission to shoot us’… Actor Mike Myers asked people to donate… then Kanye West went on a tirade about Iraq… MORE…

NBC issued a statement:

“Tonight’s telecast was a live television event wrought with emotion. Kanye West departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him and his opinions in no way represent the views of the networks. It would be most unfortunate if the efforts of the artists who participated tonight and the generosity of millions of Americans who are helping those in need are overshadowed by one person’s opinion.”

The AP has just put this out:

Comedian Mike Myers was paired with West for a 90-second segment that began with Myers speaking of Katrina’s devastation. Then, to Myers’ evident surprise, West began a rant by saying, “I hate the way they portray us in the media. If you see a black family, it says they’re looting. See a white family, it says they’re looking for food.”

While allowing that “the Red Cross is doing everything they can,” West — who delivered an emotional outburst at the American Music Awards after he was snubbed for an award — declared that government authorities are intentionally dragging their feet on aid to the Gulf Coast. Without getting specific, he added, “They’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us.”

After he stated, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people. Please call —” the camera cut away to comedian Chris Tucker.

In contrast, the head of Kanye West’s music label, Jay-Z, pledged $1 million (along with Diddy) to the American Red Cross to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

‘’This is our community,” Shawn ‘’Jay-Z” Carter told the Associated Press. ‘’When I turn on CNN, I see a lot of black people on the streets. I know it’s other people, too, but those projects have been hit hard.”

Here are some earlier comments reportedly made by Kanye:

He says, “I’ve said a few prayers today for the families, for the people that lost their lives. God has a massive plan and sometimes we can’t figure out why bad things happen to good people, so my heart just goes out to everybody out there.”

I guess he now blames George Bush for apparently altering God’s plan. What a shameful display this was.

More: Michelle Malkin — KANYE WEST: BUSH-BASHING FOR $$$

50 Cent has a few words for some audience members.

The 50 Cent-Fat Joe beef heated up at tonight’s MTV Video Music Awards. The words started when Fat Joe was presenting an award and ended with: “I just wanna say how safe I feel in here tonight with all of this police presence courtesy of G-Unit.” The remarks were surprising because in his diss song “F*ck 50″ in response to 50’s “Piggy Bank”, Fat Joe says: “I’m gonna respond one time, one time only”.

Later in the night, 50 Cent was ending his set of “So Seductive” with Tony Yayo when the pair unleashed a bevy of expletives on Fat Joe. The high standards of MTV prevented most of the content from getting through and it was censored. What made it through was something like this: “Fat Joe is a p*ssy. F*ck Fat Joe. He is a F*ckboy. What? What?” A couple sentences were completely blanked out.

During the last rant the VMA cameras went to Kanye West who was standing up in the crowd. The censors prevented us from here whether any of the expletives were directed at Kanye, but it wouldn’t be unheard of. Kayne has a song, Crack Music, featuring 50’s former friend Game on his new album. The beef with Fat Joe originated when Joe was featured on “New York” with Fifty enemy Ja Rule. Is this a case of the friend of my enemy is also my enemy?

The European Union has made another sizable mistake, this one trying to negotiate with Iran regarding its aspirations to pursue nuclear technology. The Telegraph reports that the Iranian shell game worked perfectly:

An Iranian foreign policy official has boasted that the regime bought extra time over its stalled negotiations with Europe to complete a uranium conversion plant.

In comments that will infuriate EU diplomats, Hosein Musavian said that Teheran took advantage of the nine months of talks, which collapsed last week, to finish work at its Isfahan enrichment facility.

“Thanks to the negotiations with Europe we gained another year in which we completed the [project] in Isfahan,” he told an Iranian television interviewer.

Mr Musavian also claimed that work on nuclear centrifuges at a plant at Natanz, which was kept secret until Iran’s exiled opposition revealed its existence in 2002, progressed during the negotiations.

This comes as no surprise to Slowplay.com. We pegged this six months ago, on February 7:

Read: We’ve tricked the Euros into a standstill with all of this talk. We know they won’t ever really do anything to us, so we’re trying to broker some sort of sweetheart deal where we claim to be sensitive to their concerns and give them some concessions. We’ll then ignore all the concessions and continue on our merry way. We hope that the United States doesn’t take us to account and screw everything up by toppling our regime.

Some EU heads must roll over this one. This is a complete and total disgrace.

See also, Slowplay.com on Iran:
February 8
March 12
July 31

Almost all of America’s news coverage was short-circuited by the bombshell of bombshells back in the Spring of 2005 when Corey Clark, an ousted contestant on Fox Network’s smash-hit singing contest show, American Idol, told a national television audience on ABC’s Primetime Live that he had engaged in a sexual affair with Idol judge and former pop star Paula Abdul. MTV reports:

[Clark alleged that] during that affair, not only did Abdul help Clark with his look, she helped him pick a song she knew would appeal to fellow judge Randy Jackson, seemingly clearing Clark’s path to becoming a finalist on the 2003 edition of the talent show. These are among the allegations made by Clark in Wednesday night’s sweeps-timed special edition of “Primetime Live” entitled “Fallen Idol.”

After making it to the “Idol” round of 32, Clark — wearing the designer clothes he claims Abdul bought for him and sporting the haircut he contends she paid for — performed the Steve Perry song “Foolish Heart” at Abdul’s alleged urging, trying to secure a spot in the final 12. In archival tape, Jackson was seen boasting of having worked with Journey singer Perry on the song and footage was shown of Jackson onstage performing with Journey. When Jackson brought up the Perry connection following Clark’s performance, the singer responded, “I didn’t know that.”

In search of the ‘Straight Up’ truth

The scandal — probably the biggest one in this country since Teapot Dome — prompted the formation of an independent commission to investigate:

According to FOX, former federal prosecutor Marcell McRae and attorney Ivy Kagan Bierman spent three and a half months reviewing materials provided by Clark and Abdul and interviewing 43 people.

A former U.S. Attorney was called in for three and a half months of work to look into the sex life of the judge of a television show?! I suppose that Idol wants to avoid a Quiz Show situation, though it seems like a scandal of this nature probably only helps add intrigue to the program, and the Primetime special most likely exposed the show to the nine Americans who hadn’t already heard of it. The simple fact is that there have been rumors of hi-jinks on this show since host Ryan Seacrest allegedly incorrectly read the vote totals in the Clay Aiken-Ruben Studdard season to make the final vote seem to be close — like, 2000 Florida close. The show is such a phenomenon that it seems nothing could bring it down.

Clark a ‘Cold Hearted Snake’?

Clark’s claims, which he made in a highly publicized edition of ABC News’ “Primetime Live”, “have not been substantiated by any corroborating evidence or witnesses, including those provided by Mr. Clark,” the statement from FOX read, according to AP. “Ms. Abdul acknowledges that she had telephone conversations with Mr. Clark while he was a contestant. Their accounts of those conversations, however, differ greatly, and no evidence was uncovered to resolve the conflicts in their accounts.”

Abdul was vindicated by the commission’s findings, though unfortunately she did not hold a press conference like the Robert Blake Post-acquittal Shamstravaganza. She did, however, release a statement:

“I’m grateful this ordeal is over, and I’m so looking forward to getting back to the job I love,” Abdul said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.

In other words, she’s once again emboldened by the Promise of a New Day.

America can breathe again.

It reads like something directly out of Aldous Huxley’s classic novel Brave New World: Scientists take people who are struggling to lose weight and implant in them a belief that strawberry ice cream made them sick when they were children. The scientists’ conditioning efforts are successful, turning a total fabrication into that which is taken to the subject as absolute truth: strawberry ice cream is bad.

While perhaps Ben and Jerry’s should be looking at a trade libel case, the scientists don’t have malice in their hearts. They are simply trying to unlock a code as puzzling as the common cold in the human body: the key to weight loss for the everyday person. According to an article appearing in the Seattle Times:

A team led by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California, Irvine, found that it could persuade people to avoid fattening foods by implanting unpleasant childhood memories about the food — even though the events never happened.

In a paper published in today’s edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Loftus and colleagues at the University of Washington and Kwantlen University College in British Columbia said they successfully turned people off strawberry ice cream by manipulating the subjects to believe it made them sick when they were kids.

The scientists say they also have successfully implanted positive opinions about asparagus by convincing subjects that they once loved the vegetable.

The method, if perfected, could induce people to eat less of what they shouldn’t and more of what they should, Loftus said. Good memories about fruits and vegetables could be implanted, along with bad ones about low-nutrient, high-calorie foods.

While this no doubt has some scientific value, it would seem that the biggest breakthrough made by the scientists here is that they have found a way to make weight loss plans even more expensive. Everyone has seen ads for the latest wonder plan: $100-a-month diet pill supplies, TrimSpa, Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, exercise equipment from the Bowflex to the Gazelle to treadmills, liposuction, stomach stapling, 24 Hour Fitness, etc. I don’t have any first hand experience with any of these products — I suspect all work to at least some degree if a person is dedicated to sticking to them — but it is clear that weight loss is a big business in this country.

TrimSpa, which happens to be a diet pill and not a physical “spa” or health club, known recently for its Anna Nicole Smith ads, is one of the leading companies in this field. They currently sell one bottle (90 servings per bottle) of their signature product for $39.95; 3 bottles for $99.95. According to their website, 4 servings per day should be used. A person buying 3 bottles for $100, then, gets 67.5 days of action per $100, or around $540 per year.

A membership to my local 24 Hour Fitness would be $443 for the first year — a $79 processing fee plus $7 per week — and then you’d actually have to work to lose weight. What a downer. It is very difficult to guess the cost of programs like Jenny Craig, as each individual person pays a fee “plus the cost of food”; Jenny Craig is currently running a promotion for $6 per week — $312 per year — plus food.

Okay, so some of the plans I discussed above are fairly pricey. But how expensive do you suppose it would be to have your entire mind reconditioned never to eat anything bad for you? How many people in the whole world would have the skill necessary to implement such psychological conditioning? What would the side effects be? It’s an intriguing drama unfolding.

I don’t doubt the motives of the people involved with this study; this is intriguing stuff in the name of science. I doubt this is meant as a business plan. But would anyone be shocked if the latest wealthy, time-on-her-hands Hollywood starlet decides to try to get “programmed” to be thin? Would it even work? UCLA professor Michael Strober isn’t convinced:

[Strober] said that pressures causing people to gain weight are myriad, including rushed lives, high-calorie convenience foods and physical inactivity.

“Such systemic lifestyle issues need to be targeted by something far more comprehensive than implanting false memories,” he said.

This article has made me hungry; I’m heading to Baskin Robbins.