Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Is Aspray for real?


Perhaps the most offensive infomercial you'll ever see is an advertisement for a spray that claims to be able to prevent butt-stink and every other odor no single deodorant would dare to tackle.

"Aspray goes where other deodorants can't. Aspray your butt," the announcer boasts. "Aspray under your arms. Aspray your feet. You can even Aspray your privates."

Then, to top it off, a woman is shown crossing her legs and spraying her crotch, followed by this line:. "Aspray is safe for all your odor zones."

The "Doc Bottoms' Aspray" -- it's pronounced A-spray, though most certainly intended to be remembered for an alternative pronunciation -- seems more like a Saturday Night Live skit than a real product. Case in point, the commercial includes a supposed testimonial from sweaty contractor "Lanny F.," who proclaims in animated fashion, "I've got odors in special places," later noting: "My butt."

You can get two Aspray for $14.95 plus $7.95 shipping and handling each. That brings the total to $30.85. But wait, there's more. You also get the "Pocket Shot," which we're told is "Perfect for on the go or give it to your smelly friend."

The Skyrocketing Deficit: How Scared Should We Be?


Jill Lawrence a columnist for Political Daily writes;

We've come a long way from the days when Bill Clinton fumed over his new role as an "Eisenhower Republican," driven to sacrifice his 1992 campaign pledges on the altar of deficit reduction. Nobody's an Eisenhower Republican now, and it's a little scary.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the White House's Office of Management and Budget are releasing new deficit projections Tuesday morning. The good news expected from OMB: Apparently the federal deficit will be $1.58 trillion, instead of $1.8 trillion, for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.

The bad news: That's still really, really terrible. The worse news: Over the next 10 years, we thought the government was on track to spend $7.1 trillion more than it takes in. But now OMB thinks it's looking more like $9 trillion.

That would practically double the total U.S. debt, which stood at $11.7 trillion as of Friday. Last month alone, the government paid $19.8 billion in interest on the national debt.

The administration leaked word Monday night that President Obama would reappoint Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to his job -- big news on the economic front, no doubt meant to divert us and the markets from those large, unpleasant numbers. But they are not so easily buried.

It's hard not to hyperventilate over the many better ways we could spend that interest money (covering the uninsured, anyone?). Hard not to wonder what our huge debt says about our character as a nation (selfish free-loaders on the next generation, casually putting the global economy at risk?)

It's hard not to fret about what that debt could do to us in a few years (drive up interest rates and taxes, sharply curtail government services) if we don't take steps to deal with it soon. Even now the projections are a threat to Obama's plans on health, energy and climate change – plans he campaigned on but, unlike Clinton, is insisting on pursuing in the teeth of a recession.

For more on this check out the full politics daily article at; http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/08/25/the-skyrocketing-deficit-how-scared-should-we-be/

Michael Jackson's Final Hours


In the hours before his death, Michael Jackson was given a powerful cocktail of drugs by Dr. Conrad Murray to help him sleep. When one medicine didn't work, Murray tried another, finally resorting to a dose of the anesthetic propofol, although Murray allegedly feared Jackson was forming an addiction.

The details of Jackson's final hours, and the actions by his doctor, are outlined in an search warrant affidavit unsealed Aug. 24. Murray, in a statement issued by his attorney, Ed Chernoff, later that day, denied some, but not all, of the information police say he provided to them – specifically that he left Jackson's room during a critical period when the singer was under heavy sedation, according to the Associated Press.

What follows is the timeline of events allegedly given to detectives by Murray in the days following Jackson's death:

June 22: Murray gives Jackson 25 milligrams of propofol along with the sedatives lorazepam and midazolam. The singer is able to sleep with this mixture.

June 23: Murray gives Jackson the same drug combination as he did the day before, but this time without propofol in hopes of weaning him off it. Again, the singer was able to sleep.

The Day of Jackson's Death
June 25: At about 1:30 a.m., Murray again tried to get Jackson to sleep without propofol and gives the singer a 10-milligram tablet of Valium, but Jackson is unable to sleep.

• Around 2 a.m.: Murray injects Jackson with two milligrams of lorazepam, pushed slowly into the singer's IV. But again, Jackson can't sleep.

• Around 3 a.m.: Murray then gives two milligrams of midazolam to Jackson, also pushed slowly into the IV. Jackson remains awake.

• Around 5 a.m.: Murray gives the singer another two milligrams of lorazepam but Jackson still can't sleep.

• Around 7:30 a.m.: Murray administers another two milligrams of midazolam. Murray claims he is continuously at Jackson's bedside, monitoring the singer with a pulse oximeter [connected to Jackson's finger] and measuring his pulse and oxygen statistics. But Jackson remains awake.

• Around 10:40 a.m.: Murray gives Jackson 25 milligrams of propofol diluted with lidocaine to keep Jackson sedated after repeated demands for the drug by the singer. Jackson finally falls asleep, and Murray continues to monitor him.

• After 10 minutes: Murray states he left Jackson's bedside to use the restroom and is gone for no more than two minutes. Upon his return, Murray finds Jackson not breathing. Murray begins CPR, and gives Jackson 0.2 milligrams of flumazenil, an antidote for certain overdoses. Using his cell phone, Murray calls Jackson's personal assistant, Michael Amir Williams, and asks him to send security upstairs for an emergency.

Murray continues CPR – and before security arrives – he leaves Jackson and runs to the hallway and downstairs to the kitchen, where he asks the chef to send up Jackson's 12-year-old son, Prince Michael I. Murray continues CPR. The boy arrives upstairs and summons security.

• At 12:21 p.m.: Jackson staff member Alberto Alvarez dials 911, and the Los Angeles Fire Department responds on the scene shortly thereafter. Murray waits for the ambulance while conducting CPR, and later accompanies Jackson to the hospital.

L.A. Coroner Rules Michael Jackson Death Homicide


After an autopsy of Michael Jackson found lethal levels of the anesthetic propofol in his body, the Los Angeles County Coroner has reportedly ruled the singer's death a homicide, the Associated Press reports.

According to the seach warrant, Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, told LAPD detectives that he had been treating the singer for insomnia for about six weeks, and had been giving Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol every night intravenously. Jackson referred to propofol, a cloudy white fluid, as his "milk," according to the affidavit.

But Murray told police he was worried Jackson was becoming addicted to the powerful anesthetic and tried to ease him off it. Murray said he reduced the singer's dosage to 25 milligrams and added two other sedatives, lorazepam and midazolam, the Times reports. On June 23, two days before Jackson's death, Murray administered those two medications and withheld the propofol.

On the morning the singer died, Dr. Murray tried to help Jackson sleep without using propofol, according to the paper. Murray told detectives he gave the singer valium at 1:30 a.m., and then injected lorazepam through an IV at 2 a.m. An hour later, when Jackson was still awake, Murray gave him midazolam, according to the report.

Over the next few hours, Murray said he gave Jackson various drugs. Then at 10:40 a.m., Murray administered 25 milligrams of propofol after Jackson repeatedly demanded the drug, according to the affidavit.

Murray told detectives that after he administered Jackson's last dose of propofol, he stepped away from the singer for only two minutes to use the restroom. When he returned, Murray said, he found Jackson wasn't breathing and immediately began CPR.

However, detectives later obtained Murray's phone records, and found Murray was on the phone with three separate callers for approximately 47 minutes shortly after he allegedly found Jackson not breathing.

While Murray performed CPR, one of Jackson’s staff members called 911. The singer was then rushed to UCLA Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

If you ask me there is still much not being disclosed about the death of Michael Jackson and this doctor or should I say WHACK JOB!.

Zac Efron on the set of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud


Look who's on the prowl! Zac Efron gets ready to make his move – and bares his ripped abs! – while on the Burnaby, British Columbia, set of The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud on Friday.

What is it with this new generation of Hollywood? They don't seem to have the acting chops of those previous versions. Could Hollywood be in danger of producing cookie cutter stars much like the current music industry?

Melanie Griffith Checks Into Rehab


Melanie Griffith has checked into a rehab facility.

"She is there to reinforce her commitment to stay healthy," says her rep Robin Baum. "This is part of a routine plan that was designed between her and her doctors years ago."

According to reports, the actress, 52, is staying at the Cirque Lodge in Utah. This is the third rehab stint for the actress in recent years.

In 2000, Griffith released a statement that she was seeking treatment for a drug problem. "My doctor has referred me to the Daniel Freeman Hospital to step down from the prescribed medication that I have been taking for a neck injury," she said.

Griffith, who is married to Antonia Banderas, was born into a show-biz family and is perhaps best known for her breakout role in 1988's Working Girl.

"Overcoming addictions is tough but it can be made easier if you have someone that can offer support," Griffith wrote on her Web site once. "My husband and family supported me so much through this journey and continue to do so."

Sometimes we tend to idolize these stars for what they have a fail to take into consideration the price for such fame.

More Proof of 'Bachelorette' Winner's Cheating Ways?


The hits just keep on coming for 'Bachelorette' coupe Ed Swiderski and Jillian Harris.

After Harris picked Swiderski on the finale, and he proposed, the pair has been plagued by rumors that he was romancing other women during the show and even after their engagement.

And when confronted with proof of his infidelity, Swiderski allegedly replied that he was happy to have the emails exposed on the Internet.

A RealitySteve.com blogger reportedly told Swiderski that he was going to expose the email chain between the 'Bachelorette' star and Lindsey Johnson and Bethany Steffen and he allegedly replied, "Go with it Steve-O."

In his electronic correspondence with Johnson during his time on the show, Swiderkski wrote, "I miss you dearly. I love you. I'm letting them know tonight. Hopefully they'll get me home tomorrow."

And when Steffen was worried that he'd get his own show if he lost, he told her, "You know I never took this thing seriously. In addition, I've let the director know that I would be doing the show for the wrong reasons as I am not, in any way, attracted to the chick."