http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/10/churches-to-put-their-tax-status-on-the-line-for-the-gop/

Federal tax law, as it relates to tax-exempt religious ministries, is pretty clear — houses of worship may not legally intervene in political campaigns, either in support of or opposition to a candidate or a party. Those who violate the law run the risk of losing their tax-exempt status. With some regularity, the IRS reminds houses of worship about this, warning them about the dangers of ignoring the law.

A far-right group in Arizona, however, has an idea: conservative churches should ignore the law — and in the process, test the law — on purpose.

A conservative legal-advocacy group is enlisting ministers to use their pulpits to preach about election candidates this September, defying a tax law that bars churches from engaging in politics.

Alliance Defense Fund, a Scottsdale, Ariz., nonprofit, is hoping at least one sermon will prompt the Internal Revenue Service to investigate, sparking a court battle that could get the tax provision declared unconstitutional.

Those ministers the ADF are targeting need to think long and hard about this, because they’re playing a game they’re going to lose here.

From The Sunday Times
May 11, 2008




London’s hottest IT girl, the model Daisy Lowe, talks to Sunday Times Style magazine about fame, friends and having a broken heart at 19 - Paul Flynn

The problem with teenagers,” says the model Daisy Lowe, “is that they are so misunderstood.” This mantra has weathered tireless repetition over the decades since “teen age” was first identified, but, because Daisy is 19, stunning and slap bang in the thick of it, she is allowed to reinforce the point again.

“We aren’t any better or worse than the generations that went before us,” she continues. “Our problems always have and always will come down to one thing.” And that thing is? “Our bloody hormones. Give us a couple of years and we’ll all be fine.”

Daisy is feeling particularly hormonal at the moment.

So hormonal, in fact, that she has changed her shade of eyeliner from black to dark brown. The smudges don’t make such a mess, you see. There have been plenty of tears lately. “I am,” she notes, “absolutely heartbroken.”

It seems she only has her latest project to blame. Daisy and a jolly bunch of her hipster London friends were approached at the beginning of last year to take part in a documentary series for the BBC. Titled Class of 2008, it is perfect trinket TV: a transparent love letter to new metropolitan youth, accompanying a select crowd through the teens’ favoured playgrounds of Shoreditch, Camden and the occasional West End dive.

( blah blah continued )

Daisy has weathered tabloid infamy once before, when Gavin Rossdale, Mr Gwen Stefani, was uncovered as her biological father. Daisy’s split with Will has caused similar ructions, particularly given recent sightings of Daisy with Amy Winehouse’s producer and persistent social presence Mark Ronson. She is sanguine about it: “I’ve been seeing Mark while I’ve been in America. He’s a lovely, down-to-earth guy. I like hanging out with him.”

She is still, however, in recovery from her first big love. “I’m a sucker for romance,” she says. “I still hold on to the fact that, one day, once I’ve got my career thing done, I can meet up with Will again. I’d love to have his children. I’ve been a crying wreck since we split up. I’ve never loved anybody as much as him.”

Daisy Lowe is the class of 2008, in every sense of the word.

Class of 2008 airs from Saturday on the BBC Switch zone on BBC2 for eight weeks.

Source

sorry about the coding fuck up, mods

( 2 sneak peeks - spoilers ahoy! )

Source: abc.com and YouTube

Time to concentrate and emphasize to everyone why McCain is all wrong.

Melissa Joan Hart blogs about life



Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Spring/Summer news

Current mood: busy

Hey all, I figured it was about time for an update about our crazy lives. We are adjusting nicely to being a family of four, although it is a tough job. Its about to get a lot tougher as Mark leaves on tour this week.(Check out his page or website for dates with "Hurt") I'm not sure I can handle 2 babies on my own, unlike my sis who is a super-Mom. But I am off on a sort of tour as well. First to NY to do press for the Potty Training campaign for Pull-ups Training Pants and then off to Baton Rouge to shoot a feature film all of June. Its a thriller called "9 Dead" that my mother is producing with our company Hartbreak Films. After this film is wrapped we will be heading off to an unknown destination to shoot a new ABC family movie I am producing about 2 people who fake a wedding to get the gifts. Its really funny and anyone that liked Holiday In Handcuffs is gonna love this one. Wish us luck on our travels and say a prayer for Mark that he doesn't die from heartbreak from missing his boys too much!

Source

ILU 4EVER, CLARISSA. Get it with your funky clothes.

( You are about to view content that may only be appropriate for adults. )

 
Yep, she's 50!

I'm told that the 600 or so on the guest list include newlyweds Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Tom Hanks, Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Foxx, Paris Hilton and Clive Davis.

Pink will perform and Samantha Ronson will deejay.

DeGeneres turned 50 on Jan. 26, but postponed her party plans because of the writers' strike.

source

And he's hot

Christina Aguilera poised to earn even more



The new mom might not be busy with her singing career, but she’s still looking after her other business interests, namely her fragrance line. Life & Style reports that Aguilera’s third fragrance, Inspire, will hit stores this fall.

“Christina’s worked hard to get the scent exactly how she wants it,” an insider close to the singer told the magazine. Aguilera’s history with fragrances is a good one: the magazine reports that both of Aguilera’s previous perfumes, Xpose and Simply Christina, sold well internationally. “Because of the success of those perfumes, it was a no-brainer to create another,” the insider says. “She’ll be shooting ads for it soon.”

+

Christina to make an appearance @ Pure Nightclub in Vegas 05/08

Christina Aguilera is coming out for her man on May 31 at the launch party for British jeweler Stephen Webster’s silver collection. The party will take place at Pure in Las Vegas during the jewelry trade show, Couture. Aguilera’s husband, Jordan Bratman, is said to be a board member of Stephen Webster, which is owned by a newly formed holding company related to Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos. Garrard is owned by the same company.

- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24525545/
- http://www.wwd.com/fashion/article/124717?page=2

http://feeds.drudge.com/~r/retort/~3/287771036/san-franciscans-memorialize-bush

A group called the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco has launched a ballot initiative that would rename a city sewage treatment plant the "George W. Bush Sewage Plant."

http://www.metafilter.com/71557/An-unbiased-informative-site-for-heated-issues

ProCon.org is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit public charity that has no government affiliations of any kind. On it, you can find unbiased information on the Pros and Cons of issues ranging from the the use of medical marijuana to whether milk really does do a body good. They use a system of theoretical credibility to give weight to cited arguments and opinions, and offer 1-minute overviews, top 10 Pro/Cons, Summaries, Little-known facts, and even extensive glossaries for each subject. They are also following the 2008 election.
Re: Euthanasia-

Did you know? The original text of the ancient Greek Hippocratic Oath, that is still taken (in some form) by many medical school graduates, contained prohibitions against surgery, abortion, and euthanasia.

http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/287770650/569

Dr. Lieberman:

‘I just want to report that this morning I personally checked John McCain’s bearings. He has not lost any of them. They are all in really great shape."

Little too much information, maybe, Joe?

Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome which involves a delusion that the affected person can or has transformed into an animal, or that he or she is an animal.

Its name is connected to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which people are said to physically shapeshift into wolves. The word zoanthropy is also sometimes used for the delusion that one has turned into an animal in general and not specifically a wolf.