- Wha…..wait. Not everyone is down with a chance to hang out with the musical luminary that is 8-year-old Canadian pop-singing chick Justin Bieber? Clearly not, because in the aftermath of Biebs’ guest spot on CBS’s drama “CSI,” star Marg Helgenberger laid the weak-voiced popster out in a radio interview. "I probably shouldn't say this, but he was kind of a brat," Helgenberger said. "He locked one of the producers in a closet. And he put his fist through a cake that was on the craft services table." Those actions would definitely qualify a person as a brat, assuming the individual making those observations is north of 50 years old and still uses terms like brat. Neither the show nor Bieber’s representatives responded to requests for comment, but Bieber took to Twitter (of course) to defend himself against Helgenberger’s claims. "It's kinda lame when someone you met briefly and never worked with comments on you. I will continue to wish them luck and be kind. #killemwithkindness," he tweeted. "Even last week they had me scolded on a plane in the news because i wasnt in my seat fast enough. She was right and i sat down. That's news? I know who i am and sometimes people r just going 2 say what they want. Keep ur head up and be the man ur mama raised. #killemwithkindness.” Good to know your mom taught you to ruin food left out on the craft services table for everyone on set to enjoy, Biebs. "Rumors are just that ... rumors," Bieber continued. "In the end if you just be kind and be yourself people will know who you are. That goes for anyone i think. as for now ... we are in the JUNGLE!! Dont spread gossip and dont spread rumors about others ... im a kid and i know that. #respect." For some reason, he chased that tweet with another containing a video clip of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" from "The Lion King." Bro, you realize the jungle analogy is a huge reach, right? You’re a bad pop singer enjoying the requisite 15 minutes of fame and parlaying them into acting opportunities. Don’t look for a third guest spot on “CSI” because unless your appearance ends with Helgenberger putting a fake bullet through your mop-haired head, she seems unlikely to be amenable to the idea and offending one of your stars isn't the best approach for a show runner…………
- Welcome to the club, Georgia! Arizona founded it last year by implementing its controversial immigration law that became a flashpoint for an entire nation and now the Peach State is joining up with Republican Gov. Nathan Deal expected to sign Georgia's own immigration bill into law this week. The legislation would allow police to investigate the immigration status of certain suspects and severely punish those who transport or harbor illegal immigrants in the state. Supporters of the bill insist illegal immigrants are consuming valuable state resources, including schools, hospitals and jails. They continue to hammer a recent Pew Hispanic Center estimate that says Georgia is home to 425,000 illegal immigrants - more than those in Arizona. Yet the study isn't winning over opponents of the bill, who fear Georgia could suffer the same economic impacts that Arizona felt last year after implementing the nation’s strictest immigration law. Tourism officials worry the measure could lead to tourists avoiding the state to protest what they perceive as an unfair targeting of immigrants. According to the Arizona Hotel & Lodging Association, Arizona has lost $141 million in direct spending, along with 2,761 jobs and $9.4 million in tax revenue as a result of its immigration law, including some 40 conventions it was to host. Georgia could have had some company in joining this dubious club had Florida stepped up with its own immigration bill, but the state’s legislature adjourned Saturday without an agreement on a tough immigration bill sought by the governor and attorney general. Utah (yes, Utah) is also on the verge of putting its own immigration law in place, but a civil rights group has filed for a preliminary injunction to block the start of the law on Tuesday. Aside from zeroing in on any one state and the nuances of its particular immigration law, a wider view of the issue makes it clear that this is something there will be more of going forward, not less…………
- This time around, Sony was prepared. A second attack on the company’s servers over the weekend was allegedly planned, but Sony’s heightened security after a network breach for its PlayStation Network was apparently enough to fend off the would-be attackers. The group’s plan was allegedly to retaliate for Sony’s handling of the PlayStation Network breach by staging another attack on Sony, this time on an unspecified company Web site, with the goal of posting any information they could find somewhere online. The plan was discussed on an Internet Relay Chat channel the group uses, but someone apparently tipped Sony off to the potential attack, "Apparently Sony saw that article because the last server that I could access is offline now...its probbaly (sic) being patched like the other servers. There goes our window," one would-be attacker wrote. By securing its remaining servers this group claims it had access to, Sony was able to cut off any avenues for another attack. Reports of the possible attack surfaced Thursday and Sony clearly kept its surveillance eyes and ears open from that point on. No one has publicly taken credit for the PlayStation network attacks, but the prime suspect in the case - the hacker group Anonymous - has denied involvement. Sony still hasn’t brought the PlayStation network back online, saying it is still not secure enough to bring back yet. A company spokesman said the company was still trying to grasp the breadth and depth of the initial attack and that investigation is the primary cause for the delay in rebuilding the network. PSN, Qriocity, and Sony Online remain offline and will stay that way until Sony completes a total rebuild of the security systems. That seems wise, what with the personal information of more than 100 million Sony customers exposed in the breach. To compensate for that major glitch, Sony has promised to compensate customers with free ID theft monitoring, as well as free content and 30 days of free access to the premium version of PSN. The company also confirmed Saturday that it had removed the names of 2,500 entrants to a 2001 Sony contest with partial addresses that had been copied from an old part of the company's Web site and posted online. Having said all of that, the one thing most PlayStation users want at this point is to be able to go online and game with their digital friends again…………
- When one is a brutal, fascist dictator ruling a Middle East nation with an iron fist of terror, being linked to black magic, witchcraft and the summoning of genies isn't exactly good for business, so to speak. Yet as an increasingly bitter rift between Iranian dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the country's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, those allegations are being lodged against Ahmadinejad and some of his associates by Iran's powerful clerics. No less than 25 confidants of Ahmadinejad and his controversial chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei have been arrested and charged with being "magicians” in the past few days. The conservative Iranian newspaper Ayandeh described one aide, Abbas Ghaffari, as "a man with special skills in metaphysics and connections with unknown worlds." Those connections allegedly include summoning a genie who caused his interrogator to have a heart attack. It’s an absurdly over-the-top story, but it underscores just how bitter the fight forward Ahmadinejad and Khamanei has become in a country where religious issues are always at the forefront. Building a smear campaign based on supernatural allegations is unquestionably risky and many critics wonder if the tactic won't backfire on the clerics. That is double true in Iran, where the cleric-based model of religion is losing its foundation and traditional beliefs that incorporate ideas about a coming messiah, the end of the world and traditional magic concepts like genies, are becoming increasingly popular especially with Ahmadinejad's supporters. In fact, the dictator himself has made supernatural claims in the past, telling followers in 2005 that he was surrounded by a halo of light during a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in which the foreign leaders in the hall were entranced, unable to blink for a half hour. Mashaei has long been a target for Iran’s religious establishment due to his position as the man behind much of Ahmadinejad's political and religious thinking. He practices an alternative Messianic version of Islam that includes aspects of the occult and a seeks a much more limited role for clerics. The common belief within Iran is that Ahmadinejad wants Mashaei to succeed him as the country’s political leader - whenever he kicks the bucket and can no longer be dictator for life, of course. The actual skirmish between Ahmadinejad and Khamanei began two weeks ago, when Ahmadinejad fired Abdulhassan Banisadr, accusing the intelligence minister of being a spy who fed information to the supreme leader about Mashaei. Khamenei undermined Ahmadinejad by reinstating Banisadr immediately, leading to a weeklong boycott of official duties by Ahmadinejad. Buying into any Ahmadinejad conspiracy theory is risky, but it is possible to see how the religious establishment would fear the possible ascension to power of a man like Mashaei given his desire for drastically reducing their sphere of influence in Iran. That a political rift has grown so rapidly and added a spiritual component is noteworthy, although the entire situation could just be a giant smoke screen designed to sell the rest of the world on a fractured, weakened Iranian regime in order to throw everyone off the track as Ahmadinejad pushes the country’s nuclear program to a point where it can legitimately nuke Israel off the map and commence World War IIIO…………
- A six-year, $110.1 million contract just doesn’t buy an NBA team what it used to. In the good old days (a few years ago), that kind of contract would go to a guy who was a franchise player, a mentally tough cornerstone upon which you could build a franchise. Now…….it buys you a fragile, mentally weak, borderline All-Star who can be rattled by something as simple as a hype video scored by the “Rocky” theme played on an arena videoboard prior to a game. The alleged superstar in question is Miami Heat forward Chris Bosh, who turned in perhaps his worst game of the season, a six-point, five-rebound effort in 30 minutes in the Heat's 97-81 blowout loss to the Celtics in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series in Boston. Bosh isn't necessarily renowned for showing up large in big games, but his effort on Saturday night as especially lackluster. Explaining his terrible performance would have been tough had Bosh himself not laid it out after the game. "Given all the elements that were out there last night ... they were so hyped," Bosh said. "My emotions got the best of me early on and it kind of dictated what I was doing for the rest of the game." He cited the video prior to the game in which the Celtics were shown outside their locker room jumping up and down as the theme from “Rocky” blared from the loud speakers. He also pointed to the raucous crowd at TD Garden as a reason he was rattled and admitted that when he hesitated and passed up the open jumper on Miami’s first possession, it got inside his head for the remainder of the game. Celtics forward Kevin Garnett worked Bosh over to the tune of 28 points and 18 rebounds, and was ineffective on the offensive end and left the weak link in the Heat’s supposed big three fumbling for answers. "I was not trusting my game," Bosh said. "The toughest thing to do in hostile environments is not just to trust your teammates but to trust yourself. Trust things you've been doing all your life." Wait, so one hype video and a rowdy crowd were enough to make you question things you’ve done your whole life? Not that the Heat are going to rise or fall on Bosh’s performance as they chase the elusive championship Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade came together in Miami to chase, but that doesn’t excuse Bosh wilting under no real pressure and admitting to it after the fact…………
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