Canucks conquer count

In late surge Canada leads in Gold Medals, and not the flour




VANCOUVER — Canada won four medals on Friday — three in speed skating and one in curling — as the normally glory-starved nation leaped into the lead for total gold medals.

Quebec's Charles Hamelin won two gold medals, grabbing the top spot in the Olympic men's short-track 5,000 metres relay on Friday and winning a chaotic men's 500-metre short-track skate. Canada now has 10 golds, while the U.S. has eight and Germany has nine.

Canada's curlers went way off their Olympic script on Friday, as the heavily favoured women's team hurled away the gold medal to Sweden in a heart-stopping, high-decibel final on home soil.

The loss of gold in the temple of curling piles pressure not only on Canada's unbeaten men curlers in a final against Norway on Saturday, but also on the other Winter Games sport where Canadians demand dominance — ice hockey.

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Tiger gets eaten by Gatorade

Prediction: Powerade and Tiger, together this time next year




Gatorade had quit making its Gatorade Tiger Focus sports drink last fall -- but that was before Tiger Woods' personal reputation became tarnished after a Nov. 27 car accident triggered a series of revelations about marital infidelities that have resulted in Woods staying off the PGA Tour golf circuit so far this season and undergoing an undisclosed type of rehab.

On Friday, Gatorade said it was ending its sponsorship relationship with Woods. The announcement comes a week after the world's top-ranked golfer surfaced briefly to give a televised apology.

In a statement issued by Gatorade spokeswoman Jennifer Schmit, the company announced, "We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship. However, our partnership with the Tiger Woods Foundation will continue. We wish him all the best."

This is the third sponsor to sever ties with Woods; Accenture and AT&T did so last year. Woods still has endorsement contracts with Nike, EA Sports, NetJets, Upper Deck and TLC Vision. The Tag Heuer watch company and Procter & Gamble's Gillette razor products have stopped running ad campaigns featuring Woods but have not announced any contract terminations.

During his statement last week, Woods said he was returning to rehab and gave no hint as to when he would return to the PGA Tour.

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Sea World whale has killed in the past, will resume performing Saturday

Look, folks, don't go to Sea World, go to a real aquarium that actually teaches your kids. Sea World is about as educational as TLC, Dan Brown novels, and bellybutton lint




Former killer whale trainers are raising questions about safety at SeaWorld Orlando following the death of a trainer on Wednesday.

Veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau, 40, was dragged by her ponytail into the water to her death by a killer whale named Tilikum. The orca thrashed Brancheau around underwater as a horrified crowd watched.

Thad Lacinak, the former head of animal training at the SeaWorld Olando, said the rules in place at the Florida park when he left in 2008 would not have allowed a trainer to lie down on a submerged shelf next to the whale as Brancheau did just prior to her death.

"She lay completely down, which is a very vulnerable position to be in with an animal like Tilikum. And apparently her ponytail drifted into the water. He just opened his mouth, sucked it in and pulled her in the water," Lacinak said.

Tilikum's trainer at the now-closed Sealand in Victoria, B.C., Steve Huxster, told CBC on Thursday that he was surprised to hear the whale was performing at all.

"It was my understanding from when Tilikum was acquired by the SeaWorld organization that he would not be a display animal. The intent was that he was to be part of the breeding program and that was it," said the whale's former trainer of eight years.

Breeding animals do not perform and are not on public view.

Huxster, referring to Tilikum's past involvements in two other human deaths, said that the intelligent animal would want to recreate, what he described as, "highly stimulating situations."

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New music acts to labels: "We won't tweet"

In just 2 years, the music industry has lost 24 million buyers! 1 million of those were digital customers
(editor's note: Rihanna is a Universal Music Group artist but we do not mean to imply she is among the non-socials. We just wanted to see a photo of Rihanna in a bikini)




NEW YORK--The music industry is in a major state of crisis and some up and coming acts are reluctant to dirty their hands with social networking.

Some new artists signing at both major and indie labels are telling execs there that they'll make music, but don't expect them to do Facebook or Twitter. The labels are saying back that the days when performers--even mega-superstar performers--can keep fans at arms length are over.

"I was shocked to find out how many twentysomethings aren't interested in social networking," said Cameo Carlson, a former iTunes executive who is now executive vice president at Universal Motown Republic Group.

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John Mayer is sorry for being an "Asshole"

...but what about for being a douchebag?




Continuing on his apology tour, John Mayer told New York fans that he is a different person and can't believe he ever used the N-word or referred to ex Jessica Simpson as sexual "crack cocaine" in an interview with Playboy.

"I hate to come off like an a**hole ever, and thank you guys for believing that I am not an a**hole," the singer told the crowd at his sold-out Madison Square Garden show in NYC (via MTV News.) "It's a clean me now, people, clean me."

"Never, ever, in my entire life did I ever think that it would be a good idea to be an a**hole. But you know what? There's plenty of a**holes who think the same thing, so I have to thank you," Mayer added.

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New York Times: U.S. Data Since 1895 Fail To Show Warming Trend

After examining climate data extending back nearly 100 years, a team of Government scientists has concluded that there has been no significant change in average temperatures or rainfall in the United States over that entire period.

While the nation's weather in individual years or even for periods of years has been hotter or cooler and drier or wetter than in other periods, the new study shows that over the last century there has been no trend in one direction or another.

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SIBEL EDMONDS: THE TRAITORS AMONG US

SIBEL EDMONDS HAS NAMED NAMES. WHY ISN’T THE MEDIA REPORTING THE STORY?




SIBEL EDMONDS, a former FBI translator, claims that the following government officials have committed what amount to acts of treason. They are lawmakers Dennis Hastert, Bob Livingston, Dan Burton, Roy Blunt, Stephen Solarz and Tom Lantos, as well as at least three members of George W. Bush’s inner circle: Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz and Marc Grossman. But is Sibel Edmonds credible?

“Absolutely, she’s credible,” Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told CBS’s 60 Minutes when he was asked about her in 2002. “The reason I feel she’s very credible is because people within the FBI have corroborated a lot of her story.” Edmonds’s remarkable allegations of bribery, blackmail, infiltration of the U.S. government and the theft of nuclear secrets by foreign allies and enemies alike rocked the Bush Administration. In fact, Bush and company actually prevented Edmonds from telling the American people what she knew—up until now.

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VIDEO: Eve Ensler on the Secret Life of Girls

CoOlDiGgY celebrates Black History Month: Pam Grier

Can ya dig it?

Gov. Quits

Political career sunk by a scandal he should have seen coming (but could not)




Gov. David Paterson has told Democratic leaders that he won't seek election to a full term amid a roiling scandal over whether he and his troopers intimidated a woman who'd reported domestic violence against one of his top aides, The Post has learned.

Paterson communicated his intentions to top advisers and supporters, saying he'll make an announcement today, multiple sources said -- confirming a Post report.

Paterson, who took over the state's top spot when Eliot Spitzer resigned after it was disclosed that he had sex with a prostitute, is expected to say he won't resign.

Just last night Paterson said he intended to continue his campaign, which he launched this past weekend. But he also said he would talk to fellow Democrats about his future.

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"You're So Vain" is....

...you probably think this post is about you




Carly Simon reveals the subject of 'You're So Vain': DAVID GEFFEN. Subjects of the song's stinging lyrics were rumored to be James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Mick Jagger or Warren Beatty. Nope, says Simon, it's about openly gay media mogul David Geffen.

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Where Have All the Black Men Gone?

A recurring question has surfaced in mainstream and ethnic media for more than a decade. The phrasing of the question differs depending on who's asking the question and why, but the question tends to boil down to this: Where have all the black men gone? They're missing in churches, missing from their families, missing from college campuses, and absent from work. Black women can't find a man to marry. Black children don't know where to find their fathers. Where are those guys?

Last Father's Day, presidential Barack Obama wagged a finger at all the missing black fathers. At the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago he stepped to the podium and said: "If we are honest with ourselves, we'll admit that too many fathers are missing -- missing from too many lives and too many homes. Too many fathers are MIA. Too many fathers are AWOL. They have abandoned their responsibilities. They're acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it. You and I know this is true everywhere, but nowhere is this more true than in the African American community."

The next day, social critic and sociologist Michael Eric Dyson published a critique of Obama's speech in Time magazine. He pointed out that the stereotype of black men being poor fathers may well be false. Research shows that black fathers not living at home are actually more likely to keep in contact with their children than fathers of any other ethnic or racial group. Dyson chided Obama for evoking a black stereotype for political gain, noting that "Obama's words may have been spoken to black folk, but they were aimed at those whites still on the fence about whom to send to the White House." Dyson's critique was a fair one, but like other media commentators, he remained silent about where all the absent black fathers could be found.

Here's a hint for all those still scratching their heads about those missing black fathers: Look in prison.

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