Denver cops rough up ABC reporter on public sidewalk, push him into traffic

Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel.

Police on the scene refused to tell ABC lawyers the charges against the producer, Asa Eslocker, who works with the ABC News investigative unit.


(click to watch the video that abc doesn’t allow to be embedded)

A cigar-smoking Denver police sergeant, accompanied by a team of five other officers, first put his hands on Eslocker’s neck, then twisted the producer’s arm behind him to put on handcuffs.

A police official later told lawyers for ABC News that Eslocker is being charged with trespass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order. He also said the arrest followed a signed complaint from the Brown Palace Hotel.

Michael Phelps set to be swimming Scrooge McDuck style in piles of money

Ya, he’s going to take up business operation of hometown swimming club, but the business tie-ins and endorsements that await him are going to be fantazmagoracle. Check out what he’s pocketed just in BONUSES for gosh sake:

Phelps collected $480,000 from USA Swimming and another $200,000 from the U.S. Olympic Committee for his record eight gold medals in Beijing. Had Phelps been born 9,000 miles away in Singapore, he might have pocketed S$8 million ($5.6 million) from the most bonus-friendly national sports body.

How much is a Phelps endorsement worth you ask?…

“Michael Phelps would be worth $40 or $50 million to Nike,” said Howard Bloom, who teaches sports management at Algonquin College in Ottawa and has worked with several Olympic athletes, “He could literally allow them to launch a massive swimwear company, and I think you are going to see an incredible bidding war for him.“

And if that isn’t nuts enough for you, how about this tidbit courtesy of Phelps’ agent Peter Carlisle.

“What is the value of eight golds in Beijing before a prime-time audience in the U.S? I’d say $100 million over the course of his lifetime.“

Though the source is skeptical, the numbers can’t be too far off…

Exit question: Does Sports Illustrated hate Mr Phelps? How else do you explain them using the worst picture of him ever, EVER?…

The Riddler in the Dark Knight Returns

An excellent fan rendition of what the next Nolan Batman movie might look like. Rumors are abound, including Johnny Depp as the Riddler, but none are anywhere near conformable and no deals have been made, scripts drafted, actors cast, or budget provided. All speculation, but still fun


click for full size/high res

click for high res/full

Mr T reacts to his banned Snickers commercial (with Bonus Dennis Miller reaction to T’s reaction)

This cracked me up. Could Mr T get more awesome? Seriously… He delivers a genuine and powerful, yet amusing retort to the idiocy over his candy bar ad being offensive to homosexuals because… I’m not sure why. Because gay people walk with a swish
“I have been pitying fools for 28 years and its never personal”. Indeed T.

In the following segment, Dennis Miller asked “what’s next? Women protesting over Mounds bars?” to which O’Reilly paused and noted that he didn’t get it before a quick recovery saying he did – followed by a ziplipped Miller for 2 seconds, letting O’Reilly stumble in his awkward oopsie.

They go off subject right afterward and comment on other news of the day as usual for the segment, but Dennis loops it around by saying Obama needs to “grow a set of Snickers” and teased O’Reilly over the Mounds bar crack to which both were visibly amused.

How is this not everyone’s favorite show again?…

Gay couples use weddings as wedges

Emotion is the sword in the anti-Prop 8 ballot measure in California as gay couples use their weddings in the fight to take away the definition of marriage away from the will of the public:

George Takei of “Star Trek” fame and his partner, Brad Altman, are working with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to publicize their Sept. 14 wedding in an effort to put a “public face” on the gay marriage issue. The Human Rights Campaign, meanwhile, has listed them as the first couple on their online registry.

Takei, 71, and Altman, 54, have also asked friends and family to make donations in honor of the wedding to the Japanese-American National Museum in Los Angeles, where they are holding their ceremony.

“We don’t need another toaster or another set of silverware,” said Takei, who is of Japanese ancestry. “So we thought we’d have people who want to celebrate with a gift, do that with these two institutions.”

Yager, the wedding planner, said same-sex couples have found other ways to provide monetary support to defeating Proposition 8, including purchasing wedding favors from vendors that will then donate the proceeds to gay rights organizations.

The Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center has made the process easier by creating an online resource for same-sex couples. The site lists more than 60 wedding businesses _ providing everything from invitations to lighting _ that donate to the center, which has given $200,000 to the No on 8 campaign, said spokesman Jim Key.

Moron says McCain ad is racist for having white girls in it, and purposely injected “phallic symbols” (also known as “buildings of the places Obama was speaking at” – and the guy doesn’t even get THOSE right)

Little commentary needed for this one, except that if you do as he says and “look at it again”, you’ll see he gets BOTH monuments wrong in the ad. It’s not the Washington monument or the leaning tower of Pisa. What a maroon…

I’ve played the “get the fuck out of my yard card” before. Also, the race Genie delivers a joke about “Jew-noses” that the Daily Show audience didn’t catch too.