The average fan of “Hannah Montana” is 8 to 12. The average fan of “Hannah Montana” hasn’t even seen the Vanity Fair cover featuring a “topless” Miley Cyrus. The average fan of “Hannah Montana” is expecting to see her this weekend at Disney World.

Miley Cyrus went to Disney World, but won’t be sticking around long enough for the media to show up.

Cyrus no longer plans to attend a red carpet event at the resort Friday, Disney said Thursday. It would have been her first scheduled public event since Vanity Fair published photos this week that have thrown her status as a role model for young girls into question.

For weeks she’d been scheduled to appear at the media party, along with dozens of other Disney Channel stars in town to film the “Disney Channel Games,” a charity competition. Disney did not elaborate on why Cyrus is no longer expected.

This is another huge mistake on Disney’s part. Seeing that Miley showed up to do autographs and such, I figure Disney has asked her to be conveniently absent from the weekend festivities.

The average fan of “Hannah Montana” is going to be asking their parents a lot of questions and that’s going to hurt the brand even more. Another good one guys. Keep up the great work. You’ll have the brand destroyed completely by Monday.

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In 2007, the Clintons had $20 million in income. Barack Obama had $4.2 million. John McCain made just under $259,000.

Did I wake up in an alternate dimension or something?

Update: Although John McCain made just $259,000 due to the fact Arizona is a community property state, he is required to report 1/2 of their joint earned income. Because of that technicality, he reported $405,000 in income. Still, a huge difference from the other two “working men” candidates.

Maybe we should start comparing their other assets… You know, like their recreational vehicles, boats, and property. Heck, we could even compare the size of their car spoilers.

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I’ve been watching (and blogging about) the developments of the Flight 93 memorial for some time now. Anyone who has seen the project knows exactly what it has been designed to look like.

I’ve posted about the design of the memorial itself as well as about action alerts to help raise awareness hoping this design never sees the light of day.

It’s been a couple of years since the memorial design was opened for public comment, and it seems nothing has changed. It’s time we stand up and do something about it.

Many people still haven’t even looked at the design, so how could they get angry about the design? Take a moment to visit Error Theory and you’ll see the many reasons why this memorial is not suitable for the brave men and women who died on Flight 93.

When you’re done looking, take another moment to sign the online petition calling for a full investigation into the reasons behind such an unacceptable design.

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This is something I have wondered for quite a while.

I know in a normal market it doesn’t make sense to reduce the principal on a mortgage, but in the case where millions of people are forced into foreclosure in any given month, it just makes sense to do so.

I tell you one thing, if the mortgage company (Countrywide) would have worked with a relative of mine, she wouldn’t have been forced to walk away from the house. But they couldn’t even be bothered to open the registered letter she sent them explaining her circumstances.

Banks may have to swallow reductions in the principal of some troubled home loans to ward off greater losses that could result from outright default, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday.

Warning that mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures are likely to rise, with more declines in house prices, Bernanke called for active measures from both the public and private sectors to stabilize housing markets.

“This situation calls for a vigorous response,” Bernanke said in a speech to the Independent Community Bankers of America, referring to government and private-sector initiatives to slow the rate of home loan failures.

“Measures to reduce preventable foreclosures could help not only stressed borrowers but also their communities and, indeed, the broader economy,” he said.

We’re not talking about selling high priced cars or designer jewelry here, we’re talking about homes that are so overpriced right now it’s ridiculous. Doesn’t it make more sense to lose a little bit on the value of the loan than to lose the entire amount outright and have almost no possibility of recovering it anytime in the foreseeable future?

[Crossposted at Kooks In Suits]

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Are journalists no longer allowed to ask non-politically correct questions? This “I’m offended at anything you say that I don’t agree with” attitude is beginning to really piss me off. I thought journalists were supposed to ask the hard questions. I guess they just aren’t supposed to ask the ‘insensitive’ ones anymore.

Harry Smith, from CBS’s The Early Show asked Ted Kennedy if he was fearful about Barack Obama being the target of a possible assassination attempt if he is elected president. Sure, it was a bit weird for him to ask the question the way he did, but I think he was told to sugar-coat it as much as he could and not say the ‘A’ word itself. But I think it was a valid question.

SMITH: I just, I think what I was trying to say is, sometimes agents of change end up being targets, as you well know, and that was why I was asking if you were at all fearful of that.

Now people are all in a frenzy because Harry Smith had the audacity to bring up the possibility of assassination. Why? Is that topic taboo just because he was speaking about Barack Obama? Was it uncalled for simply because he was speaking to Ted Kennedy? The possibility of assassination is a reality that any person faces when they choose to run for public office, and like it or not, the Kennedy’s have suffered immeasurably because of it. Who better to ask about such a topic?

Some say he shouldn’t have asked in the first place, and I wonder why. Are people really that dense? It’s time they wise up because you don’t have to be uncaring, insensitive, or even a screwball racist to understand that there are people out there that just might not like seeing Obama sitting in the Oval Office.

[Source: NewsBusters]

Today is Pearl Harbor Day.

So take a moment to remember those who died this day, in 1941.

My heartfelt thanks goes out to every man and woman who has served, or now serves in our U.S. Armed Forces.

Read rest of story…

Just think…

If Menu Foods had handled the initial news of the pet food recall a bit better (ie, informing customers that there was a problem, and pulling all of their products immediately), they wouldn’t be in this position now would they? Oh sure, they would still be losing money, but I think customer confidence wouldn’t have dropped so low if they had been more concerned with the animals than their bottom line when they first became aware there was a problem.

Menu Foods Income Fund, still struggling with the fallout from its massive recall of tainted pet food, posted a third-quarter loss Wednesday and said that customers who accounted for more than a third of its sales in 2006 will no longer do business with the company.

Menu said it lost $19.3-million, or $1.01 a unit, in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. That compared with a profit of $1.3-million, or 7 cents a unit, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $78.1-million from $90.1-million a year earlier, and the company’s forecast was bleak.

“The fund has been informed that customers whose volume represented approximately 37 per cent of sales in 2006 will no longer be purchasing these products from Menu,” the company said. “The effects of this lost business will be felt over time.”

As well, customers whose 2006 volumes accounted for almost 14 per cent of sales “have already stopped doing business with Menu,” it said.

Menu’s recall, first announced in March, has been expanded several times

Companies responsible for 14 percent of their sales have already stopped doing business with them and an additional 37 percent say they wont be back. Can the company survive with just 49% of the business they had in 2006?

It’s been 242 days since they informed their investors that there was a problem. That press release was clearly marked, “NOT FOR RELEASE OVER US NEWSWIRE SERVICES”.

Any idea that they actually cared about what was happening to the animals who ate their products is insane. They didn’t care then, and it’s clear, based on their customers still leaving in droves, they don’t care now.

Will Menu Foods be forced into bankruptcy because of this? I really don’t care. It’s not about them, it’s about the thousands of pets that have been lost because of the tainted product.

Legendary writer Norman Mailer has been hospitalized for the second time in as many months for severe respiratory problems, and his children are now holding daily vigils at his bedside in the critical-care unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.

“He’s not in very good shape. It’s breaking my heart,” ex-wife Carol Mailer said yesterday.

“He went in this time because his lung collapsed. . . . They got the scar tissue out, and the surgery was successful.

“But I just don’t think he’s doing well. My heart is heavy,” she said.

Get well soon, Norman.

From October 12th through October 20th, the BP Solar Decathlon will be held on the National Mall in Washington, DC. The Solar Decathlon consists of 20 different college and university teams that compete to design, build and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

Just like any other decathlon, the BP Solar Decathlon consists of ten different contests. Participants will be scored on architecture, engineering, market viability, communications, comfort zone, appliances, hot water, lighting, energy balance, and getting around. To compete, each home must be powered exclusively by the sun, and must be attactive and easy to live in. Needless to say, the event

As part of their commitment to discovering cost effective, clean energy solutions for everyday living, BP has sponsored the Solar Decathlon as one of their main corporate sponsors since 2002. This year, BP has put together the BP Solar Decathlon Blog, where the teams will write posts and update us all on their progress throughout the competition.

The Solar Decathlon Blog has information and photos from all the teams, as well as more information on alternative energy resources. Contrary to popular belief, BP invests millions of dollars every year in alternative energy solutions, including solar technology, wind farms, and researching new bioscience solutions that would reduce the impact of energy consumptions on the environment.

I am pulling for the team from Georgia Institute of Technology. If I lived in the Washington, D.C. area, I would definitely be down on the National Mall checking out the solar village next week.

Things aren’t looking good in the search for Steve Fossett, but the fact that his emergency beacon has not been activated is a good sign.

The search for missing adventurer Steve Fossett entered a fifth day on Friday with a squadron of aircraft scouring a vast expanse of rugged Nevada wilderness for clues to the aviator’s fate.

…

The 63-year-old veteran of several world record-breaking solo plane and balloon flights has not been heard from since taking off from a private airstrip 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Reno, Nevada, early Monday.

…

Fossett’s single-engine Bellanca aircraft was equipped with an electronic tracking device designed to be triggered in the event of a rough landing, but it had not been activated.

They’ll probably find him sitting there wondering what took them so long to find him.