Some Jewelery

Advocates of a welfare-to-work program created by last year's stimulus bill are calling on Congress not to jeopardize some 240,000 jobs by letting the program expire at the end of September.

Republicans and a handful of moderate Senate Democrats blocked a reauthorization of TANF Emergency Fund back in March. The progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported Thursday that as the program's Sept. 30 horizon looms, "states are ramping down their subsidized jobs programs, stopping new placements and giving notice that existing jobs will end."

"They're telling the moms once the fund ends, you're going to have to work for free," Diana Spatz told HuffPost Friday in an interview. Spatz is the executive director of Lifetime, a California membership organization that helps low-income parents pursuing post-secondary education that employs eight moms and two dads thanks to the program. "They can work through the end of this month and then I think we're going to be able to keep two or three of them, but we aren't sure," she said.

Further funding has already been approved by the House, and Spatz is hoping it will reach the Senate floor quickly after the Senate returns from its August recess on Sept. 13.

"It's really a shame on a number of levels," Sam Tuttleman, director of the Employment Services Department of the Alameda Social Services Agency, said of the program's likely demise. Tuttleman said the program is currently funding some 1,100 jobs in Alameda County and has had other benefits as well.

"There's a pretty negative view about 'welfare clients' in the employer community," he said. "One of the things this has done is it really has changed the perspective of a lot of our employers because they've gotten good employees who've really worked out for them.'"

Tuttleman said he's heard anecdotally that some businesses would keep the people they hired through the program, and that his agency would be conducting a survey of businesses in the next month. Conservatives outside of Congress have praised the Emergency Fund as the most direct way to create private-sector jobs and "because it actually has worked."

My prediction: If you enjoy excessive violence, boobs and/or Lindsay Lohan, you will love this movie about a Mexican fed with a license to kill!
When Robert Rodriguez makes a film, you should always expect the unexpected. So if you expected to have a peaceful, relaxing time at the movie theatre this Labor Day weekend, think again. Machete is blissful, bloody, fun carnage – but it sure as heck isn’t relaxing!

Danny Trejo plays an ex-Federale (a member of the Mexican police) who tries to clear his name after he’s made the fall guy on a crooked political assassination. Oh yeah, and he is PISSED. He wants revenge and will do whatever it takes to get it – including pretty inventive ways of killing those who have wronged him! Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin and Robert DeNiro are all along for the ride on this blood and boobs filled bonanza that had me cheering in the theatre!

Now, let’s talk Lindsay. By no means is this the 24-year-old trainwreck’s comeback role. But let me tell you – by the end of the movie I can definitely say her talent is still intact.

The first time you see her onscreen as gun-toting socialite/former nun April Benz, she gets into big trouble with her dad (Jeff Fahey), vomits and apologizes to him with a “sorry, daddy.” So basically, an average Friday night for Ms. Lohan.

What else does Lilo get into on the big screen? Well, she makes out with women, goes topless (her boobs look real and REALLY GOOD too!) and shoots guns! It’s not going to win her any Best Actress trophies, but I was a fan.

One reason NOT to see this movie? Jessica Alba. She plays an immigrations officer who’s trying to take down Michelle’s character, Luce – a taco-stand-owning killer. She’s so bad she’s almost good – almost. But let’s be honest – who’s really going to catch Jessica Alba in a movie for her acting?

In summary, will you enjoy Machete? If you want to end your summer with a bang and drive home the fact that Lindsay Lohan still can’t get a serious movie role, absolutely. I give it four out of five machetes for sure!

PS – if you’re a guy, there’s definitely a bonus in store for you. If your girlfriend has dragged you to see Charlie. St Cloud or The Switch in recent months, take her to see this movie as a revenge!

Do YOU think Justin Bieber would be just as good — or better — than John Travolta was as Danny Zuko in Grease?
“Summer Nights” is about to get a modern-day revamp! Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber says he wants to remake the 70s classic — and he already has cast his leading lady…the one and only Miley Cyrus.

“I would go for Miley Cyrus without hesitation. She can sing, dance and act,” the Biebz told The Sun of his dream cast. “It would be a lot of fun. It’s been talked about a lot over the years but it would be awesome to play Danny.”

As for the rest of the cast, 16-year-old Justin has his eyes set on some British staples.

“I’d want some great people to star in it. Wouldn’t Susan Boyle make an amazing Principal McGee? We’d just need to write it into the script that she broke into song,” he said, gushing, “I am obsessed with Susan. When I look at her original audition it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I would love to include Cheryl Cole as well. She would look great in the Rydell High cheerleading uniform.”

We’d LOVE to see Miley as Sandy and Justin as Danny…but do you think he can pull off the tough guy act? Who would be YOUR dream Grease cast?

NEW YORK — An arts student accused of slashing a Muslim taxi driver's neck has been indicted on hate-crime charges, prosecutors said Monday as the student's lawyer lashed out at media interest in a case that comes amid debate over attitudes about Muslims and a plan to build a mosque near ground zero.

Michael Enright, the 21-year-old accused of telling the driver to "consider this a checkpoint" before allegedly stabbing him last week, waived his right to be in court as his indictment was announced Monday. He was being held without bail in a psychiatric ward until an arraignment next month on charges of attempted murder and assault, both as hate crimes.

Authorities said Enright, who traveled to Afghanistan last spring with a group to promote interfaith understanding, uttered an Arabic greeting before making his "checkpoint" remark and attacking driver Ahmed H. Sharif with a folding knife Aug. 24. Police have said Enright was drunk.

Sharif, who is from Bangladesh, was wounded in the face and neck but survived. He has said he has no doubt the attack was fueled by anti-Muslim bias.

The allegations have mystified some who know Enright, a senior at the School of Visual Arts who lives with his parents in suburban Brewster, N.Y. He had volunteered with an interfaith group that helped pay to send him to Afghanistan as part of a video project for his school. As part of the work, Enright spent time embedded with U.S. troops.

When arrested, Enright was carrying two notebooks that described his experiences in Afghanistan, along with an empty bottle of scotch, police have said.

Enright's lawyer, Lawrence Fisher, declined to comment on the charges.

But he lambasted unspecified reporters for attempting to visit Enright in custody and raised the "heinous and egregious" prospect that journalists might have peeked into a prior Enright lawyer's file when it was inadvertently left for a time on a courthouse bench last week.

Enright has refused to speak with reporters, and Fisher said he might ask a judge to bar media representatives from trying to visit the student.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Life after Bobby Bowden for Florida State's players has meant getting lessons in positive thinking as well as eating more beans and greens and less fried chicken and fast-food burgers.

For Jimbo Fisher, who succeed the now-retired Hall of Fame coach at Florida State, it's finally getting a chance to do things his way after three years as Bowden' offensive coordinator. During the last two, Fisher also held the newly invented and uncomfortable title of coach-in-waiting.

For Florida State's boosters and fans it's given them hope, if not expectation, that a younger coach with a more up-to-date approach can duplicate what's happened just down the road in Gainesville.

That's where Urban Meyer, an energetic and relatively youthful coach – restored national championship luster to the Florida Gators, the Seminoles' bitter rivals.

"I think we'll do significantly better this year," said Jim Smith, former chairman of Florida State's Board of Trustees. "In a year or two we'll be back in the hunt."

Smith, who last fall successfully pushed for Bowden to retire a year sooner than he'd planned, is encouraged by a highly touted freshman class and several promising early verbal commitments for next year. He's also excited about a high-powered offense that returns most of its starters, including senior star quarterback Christian Ponder. Most of all, though, Smith's encouraged by Fisher himself.

"It's all about coaching," said Smith, a former Florida attorney general and secretary of state.

For all of Bowden's success – two national championships, 14 straight top five finishes and 377 career victories – many Florida State loyalists thought he'd lost his touch.

Fisher has a long history with the Bowden family that includes playing and coaching for and with Bobby's sons. He says he plans to maintain the traditions and values the elder Bowden established during 34 seasons at Florida State. But he's equally clear that he's his own man.

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Elisabeth Moss seems determined not to let her recently reported split with 'Saturday Night Live' star Fred Armisen get in the way of having a great time during her triumphant Emmy weekend.
The 'Mad Men' star, 28, made her first public appearances since the announcement of the split, gracing two glittering pre-Emmy parties on Friday night.
But by all accounts Moss, up for a best supporting Emmy this weekend, made for a stunning (and ringless) image at both Entertainment Weekly's Women in Film party and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Performers Nominee Reception.
"She looked great," says one guest at the nominees reception. "She was wearing a sexy, tight off-the-shoulder dress with a long zipper along the back. It was definitely a new look for her. This was not Peggy Olson, for sure."
"And she was definitely not wearing her wedding ring."

Moss seemed unaffected by the recent news that her 10-month old marriage to Armisen is on the rocks and recent reports that he's getting cozy with fellow 'SNL' star Abby Elliot.
She laughed frequently and spent significant time with a girlfriend at a table near the bar through much of the nominees party. Though the party was sponsored by Grey Goose, she bucked the 'Mad Men' trend and avoided cocktails, preferring another vice: smoking cigarettes outside.
"She spent much of the night in conversation, sometimes intense, with the friend at the table," says the guest. "But she definitely had time to share some laughs."
Moss even started a Happy Birthday song for 'Breaking Bad' star, and fellow nominee, Aaron Paul from the party's stage. It was a return favor to Paul, who had cheered wildly for the actress when she took the stage earlier.
"She looked right at home chatting with the other nominees on the stage," says the onlooker. "She looked entirely comfortable. And her dress was a knock-out."

Not cool, Gaga. Why would you admit that using drugs help you create ‘art’?
Lady Gaga is NOT setting the best example for her ‘little monsters.’ The 24-year-old pop star is not only re-verifies her drug use in the new issue of Q magazine, but she tries to rationalize it as well!

“[Using drugs] I really figured out the art I wanted to make and was inspired,” she said. “Some people find inspiration in dark places. I guess I’m one of them. What always made me different is that if I was doing drugs I was also making music. I wasn’t just doing drugs.”

The singer – who’s known for his bizarre and risque stage outfits, added, “Once you open those doors they’re open forever. People who say they need [drugs] to be creative are full of s**t. I’m not some chick on the road getting high and f***ed up every night. I wake up, drink coffee and get on the phone to talk about the creative direction of the next video.”

Even though she said in Vanity Fair that she only does cocaine “a couple of times a year”, we shouldn’t be hearing about this at all! Gaga really needs to start acting like the lady she is by keeping her mouth shut for the sake of the people that idolize her!

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has spent a good portion of the past two years going up against an entrenched web of military bureaucrats and defense lobbyists to try to restore rationality to the defense budget.

He's battled against obsolete military hardware, pledged to make cuts to the civilian bureaucracy, and ordered the Pentagon to shed $100 billion in overhead. Now, as Ginger Thompson and Thom Shanker report in the New York Times, Gates has put "the military's sacrosanct corps of generals and admirals" in his crosshairs, by "ordering his staff to cut at least 50 positions, and making clear that he would be happier if they cut more." And it doesn't stop there:

Pentagon officials said the measures were aimed at more than a number. Mr. Gates said he wanted to flatten a bureaucracy that had experienced significant "brass creep," swelling to "cumbersome and top-heavy proportions." He complained, for example, that a request to send a dog-handling team to Afghanistan goes through no fewer than five four-star headquarters.

Beyond that, Pentagon officials said, Mr. Gates wanted to push back against a culture of entitlement that had allowed some senior officers to pad their lifestyles as well as their commands.

Gates warned 'em: "No sacred cows." But, as the Times points out, the critters laying up in the yard are more of the canine variety:

Salaries and benefits, however, are the least of it. The biggest costs are created by the general's staffs -- including security details, senior advisers, communications teams, schedulers and personal aides. Mr. Harrison said the military's highest-ranking generals and admirals -- 40 four-star and 146 three-stars -- each had salaries, benefits and staffs whose cumulative annual costs easily exceed $1 million.

We told you first! After months of speculation, a source confirms that the singer is pregnant!
We thought Mariah Carey had a special glow about her when she arrived in Brazil last week and now – there’s no hiding it anymore – today a source confirmed to Radar Online that Mariah is indeed expecting her first child! She and hubby Nick Cannon are “overjoyed” but are sharing the news with “close friends only.”

Mariah, who is reportedly four months pregnant, is keeping her secret close, as this was a tough road for her and her hubby. “Mariah has tried so hard to get pregnant,” a source says. “She’s very excited. She wants to wait as close to full term as possible before going public with the news to her fans.” Although Mariah may look fabulous, after the concert on Sunday night, Mariah hinted that pregnancy is tiring her out, telling her fans in a Tweet, “Tonite was tuff 4 me 4 personal reasons,but U got me thru!L4L”

BERLIN — German prosecutors say a Roman Catholic priest has been charged with twice raping a 14-year-old girl 20 years ago.

Osnabrueck prosecution spokesman Alexander Retemeyer said on Tuesday the 50-year old man, then a chaplain, used force to coerce the girl into having sex with him and also threatened her with punishment by God.

Prosecutors say the priest, who has been relieved of his duties by the church, has admitted sexual contacts with the girl.

The complainant said she had a sexual relationship marked by violence with the chaplain over three years. But Retemeyer said only two incidents were sufficiently substantiated for charges to be filed.

The woman contacted the diocese of Osnabrueck earlier this year amid a widening abuse scandal in Germany.