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Spotlight on Osama bin Laden's Niece James Hirsen
THE LEFT COAST REPORT
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
Taxpayer advocate Tony Strickland recently completed his filing to officially become a Republican candidate for California State controller. Strickland has struck a nerve by calling for an audit of Rob Reiner's scandal-plagued "First 5" Commission expenditures. The official who would conduct such an audit would be California's current controller, Steve Westly, who also happens to be running for governor.
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Ever since the Sacramento Bee first broke the story, followed by a Los Angeles Times article that exposed alleged improprieties committed by Reiner and some paid consultants, some of Reiner's activities have been questioned. "This money was supposed to go to help children, but instead, Reiner's paid political operatives are helping themselves," Strickland recently said. "It has been almost three weeks since facts sufficient to trigger an audit were put before Mr. Westly. This is his job. If he won't do it, then he has no business running for governor," Strickland added Strickland had some additional comments about the current Democrat controller who would like to take Arnold Schwarzenegger's seat. "It is particularly galling when Mr. Westly cranks up his own public relations machine to announce an audit of an expenditure of less than $5,000, but then gives a wink and a nod to Rob Reiner, as hundreds of millions in tax dollars are diverted to aid a political campaign," Strickland said. The audit that Strickland was referring to involved a "video news release" distributed by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency in March 2005. With great fanfare at the time, Westly announced he would audit the agency to investigate whether the small expenditure was, in fact, political promotion. "What a difference a year makes," Strickland said. "Westly strained at gnats, and now he's swallowing the camel." The Left Coast Report says if five grand is a gnat then hundreds of millions make an awfully big camel.
2. The New Democrat Dream Team: Faith Hill and Tim McGraw In 2004 Tim McGraw told Time magazine that he was thinking of going into politics. "I want to run for the Senate from Tennessee … Not now, but when I'm 50, when the music dies down," the country singer said. "Wouldn't Faith [Hill] make a great senator's wife?" McGraw asked. The couple recently met with reporters in Nashville to promote their upcoming Soul2Soul II Tour but used the opportunity to jump into the political fray. He sounded quite a bit like a candidate when he and his dutiful wife, both blasted the Hurricane Katrina cleanup effort. "To me, there's a lot of politics being played and a lot of people trying to put people in bad positions in order to further their agendas," McGraw, a native of Delhi, La., told ABC News Radio. "When you have people dying because they're poor and black or poor and white, or because of whatever they are – if that's a number on a political scale – then that is the most wrong thing. That erases everything that's great about our country." McGraw then went after President Bush, saying, "There's no reason why someone can't go down there who's supposed to be the leader of the free world … and say, 'I'm giving you a job to do and I'm not leaving here until it's done. And you're held accountable, and you're held accountable, and you're held accountable. This is what I've given you to do, and if it's not done by the time I get back on my plane, then you're fired and someone else will be in your place.'" Hill described the status of the region as "bulls***," adding that "it is a huge, huge problem and it's embarrassing." She went on to say, "I fear for our country if we can't handle our people [during] a natural disaster. And I can't stand to see it. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out point A to point B . . . And they can't even skip from point A to point B. It's just screwed up." The Left Coast Report thinks the couple may be taking a cue from the Dixie Chicks.
3. Shakira Shakes Up Music Distribution Shakira's new single is entitled "Hips Don't Lie," a reference to her faster than the speed of light belly dancing choreography. But Shakira's new tune will be distributed even faster than her trademark gyrations. She's teamed up with Verizon Wireless' new V Cast music service to make music history. Two months prior to being sold at any Web retailer, music store or other music distribution channel, the full-length song, music video, ring tone, ring back tone, wallpaper and behind-the-scenes footage of the video shoot for "Hips Don't Lie" will be available on V Cast music-enabled phones. Shakira, whose tune also features Wyclef Jean, will be delivering her music in a way that fundamentally changes the music business and entertainment in general through immediacy, ease of access and consumer control. "As an artist, I am always looking for new creative mediums," Shakira said. The Left Coast Report expects that after the first flood of cell phone downloads it will take several hours for Shakira's hips to calm down.
4. Movie Box Office Falls 9 Percent in 2005 Speech after speech was made during the March 2006 Oscar telecast, urging folks to go to theaters rather than watch DVDs or video on demand at home. Recently in its annual box-office report, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) had some bad stats to relay about 2005. To alleviate some of Hollywood's heartburn it mixed in a poll. The national movie-going audience fell to the lowest level in nearly a decade. U.S. movie box office sales dropped almost 9 percent to $1.4 billion, the lowest figure since 1997. International audiences also registered a 9 percent drop. But the MPAA also released information about research conducted in August 2005 by Nielsen Entertainment/NRG. (What's important to keep in mind when looking at the results is that the study was conducted on behalf of the film studios.) Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed thought that movie theaters (as opposed to home plasma screens) were the "ultimate movie-watching" experience. And also, according to the poll, only 31 percent would rather view movies at home. The Left Coast Report wonders if the study didn't over-sample registered Democrats.
5. Spotlight on Osama bin Laden's Niece Are Americans going to allow reality TV to be taken over by the families of terrorists? Well, evidently the niece of the man who orchestrated the destruction of the World Trade Center is going to star in a reality television show about her life. So says ReganMedia. Aspiring singer and model Wafah Dufour bin Laden is the daughter of Osama bin Laden's half-brother Yeslam. She caught the attention of the media when she appeared in the January 2006 issue of GQ in feather lingerie and in another pic in a bubble bath wearing only a necklace. Apparently, there are plenty of other bin Ladens available for reality show episodes or sequels. Osama and his half-brother are among the more than 50 children fathered by Mohammed bin Laden, a Yemeni immigrant to Saudi Arabia. Wafah was born in California but lived in Saudi Arabia from the ages of 3 to 10. She was in Geneva when the 9/11 attacks happened. "I was freaking out, crying hysterically, watching this in horror. I was like 'Somebody's bombing my city, and I wanna go home,'" she told the BBC. Soon after, in an effort to distance herself from her infamous uncle, she took her mother's maiden name, and now goes by the name Wafah Dufour.
"I understand that when people hear my last name, they have preconceived notions, but I was born an American and I love my country," Dufour said in the ReganMedia statement . "I was born in the States, and I want people to know I'm American, and I want people to understand that I'm like anyone in New York. For me, it's home," she told the BBC. ReganMedia President Judith Regan spelled out how the television series will provide a form of multicultural enrichment. "Her story will bridge the gap that people feel exists between the cultures she has lived in," Regan explained. "She is also a young woman who falls in love, has her heart broken, worries about her looks, doesn't always listen to her mother, and hasn't spoken to her father in years," Regan added. Sounds like it may be a bin Laden family version of "The Simple Life." Which network will air the show and when it will debut have yet to be determined. So far, the Left Coast Report has not found that Dubai Ports World is involved in the show. Editor's Notes:
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