• Today is the Day the Music Died … 50 years ago.
• Former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was released from jail today after serving only 100 days of his sentence.
• Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is now the world’s first openly lesbian Prime Minister, taking office in Iceland.
• Osama Sam Lutfi files suit against Britney, Lynne and Jamie Spears for libel and defamation. [thanks BlissBoo]
• Bobby Brown is having a 5th child.
• Click HERE to see Lisa Loeb’s beautiful wedding photo, shot by my friend and amazing photographer Justine Ungaro!
• Former Girl Next Door, Kendra Wilkinson is getting her own reality show.
• The Bonnaroo line-up has been announced, Nine Inch Nails will be there! [thanks Shannon]
• Brangelina skip the Oscar luncheon.
• Olivia Palmero reportedly refuses to fight with Whitney Port … physically.
• Boys like dolls, too.
• Ryan Reynolds gets mostly nekkid in his new movie The Proposal.
• Oklahoma politician Gary James is proud to be racist and homophobic. As a former Okie, I am embarrassed that trash like James gives Oklahoma a bad name.
• Jamie Pressly does Shape magazine.
• He’s Just Not That Into You premieres.
• Pink is the new Rachel McAdams on the set of Sherlock Holmes.
• Marky Mark is planning to get marry married in August.
• Thomas Calabro (Melrose Place) is 50, Nathan Lane is 53 and Morgan Fairchild is 59 years old today. Click HERE to see who else is celebrating a birthday today.
• Olympian Mark Spitz feels “badly” for Michael Phelps.
• JK Rowling becomes a knight in France.
• Ryan Adams starts blogging again HERE.

Even tho Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was sworn in and has been on the job for about 2 weeks now, she participated in another swearing in ceremony — officiated by Vice President Joe Biden — yesterday with her husband President Bill Clinton, her daughter Chelsea and her mother Dorothy Rodham (not pictured) in attendance. Here is a photo of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton taking the oath of office in Washington DC yesterday afternoon:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been on the job for nearly two weeks, but there’s always an excuse for a lavish celebration. [Yesterday] afternoon, in the gilded Benjamin Franklin room on State’s top floor, close friends and lawmakers watched her get publicly sworn in by Vice President Biden. The guests who nibbled on treats and drank wine and beer to the strains of violin music included Chevy Chase, the actor; former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, James A. Baker III, Lawrence Eagleburger and Madeleine Albright; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.); Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.); and Governors John Corzine of new Jersey and Martin O’Malley of Maryland. Washington power player Vernon Jordan and Obama foreign policy aide Samantha Power — who had a very public spat with Clinton during the presidential campaign — also mingled among the several hundred guests. A cheer went up when Clinton walked into the room with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, her daughter Chelsea and her mother Dorothy Rodham. Before Biden began to administer the oath, some members of the crowd started chanting, “Get it right, get it right,” in reference to the botched oath originally administered to President Obama. “Never did I think, Madame Secretary, that I’d swear you in as secretary of state,” Biden said to laughter. “Never did I think I’d be sworn in as vice president.” Both Biden and Clinton had challenged Obama for the Democratic nomination, and Clinton also noted the irony. “As Joe laughingly referenced, neither one of us thought we’d be here,” she said. “Life has a funny way of unfolding, and politics is even stranger.” Clinton earned the biggest laugh and applause when she thanked her husband, resplendent in a red tie, after acknowledging her mother and daughter. “I am so grateful to him,” the former first lady said of the former president, “for a lifetime of [pause] all kinds of experiences — which have given me an extraordinary richness that I am absolutely beholden to and grateful for.” Clinton will begin her first day of public diplomacy Tuesday when she meets separately with the foreign ministers of Great Britain and Germany. The administration’s evolving policy on Iran will be high on the agenda because political directors of the six countries seeking to negotiate with Tehran will meet on Wednesday to consider their next steps. Clinton also must decide when and where she will make her first trip, a symbolically important mission. Diplomats in Asia say she is considering traveling to Japan, South Korea and China, and possibly Southeast Asia — an unusual itinerary for the top diplomat’s maiden voyage. The planning is still in the early stages, however, and the State Department has declined to comment on her plans.

I guess just because President Barack Obama had two swearing in ceremonies, Hillary had to have two of her own ;) I was able to watch this swearing in ceremony live on CNN and thought it was a fun, light-hearted affair. I cannot believe Hillary was so free with the jokes … her zinger on President Clinton was pretty funny. After the jump, if you so desire, you can check out video of Hillary’s swearing in ceremony yesterday afternoon …

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After a little over a month in existence, Michael Lohan’s official blog The Real Story with Michael Lohan is dunzo! In a post, titled My Final Blog, Daddy Lohan explains that he has decided to stop blogging “out of respect” for his daughter Ali Lohan. What seems curious to me is that Daddy Lohan didn’t have the same respect for his eldest daughter Lindsay Lohan all along … but that’s beside the point, I suppose. Here is the full text of Michael Lohan’s last post. As always, all spelling and grammatical errors are his own:

Out of respect for my daughter Ali, and her request, this will be my last last blog.

Be Blessed!!!!

Thank Baby Jebus, Daddy Lohan’s foolishness is finally over. To be honest, I’m not sure why his blog lasted as long as a month. He sure tried to whip up as much attention as he could in this latest effort to mooch off his famous children and, yet, no one really cared. Honestly, I don’t recall reading about anyone else on the Internets talking about Daddy Lohan’s blog. The only way I even knew he A.) started a blog and B.) was updating his blog was via emails sent to me by Michael Lohan’s publicist. I chose to highlight certain blogposts merely out of their ridiculousness. Truth be told, reading this estranged father’s sad attempts to still exploit his children was getting old and very sad. I’m glad he decided to pull the plug … now if only we could be sure he was going away for good, never to be heard from again.

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Girls Gone Wild founder and convicted felon Joe Francis has been arrested again after homie thought it would be cool to breeze into court 5 hours late to a hearing concerning charges of tax evasion. Upon his arrival, Francis tried to give the “I’m sick” excuse and was handcuffed and taken into custody … which prolly means that being 5 hours late to court ain’t very cool after all. Here is one of Joe’s old mug shots (the new one hasn’t been released) and some deets on what went down:

“Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis has been arrested in Los Angeles after he showed up five hours late for a court hearing in his tax evasion case. When the adult-video entrepreneur finally appeared in court on Monday afternoon, he told the judge he was suffering from the flu. Francis’ attorney Melissa Weinberger says U.S. marshals then handcuffed Francis and took him away. Francis is accused of claiming more than $20 million in bogus business expenses on his corporate tax returns, including $3.8 million for a home in Mexico and $10.4 million in phony consulting services. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of federal tax evasion. The hearing was to consider a request from his tax attorneys to recuse themselves.

This man’s disdain and disrespect for the law is ridiculous. I really hope he continues to act in this childish and idiotic way so that he will continue to be thrown back in jail time and time again. I suppose Joe hasn’t learned the lesson that it’s not very smart to piss off the government, especially when they think you owe them money. Don’t be surprised if Joe Francis ends up getting a nice long stretch in federal prison when this matter is all said and done … but do be relieved, like I will be :)

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Woot! The day that longtime Beverly Hills, 90210 fans never thought would arrive has finally come to pass … Tori Spelling reprised her role as Donna Martin yesterday on the set of the spin-off show 90210 as she filmed her first scenes with former co-star Jennie Garth (as Kelly Taylor) and newcomer Jessica Stroup (as Erin Silver). Here are the first pics of Donna, Kelly and Silver in 90210-land:

The reunion of Tori Spelling’s Donna and Jennie Garth’s Kelly on the CW’s 90210 is an attention-grabber for fans of the original drama. Put the actresses in a Rolls-Royce convertible to film a scene in the heart of Beverly Hills and the paparazzi are thrilled as well. A dozen or more photographers gathered Monday to grab shots of the pair, who starred in the 1990s Fox hit Beverly Hills 90210. Spelling is joining the CW sequel, which features Garth, for a multi-episode arc that begins airing April 14. It was the first time the CW show lived up to the 90210 zip code by filming in Beverly Hills. Spelling is used to being a paparazzi magnet. She shrugged off the attention and called it “just another day out.”

Yay! I suppose it was a bit too much to hope that Tori, Jennie and Shannen Doherty would be reunited for Tori’s first scene on the show but … I’ll take what I can get. I am SO relieved that the dispute between Tori Spelling the 90210 producers has been resolved so that she can return to the show and bring Donna Martin back to life. I’ve always contended that the dispute came down to money and I personally believe that one side or the other caved (my guess is that Tori decided to take the money they were willing to pay her). In the end, tho, Donna Martin is back … and full of botox! I’m sure Tori’s puffy face has everything to do with the role she’s playing as a Beverly Hills housewife. Uh uh. Remember, former BH, 90210 star Jason Priestly is directing this episode featuring Tori Spelling’s debut on the show … and it will air on The CW on April 14. Mark your calendars, it’s gonna be a big night for pop culture fans.

[Photo credit: X17, INFdaily; Source]

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes have made their way to Brazil to do a little promo work (and possibly enjoy a little R+R?) and they look to be in a partying mood … well, at least Tom does … Katie, for her part, looks tired and worn out. Tommy, on the other hand, is smiling from ear to ear and seems happy to show off his bulging muscles which cannot help but show thru his flimsy black shirt. Here are pics of TomKat as they stepped out onto the streets of Brazil this weekend:

TOM CRUISE is clearly keen to show off his new trim bod. The Mission Impossible star has got into decent shape recently, just in time to fulfil endless publicity for his new film, Valkyrie He’s currently in Brazil, where the film debuts on Tuesday, and enjoyed an evening at a sushi restaurant in Copa Cabana wearing this see-through top with wife KATIE HOLMES. The couple had earlier taken their daughter SURI to a beach located on the residential area of a Brazilian military base in Rio de Janeiro, where she mixed with children of military staff.

Yeah, I don’t know that I need to see Tom Cruise’s nipples poking thru his sheer shirt … I realize it may be hot down in Brazil but … are sheer shirts on men really necessary? I guess it depends on the man, actually … Hugh Jackman could wear a sheer shirt any time he likes and I’d be OK with it. In any event, I hope Katie is able to get some rest … she’s been workin’ hard on Broadway for the past few months, she deffo deserves a vacay. Get some sun, Katie … and get a proper shirt or your husband! Thanks!!

[Photo credit: X17; Source]

OCA, an advocacy group that seeks to “advance the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans” has issued a statement regarding that offensive photo we saw yesterday of Miley Cyrus, Justin Gaston and friends mimicking Asian features in a seemingly mocking way. The group finds no humor in the photo and expresses its disappointment in the statement. Here is the full text of the statement released by George Wu of OCA:

“The photograph of Miley Cyrus and other individuals slanting their eyes currently circulating the Internet is offensive to the Asian Pacific American community and sets a terrible example for her many young fans. This image falls within a long and unfortunate history of people mocking and denigrating individuals of Asian descent…

OCA hopes that Miley Cyrus will apologize to her fans and the APA community for this lapse in judgment and takes the opportunity to better understand why the gesture is offensive.”

I absolutely agree, as I stated yesterday, I am just as offended and disappointed in this kind of behavior. I’m also very disappointed and saddened to read all the comments on the blog condoning or, at the very least, laughing off this behavior as “it’s only a joke”. For me, the issue isn’t about being PC to a fault, it’s about respect for other people. Making fun of people, even if you think they’re laughing with you, is just wrong … plain and simple. It’s not a “liberal” matter, it’s not a “PC” matter — it’s a common sense matter. Very young children, who are Hannah Montana fans, learn to mimic things they see and hear. Even tho you may not be offended and you may not think it’s a big deal, it is offensive and a very big deal for other people. Making fun of Asian features, calling someone “retarded”, saying “you’re so gay” is offensive — even if you think it’s funny. I feel sorry for the people who think that saying “lighten up” and “get a life” is a way to explain away this sort of hurtful behavior. It would seem that they don’t understand the hurt and pain that this kind of mocking behavior can cause. As I said yesterday, my biggest concern is that young children might see this sort of behavior and feel validated to emulate it because they think it’s funny, since Miley Cyrus does it. If people would just think about the things they say and do at the expense of others, they might realize that what they intend to be funny is actually pretty harmful.

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