Young voters at MTV forum challenge Obama on big issues…..

 

 

 

Audience members pressed Obama, asking why they should vote for him again in 2012 when unemployment is currently at 9.6 percent nationally and the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is still in place.

 

“If the economy does not improve over the next two years, why should we vote you back in?” asked one audience member.

Another young voter told Obama she voted for him because of his “alleged” commitment to equality, and then ask why he had not yet ended the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Obama responded by defending his economic record with a now familiar checklist of the policies he has put in place and the economy he inherited.

On “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” the president said he believes he has “enough votes in the Senate to go ahead and remove this constraint on me” as the House has done.

“This policy will end, and it will end on my watch,” Obama said.

After a federal judge ruled the policy unconstitutional earlier in the week, the White House has been scrambling to emphasize Obama’s opposition to the policy even as the Justice Department prepares an appeal.

“I can’t simply ignore the laws that are out there,” Obama said……

More…..

 

'Jerkin'………The new way for our kids?

MOVES: The Kream Kidz, a dance crew featuring Bijon Jones, left, Keith Kennedy, Rodney Nelms and Jonathan Rambo, show what jerkin’ is all about. (Stefano Paltera / For The Times)

The young kids that I see sometimes at work…..sneak away to dance…….

They now sport modified tomahawk haircuts….

What is going on out there?

On a still Thursday night, Ben J is talking about how cool his mom is. This is not what you would expect from the 18-year-old MTV star of New Boyz fame. Ben J, or Earl Benjamin as his mother calls him, is one of the main faces of jerkin’, the hip-hop-influenced dance, music and style that started spreading around Los Angeles more than three years ago but blew up last spring when the New Boyz’ “You’re a Jerk” became the first tune of the genre to get radio playtime. It has since inspired kids from Indonesia to France to make YouTube videos of their own loose-limbed dancing.

Thanks to Benjamin and his cohorts, students at middle and high schools across the country are ditching baggy pants and XXL T- shirts for skinny jeans and neon colors and — jerkin’ proponents claim — maybe along the way throwing out worship of gangster culture in favor of entrepreneurship and business smarts.

If you haven’t caught videos of jerkin’ on MTV or YouTube in the last year, picture gangly teenagers “geeked up” in acid colors and skinny jeans. Fro-hawks, bleached flat tops, streaks in the hair the color of Kool-Aid, baseball cap brims flipped up to create “popped lids,” shiny chains or dangling rosary beads and thick-soled skateboard shoes characterize the kids doing the freshest dance on the block.

The music is laptop-crafted, featuring simple beats and sophomoric lyrics.

More……..

‘Jerkin’………The new way for our kids?

MOVES: The Kream Kidz, a dance crew featuring Bijon Jones, left, Keith Kennedy, Rodney Nelms and Jonathan Rambo, show what jerkin’ is all about. (Stefano Paltera / For The Times)

The young kids that I see sometimes at work…..sneak away to dance…….

They now sport modified tomahawk haircuts….

What is going on out there?

On a still Thursday night, Ben J is talking about how cool his mom is. This is not what you would expect from the 18-year-old MTV star of New Boyz fame. Ben J, or Earl Benjamin as his mother calls him, is one of the main faces of jerkin’, the hip-hop-influenced dance, music and style that started spreading around Los Angeles more than three years ago but blew up last spring when the New Boyz’ “You’re a Jerk” became the first tune of the genre to get radio playtime. It has since inspired kids from Indonesia to France to make YouTube videos of their own loose-limbed dancing.

Thanks to Benjamin and his cohorts, students at middle and high schools across the country are ditching baggy pants and XXL T- shirts for skinny jeans and neon colors and — jerkin’ proponents claim — maybe along the way throwing out worship of gangster culture in favor of entrepreneurship and business smarts.

If you haven’t caught videos of jerkin’ on MTV or YouTube in the last year, picture gangly teenagers “geeked up” in acid colors and skinny jeans. Fro-hawks, bleached flat tops, streaks in the hair the color of Kool-Aid, baseball cap brims flipped up to create “popped lids,” shiny chains or dangling rosary beads and thick-soled skateboard shoes characterize the kids doing the freshest dance on the block.

The music is laptop-crafted, featuring simple beats and sophomoric lyrics.

More……..

MTV's 'Turn the Beat Around'……….

MTV will “Turn The Beat Around” this month. The network that seems to air everything exceptmusic videos has announced the premiere of a new original movie, featuring “stunning dance sequences that combine cutting edge hip hop dance moves with stylized classic disco.”

MTV is cashing in on the craze of hit reality shows like Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance and burning up the floor with the debut of Turn The Beat Around, premiering Friday, Feb. 26 @ 10 PM ET/PT.

MTV’s ‘Turn the Beat Around’……….

MTV will “Turn The Beat Around” this month. The network that seems to air everything exceptmusic videos has announced the premiere of a new original movie, featuring “stunning dance sequences that combine cutting edge hip hop dance moves with stylized classic disco.”

MTV is cashing in on the craze of hit reality shows like Dancing With The Stars and So You Think You Can Dance and burning up the floor with the debut of Turn The Beat Around, premiering Friday, Feb. 26 @ 10 PM ET/PT.

There WILL BE a second season of 'The New Jersey Shore'……..only not at the Shore…..and they will get paid…..

Just when you though it was over…the guys and girls get together and sign up for more…….

Who know’s what it’s gonna be like now that these people are ‘stars’?……

Snooki, The Situation, his abs – and the rest of their fist-pumping “Jersey Shore” pals – will be back for a second season.

The debaucherous gang has signed on for 12 new episodes of the hit reality show, MTVsays.

Only this time, they’ll bring their wild hairdos, skimpy outfits and booze-fueled brawls to a destination beyond the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, officials said.

Just where DJ Pauly D, Mike “The Situation,” Snooki, J-Woww, Sammi, Ronnie and Vinny will land has yet to be revealed, but the controversial show will air this summer.

“Our audience has fallen in love with Jersey Shore and its amazing cast who have really grown together as a family,” Tony DiSanto, MTV’s president of programming, said.

“That bond gives the show its heart, and we’re thrilled to reunite these friends.”

The lovable self-identified guidos and guidettes, who have angered some Italian-American groups with their antics, agreed to a deal after weeks of salary negotiations.

MTV officials would not say how much the cast members are being paid the second time around, but sources told OK! Magazine they’ll rake in $10,000 an episode.

There WILL BE a second season of ‘The New Jersey Shore’……..only not at the Shore…..and they will get paid…..

Just when you though it was over…the guys and girls get together and sign up for more…….

Who know’s what it’s gonna be like now that these people are ‘stars’?……

Snooki, The Situation, his abs – and the rest of their fist-pumping “Jersey Shore” pals – will be back for a second season.

The debaucherous gang has signed on for 12 new episodes of the hit reality show, MTVsays.

Only this time, they’ll bring their wild hairdos, skimpy outfits and booze-fueled brawls to a destination beyond the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, officials said.

Just where DJ Pauly D, Mike “The Situation,” Snooki, J-Woww, Sammi, Ronnie and Vinny will land has yet to be revealed, but the controversial show will air this summer.

“Our audience has fallen in love with Jersey Shore and its amazing cast who have really grown together as a family,” Tony DiSanto, MTV’s president of programming, said.

“That bond gives the show its heart, and we’re thrilled to reunite these friends.”

The lovable self-identified guidos and guidettes, who have angered some Italian-American groups with their antics, agreed to a deal after weeks of salary negotiations.

MTV officials would not say how much the cast members are being paid the second time around, but sources told OK! Magazine they’ll rake in $10,000 an episode.

The “Jersey Shore’ finishes its run……..

Last night was the end of the MTV’s controversal wonder ‘The Jersey Shore”…..and gravy train for it’s stars……Oh, Well!

The piece asks about spin-off’s?…..are they kidding me?…..what could top that show?

Here’s a Tribute to the Show……..

The "Jersey Shore' finishes its run……..

Last night was the end of the MTV’s controversal wonder ‘The Jersey Shore”…..and gravy train for it’s stars……Oh, Well!

The piece asks about spin-off’s?…..are they kidding me?…..what could top that show?

Here’s a Tribute to the Show……..

Jersey Shore recap ………

This recap from Cristina Kinon at the New York Daily News.…a self professed “jersey Shore’ chick, one time in her life……..

Sammie and  Ronnie, huh?