Obama's First 100 Days, Sean Hannity Puts His Foot In His Mouth, Executive Pay and Thanks For The Pig Flu, Mexico!!!

But first of all, if you're one of the almost 30-million people who watched American Idol tonight, you know that Adam Lambert darn near got eliminated. If that had happened, my headline was going to be, "Because Of What Happened Tonight, I'm DONE with American Idol For This Season!!!"

I know. There were only 5 contestants left, so somebody had to be eliminated and it turned out to be the poor guy who was "saved" by the judges a couple of weeks ago, but still...

Why do I even care about American Idol and who might win? The same reason the rest of the almost 60-million people who watch it each week do. For those of you who don't watch, I come up with the almost 60-million viewers number because A.I. is on twice a week.

And if you've been watching, you know that these 5 remaining contestants have been delivering their "A" games these last couple of weeks.

And now there are 4! Several weeks ago when Adam Lambert (in my opinion) butchered the Johnny Cash classic country song, "Ring of Fire", I wrote about it and wondered if he might have become too cocky for his own good. But ever since then, the opinion here has been, Adam Lambert has become THE REASON to watch American Idol this season. I mean, you never know what this guy is gonna do! I think he has a future as a film actor, a singer and or a Broadway performer because he's not afraid to take risks. And he's very prepared when he does take risks!

WHEW!!!

Okay...On to the serious stuff!

PIG FLU!

Otherwise known as, Swine Flu. A disease that has been imported to us from Mexico.

Hmmmm!!! Illegal immigrants.....Hmmmm!!!

President Obama's First 100 Days!

Did you watch his press conference tonight? He knows how to work a room, doesn't he? And do you know what I really love about this President? He's not afraid to give long answers. Answers that (in most cases) give us a better chance to understand the problems we're facing.

An opinion (from me) regarding his first 100 days? I don't have one other than the fact (to quote a line from a song) "He's workin' HARD for the money!" that we, the citizens are paying him.

Sudden thought: During the previous 8-years, did you ever feel that President Bush was workin' hard for the money? I mean, he used about ONE of those 8 years as vacation time, didn't he?

Bank Of America!

In last week's blog, I told you about new and surprising (to me) high fees that had been attached to accounts I have with Bank of America. I also told you about a conversation I had with a Bank of America official who told me why I (and millions of others) have been hit with these new fees. And he told me this is happening at all the other banks, too. Since then, I've been hit with more fees which caused me to end my relationship with B of A and to put what little money I have into a Credit Union here in the Los Angeles area.

Wellll...Earlier today, (April 29) I learned that B of A Chairman, Kenneth Lewis was ousted by shareholders, but he's been allowed to stay with B of A as a member of their Board of Directors. I'm sure this demotion of Lewis will result in him having very little to do with decision making there, but ALL guys (and gals) like him should be FIRED! I mean, the chairman or chairwoman of EVERY bank or any other kind of company that needs billions on top of billions of our tax dollars to STAY IN BUSINESS, is being LED by a chairman or chairwoman who is obviously INCOMPETENT, so why the hell are they allowed to stay on the premises in ANY kind of capacity?!?

Here's what's really galling about these clowns! They screw up their companies, take OUR billions and billions to get propped back up and then THEY DO THE SAME THING (AGAIN) THAT HELPED CAUSE THEM TO GO BROKE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

And that's the REWARDING OF HIGHER THAN HIGH PAY ALONG WITH OUTRAGEOUSLY HIGH BONUSES TO THE INCOMPENTENT BOZOS THAT HELPED THESE COMPANIES GO BROKE.

Loudmouth talk show hosts like Limbaugh, Hannity and the guy with the voice that sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard (yes, you, Mark Levin) get on their soap boxes about higher than high Executive Pay being some kind of "right" that shouldn't be messed with which shows us once again something that even their most rabid followers are beginning to figure out and that is....(1) These guys are either bought and paid for or are clueless, annnd (2) No one objects to an executive making lots (and lots) of money as long as it isn't OUR MONEY, money that the company needs to survive, BECAUSE THE GREEDY BASTARDS RUNNING THESE COMPANIES RAPED THEM (financially) to the point when they needed OUR money to avoid going belly-up!

And we're supposed to sit back and watch these MF-ers continue to be paid the kind of money (in a year) that the rest of us will never see IN OUR LIFETIMES?!?

And Speaking Of Sean Hannity!

Or as I like to call him, Sean "Little Lord Fauntleroy" Hannity. He put his foot in his mouth (again) the other day. He was having a discussion with a guest of his about waterboarding. Hannity was taking the position that waterboarding isn't torture. His guest took the position that waterboarding is torture. To prove it, Hannity offered to BE waterboarded for charity. MSNBC's Keith Olbermann decided to find out if Hannity was serious and offered $1,000 to the families of U.S. troops for EVERY SECOND Hannity was waterboarded before he screamed for mercy and then ADMITTED that waterboarding is torture.

Of course it's torture. The only thing(s) Hannity really knows is what happens in ivory towers or when to run like a panting lapdog. And THAT'S whenever he hears the voices of Newt Gingrich or Karl Rove.

Actually...The more I think about it... I've gotta give "Little Lord" a little more credit than that. His "trust me" demeanor plays real well on radio and television and he gets good ratings in both venues. But you know something? There's another guy I'm thinking of who would have gotten good ratings if HE had decided to become a radio and or television host INSTEAD of deciding to do what he DID decide to do. Fellow by the name of Bernie Madoff.

ENTERTAINMENT STUFF!

And how topical is THIS! Gordon Gekko is returning to the big screen!

When the film "Wall Street" came out in 1987, the vast majority of us had no idea things that film told us were things that were really happening. 20th Century Fox hopes to have "Wall Street 2" in production early this summer. And yes, Michael Douglas will (again) play Gordon Gekko and Oliver Stone will (again) be the director. They hope to have Shia LaBeouf play an updated version of the character Charlie Sheen played in the first "Wall Street".

There's another film that's currently on the cable circuit I'd like to recommend to you.

A 1999 film titled, "Stir of Echoes" is now playing on The Movie Channel(s). It's a thriller and it stars Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Erbe, Illeana Douglas, the always very good Kevin Dunn and Jennifer Morrison as Samantha Kozac, a dead person who a little boy talks to. Annnd the Kevin Bacon character begins seeing Kozac after being hypnotized by the Illeana Douglas character. If this sounds complicated, let me make it as simple as I can. "Stir of Echoes" is a bit of an I see dead people kind of film that becomes a murder mystery that darn near drives the Kevin Bacon character insane. Good, good film.

And yes, Jennifer Morrison is the same Jennifer Morrison who has (from the beginning) been a regular performer on the very popular Fox television show, "House".

QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS? Write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, I won't know your email address so I won't be able to write you back. All emails sent to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net are answered by me.

THE NEXT BLOG? Barring unforseen circumstances, the next blog will be written and posted late Wednesday night, May 6 or early Thursday morning, May 7.

Is The Obama Administration The Reason All The Banks Are Charging You And Me These Multiple New FEES That We've Been HIT With?!?

If you're like me and you don't look at your bank statements every month, you might not even know about the new fees you're being charged.

If you're like me and you don't look at your bank statements for four months or so, you're in for an unpleasant surprise when you do look!

When I saw I had a new $20 monthly fee for something in one of my Bank of America accounts, an account that has always been a "no fee" account, I called Bank of America and had quite a conversation with the man who answered the phone.

This B of A account manager told me I had been getting charged this new $20 fee for four months. He was kind enough to return $40 of the $80 I had been charged and he advised me to transfer the money in that account to another kind of account, an account that would include a monthly fee of (only) about $6, no matter how much money I had in the account.

I used to not be charged fees on any of my accounts and the only way I could be charged a fee would be if I wrote a check that was for more money than was in my account, which is something that has never happened.

This nice B of A account manager told me that all the banks are charging new and higher fees and that they're being encouraged to do this by members of the Obama administration. Why would the Obama administration loosen regulations so that banks can do this to us, the taxpayers? I mean these billions of "stimulus"dollars that the banks have been getting, is taxpayer money!!! When I asked the B of A account manager that question, he said the reason was so that the banks would be able to pay back the money we gave them, faster.

Pay back OUR money FASTER?!? But in order to do that, they're being allowed to SCREW US?!?

And speaking of the Obama Administration...

Like millions of others, I voted for Obama. Isn't one of the reasons we (who voted for him) did so was because we believed he would get us out of Iraq?

Why the hell are we still IN Iraq?!?

And now we're spending additional billions in AFGHANISTAN?!?

HEL-LOOOO!!! We have millions and millions of people out of work, millions of new Americans are homeless, people can't afford health care, because of all the money we owe to China, we are this close to becoming a suburb of China and we're wasting billions on top of billions (if not trillions) in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan?!?

And if you want to know why the Republicans lost this last election, know this; The only thing any of their so-called "leaders" ever say is, "NO!" They're good at yelling, screaming and pointing fingers. But not ONE of these so-called Republican"leaders" has a constructive IDEA!!! But boy, do they know how to yell, scream, point fingers and say, "NO!!!"

Other Politically Related Stuff:

Condi Rice was President Bush's National Security Advisor in 2002. We're being told that she (in some way) approved torture for enemy prisoners?!?

A lot of talk about the torture issue these days. Because we have so many other "IMPORTANT" things we have to take care of, I think all this torture conversation is a "distraction" we don't need.

If the decision is made to put people on trial for provable atrocities of some kind, fine. Gather the evidence and do your thing. But meanwhile, let's focus on making America a better place to live for all of us.

How's that trailer park crowd in Alaska doing these days?

If you're a fan of carnival barkers, have you seen Glenn Beck's television show yet?

Are you one of the growing number of Americans who thinks that Marijuana should be legalized, or do you think that's a politically incorrect thing to propose? Proponents claim that legalization of pot would generate billions of dollars in tax money for our cash-poor country.

SHOW BIZ STUFF:

Two more American Idol finalists have been eliminated. Only five finalists left. I don't think I'm the only one who looks forward to seeing and hearing what Adam is going to do each week. Is there anyone else you care about?

There are two new television shows I think are worth your time if you haven't seen them yet. They've both been on the air for three weeks.

"The Unusuals", Wednesday nights at 10 (9 Central time) on ABC. Amber Tamblyn is the main star.

"Southland", Thursday nights at 10 (9 Central time) on NBC. Benjamin McKenzie is the main star.

Rumor, rumor, rumor!!!

Anybody who pays attention to this kind of stuff knows that Lindsay Lohan has been having trouble finding work as an actress. She's only 22, beautiful, sexy and she can act, but because of her past behavior on-set, producers are whacha call "leery" of her.

Here's the "rumor". Warren Beatty wants Lohan to play his daughter in a film he plans to star in and direct. To solve the problem of her previous behavior which included showing up late or not at all, Beatty wants her to move into his mansion until the film is completed so he "can keep an eye on her". No word on how Beatty's wife Annette Bening feels about this, but if this "rumor" turns out to have "legs", I think it's brilliant on Beatty's part and I believe that Annette Bening thinks so as well.

Films I Saw While I Was Injured:

During the last few weeks, I've had a lot of time to watch television. Here are some films I saw on the various cable channels that you might want to look for if you haven't seen them.

In no particular order...

A 1996 film on the Showtime circuit. "Hard Eight". It stars John C. Reilly, Philip Baker Hall, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson and in what might have been his first film role, Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley". An all-star cast, but this is Matt Damon's film. He's Mr. Ripley and he's a smooth talking con man, psychopath. And what an ending!!!

A 2007 film on the HBO circuit. "Fracture". Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling in a fun to watch cat and mouse caper.

Another 2007 film on the HBO circuit. "Death Sentence". It stars Kevin Bacon, Kelly Preston, Aisha Tyler and there is one scene that John Goodman is in that darn near steals the film. And when you think the film is over, it isn't.

Another 2007 film on the HBO circuit. "Rendition". It stars Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Meryl Streep as a very mean government official.

CLINT EASTWOOD AND A "DIRTY HARRY" STORY:

This is my final item.

Can you imagine anyone else besides Clint Eastwood playing the character of Harry Callahan, otherwise known to filmgoers as, "Dirty Harry"?

Don Siegel was the director for "Dirty Harry" and he had directed Eastwood in other projects, but his first choice for the role of "Dirty Harry" was not Clint Eastwood.

It is believed by some that Frank Sinatra was Siegel's first choice and that is stated as fact in some places on the internet.

Frank Sinatra was Don Siegel's second choice to play "Dirty Harry" and Sinatra was supposedly too busy at the time.

In a 2007 book written by Sonny West, West mentions that Siegel had directed another guy who he hired to star in a film titled, "Flaming Star". And because of the actor's performance in that film, Siegel saw something that made him believe that actor was the perfect choice to play "Dirty Harry". Like he did when he turned down Barbara Streisand's offer to star in "A Star Is Born", this actor also said no to Don Siegel's offer to star in "Dirty Harry" as "Harry".

You might have heard of him. An actor named Elvis Presley.

THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS? Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net. If you write to the blog, there's no way for me to know your email address so I won't be able to respond. I respond to everyone who writes to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net

THE NEXT BLOG? Unless something unexpected comes up, our next blog will be written late Wednesday night, April 29 and posted early the next morning, April 30.

It Looks Like I'll Probably Be Able To Resume Writing Late Wednesday Night, April 22nd!!!

Hi everybody! Even if you owe money (I do), I hope you filed your tax return. I did. If you don't file, that's when the BIG trouble begins!

As those of you regular readers know, I haven't written a full blog for several weeks because of an injury that has been the strangest injury I've ever had!

It has caused severe pain on the upper right side of my back, a pain that has required four to five Vicodin tablets daily for pain relief.

The diagnosis is, Thoracic Sprain. Something that is caused by too many hours sitting at the computer and NOT SITTING PROPERLY.

These last few weeks, while sitting at my computer, I have been able to write only a few sentences before getting a tingling sensation in my right armpit which has been followed by severe pain.

It is now much better, my Vicodin dosage has been reduced and unless I suffer a setback, I believe I'll be able to resume writing after two singers have been eliminated on American Idol, Wednesday night, April 22nd.

And speaking of American Idol, if Adam Lambert (somehow) isn't the next American Idol, does anyone honestly think that any of the remaining singers but Adam has an honest shot at being successful in some aspect of show business? Yeah, maybe the 16-year old, but Adam looks like "star" material.

If I am able to resume writing a full blog late next Wednesday (April 22), among other things I'll have stories about ARE...

Who film director Don Siegel's REAL first choice to play "Dirty Harry" was. This figures to blow your mind.

Who Lindsay Lohan might move in with while starring in a new film that will be directed by the person she'd be moving in with. If this happens, one can only imagine what this director's famous wife might think about this possible "arrangement".

I'll also have some thoughts about...

RELIGION...

The U.S. Senator who tried to warn people about the economic mess we were inviting for ourselves because of things that were beginning to be considered in 1994 and then were allowed by legislation to proceed in 1999...

LEGALIZING MARIJUANA...

Glenn Beck...

The fact that no one is talking about Iraq anymore...

ANNNND...Some films on the cable circuit I've been watching (while healing) that I'd like to recommend to you!!!

Have a great week everybody!

Scott St. James

This Annoying Injury Is Still Being Annoying!!!

Hi and my sincere thanks to those of you who have written very nice "get well" notes.

I visited with an Orthopedic Surgeon today and he told me that my injury isn't at all uncommon and that it was probably caused by working too much at my computer and not sitting properly.

He is hopeful that it will be cleared up enough by NEXT Wednesday and that I'll be able to write this blog again.

If it isn't, I will go to a therapist the doctor is recommending. A therapist who will give me exercises to do, etc.

The good news is that the pain I'm experiencing isn't any close to being as bad as it was!

There's a lot to write about and I'm very much looking forward to writing again. Hopefully that will be late Wednesday night, April 15 which is also "Tax Day".

Scott St. James

An Injury Has Me Sitting On The Sidelines!!!

Because of an injury to the back part of my right shoulder, I'm unable to do any writing other than a couple of sentences without having to take a break.

Hopefully, healing will take place quickly.

And hopefully, I'll be able to write a new blog next Wednesday, April 8.

Scott St. James