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Lindsey Graham Official Death Report In, Suggests He Never Went to the Doctor or Took Care of Himself at All

Roger Friedman
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Lindsey Graham Official Death Report In, Suggests He Never Went to the Doctor or Took Care of Himself at All

Lindsey Graham died from aorta rupture stemming from hardening of arteries.

That’s the report from the Associated Press just now.

Graham was 71. From that report it’s pretty clear he never went to a doctor or took care of himself. At that age, you’re on statins, beta blockers, blood thinners, and many other medications — particularly if you’re flying all over the place.

It sounds like Lindsay wasn’t seeing a cardiologist. Really? At 71?

People will joke that hardening of the arteries was obvious considering blood flow to his brain was hindering his decision making process.

But seriously, that’s a little young to be in that much trouble considering Graham’s access to top medical care.

Donald Trump is lowering federal flags to half-mast, which is what he wouldn’t do for Jimmy Carter. The former president took care of himself and lived to be 100. I guess he got the last laugh.

Lindsey Graham Warmly Tributed by Biden, Franken, Klobuchar, Schiff, Contrasting Trump’s Past Obnoxious Tirades

Roger Friedman
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Lindsey Graham Warmly Tributed by Biden, Franken, Klobuchar, Schiff, Contrasting Trump’s Past Obnoxious Tirades

Remember when Donald Trump said he was glad special prosecutor Robert Mueller was dead?

Or called Rob Reiner names after he was murdered? Trump takes delight in other people’s miseries, and is never gracious when a perceived enemy has died.

Contrast that with Democrats who have posted tributes to Sen. Lindsey Graham, who died last night at age 71. Graham disagreed with them on everything including the time of day. But that didn’t stop them from saying nice things about him now that he’s gone.

Graham was a cracker, that’s for sure. His legacy will not stand up after the shock of his death wears off. But these Tweets show statesmanship, not petty rancor. This is the way we used to be before Trump.

Life is strange, isn’t it? We thought we’d wake up to the Mitch McConnell death announcement. Instead we got this news.

Box Office: The Rock Sinks to Bottom of Ocean as Disney’s $200 Million-Plus “Moana” Flops with $43 Mil Opening Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: The Rock Sinks to Bottom of Ocean as Disney’s $200 Million-Plus “Moana” Flops with $43 Mil Opening Weekend

Maybe this will be the end of remaking cartoons into live action movies.

“Moana” was a great animated film in 2016. It won awards, people loved it.

But Disney had to make a live action version because that’s been their plan now for years. Most of the reboots have not been warmly welcomed. That didn’t stop them.

So here is “Moana,” with people like Dwayne The Rock Johnson. And it’s sunk like a rock to the bottom of the ocean. Total first weekend in the US: $43 million. On a $200 million-plus budget, maybe as high as $250 million.

The story isn’t good because each day this weekend, “Moana” fell more and more. Friday was $18 million, Saturday was $13.5 million, today is $11.5 million. Which means the audience didn’t like it very much.

And that’s a surprise since the audience meter at Rotten Tomatoes is 90% and Cinemascore gave it an A minus. But in reality, actual people who saw “Moana” didn’t come back or recommend it to their friends.

Of course, critics scorched it with 34%, a real low for Disney’s remakes.

The only bright side was $52 million from other countries, but even that won’t save it.

For Disney, not even the huge success of “Toy Story 5” will offset this extreme disappointment.

PS The movie’s lack of interest is reflected also in the soundtrack from “Hamilton” great Lin Manuel Miranda. It’s number 26 on iTunes, with no big song emerging from it.

I Told You About the Womack Sisters in May, Now They Have Five Singles on the iTunes R&B Chart Including Number 1

Roger Friedman
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I Told You About the Womack Sisters in May, Now They Have Five Singles on the iTunes R&B Chart Including Number 1

I told you about The Womack Sisters in May. No one listened. I never heard from their record company

Now their album is coming, their previous EP has charted, and they have five singles on the iTunes R&B chart including “If I Let You,” at number 1.

Please guys, these girls have the genes. We complain there’s no real R&B music, this is it. The Sisters are descended from the families of Sam Cooke and Bobby Womack, wild me who were also soul geniuses.

Defending Frank Gifford: Brain-Damaged Football Superstar Was Duped into Sleeping with a Stranger by Tabloid in 1997

Roger Friedman
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Defending Frank Gifford: Brain-Damaged Football Superstar Was Duped into Sleeping with a Stranger by Tabloid in 1997

Sometimes I can’t figure out if the new People magazine is just stupid, reductive, or too young to research a story.

The latest is a bit about Kathie Lee Gifford, former New York morning TV media queen, who was married to football great Frank Gifford. They had two children — now grown — before the much older Gifford died at 84 in 2015.

It only came out after his death that Frank had taken too many whacks to the head with the New York Giants, and suffered from CTE. It presented like dementia. Indeed, often when I or anyone else spoke to him, that’s what we thought he had. I knew Kathie Lee — now 72 — and Frank socially. One day, after I’d seen them, Frank actually called me and accused me of “making time” with his wife.I assured him this was not true (I always did think she was cute despite being a Jew turned Jesus freak.) He was very upset. I just thought he was bran addled because of age. I didn’t know about the CTE.

Anyway. People is still harping about an “affair” poor Frank had in 1997 with a flight attendant. They’ve asked Kathie Lee about it in a new interview. They don’t seem to know the back story. Gifford was set up by tabloid magazine The Globe, who sent the woman, Suzan Johnson, to bed him. She was paid for her work. Her cousin, a New York Post writer, helped her. They were paid by the Globe to video Johnson seducing Frank. Listen, it wasn’t like he was naive. But he was old, and mentally wobbly then. They hoowinked him.

Here’s a link to the story about all this from the New York Observer.

People has now referred to this as an “affair,” like it was a clandestine romance, a couple of times. Far from it. Gifford was used by The Globe to embarrass Kathie Lee. That’s the way the tabs and the Post were back then. There were no rules. Why am I defending Frank now that he’s dead? Because he was a good guy, and a fine athlete. And every one of the websites I see employ no writers or editors over 20, or with a memory, or who do any research. (My gosh — you have Google. We had to make calls back then.)

People Magazine, get your act together. Real journalists like Dick Stolley and Pat Ryan, who made that brand famous, are rolling in their graves.

Trump Stokes Sales for Haberman-Swan Book “Regime Change” — Already Number 1 for 3 Weeks — with Attack, Brags Again About Taking Cognition Tests

Roger Friedman
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Trump Stokes Sales for Haberman-Swan Book “Regime Change” — Already Number 1 for 3 Weeks — with Attack, Brags Again About Taking Cognition Tests

Donald Trump is very OCD, as we know.

Two things he obsesses about: losing his mind, and being criticized by people he knows are correct about him.

In a post this afternoon, Trump melds all this into one rant. He attacks the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman — whom he calls “Maggot” live a MAD magazine reader –for her book, “Regime Change,” with Jonathan Swan. His big complaint? The book is boring!

Apparently not. It’s been number 1 for three weeks, selling at 35 bucks on amazon. It’s already sold between 300,000 and 400,000 copies.

He wants us to know, again, that he keeps taking cognition tests every six months. This is Trump, who falls asleep on TV, refers to wife Melania by different names, says Japan is a Muslim country. He rants that he’s “the only President to take the test “three times, and I aced them all — Got every question right. Few people in Washington, D.C., could do so, including Maggot and her flunky associate, Jonathan Swan. I would be willing to bet they couldn’t get 50% of the questions right. Anyway, don’t buy their book, it’s garbage!”

(Noted: He couldn’t come up with a name for Swan because he secretly adores him.)

In other words, buy the book because it’s all true and it’s driving him crazy!

Mick Jagger Says He Hopes the Stones will Tour Again, He Loved Singing on “You’re So Vain”: “These days, I’d get a credit”

Roger Friedman
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Mick Jagger Says He Hopes the Stones will Tour Again, He Loved Singing on “You’re So Vain”: “These days, I’d get a credit”

Mick Jagger turns up in the New York Times today for a Q&A with David Marchese.

Of course, it’s to promote the Rolling Stones’ excellent new album, “Foreign Tongues.”

The main thing: he says he hopes the Stones will tour again, but he’s not promising anything.

Does ever think, This is the last show? Jagger says, “No. Maybe I have! I could get run over by a bus outside of my house. You never really know, do you? You don’t know what’s going to happen to you in life. But I personally hope to be able to tour. I like going places. I like meeting people. I like to go to weird countries to do shows.”

How does he feel about getting old? “There’s nothing good about it.” Does he have more wisdom? Mick replies: “I forgot all my wisdom. I might have had a couple of pearls drop, but I’ve already forgotten what they are. [Laughs] So no, it’s not particularly pleasant. You can’t do things as quickly as you want to. Physically you’ve got to be more careful. You know, when you’re playing football, they put you in goal a lot. I’m not very good at it!”

Marchese asks about how Mick came to sing on Carly Simon’s classic, “You’re So Vain.”

“I’m just the backing vocalist. I knew the producer, Richard Perry, who phoned me up and said, Can you do the backing vocals? I thought it was a great song. It was a big hit for her and I was never credited with a feature. These days, it would be “Carly Simon featuring Mick Jagger.” I’m louder than her on some of it.”

Great interview, great album. Let’s hope there’s more of each!

Dance for Crime: Ex CEO of Epoch Times — Intertwined with Shen Yun Troupe — Pleads Guilty to Stealing $67 Million from the Company

Roger Friedman
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Dance for Crime: Ex CEO of Epoch Times — Intertwined with Shen Yun Troupe — Pleads Guilty to Stealing $67 Million from the Company

I first told you two years ago how intertwined the Epoch Times was with Shen Yun Dance Troupe.

Yes, the conspiracy driven newspaper run by Chinese dissidents out of upstate New York is part and parcel with that colorful touring group of dancers.

I told you 25 months ago that Bill Guan, then CEO of Epoch Times, was accused of money laundering and stealing $67 million from the media company.

Now Guan has finally pleaded guilty. His crime? According to the New York State Attorney General: “participating in a conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds as part of a transnational scheme to launder at least approximately $67 million of illegally obtained funds to benefit, among others, the Epoch Times.”

“Weidong Guan orchestrated an elaborate multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme to increase revenues at the company where he served as Chief Financial Officer,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “Corporate leaders like Guan should take notice: boosting revenues through crime will not pay. This Office is committed to holding perpetrators of financial crimes accountable and compensating victims.”

Guan, 63, of Secaucus, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. Guan also agreed to forfeit at least $67 million, representing property involved in the offense, and separately to pay restitution up to $67 million.

The criminal conduct at issue does not relate to the Epoch Times’ newsgathering activities, according to the State’s press release.

But Epoch Times is under the same roof as Shen Yun, which spends millions advertising in aggressive campaigns.

I told you in 2024: On the Epoch Times’s Form 990 for 2020, the picture becomes clear. The Epoch Association donated $3 million to Shen Yun Performing Arts Center in Cuddeback, New York. Then, on the 2021 Form 990, Shen Yun got another $10.4 million.

In 2022, Epoch Times Association also donated a massive $41 million to the Universal Communications Network on West 28th St. They have the same address as Epoch Times. Universal Communications is also known as New Tang Dynasty, a TV channel that’s like a conspiracy theory PBS for adherents of Falun Gong, a Chinese dissident organization considered by many to be a cult.

UPDATE On their form 990 for 2023, Epoch Times Association donated $14,390,000 again to Universal Communications Network.

Guan thought he’d dance away with the $67 million, but the government caught on. It’s only a matter of time before Shen Yun will come under scrutiny. Read my original report here.

From the State’s Attorney General’s office release:

“From at least in or about 2019, through in or about May 2024, Guan, while serving as Chief Financial Officer of the Epoch Times, conspired with others to participate in a sprawling, international scheme to launder at least approximately $67 million of illegally obtained funds to bank accounts in the names of the Epoch Times and related entities.

“Guan did so by using the Epoch Times’ funds to purchase crime proceeds loaded onto gift cards and prepaid debit cards at discounted rates of approximately 70 to 80 cents on the dollar, and then laundering those crime proceeds back to the Epoch Times under the guise of fake “donations” to the Epoch Times.

“When banks notified Guan that the transactions at issue were suspicious and asked Guan to explain their source, Guan knowingly misled the banks to believe the transactions were legitimate rather than criminal.”

Madonna’s “Confessions II” Debuts at Number 1 First Week, Sells Nearly as Much as 2019’s “Madame X” Back in 2019 with Five Different Versions

Roger Friedman
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Madonna’s “Confessions II” Debuts at Number 1 First Week, Sells Nearly as Much as 2019’s “Madame X” Back in 2019 with Five Different Versions

Madonna’s “Confessions II” is number 1 at the end of its first week of sales.

A lot of time and money was put into getting this chart position. There are FIVE different versions of “CII” on iTunes, for example. One of them is instrumental only. Another is the sound of ducks quacking (joking).

“CII” sold 126,700 copies according to hits daily double. That’s just 40,000 less than the entire run of Madonna’s last album, “Madame X,” back in 2019.

Everyone who worked on making “CII” a hit deserves credit, starting with manager Guy Oseary and composer producer Stuart Price.

Having Sabrina Carpenter on a track didn’t hurt either.

Madonna played into her gay following big time, and that was a smart idea. They rallied around for her as a result.

It’s not like the old days (nothing is). She’s not going to have a top 10 hit on the radio, like “Holiday” or “Like a Prayer.” Still, for a 68 year old pop star, these are impressive results.

Currently, the “After Hours” version of “CII’ is keeping the Rolling Stones’ really great new “Foreign Tongues” at number 2.

SOS: USA Today, Cloudflare, Other Publishers Thinking of Leaving Google Search Before They Go Bankrupt: Google Is Trying to Kill Us (Read)

Roger Friedman
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SOS: USA Today, Cloudflare, Other Publishers Thinking of Leaving Google Search Before They Go Bankrupt: Google Is Trying to Kill Us (Read)

Google is trying to kill me. They’re trying to murder every publisher by directing search results to AI and away from links.

Google also plays with the algorithm. They launch constant “corrections” to the way their crawlers go through sites. The fluctuations they cause are maddening and disheartening. I spend all day trying to subvert their assault on this site. That’s why I have a DONATE Button on the top right corner. Staying alive is not easy.

Read the AdWeek article below. USA Today and Newsweek are among the victims, Cloudflare may redirect the sites it hosts away from Google Search, out of desperation. Small publishers like this one are in trouble. No one in Congress has any idea what we’re talking about, so they don’t care.

The screwing around with the algo is so bad, I could publish a breaking exclusive story about Mitch McConnell rising from his coma and square dancing, and you’d never see it.

SOS.

Link to AdWeek article.

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