One of the things I love best about my new smart phone is the USAToday app. One touch and all the day’s headlines are at my fingertips. And best of all? The app is FREE. Yes, FREE! So between that app and USWeekly Magazine, I’m all caught up on the news. Here are the top stories I’ve been following the past few days:
1) The cruise ship disaster off the coast of Italy. This story is heartbreaking. As of this writing, 11 people are dead and 22 still missing after the Costa Concordia capsized as the result of hitting a reef off the Tuscan coast. The collision tore a 160 foot gash in the hull and in an act of cowardice that will go down in history, the captain abandoned his sinking ship (he’s now claiming he TRIPPED and fell into the life boat! UNREAL!). The situation remains grave as an environmental disaster looms on the horizon in the form of all the fuel onboard the ship–which is in danger of breaking apart thus dumping all that fuel into the sea. Prayers to all those people and their families. The worst vacation disaster I’ve ever suffered is lost luggage. I’m counting my blessings.
2) Celebrity chef Paula Deen has announced she has Type 2 diabetes. Ms. Deen was diagnosed in 2008 but has waited until now to announce that she has the disease, claiming she didn’t know enough about it at the time of her diagnosis and wanted to wait until she was more informed before letting the public know. Another celeb foodie, Anthony Bourdain has blasted the southern Queen of Butter and Sugar, saying she conveniently waited to announce her disease until she’d landed a paid spokesperson deal a diabetes medication. I don’t know–it seems to me someone as famous as Paula Deen could have landed a spokesperson gig right away (that is, in 2008). Her cookbook has been voted “most unhealthy” for the last two years. Seems the experts are right–all that butter and sugar isn’t good for you ( BUMMER!).
3) According to USWeekly, pop star Rhianna has been secretlyhooking up with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown for a year. Yes–the Chris Brown who beat the living crap out of her, leaving her bloodied and bruised–photographic evidence of which was plastered all over the news when it occured 3 years ago next month. I can only shake my head at this and feel pity for this girl. Why would she have anything to do with the brute who beat her? I’m not saying she shouldn’t forgive him if it’s in her heart to do so–but that doesn’t mean she needs to give him another chance to kick her ass again.
4) And to end on a happy note–it’s Australian Open time! Which means I can treat you with a photo of my favorite tennis player, Rafael Nadal. Vamos, Rafa!
Tennis,anyone?
What news stories have you been following? What’s going on in your neck of the woods? Have you ever tried any of Paula Deen’s recipes? Are you following the Australian Open? (In case you’re not a tennis fan, Rafael Nadal also models Armani underwear. How lucky are we??!!)
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
With that photo of Rafa, I can’t say I’ve been *that* into the news.
I am sick and tired of the Kardashians.. thank god there is mute button on the remote when they come on….
As far as Captian Coward goes.. I think we will be hearing this story for a long time to come.
Paula Deen story will fade away.. I think peopel are just being rediculious.. just my opinon of course. But the woman is a cook, let her cook what she wants..People don’t have to eat it if they are diabetic… i am diabetic, but that did not stop me from watching her show. She is funny and entertaining..
About 30 of us Del Webber’s are leaving on a cruise out of Charleston tomorrow. Hope our Captain knows how to drive!!! Maybe we can put on our lifejackets upon boarding and not take them off until we return!!!
Hi Joan–great to see you here! I hope you all have a fabulous time on the cruise! Every captain on the planet is going to be taking extra precautions to guarantee a safe voyage. Relax and enjoy yourself!
I love Paula Deen. And think some of the reactions have been way over the top. Frankly I’m sick of this war against fat people. We all should be more healthy, but some folks need to be a little less judgemental. To AB– get over yourself!
Oh and thought of you Jacquie when I got an announcement yesterday that Verizon was offering the tennis channel once again. I’m loathe to admit it, but I did’t even know we had a tennis channel. Too busy eating butter I guess
HAHA, Dee. What would AB say?
We get the tennis channel, Dee. I love Bag Check–love seeing what kind of crap the pros carry in their tennis bags, LOL!
Next time I’m in NY let’s go out and eat butter together! xox
HuffPo ran a list of Paula’s most fattening recipes. Deep fried butter balls, on the list. Also a cheeseburger with a Krispy Kreme bun. And fried lasagna. Yes, you heard right. Fried lasagna.
Okay well, that does sound a bit disgusting. I’ll take my Krispy Kremes straight up, thank you very much!!! Although at 6 WW pts, I’ll probably skip that too, sigh!
I love butter too, but I don’t eat a stick a day. I think it’s all about moderation. If you want to treat yourself every once in a while with a big gooey dessert or fried something or other, go ahead!
I remember reading about that Paula Deen hamburger with the Krispy Kreme bun. Gotta say, that doesn’t sound good to me. Like Dee, I prefer my donuts straight up. Actually, my fave donut is cream filled–that would SO not work with a hamburger, LOL!
Couldn’t agree more, Dee. Encourage a healthy lifestyle, but quit legislating what we eat and drink. I go nuts every time I hear someone like Mayor Bloomberg trying to dictate how much salt, or sugar, or alcohol New Yorkers are “allowed” to have. Let the consumers drive demand for changes in restaurant menus.
*stepping off soap box now*
When the cruise ship hit the news, my husband said, “See, it’s not just the Greek captains that abandon ships.” If you remember a while back there was a Greek captain that did the same thing to a sinking cruise ship. Unbelievable.
The latest news I am following was the internet protest yesterday of SOPA and CNN keeps flooding my inbox with “Breaking News” of the latest candidates dropping out of the Republican nomination.
It seems that every time we’ve gone on a cruise the captain has hosted numerous cocktail parties. Really? The captain is allowed to drink? That always made me kinda nervous.
I think that cruise ship captain’s life is pretty much over. Nothing like being branded a coward first class. Sorry to hear about Rhiana. She needs better self-esteem (my answer to all women who hook up with dead-beat men). Love the picture, and in another news, Rick Perry dropped out of the race. I had expected better things of an Aggie, but alas, then he opened his mouth. (I know, I know, insert Aggie joke here. Sigh. It’s very hard being an Aggie.)
Better things? From Rick Perry? I won’t hold him as an example of an Aggie. I’m surprised it took him so long to drop out. Newt’s ex-wife is supposed to be giving a bombshell interview on Newt, but I don’t expect we’ll really hear anything new. He’s a womanizer, check. I think we got that.
Whoa–a politician who’s a womanizer and can’t keep it in his pants. I just fainted in shock!
As long as he doens’t email a picture!
Ewwww.
Seriously ewwww!
I don’t really follow the news, I skim it. I want to know what’s going on, but don’t want to focus on the bad stuff that the news loves reporting.
Well said, Tanya! How come such a large percentage of the news is BAD news? Actually, that’s why I prefer to read my news–online or in a newspaper, rather than watch it on tv. By reading I can just skim the headlines and read only the stories I choose. I lose that filter when it’s on tv.
I’m not up to date on all the celeb gossip, but the few stories and pics I have seen of Rhianna over the past year or so…I think the girls has some serious issues.
So Jacquie, does your phone have Rafael Nadal wallpaper? If not, then Git ‘er done!
She needs the Rafael Nadal App. Someone make that one, quick.
There’s a Rafael Nadal app?????????? Must go check this out!
My DH is my wallpaper. While there’s a lot to admire about Rafa, there’s much more to admire about the DH
I normally don’t really follow the news. Usually when I’m checking my email on yahoo I’ll see a blip of something that will catch my eye but otherwise I’m blissfully ignorant.
My bf asked me the other day about Rhianna and Chris Brown. I’m not sure if it is true or not but I hope she’s not the dumb to get involved with him again. I mean, he has shown us he’s quite violent more than once. Remember the chair through the window?
Their back and forth tweets to each other make it look to be true, from what I’ve read in the news. I don’t follow their Twitters.
I don’t Tweet, so I’m clueless about that. But I can tell you this: If I DID Tweet I sure has heck wouldn’t be Tweeting with some guy who’d beaten me to a bloody pulp.
The cruise ship has proven to me once more that I should not be on a ship. Every so often, various family members toy with the idea of taking a cruise, but then words like “Titanic” pop up into the conversation and we never do it. I think this one sealed the deal for us. It’s horrible.
Paula Deen — I don’t generally eat that kind of food, so I don’t think I’ve ever had any of her stuff. But I was surprised she said it wasn’t due to diet. Sounds like denial.
We’ve cruised many times (although not recently) and have always enjoyed it. We’ve been thinking about a cruise this summer. Still thinking about it…but maybe not quite as enthusiastically as before.
I’ve never tried any of Paula’s recipes. I’ve caught her show a couple of times and recall thinking that I’d gain about 40 pounds in two days if I ate whatever it was she was cooking.
I tried a recipe of hers once for a brunch. It was mashed potatoes covered by hash browned potatoes covered by peppers and onions cooked in a stick of butter (and some seasonings) with bacon crumbled on top. Heart attack (or diabetes) in a casserole dish, but that was the biggest hit of the brunch. But we all laughed that of course, it was a Paula Deen recipe, and it could only be for a very special occasional treat. A lot of us are wiser about what we put in our bodies now. But for that day, people wanted to pretend it wasn’t bad for us. I think there are people out there who don’t know or care, though, and that’s why Paula Deen is a huge hit and obesity is epidemic here.
I love Anthony Bourdain. He doesn’t exactly cook or eat completely healthy (haven’t seen him cook in a while), but he doesn’t compete with Paula for extra ridiculous amounts of fat and sugar. Still… he does smoke and drink on the air and make it all look so cool. Maybe he shouldn’t throw stones.
Oh, and I have never cruised and I am a little afraid to do so, not just for the capsize but for the stories you hear about the whole ship getting sick or the tales of random passengers going overboard and the lack of thorough investigations after the fact.
With a recipe like that, I think the motto “everything in moderation” applies. If you have it once in a while–fine. If you have it everyday–hello diabetes (or other health ailments).
I feel especially bad for the people who don’t eat badly and still get diabetes. Or heart problems. Or non-smokers who end up with lung cancer. So not fair.
So, so sad about the cruise ship. And I’m surprised the Open hasn’t been on more around our house; usually the husband has tennis on.
I think it’s probably the same problem as in our house, Julie–the Australian Open is a pain to watch because of the time differences. Live matches are on at crazy hours and the outcomes of the taped versions are usually spoiled by news reports.
And the cruise captain just happened to fall into the lifeboat with his first mate. Maybe he is learning to be a comedian, which is probably what is needed in prison. Rhianna is just doing what many abused women do, return to “their man” because it was her fault that she was beaten. He didn’t mean to do it. I have one of Paula’s cookbooks but have never tried any of her recipes. I can see why eating bugs is less dangerous than eating Paula’s food. Anything for free publicity.
Is that captain’s story the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard or what?? Completely agree about Rhianna–it’s very sad. And especially scary because of whether she likes it or not, by virtue of her celebrity statys millions of little girls look up to her. I shudder to think what message they’re getting from all this.
No one ever said Rhianna was smart, did they?
Well, apparently not.
Well said!