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Comedian Al Franken Becomes Senator – Watch more funny videos here

Comedian-turned-politician Al Franken has been declared the winner of an eight-month long U.S. senate race.

Franken ran for the Minnesota Senate on 4 November (08) – the same night Barack Obama was named the new President – but a recount was needed to separate him from Republican rival Norm Coleman.

Franken won after the recount, but a series of appeals delayed the result for a staggering eight months. On Tuesday (30Jun09) the former Saturday Night Live star was declared the victor by the Minnesota Senate.

Christina María Aguilera (born December 18, 1980) is an American pop musician. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel’s television series The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994. Aguilera signed to RCA Records after recording “Reflection” for the film Mulan. She came to prominence following her debut album Christina Aguilera (1999), which was a commercial success spawning three number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. A Latin pop album, Mi Reflejo (2001), and several collaborations followed which garnered Aguilera worldwide success but she was displeased with her lack of input in her music and image.

After parting from her management, Aguilera took creative control over her second studio album Stripped (2002), which received mixed reviews and produced substantial sales. The second single, “Beautiful”, was a commercial success and sustained the album’s sales amidst controversy over Aguilera’s sexual image. Aguilera’s third studio album Back to Basics (2006), included elements of soul, jazz, and blues music, and was released to positive critical reception.

Aside from being known for her vocal ability, music videos and ever-changing image, musically, she includes themes of dealing with public scrutiny, her childhood, and female empowerment in her music. Apart from her work in music, she has also dedicated much of her time as a philanthropist for charities, human rights and world issues. Aguilera’s work has earned her numerous awards, including four Grammy Awards and one Latin Grammy Award, amongst eighteen nominations. She has become one of the most successful recording artists of the decade, selling more than 42 million records worldwide.

Al Franken is running for the U.S. Senate against pro-life incumbent Senator Norm Coleman Franken’s positions on the issues many Minnesotans hold in high regard—health care and protection of unborn babies, for example—are alarming. While lately, Franken’s comedic talent and taste have been front and center, his anti-life beliefs are anything but funny.

Franken’s anti-life, pro-abortion positions revealed

“My number one domestic priority is to get us to universal health care,” Franken said in a written statement to Minnesota Public Radio. “There are several feasible options being used around the world … including a single-payer system and my priority is to get to universal health care as quickly as possible.” Universal health care and single-payer systems always lead to rationing of care, most frequently for the people who need it most: the elderly, disabled, and otherwise vulnerable.

On the other hand, Sen. Coleman supports the pro-life position that ensures rationing of care or intentional denial of treatment do not occur.
It doesn’t stop there.

Destroying human life

Franken supports destroying human embryos for science’s sake. “I support embryonic stem cell research,” Franken says. “The blastocysts used for this … research contain only a few cells. … And by the way, I’d like to see this research happening at the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic”

Blastocysts are more than “only a few cells.” Blastocyst is the name for a tiny human at four to 14 days after conception. While a blastocyst may not closely resemble a newborn baby, it is exactly what a human looks like at that stage of development.

Franken supports human cloning

That’s not the only thing Franken is wrong about. He also supports the University of Minnesota embryo-killing experiments. Currently, the University is conducting embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) and human cloning attempts with private funding, but that’s not enough for Franken. He wants taxpayers to foot the bill.

For a number of years there have been attempts at the state legislature to legalize human cloning and allow taxpayer funding for destructive ESCR at the University of Minnesota. Most recently, Sen. Richard Cohen, D-St. Paul, and Rep. Phyllis Kahn, D-Minneapolis, were the authors of this legislation, known as the Kahn-Cohen Cloning Bill. The last thing Minnesota needs is someone in Washington, D.C., advocating for human cloning and the destruction of human embryos funded at taxpayers’ expense. Fortunately, Sen. Coleman does not support the destructive research.
And it gets even worse.

Abortion-on-demand advocate

Following in the tradition of Bill Clinton, Franken says that he believes “abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.” He’s not fooling anyone. For starters, abortion isn’t safe for women or unborn babies. In Minnesota alone, abortion-related complications have risen more than 45% in the past five years.

Every year in Minnesota, abortionists perform approximately 14,000 abortions. These abortions, coupled with the more than 1.2 million abortions performed every year across the country, makes abortion anything but rare. The Democrat Party removed “rare” from its abortion platform this year, and Franken wants to keep it that way.

By vowing to keep abortion legal, Franken wants the nation to continue down the abortion-on-demand, for-any-reason, at-any-stage-of-pregnancy, with-taxpayer-funding path just as every other radical, pro-abortion politician has before him. In 2006, Franken helped raise money for the NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota Election Fund, an extremist pro-abortion group looking to elect candidates who will oppose protections for unborn babies and their mothers.

Endorsed by radical pro-abortion groups

Franken is endorsed by nearly every major pro-abortion organization including the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota Election Fund. “I know that he [Franken] will work tirelessly to protect a woman’s right to choose,” says Linnea House, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota.

In stark contrast, Sen. Coleman is a true friend to unborn babies and for many years has been supportive of the efforts of pro-life organizations, including National Right to Life and MCCL.

Franken promotes culture of death

Franken wants to perpetuate the culture of death agenda by appearing to represent the values of Minnesotans. But he doesn’t. Franken is just another radical, pro-abortion, anti-life candidate whose latest role is playing an average Minnesotan. That’s no joke (and sure isn’t funny). What Minnesotans deserve is someone we can count on, like pro-life Senator Norm Coleman, who will stand up for life, from the earliest to end stages, and will work to restore protections for human life.

So, did you hear the one about the comedian who spent a whole day on Capitol Hill and told no jokes?

Democrat Al Franken arrived in Washington on Monday content to be as mundane in the Senate as he was brazen in his previous job as a “Saturday Night Live” performer.

Forget funny. Soon after he showed up in a Senate hallway with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Franken made clear his new schtick is serious senator from Minnesota.

“I am ready to get to work,” Franken said. “I’m going to work day and night.”

Franken’s seriousness didn’t faze the dozens of onlookers who packed into a narrow Senate hallway hoping for at least one salty quip.

What they got was essentially a rather dour politician, in a blue-and-white striped tie and a dark blue pinstripe suit, standing behind a podium with the seal of the Senate on it, speaking slowly from prepared remarks. Franken barely cracked a smile as he talked at length about his duty to his constituents and emphasized repeatedly that he would work hard.

Franken’s been working on this role for years. The man who many considered ribald was the picture of reserve during a two-year campaign and eight-month recount from which he emerged victorious over Republican incumbent Norm Coleman.

Franken is expected to be sworn in on Tuesday. He’ll be the junior senator from Minnesota, alongside fellow Democrat Amy Klobuchar.

“I think he still has some good jokes in him but right now he’s doing some serious work,” Klobuchar said.

His potential arrival has been buzzed about for months. Not only does Franken bring with him a filibuster-proof, 60-vote majority for the Democrats, but also a catalog of comedic material and lively commentary as a radio host and writer.

Not that you would know it on Monday.

As cameras clicked rapidly in the background, Franken downplayed that 60th Democrat business.

“A lot has been made of this number sixty,” he said. “I’m not focused on that.”

He listed education, health care and energy issues as areas he hoped to take on immediately.

Reid, never accused of being a master joke teller himself, played straight man to Franken’s reformed funny-man. Like Franken, Reid downplayed the significance of 60 votes — and offered nothing resembling comic relief.

Reid spoke dryly about how much the Senate would not change despite its newest arrival. He glanced down, then up, down, then up at his audience. If he cared that he and his guest had disappointed a room full of style writers, reporters and TV camera crews, he did not let on.

Instead, Reid cited praise of Franken from former Republican Rep. Vin Weber of Minnesota as evidence of Franken’s intellect and earnestness. He promised Franken was coming to Washington with no greater goal than to work hard for his constituents.

“I expect him to help deliver change,” Reid said, adding later “We need more than just his presence to address these challenges.”

Almost as quickly as Reid and Franken arrived, they were off, taking no questions, offering only a handful of smiles between them.

Aides said Franken would be in meetings much of Monday, including sessions with the staff of his new Senate office. Earlier Monday, workers installed Franken’s new name plate in front of the office in the Senate’s Hart Office Building vacated by Coleman.

Christina Aguilera: A Star is Made: The Unauthorized Biography, a biography book of the pop singer, focusing on her journey of self-discovery and struggle to find her artistic identity

Although much has been written about Christina Aguilera, this is the first analytical, serious and uncensored look at her life and rise to the pinnacle of the pop world. This biography reveals Christina Aguilera in a most intimate light, chronicling her early years, exploring her motivations and tracing the development of her career. It strips away the media hoopla and exposes the young woman at the center of it all.

No pop star has ever risen to the pinnacle of the music world and exploded onto the international scene with quite the same force, and with such an exciting frenzy as Christina Aguilera. A controversial and elusive figure, Aguilera has polarized and mesmerized audiences from the beginning. She took the world by storm garnering many accolades and recording industry awards, including three Grammys during her first three years as an RCA recording artist.

What people said about this book
“Christina Aguilera is lucky to have such a phenomenal biographer
in Pier Dominguez. He brings extraordinary gifts to his work.” — Kitty Kelley, #1 New York Times best-selling biographer of His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography and The Royals

“Christina’s transformation is detailed in a new unauthorized biography, A Star Is Made by 19-year- old Pier Dominguez.” — –The New York Post

Pier Dominguez is one of the best young writers I know. — Jack Olsen, New York Times best selling true crime author

Check Out Christina Aguilera: A Star is Made: The Unauthorized Biography on Amazon.com

Since Michael Jackson’s passing last week, a great deal of nonsense has hit news programs and the Internet. (Here is a case where Google might not be your friend.) From the disgraceful father of the deceased using every opportunity to promote his whatever, to countless ill-informed speculations, to reductions of Jackson’s life to a mere caricature, there has been enough errant garbage to nauseate the most casual fan. As a supplement to our own tribute from Stephen Thomas Erlewine, here is a modest attempt at shining some light on the more insightful and heartfelt writing that has surfaced during the last few days.

“Thursday night in New York was hot — after weeks of rain, it was one of the first real summer nights of the year. Car windows were open all over the city, and just about every station on the radio dial had switched to an all-Michael Jackson format; for the first (and, for all we know, the last) time, it felt as if absolutely everyone was listening to the same songs.” — Kelefa Sanneh, The New Yorker

“A showstopper in any definition of the word, he transcended generations and racial barriers. From oldies fans who were there from the start of his career in Gary to today’s young teens, whose attention span and too-cool-for-even-last-week’s-number-one-hit musical tastes rarely wander from the MTV playlists, he rocked them all. Even as I talked to a co-worker today, she told me about her 6-year-old son who goes to bed each night playing the Jackson 5’s greatest hits CD. That’s what you call IMPACT.” — Eric Luecking, Soul Sides

“If he did anything wrong in his life, and part of me doesn’t ever want to know if he did, he certainly also did more good than any of us can ever conceive of. He was easily the greatest dancer of the past three decades, probably the greatest singer, and quite possibly the greatest songwriter. Which adds up the greatest entertainer, period. ‘I can guarantee you one thing, we will never agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis,’ Lester Bangs wrote in his obit 32 years ago, only a couple years before Michael Jackson definitively proved him wrong, emerging full-blown into adulthood as the world’s most popular musician by presaging generations of young people who would celebrate their adulthood by refusing to grow up. And he emerged, of course, with some of the most celebratory music anybody from those generations will ever hear. But always, in the middle of that celebration, and not always submerged, there was dread. If anybody deserves to finally rest in peace, it’s him.” — Chuck Eddy

“The way he integrated MTV in 1983 with ‘Billie Jean,’ the ‘We Are the World’ extravaganzas, the face masks, the oxygen tanks, the Neverland Ranch — all that mixes in with everything from ‘Stop the Love You Save’ to ‘Dancing Machine,’ ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,’ ‘P.Y.T.,’ ‘Man in the Mirror,’ adding up to the more than 750 million albums sold worldwide… I mean. And this is not the half, the tenth, the thousandth of what he was.” — Danyel Smith, CNN

“He was Blackness and maleness, soul music and pop culture, all forged pre-hip-hop, pre-Reagan, pre-crack, pre the implosion of short-lived Civil Rights-era idealism and hope. That’s an incalculably important point to understand the thick strands of optimism, possibility, aesthetic, and political vision that ran through his work. And that makes the darkness and paranoia that marbled so much of his later work all the more heartbreaking, especially as it roughly paralleled the shifting tenor of the times. He never lost his humanitarian streak or his belief in the overall goodness of humanity, but the evolution of his own relationship to the world and his feelings about how he was treated darkened noticeably.” — Ernest Hardy

“But what is the allure of this narrative that we — fans, consumers, the media, American culture, etc — somehow destroyed Michael? What anxieties do we displace by projecting them onto his troubled face? I always think back to the interrogation scene from Three Kings. ‘What is the problem with Michael Jackson?’ an Iraqi soldier asks a wayward American. ‘Your country make him chop up his face.’ He did it to himself, the American protests, but his interrogator insists: ‘Michael Jackson is pop king of sick fucking country.’ Maybe it is a ’sick fucking country.’ Maybe the idea of pop transcendence is deeply flawed. But we are truly the sick ones if we didn’t already know this, if we needed Michael Jackson to be our martyr. If we think we would trade it all for a world without Off the Wall or Thriller or ‘Butterflies.’” — Hua Hsu, The Atlantic

“I often thought of a veal calf when I saw him — he had been raised to perform under extreme pressure before he had any idea of what life could be beyond performing for others. Then he spent decades trying to build a life without ever having seen one. He had the best ear in the world but he had no apparent idea of how people experienced everyday comfort, or even boredom.” — Sasha Frere-Jones, The New Yorker

“We have to be sophisticated enough to acknowledge that greatness and a touch of evil dwelled in the man. I’ve always believed that transcendent art emanates from the purest, most evolved parts of our soul. But that highly spiritual achievement doesn’t absolve us of our daily misdeeds. To simply brand him a smooth criminal, as some have, or to overlook his tragic nature, as have others, is to deny his humanity. The meaning of Michael Jackson’s life — as a black man, a sexual being, a abused and abusing adult — will be interpreted to fit the prejudices of the speaker. His music — it speaks volumes.” — Nelson George

“Why would people try to tear down a man who constantly used his power, money, and influence to help others? Why would people express such disgust and contempt for a man who constantly sang of love and peace, and used his talent to entertain, uplift, and inspire millions? Tell em that its human nature, I suppose…” — Phonte Coleman (Little Brother, the Foreign Exchange)

“What we’ve lost, in a word, is monoculture. Michael Jackson is the final pop star of seeming consequence to everyone — not just people who don’t normally care about music, but people who don’t care about culture, period. Obviously, it’s been a quarter-century since that was unequivocally true. But he’s the last pop musician for whom it was even equivocally true. The fact that the business he saved has been crumbling for some time was given a brutal underlining by Jackson’s sudden, unexpected death, the question of what’s-next now punctuated with what-will-never-be-again.” — Michaelangelo Matos, Salon