book actress

Born in Michigan and raised in Melbourne, Florida, Kate Upton grew up around horses. She was attending a horse show--not as a participant, but because the event piqued her interest--at age 12 when she was Spotted by Trump Model Management. Three years later she went to Miami to become a model. She quickly gained popularity after her first appearance in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and also for utilizing social media which got her signed by Ivan Bart of IMG Models. For this skillful use of the internet she was profiled on 13 February 2012 by the NY Times the same day as her second issue of Sports Illustrated, featuring her on the cover, hit newsstands.

Whitney Houston was found dead in the bathtub by her bodyguard in a luxury suite at the Beverly Hilton Hotel having accidentally overdosed on a cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol, according to reports.Bottles of Lorazepam, Valium, Xanax and a sleeping medication were found in the hotel room. The drugs were believed to have acted as sedatives, causing her to fall asleep in the bathtub once they had been mixed with alcohol.

Whitney Houston's only child, Bobbi Kristina, 18, was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center following the death of her mother. She's since been discharged. I can't even imagine what this poor girl is going through.

But is there no way families can help drug addicts? Get them help before it ends in such a tragic way? Imagine passing out and drowning in a bathtub...not the way to go. RIP Ms Houston

Mitt Romney on Wednesday castigated President Obama, telling the chief executives of 100 of the nation’s biggest corporations that the president has ushered in “the most anti-investment, anti-business, anti-jobs series of policies in modern American history.”

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee ticked through a series of proposals that he said would foster a friendlier business climate — repealing Obama’s health-care law, authorizing more oil and natural gas drilling, halting all Obama-era regulations and lowering corporate and individual tax rates.
But Romney employed particularly stinging rhetoric in a sort of campaign “prebuttal,” a day before the president is expected to deliver a major campaign speech in Ohio in which he tries to reframe the economic debate.

Seizing again on Obama’s comment last week that “the private sector is doing fine,” Romney said, “the incredulity that came screaming back from the American people, I think, has caused him to rethink that.”

“I think you’re going to see him change course when he speaks tomorrow, where he will acknowledge that it isn’t going so well, and he’ll be asking for four more years,” Romney continued. “My own view is that he will speak eloquently but that words are cheap, and that the record of an individual is the basis upon which you determine whether they should continue to hold onto their job.”

That there are 23 million Americans out of work or underemployed, Romney said, “is a compelling and a sad statistic. These are real people.”

Romney painted a dire portrait of the U.S. economy under a second Obama term. He warned that Obama would “stifle” energy resources in coal, oil and natural gas, as well as raise the cost of health care through the implementation of “Obamacare,” increase the regulatory burden on businesses and raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

“I think this election is a watershed reelection, which will determine the relationship between citizen and enterprise and government,” Romney said.

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith responded that Romney was “dishonest” in his attacks on the president’s record, saying Obama helped the country create 4.3 million private sector jobs over the last 27 months.

“In another in a long line of ‘major’ economic speeches, Mitt Romney made dishonest after dishonest claim about the president’s record and failed to offer any new ideas of his own on how to improve the economy and strengthen the middle class,” Smith said in a statement.

Romney, himself a former CEO, seemed at ease addressing the members of the Business Roundtable, a lobby organization made up of chief executives. He waved hello to a former consulting colleague from Bain and sprinkled through his speech references to some business titans he had met with recently, including August Busch, the former CEO of Anheuser-Busch.

“Government has to be the partner, the friend, the ally, the supporter of enterprise, not the enemy,” Romney said. “Too often you find yourself facing a government that looks at you like you’re the bad guys, and if you’re hiring people and employing people and paying taxes, you’re the good guys. I want you to do well.”

Democrat Ron Barber, a former aide to Gabrielle Giffords who was injured in the shooting that nearly took the ex-Arizona congresswoman’s life, won the special election to replace her on Tuesday.

With 66 percent of precincts reporting, Barber led Republican Jesse Kelly 53 percent to 45 percent. The AP has called the race for Barber.

The contest was the last congressional special election before November’s general election, leaving both sides to mine the results for clues about what might work in November and who might have momentum on their side.
From left, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Ron Barber and Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband, enter the polling place at St. Cyril's Catholic Church in Tucson, Ariz. Tuesday morning. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Tom Tingle) (Tom Tingle - AP)

Giffords survived an assassination attempt in January 2011 and resigned her seat in Congress earlier this year to focus on her recovery. She supported Barber and campaigned on his behalf, but she played only a small role in the battle for a conservative-leaning southeastern Arizona district.

Instead, the race centered on Barber’s ties to the national Democratic Party and, more importantly, Kelly’s past statements about overhauling the nation’s entitlement programs, including Social Security and Medicare.

The Democratic strategy appeared to have paid dividends in what is a Republican-leaning district. Barber’s win comes mostly as a result of Democratic efforts to define Kelly early on as being anti-Medicare and anti-Social Security in the 11th-oldest district in the country. In their ads, Democrats ran footage and quotes of Kelly talking about getting rid of the entitlements.

Kelly attempted to distance himself from those past positions in this campaign, airing an ad featuring his grandfather and promising to protect the programs.

Given the large number of senior citizens in the district and Kelly’s past comments, though, the special election was almost a perfect test case for the Democrats’ strategy, which they used in previous special elections and plan to use in the fall.

The political circumstances are not likely to align so perfectly in most other districts, but Democrats point out that basically every GOP incumbent has voted for a Republican budget that overhauls Medicare and that they can use the issue against any number of Republicans, particularly incumbents, all across the country.

On the GOP side, the messaging was all about tying Barber to his national party, including President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), along with Obama’s health care law. Barber, much like his boss before him, sought to put some distance between his campaign and the president. Giffords, for example, notably declined to vote for Pelosi for speaker this Congress, after Democrats lost control of the House in the 2010 midterms.

Giffords played a bit part in the campaign, with Democrats featuring her in a piece of mail and a Democratic super PAC launching an ad that showed Kelly criticizing her during their 2010 campaign. She also appeared with Barber at a rally over the weekend. But in a district where more than half of voters were likely to vote by mail, many if not most ballots had already been cast.

The race didn’t attract as much attention and spending from outside groups as other recent special elections, despite indications that it would be close. Taking place just one week after the high-profile gubernatorial recall election in Wisconsin meant much of the nation’s attention was elsewhere until seven days ago.

Conservative groups and the national Republican Party spent about $1.4 million on Kelly’s behalf, while the Democratic Party and allied groups spent about $900,000 for Barber.

The contrast of the Wisconsin result, where the GOP held on in a tough state, with the Arizona result, where Democrats held a tough district, suggests neither side has the clear edge with less than five months until the 2012 election. Both races were their own unique sets of circumstances and can’t be ascribed to every race nationally.

Regardless of Tuesdays’s winner, the two could be headed for a rematch in November, where both candidates are running again for a full term in a newly-drawn district that will look different than the one they competed in Tuesday.

If Kelly loses, though, he could face a primary rematch with retired Air Force colonel Martha McSally, who finished in second place in the special election primary. The primary for the general election will be held Aug. 28.

Ron Barber, Tucson District Director for Rep. Giffords, was among the wounded from Saturday's shooting. Giffords spokesman C.J. Karamargin shared with us two photos from his room in the ICU.

Photo by Gawain Douglas
Karamargin: "Ron Barber, 65, meets with Daniel Hernandez in his hospital ICU room on Sunday, Jan 9, 2001. Daniel works with Barber as an intern for Congresswoman Giffords while Barber is the District Director for Giffords. Hernandez rushed to Gifford's aid after she was shot. While holding the wounded Giffords, Hernandez said he asked another bystander to put pressure on Barbers wounds. He also asked Barber for his wife's phone number and then shouted it out to someone so that Barber's wife, Nancy, could be informed of the shooting. Barber was extreamly greatful and impressed with Hernandez's composure under the circumstances and had been asking to see him after he had gained strength following surgery."



Photo by Gawain Douglas
Karamargin: "Ron Barber, 65, reacts after opening a gift from his granddaughter while in the ICU at University Medical Center on Monday, January 10, 2011. Barber was able to visit with his four grandchildren two days after being shot twice during the attempt on Congresswoman Giffords' life in Tucson."

Except to the guys who share the top billing.

One of them will emerge with his first championship and probably the title of best player in the game.

It could be James, the three-time MVP. Or it might be Durant, the league's scoring champion the last three years.

All they know is whoever it is won't have done it alone.

''Everybody is going to make the most out of the matchup of me versus LeBron, but it's the Thunder versus the Heat,'' Durant said Monday. ''One guy versus another guy, it's not going to be a 1-on-1 matchup to win the series, it's going to be all about the team.''

Maybe, but it's easy to get caught up in their individual brilliance.

It's the first time the MVP and scoring champ have met in the finals since 1997, when Michael Jordan's Bulls knocked off MVP Karl Malone and Utah.

They are friends and workout partners, play the same small forward position and are blessed with unlimited basketball talent. After years of waiting on a James-Kobe Bryant finals matchup that never materialized, the league gets one starting Tuesday that's perhaps even better, if not quite as sexy, to wrap up a successful season after the lockout.

''It's great for the NBA,'' Miami's Shane Battier said. ''I anticipate record ratings, which is great, so maybe we can get some of the escrow check back from the owners. First and foremost, that's why I'm excited to see Kevin Durant versus LeBron James. But selfish reasons aside, it's just a great matchup.

''There's so many young, great players in this league and established players and All-Stars. If you're a basketball fan, you're missing out if you're not watching this series.''

Both have sworn off Twitter, at least for the time being, James posted his last message on April 27 and Durant on May 1.

For now, KingJames and KDTrey5 will stick to making their statements on the court.

''Kevin is locked in on what he needs to do to help the team win,'' Thunder All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook said. ''It's going to be a great series for both teams and hopefully we can come out with the win.''

James is back for a third crack at his first championship, his Cleveland Cavaliers swept aside by San Antonio in 2007 just a couple of weeks before Durant was drafted by the then-Seattle SuperSonics with the No. 2 pick in the draft.

James fell short again last year in his first season with Miami, then carried the Heat to another chance with victories in the final two games of the Eastern Conference finals against the Celtics, starting with a sensational, 45-point, 15-rebound Game 6 performance in Boston.

''You know, third time in the finals in nine years, there's a lot of guys who don't get there once,'' Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. ''Of course, that right there in itself is an honor. But you want to win one. You want to get there and win one. Obviously, LeBron wants to win a championship. I can't say that he wants to win more than the next man, than anybody on OKC. I can't say that. But obviously he wants to win and get another opportunity. I'm sure he will try to seize it a little bit better than he did the first two times.''

A disappointment last year in the Heat's six-game loss to Dallas, James has said he's been in a better frame of mind this season and is looking forward making up for his previous failure.

''I didn't play well. I didn't make enough game-changing plays that I know I'm capable of making and I felt like I let my teammates down,'' he said.

''I'm happy and I'm humbled that I can actually be back in this position less than 12 months later to do a better job of making more plays, more game-changing plays out on the floor on a bigger stage. So we'll see what happens.''

Though their core of Durant, Westbrook, sixth man of the year James Harden and Serge Ibaka are all 23 or younger, the Thunder enter as the favorites in their first finals appearance since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008.

With signs backing the Thunder hanging from buildings throughout the city, Oklahoma City has watched Durant grow up from the player who arrived here as the rookie of the year. He received some guidance along the way from James, who reached out to Durant when he was in high school and then invited him to his home in Akron, Ohio, to work out last summer.

''For me, I understood what the situation he was getting himself into being drafted as high he was, and the things that came with being drafted to a team that needed a marquee player or superstar,'' James said. ''You know, from Day One I always lent my hand out to guide him if he needed it through anything, and that's on and off the floor, because to that point I seen everything, and I'm still learning. ...

''Our relationship is really good. Our relationship is going to continue to grow and I'm happy to be in this position where I can compete against him.''

Only one can be considered the best player in the game, and it's probably the guy who walks out of this series as a champion.

''I think it's going to bring the best out of both of them, and it's going to be the best for the game,'' Wade said, ''and it's going to be a great show.''

RIHANNA - naked on billboards and almost naked on the street.
Fresh from stamping on claims she used a body double for a steamy ad for Armani, the singer stepped out onto the streets of Manhattan in her most risqué outfit yet.

She tweeted a picture of the outfit before heading out and giving New Yorkers, and the paparazzi, a better view of her body.

Her pink lace bandeau bra was complimented by a pink pleat skirt, sunglasses and a pair of Cons, but those accessories didn't draw attention away from the fact she had mistaken a see-through bandage for a top.


Her choice of outfit was all the more strange given that Times Square has been taken over by giant naked Rihannas. The 24-year-old singer appears nude on billboards for her perfume range Rebelle.

It may be Rihanna's attempt to convince the world that the only person stripping off in her Armani ad is her.

Although she took time to slam reports she had used a body double, she has kept quiet on other damaging tabloid claims: that her manager has ordered her to go to rehab, that she's been out partying with her abusive ex and that she's suffering Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

According to Closer magazine, Jay-Z, is worried about her "excessive" partying. "Rihanna has been out of control for months," a source told the magazine.

"She was supposed to catch a flight back to the UK last week, but she ended up missing it, which was the final straw for management.

"Jay-Z hit the roof when he found out, and told Rihanna, 'Go to rehab now or I'll drop you from the label.' She's not happy, but she now feels she has no choice."

The Sun newspaper reported that Rihanna and Chris Brown partied at the same nightclub at the weekend.

Although the former couple sat at different tables, Witnesses said Brown sent Rihanna two bottles of Ace of Spades Champagne.

"After Chris made his way into SL with a group of friends, Rihanna pulled up with her own group of friends. They sat far enough from each other to not be able to talk, but close enough to keep an eye on one another."

Look magazine claimed the singer is suffering from Narcisstic Personality Disorder and that she had "reached breaking point".

A friend told the magazine: "Ri says she's physically and mentally exhausted and feeling lost. I think she desperately needs help and some time off - not just from work but from all the other stresses in her life too."

Henry Hill, a former mobster who was the basis for characters in the films "Goodfellas" and "My Blue Heaven," has died in Los Angeles, his girlfriend said.

He was 69.

TMZ reported the one-time Lucchese crime family associate died Tuesday after a long battle with an undisclosed illness.

"He had been sick for a long time," his girlfriend, Lisa Caserta, told TMZ. "His heart gave out."

The Brooklyn, N.Y., native was accused of extortion, theft, kidnapping, assault, drug dealing and a host of other offenses during his career in organized crime, but he spent his later years working with troubled youth and as a consultant to law-enforcement agencies. He also was an artist, popular guest on Howard Stern's radio show and author of "The Wiseguy Cookbook."

"It took a long time for me to forgive myself," Hill told United Press International in a 2002 telephone interview. "I just try to be one grain of sand better today than I was yesterday. I found my spirituality. I help the kids, young people in trouble."

Reflecting on his long career as a gangster, his decision to end it by testifying against his former associates, and his colorful relationship with the government while in the Federal Witness Protection program, living in places such as Nebraska, Kentucky and Washington state, Hill said he no longer looked over his shoulder for fear one of his former associates will kill him.

Hill, who struggled with addictions to drugs and alcohol for most of his adult life, was ultimately expelled from witness protection because he refused to keep a low profile and kept getting arrested.

"For 10 years, I lived a miserable life, but now there isn't anyone alive that I was involved with ... The people that tried to kill me and my family, that's the only people I knew about and most of them wound up with bullets in their head," Hill explained a decade ago. "I work hard. I'm not on Easy Street by no means, but I'm okay. I live a good life. I try to keep my life simple.

"The stigma of being a rat is hard to live with," he admitted, adding he ultimately found comfort in the thought he actually may have saved lives by helping put away the bad guys.

Hill also vouched for the authenticity of "Goodfellas," Martin Scorsese's classic 1990 film based on his life story. Ray Liotta played him in the picture.

"That's the way it is," Hill said. "It wasn't glamorized. It showed what it was like."

The rabid fan of "The Sopranos" did, however, condemn films and TV shows that perpetuate the so-called mob mystique, noting being a mobster is more "every man for himself" than "family first" or "honor among thieves."

Asked if it bothered him to watch movies or TV programs that remind him of his former life, Hill replied: "I watch them all ... I don't take that whole life seriously ... I own my past."

He is survived by a son and daughter from his marriage to ex-wife Karen Friedman.

Super Junior‘sKim Heechul recently took a photo on his way back to his hometown.

On May 13th, the idol posted the above photo and tweeted, “On the way to my hometown.  There were those old time hot dogs, so I tried one after 20 years.  As expected, hot dogs taste great with ketchup.  Hot dog selca.”

Sitting on a bench at an underground subway station, Heechul drew great attention with his abnormal pose.  It looks like he got some time off from his military duties to visit his family.  This selca has now become Heechul’s new default image.

Fans found his new photo hilarious and commented, “You look so stylish even when you’re eating~“, “Wish I had good looking men like you in my country’s subway station“, and “I wanna sit next to you and watch you eat that  ”

A few years back,the actress'take home pay was worth N1.7M and the amount made headline news with different schools of thought voicing their opinion

That was the first time it began to dawn on observers that actresses who have paid their dues are actually getting paid.

As you read this omotolas take home fee is no longer N1.7M,the actress now collects N5M(five million naira per script)to be involved in any movie.

According to observers"she has even turned down scripts worth N3M and recently turned down a script worth N2.5M and ireti doyle got the role. "Omotola got paid N5M for her role in movie 'amina' by producer tarila thompson whilst she go N4.5M for her role in ties that bind after a series of negotiations.

Lets say she collects four scripts in two months,thats a solid 20million keh!

Abeg maybe i should dump writing for a waka pass role eeeeeh.

If you disagree with this amount and think someone else earns higher,please let me know.

Simon Cowell is at home battling bronchitis, UK X-Factor judge Louis Walshis filling in for Kansas City, Missouri check…

What an evening it was for songstress Katy Perry! The singer–who is currently enjoying her tim
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Madonna has been caught contradicting herself in a January interview, suggesting she's not a fan of pop stars who flash their breasts onstage. Appearing to take aim at Janet Jackson, who infamously exposed a nipple during her half-time performance at the 2004 Super Bowl, the Material Girl told one TV reporter she was against the idea of flashing flesh to get attention - something she did in Turkey on Thursday night during a gig in Istanbul. In an interview clip from the W.E. press tour, obtained by ShowbizRaw.com, Madonna said, "You don't have to show nipples to be interesting. It doesn't necessarily mean you're cutting edge if you do, right?" The defiant pop superstar peeled down her bra for a striptease sequence during her performance of Human Nature to reveal a bare right breast and then turned her back on the audience to reveal a temporary tattoo that read 'NO FEAR'.