Week of January 8, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday the recession could "linger for

years" unless Congress pumps unprecedented sums from Washington into the

economy. "I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be if we don't

take dramatic action as soon as possible," Obama said in a speech set to be

delivered at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., outside Washington.

Excerpts from his prepared text were released in advance by his transition team.

Prosecutors say Bernard Madoff had

$173 million in signed checks in his office

desk that he was ready to send out at the

time of his arrest last month. The detail

was provided in a court filing Thursday as

prosecutors argued that Madoff should

have his bail revoked and be sent to jail.

They said the 100 checks were further

evidence that he wants to keep his

assets away from burned investors.

Investigators previously have said that

Madoff had planned on distributing more

than $200 million to his closest friends

and family after he realized his scheme

had unraveled. He was also accused of

sending more than $1 million worth of

jewelry to friends and family over the holidays.

The Illinois House of Representatives vote to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich on

a 114-1 vote, setting the stage for a trial in the state Senate that will decide if he

should be removed from office. House members who spoke before the

unprecedented vote charged that he betrayed his oath of office and is not fit to

lead the state. Blagojevich is the first Illinois governor to be impeached.

The unemployment rate jumped to 7.2% in December, the highest in nearly 16

years, as employers slashed the most jobs in 2008 since 1945, the government

said Friday in a report that painted a grim picture of the U.S. job market.

The jobless rate was up from 6.8% in November. The increase brought the rate

to the highest since January 1993, the Labor Department said. More than 11.1

million Americans were unemployed in December, up 3.6 million from when the

recession began in December 2007 and the highest since June 1983.

Week of January 8, 2009

A blast of Arctic air is responsible for the unusual freeze that moved into the

United States from Canada, said Bob Oravec, lead forecaster at the National

Weather Service in Camp Springs, Md. The cold front will spread to the East

Coast and descend into the South, says meteorologist Brian Korty of the National

Weather Service.

A judge allowed disgraced money manager Bernard Madoff to remain free on

bail Monday, rejecting an attempt by prosecutors to send him to jail for mailing

more than $1 million in jewelry to family and friends over the holidays.

The decision is sure to outrage investors who have been clamoring for Madoff to

be sent to jail for allegedly carrying out the largest financial fraud in history - a

scheme authorities say he has described as a Ponzi scheme.

President George W. Bush vigorously defended his record Monday but also

offered an extraordinary listing of his mistakes — including his optimistic Iraq

speech before a giant "Mission Accomplished" banner in 2003.

President George Bush Final

Press Conference - After starting

what he called "the ultimate exit

interview" with a lengthy and

personalized thank-you to the

reporters in the room who have

covered him over the eight years of

his presidency, Bush showed anger

at times when presented with some

of the main criticisms of his time in

office. "I think it's a good, strong

record," he said. "You know,

presidents can try to avoid hard

decisions and therefore avoid controversy. That's just not my nature." When

asked about America's bruised image overseas. "I disagree with this

assessment that, you know, that people view America in a dim light," he said. "It

may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand

America stands for freedom."

Bush said he realizes that some issues such as the prison for suspected

terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have created controversy at home and

around the world. But he defended his actions after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist

attacks, including approving tough interrogation methods for suspected

terrorists and information-gathering efforts at home in the name of protecting

the country.

Week of January 8, 2009

Secretary of State-designate Hillary Rodham Clinton vows to renew U.S.

leadership through a "smart power" mix of diplomacy and defense.

Addressing her Senate confirmation hearing, Clinton also promised to push for

stronger U.S. alliances around the globe. "We must build a world with more

partners and fewer adversaries," said the woman that President-elect Barack

Obama took for his administration's leading diplomatic job.

Retail sales plunged far more than expected in December, a record sixth straight

monthly decline as consumers were battered by a recession, a severe credit

crisis and soaring job losses, none of which are likely to ease anytime soon. The

Commerce Department reported Wednesday that retail sales dropped 2.7% last

month, more than double the 1.2% decline that Wall Street expected. For the

entire year, retail sales were down 0.1%, a sharp turnaround after a 4.1% gain in

2007. It was the first time the annual retail sales figure has fallen on government

records going back to 1992.

Technology - Japan's Sony Corp

plans to launch the world's lightest

8-inch notebook PC, taking aim

squarely at a rapidly growing

market for ultra-portable personal

computers. The new Sony Vaio PC

will come with Microsoft Corp's

Windows Vista operating system,

supporting all the software

programs found in full-sized

notebooks, and sell for about $900,

setting itself apart from Netbooks.

Netbooks, pioneered by Taiwan's

Asustek in 2007 and one of the rare

bright spots in the electronics

industry in recent months, are

generally described as low cost,

mini-laptops optimized for Internet use, and sell typically for $300 to $400.

Charles Barkley , the popular Hall of Fame basketball star

and Emmy Award-winning NBA television pundit with

aspirations for political office, might find his career plans in

jeopardy after TNT Network said he would take a leave of

absence after a charge for drunken driving. Police in

Arizona said Friday that Barkley, 45, had a blood-alcohol

level of .149 after his arrest in Scottsdale on New Year's

Week of January 8, 2009

Eve. A level of .150 is a case of "extreme" inebriation, said police Lt. Eric

Shuhandler. The state's legal limit is .08.

Trend - Teen texting out of hand? 13-year-old

Reina Hardesty of Orange County California racked

up an astonishing 14,528 text messages in one

month. The online AT&T statement ran 440 pages.

"First, I laughed. I thought, 'That's insane, that's

impossible,' " the 45-year-old dad said. "And I

immediately whipped out the calculator to see if it

was humanly possible." He found it was - barely.

It works out to 484 text messages a day, or one

every two minutes of every waking hour. "Then I

thought maybe AT&T made some mistake on the

bill," said Hardesty, of Silverado Canyon. He found

out they didn’t .

Entertainment news -

The Dark Knight" took home top honors at the

People's Choice Awards, walking away with five

awards. The movie, which won high praise and acclaim from critics and fans,

won the award for favorite movie, favorite action movie, favorite cast, favorite

on screen match-up (Christian Bale and Heath Ledger) and favorite

superhero (Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman). "Here's to Heath," Bale

said after accepting the award, referring to his co-star, who died of an

accidental drug overdose in January 2008. Host Queen Latifah introduced the

movie at the end of the ceremony and all five awards were presented at the

same time.

"American Idol" lost to "Dancing With the

Stars" for favorite reality TV show, but two of

their alums -- Jordin Sparks and Carrie

Underwood -- picked up their own awards.

Underwood, who performed earlier during the

show, nabbed two wins early on -- one for "Last

Name" (favorite country song) and also for

favorite female singer.

Arizona - American Idol kicks off Season 8 with

new contestants and new executive producers.

But the real star of the Phoenix auditions was the

new judge, songwriter Kara DioGuardi.

Week of January 8, 2009

Golden Globe highlights -

Slumdog Millionaire dominated the night for movies, winning best motion-picture

drama, original score, screenplay, and director for Danny Boyle, who said, "Your

mad, pulsating affection for our film is much appreciated, really deeply

appreciated."

Mickey Rourke comeback - as he

gets best actor in a drama for “The

Wrestler.” Kate Winslet said she had a

habit of "not winning things" lately, but

she picked up two biggies at the

Golden Globe Awards: best actress for

Revolutionary Road and best

supporting actress for The Reader.

Steven Spielberg picked up a lifetime

achievement award and Bruce

Springsteen won for best movie song

for the title track to The Wrestler ,

beating out a group of composers

including Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Peter

Gabriel and even Clint Eastwood, for

his theme to Gran Torino .

Presenters included the Jonas Brothers, Hayden Panettiere, Martin Scorsese,

Drew Barrymore, Sacha Baron Cohen, Salma Hayek, Jessica Lange, Amy

Poehler and Seth Rogen, as well as Ricky Gervais, Johnny Depp, David

Duchovny, Megan Fox, Eva Longoria, Sting, Sean Combs and Mark Wahlberg.

More Golden Globes - After receiving multiple complaints about NBC's Sunday

telecast of the Golden Globes, the FCC said Wednesday that it is reviewing the

program for possible violations of indecency rules. Toward the end of the

program, director Darren Aronofsky was caught on camera jokingly making an

obscene gesture -- "flipping the bird," as it's commonly called -- at actor Mickey

Rourke, who was onstage accepting an acting award for Aronofsky's film "The

Wrestler." Rourke and other attendees also salted their speeches with occasional

off-color language, some of which was bleeped by NBC censors. Now the FCC,

Week of January 8, 2009

which regulates decency issues on the broadcast networks, has stepped into the

fray. The FCC said they received over a dozen complaints so far.

Passing - One of Mr. Pop Culture’s

favorites - Emmy-winning actor

Patrick McGoohan , best known for

starring in cult 1960s TV shows “The

Prisoner” and “Secret Agent” has

died at the age of 80. McGoohan

played the character “Six” in the

surreal 1960s show, “The Prisoner,”

filmed in the north Wales village of

Portmeirion. He won two Emmy

awards for his work on TV detective

series Columbo, playing different

characters.

Ricardo Montalban , the Mexican-born actor who

became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as

the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV's "Fantasy Island,"

dies. He was 88.

Sports -

NFL Playoff games -

Pittsburgh - 35 San Diego 24

Philadelphia 23 NY Giants 11

Baltimore 13 Tennessee 0

Arizona 33 Carolina

Music news - Country star Taylor Swift and

her second album, "Fearless," notched a fifth

week atop the Billboard 200 on Wednesday,

moving 90,000 copies in the latest sales

period. That's the first time a No. 1 album has

sold fewer than 100,000 units since the week

ended February 3, 2008, when Alicia Keys' "As

I Am" shifted 61,000.

Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" held at No. 2

last week with 77,000. Kanye West's "808s and

Heartbreak" rose two places to No. 3 with

Week of January 8, 2009

71,000. The "Twilight" soundtrack was also up two places, to No. 4, with 66,000.

Nickelback's "Dark Horse" fell one to No. 5 with 64,000, while Britney Spears'

"Circus" slid three to No. 6 with a couple hundred copies fewer than that, also at

64,000. Keyshia Cole's "A Different Me" kept the No. 7 spot warm with 54,000.

Jamie Foxx's "Intuition" rose one to No. 8 with 45,000, flip-flopping with the multi-

artist "NOW 29" hits compilation, which sold 44,000.

An anomaly amongst overall post-holiday declines, the Target exclusive "All

Wrapped Up," featuring Christmas songs from the Jonas Brothers and Miley

Cyrus, among others, jumped 78 places to No. 10. The disc, which was deeply

discounted after the holiday season, sold 40,000 copies.

The only debut among the top 50 was "The 99 Most Essential Beethoven

Masterpieces" at No. 29 with 21,000 copies. The collection sold for just $1.99 at

Amazon.com's MP3 store.

Hot Hits This Week In 2009. Thanks R&R…

BRITNEY SPEARS WOMANIZER

8829

+20

54.749

JIVE/ZOMBA

2 week(s) at number 1

T.I. FEAT. RIHANNA LIVE YOUR LIFE

8813 -165

56.449 1

DEF JAM/GRAND HUSTLE/IDJMG/ATLANTIC

LADY GAGA FEAT. COLBY O'DONIS JUST DANCE

52.603 3

STREAMLINE/KONLIVE/CHERRYTREE/INTERSCOPE 8510 +132

JASON MRAZ I'M YOURS

7361 -153

41.387 5

ATLANTIC/RRP

KATY PERRY HOT N COLD

6686 +41

38.893 6

CAPITOL

BEYONCE SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)

6598 +476

43.639 4

MUSIC WORLD/COLUMBIA

TAYLOR SWIFT LOVE STORY

6528 +278

37.401 7

BIG MACHINE/UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC

KEVIN RUDOLF FEAT. LIL WAYNE LET IT ROCK

5893 -24

36.338 8

CASH MONEY/UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC

T.I. WHATEVER YOU LIKE

5473 -206

35.555 9

GRAND HUSTLE/ATLANTIC

PINK SO WHAT

5332 -189

30.58

LAFACE/ZOMBA

Week of January 8, 2009

KANYE WEST LOVE LOCKDOWN

5258

+44

31.839

ROC-A-FELLA/DEF JAM/IDJMG

AKON RIGHT NOW (NA NA NA)

5222

+32

28.69

KONVICT/UPFRONT/SRC/UNIVERSAL MOTOWN

NICKELBACK GOTTA BE SOMEBODY

4614

-12

21.138

ROADRUNNER/RRP

BEYONCE IF I WERE A BOY

4605

-399

27.137

MUSIC WORLD/COLUMBIA

NE-YO MISS INDEPENDENT

4515

+105

30.987

DEF JAM/IDJMG

SAVING ABEL ADDICTED

4125

-52

19.076

SKIDDCO/VIRGIN/CAPITOL

KANYE WEST HEARTLESS

3745

+393

23.612

ROC-A-FELLA/DEF JAM/IDJMG

RIHANNA REHAB

3723

+171

18.086

SRP/DEF JAM/IDJMG

BRITNEY SPEARS CIRCUS

3693

+309

23.29

JIVE/ZOMBA

PINK SOBER

3500

+220

19.248

LAFACE/ZOMBA

VERONICAS UNTOUCHED

2945

+175

13.931

ENGINEROOM/SIRE/WARNER BROS.

DAVID COOK LIGHT ON

2760

+229

12.264

19/RCA/RMG

FRAY YOU FOUND ME

2664

+266

13.17

EPIC

PUSSYCAT DOLLS I HATE THIS PART

2609

+229

17.088

INTERSCOPE

HINDER WITHOUT YOU

2368

8.293

UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC

Top TV From Last Week -

(X) NFL Playoff: Indianapolis vs. San Diego

NBC

(X) "NBC NFL Playoff Pre-Kick 2"

NBC

(X) "FOX NFC Wildcard Post Game"

FOX

(7) "Desperate Housewives

ABC

(3) "NCIS

CBS

(X) Sugar Bowl: Alabama vs. Utah

FOX

Week of January 8, 2009

(16) "Cold Case

CBS

(8) "60 Minutes

CBS

(10) "Two and a Half Men

CBS

10.

(14) "CSI: Miami

CBS

11.

(21) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

ABC

12.

(X) "Superstars of Dance

NBC

13.

(X) "Kennedy Center Honors

CBS

14.

(27) "Million Dollar Password

CBS

15.

(X) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CBS

16.

(31) "The Unit

CBS

17.

(X) "Law & Order: SVU

NBC

18.

(X) "Deal or No Deal

NBC

19.

(X) Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech FOX

20.

(24) "Brothers and Sisters

ABC

Top movies this week in 2009 -

Gran Torino

Bride Wars

The Unborn

Marley and Me (Picture below)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Bedtime Stories

Valkyrie

Yes Man

Not Easily Broken

Seven Pounds

Slimdog Millionaire

Tale of Desperaux

Twilight

Doubt

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Revolutionary Road

Bolt

The Reader

Milk

Frost/Nixon

The Wrestler