These are the core common-ground issues that we must urgently rally around and support. Unless we organize and take decisive action on all these issues, we will all suffer the consequences of our collective inaction.

You may have missed it in the mainstream news media, but statistical societal indicators are reading red across the board. The economic elite have launched an attack on the U.S. public and society is unraveling at an increased rate.

The amount of poverty and suffering required for the emergence of a Goldman Sachs, and the amount of depravity that the accumulation of a fortune of such a magnitude entails is left out of the mainstream media, and it is not always possible to make the people in general see this.

Michael Moore discusses his new doc “Capitalism: A Love Story” on Colbert, Democracy Now and CNN.

Thought we would lighten it up a bit... :) Comedy kings reunite with a star-studded ensemble cast for a vacation to paradise in "Couples Retreat."

A mash-up of the many interpretations of the Thriller dance by the YouTube community.

As a tribute to MJ's influence, here's a compilation of YouTube Moonwalkers.

Here's a complete roundup of the Palin Vs. Letterman war - including the Top 10 late-night jokes about Bristol Palin.

Worried parents are waiting to hear if their children are among the alleged ­victims of the nursery school worker Vanessa George after she appeared in court yesterday amid violent scenes.

Naomi Wolf thinks so. But what would she be without the boobs and lips?

Welcome to Hollywood's newest version of risky business: movie derivatives. Two trading firms, one of them an established Wall Street player and the other a Midwest upstart, are each about to premiere a sophisticated new financial tool: a box-office futures exchange that would allow Hollywood studios and others to hedge against the box-office performance of movies, similar to the way farmers swap corn or wheat futures to protect themselves from crop failures. The Cantor Exchange, formed by New York firm Cantor Fitzgerald and set to launch in April, last week demonstrated its system to 90 Hollywood executives in a packed Century City hotel conference room. Amid a spirited trading-floor atmosphere, the participants shouted out guesses and made bets on how much "Alice in Wonderland" might rake in at the box office" Tags: Movies Stock Market Posted by: ampedstatus

"A spokesman for Charlie Sheen says the actor will soon be back at "Two and a Half Men" after undergoing rehab that temporarily halted production of CBS' top-rated sitcom. Publicist Stan Rosenfield says Sheen will be returning to work and shooting will resume next Tuesday in Los Angeles. Last month, Rosenfield announced that Sheen had voluntarily entered a rehab facility "as a preventative measure." He didn't specify why Sheen was seeking treatment." Tags: addiction TV Posted by: ampedstatus

Actor Corey Haim died from an apparent accidental drug overdose after he was rushed to a Los Angeles County hospital early this morning, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The actor discusses his sobriety in a February 2010 interview. Haim, 38, was taken from his mother's North Hollywood home by ambulance to Burbank's Providence St. Joseph Medical Center, where he died at about 3:40 a.m. PT, according to police Sgt. Frank Albarran. Tags: addiction Posted by: ampedstatus

What a shame that the one movie about the Iraq war that has a chance of being viewed by a large worldwide audience should be so disappointing. According to press reports, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally found a movie about the Iraq war they liked because it is “apolitical.” Actually, “The Hurt Locker” is just the opposite; it’s an endorsement of the politically chauvinistic view that the world is a stage upon which Americans get to deal with their demons no matter the consequence for others. It is imperial hubris turned into an art form in which the Iraqi people appear as numbed bystanders when they are not deranged extras. It is a perverse tribute to the film’s accuracy in portraying the insanity of the U.S. invasion—while ignoring its root causes—that the Iraqis are at no point treated as though they are important. Tags: Movies Posted by: ampedstatus

Veteran rock band Pink Floyd took their record company EMI to court in London Tuesday in a row over online royalty payments. Pink Floyd signed with EMI in 1967 and their albums include "Dark Side Of The Moon", one of the top-sellers of all time. Their lawyer Robert Howe told the High Court that the dispute was about online royalties and whether EMI was entitled to sell individual tracks "otherwise than in the original configuration of the Pink Floyd albums"." Tags: Music Rock Posted by: ampedstatus

For decades, Wilkinson has studied why some societies are healthier than others. He found that what the healthiest societies have in common is not that they have more—more income, more education, or more wealth—but that what they have is more equitably shared. In fact, it turns out that not only disease, but a whole host of social problems ranging from mental illness to drug use are worse in unequal societies. In his latest book, The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, co-written with Kate Pickett, Wilkinson details the pernicious effects that inequality has on societies: eroding trust, increasing anxiety and illness, encouraging excessive consumption. The good news is that increased equality has the opposite effect: statistics show that communities without large gaps between rich and poor are more resilient and their members live longer, happier lives." Tags: Economic Inequality Posted by: ampedstatus

Elinor Burkett interrupted Roger Ross Williams' Oscar acceptance speech Sunday, in what's being described as the "Kanye moment" of the Academy Awards. Williams, the director-producer for "Music by Prudence," a film about a disabled Zimbabwean musician, took to the stage Sunday evening to accept the award for best documentary short. Williams got just a few sentences into his speech when he was interrupted and dominated by Elinor Burkett, another producer of the film. Williams stood on stage while Burkett raved about the people behind "Music by Prudence." Tags: Movies Posted by: ampedstatus

“The Hurt Locker,” the Iraq war drama about a U.S. Army bomb squad, marched to six Oscars including best picture and best directing by Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win the award. Bigelow’s film beat out “Avatar,” the top-grossing movie of all time, by her ex-husband James Cameron. The winners were announced last night during the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles, hosted by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. Cameron’s 3-D science-fiction adventure “Avatar,” which cost $230 million to make and collected $2.56 billion in worldwide box-office sales, was bested at the ceremony by a film made for $15 million. “Avatar,” from News Corp.’s Fox studio, won three Oscars, including best visual effects. Tags: Movies Iraq Posted by: ampedstatus

It was the first Iraq war movie to really break through, and now “The Hurt Locker” has won six Academy Awards, including best picture and best director, marking the first time an Oscar for directing has gone to a woman. The movie opens with a quote from Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges. “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” Hedges wrote that line in his book “War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning.” The film is surprisingly apolitical, given its subject matter. It was written and co-produced by Mark Boal, a journalist who won an Oscar for his screenplay." Tags: Iraq Movies Posted by: ampedstatus

"ABC News has the first footage of Jaycee Lee Dugard, her mother, and her half-sister since Dugard was located last August, 18 years following her abduction. The footage is from home videos shot by the Dugards licensed by ABC from the family. Part of the footage will be broadcast during Friday's "Good Morning America" and more will be featured on "20/20" and "Nightline" later in the day. " Tags: Sex Laws Posted by: ampedstatus

The Walt Disney Co. on Monday began warning Cablevision subscribers in New York that the local ABC television station signal may go dark this weekend in a dispute over how much it is paid by the cable operator. If the fee fight isn't resolved, the station could go dark after midnight Saturday, meaning Cablevision's 3.1 million customers could lose the ability to watch the Academy Awards on Sunday on ABC. The signal, however, can still be pulled from the air for free with an antenna and a new TV or digital converter box." Tags: TV Posted by: ampedstatus

You just forked over $150 on a helpful shrink session and have locked in your new mantra for the week: Be a wall of strength and take time before reacting. En route to your car, it becomes time for a little retail therapy. You pass the window of that favorite boutique and are seduced by that ubiquitous, flashing, four-letter recession sign: SALE! An hour later, you have modeled a few dozen garments in the mirror and feel happier, fulfilled. You got your fix, so get dressed, leave the tagged goods behind in the fitting room, and run like Forrest Gump. Don't turn back. Chant that mantra. "I am a wall of strength." Tags: Consumer Spending addiction Posted by: ampedstatus

How much should a copyright owner pay for improperly telling a website to remove content? Stephanie Lenz got into trouble with Universal Music Group in 2007 after she posted a YouTube video of her toddler dancing to the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy." The label fired off a letter demanding removal of the clip and YouTube complied. Lenz then teamed with online free-speech advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation to get a judge to declare that her video was a "fair use" of the song. She then sought damages against Universal, the world's biggest record company, for sending a meritless takedown request. Universal fought back by raising affirmative defenses that Lenz had bad faith and unclean hands in pursuing damages. Now a California district court judge has rejected those arguments, granting partial summary judgment to Lenz and paving the way for Lenz to collect attorneys fees. Tags: copyright Music Web Video Posted by: ampedstatus

Tiger Woods’ scripted apology for cheating on his wife has been a riveting topic for the US media. On the newsstands on February 20, 2010, every US newspaper carried stories of Tiger Woods’ confession. It was a bold full-page headline in the Post, and Daily News. It appeared on the cover of The Wall Street Journal that carried three stories and front-page photos. The New York Times alone did not post the confession as front-page news but carried two stories and photos on the cover of their Sports Section. Why is this so riveting? In many ways this post continues the theme of my last post, “Morality- It’s Strictly Personal.” Hopefully, this provides new insights. Tags: Sex Scandal Tiger Woods Posted by: ampedstatus

The FCC is looking into whether the producers of the planned Fox game show “Our Little Genius” gave potential contestants the answers to some questions before taping episodes of the program last year. In December, the parent of a child who was recruited for the quiz show sent a letter to the commission. The letter alleges that a few days before a planned taping, a member of the program’s production staff reviewed with the contestant and his parents a list of potential topics and gave specific answers to at least four questions that the child either did not know or about which he was unsure. Tags: Fox FCC TV Posted by: ampedstatus

How To Make It In America is created by Ian Edelman, a first-time writer, and executive produced by Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg, and Rob Reiss, the creative team behind HBO’s Entourage. That series similarly follows the ups and downs of a group of young people, as they maneuver among the glitterati of the Hollywood film industry. Given the pedigree of the new show’s creators, it is not difficult to work out the nature of their priorities. In any case, the first half hour of How To Make It In America is indicative of the show’s internal compass. Tags: Reality TV TV Posted by: ampedstatus

The decades-old taboo that drama series with minority leads cannot work finally might be broken. Halfway through the castings of broadcast drama pilots this season, the top-billed actors on four pilots are non-Caucasian. What's more, the four projects are among the highest-profile drama pilots this year. The spy couple at the center of J.J. Abrams' "Undercovers" for NBC is played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Boris Kodjoe. "Undercovers," co-written by Abrams, marks his first pilot directing effort since "Lost" six years ago. Tags: racism TV Posted by: ampedstatus

US media on Saturday dissected with gusto golf star Tiger Woods's very public apology for his private mishaps, with some welcoming his professionalism while others were angered by his tone. The New York Times television critic Alessandra Stanley said the golf great's first public remarks since revelations of his extramarital dalliances were double edged. Tags: Tiger Woods Sex Scandal Posted by: ampedstatus

Remember the "King of All Media?" For many people, Howard Stern has been off the radar since he moved to satellite radio more than four years ago. But in recent days it is not just his loyal subscribers who have been hearing about him. A report that he's in the running to judge "American Idol" has proved surprisingly persistent, despite the usual conjecture that he's just putting us on. Whether or not the caustic comic is ready for family-friendly prime time—a person close to the show called the notion "insane"—the "Idol" speculation has helped Mr. Stern succeed at returning to the center of attention long after leaving the public airwaves. Tags: Radio Posted by: ampedstatus

Joe Stack, the 53-year-old software engineer who allegedly flew a single engine aircraft into an Austin-based IRS office on Thursday morning, was more than just a criminal or possible domestic terrorist. He was also a musician who played the bass and accordion in a band that once crooned about how the world just isn't made for autistic people. They are the Billy Eli Band, according to CBS News, fronted by Texas singer/songwriter Billy Eli, featuring Joe Stack, Ric Furley and Jim Hemphill. Tags: Music Posted by: ampedstatus