August 2012 Archives

Ashton Eaton of the United States won gold in the decathlon yesterday, cementing his place among the all-time great Olympic athletes ... if not atop that list.

Eaton dashed, hurdled, jumped and vaulted through 10 events, racking up 8,869 points - short of his own world record, but enough to secure the gold.

What the 24-year-old also won is renewed prominence for the decathlon, producer of icons from Jim Thorpe to Bruce Jenner (yes, that Bruce Jenner).

Considered by many to be the greatest decathlete ever, whether that means Ashton Eaton is the greatest athlete ever, or even now, is up for debate.

Usain Bolt proclaimed himself the greatest ever last night after winning the 200-meters. At Eaton’s news conference, he was asked the same question.

Ashton paused, but Trey Hardee, a fellow American decathlete who won the silver medal Thursday with 8,671 points, interjected on his behalf.

“So Ashton doesn’t have to sound selfish or self-centered, Ashton is the best athlete to ever walk the planet, hands down,” Hardee said.

He cited the history of the decathlon, dating back to ancient times, and the unparalleled rigors of competing in 10 events over two days.

Someone relayed Bolt’s comments to Hardee, and he fired off this salvo: “Just because you’re fast doesn’t make you an athlete,” he said.

Later, when someone relayed this to Bolt, he laughed and said that Ashton Eaton deserved the title, considering he had to do 10 events.

Case closed.

Joe Simpson, the 54-year-old former minister and manager/father of Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, was arrested for DUI in L.A. back on August 4.

During the traffic stop, on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, officers got the feeling he was intoxicated and ultimately made an arrest.

Joe Simpson spent the rest of that night cooling off in jail.

He was released without bail at 9:41 the following day. If charges are filed, Simpson will not get any jail time since it's his first offense.

Expect something more in line with probation, community service and a sizable fine ... along with a heaping dose of embarrassment.

No comment yet from any of the Simpson clan.

[Photo: WENN.com]

Google has agreed to a record $22.5 million fine for invasion of privacy after being accused of deliberately circumventing the privacy of Safari browsers.

The Federal Trade Commission alleged that the search engine giant it violated a pledge to protect the privacy of its users who use Apple's browser.

The FTC is ramping up its efforts to protect the online privacy of consumers and said it levied the largest fine in its history to send a clear message.

The FTC said the behavior violated terms of a settlement Google reached with the agency last year over its now-defunct Buzz social networking service.

In the settlement, the FTC ordered Google to disable all the tracking cookies, used to monitor user activity across the Internet, by next year.

Tracking cookies are snippets of computer code that collect data about how users browse and thus show them ads based on browsing history.

The FTC said that Google told Safari users that because the browser blocks third-party cookies, they did not need to opt out of online tracking.

Yet Google in fact placed a temporary cookie on computers, tablets, and mobile devices, as first reported by Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer.

In reaching the settlement, Google did not admit liability, claiming that it had "collected no personal information from Apple's browsers."

James Holmes made another appearance in court today, as a hearing was held to listen to arguments from media outlets who believe a judge should unseal various documents related to the July 20 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

Both sides - the prosecution and the defense - actually prefer to keep these documents away from the public while the case is pending.

But while a decision was not made regarding that issue, Holmes' attorneys did show their hand a bit:

They asked for prosecutors and investigators turn over every shred of evidence in their possession in order for the alleged killer's legal team to make a determination.

"We cannot begin to assess the nature and the depth of Mr. Holmes' mental illness until we receive full disclosure of all the documents," a lawyer told the judge, hinting they will pursue an insanity defense.

Holmes faces 24 counts of first-degree murder. The state has not revealed yet whether it plans to ask for the death penalty.

Snooki and JWoww will not be welcome in Toms River or Point Pleasant, New Jersey, during the second season of their Jersey Shore spinoff show.

The Point Pleasant Beach Council unanimously voted against a request to tape the Snooki & JWoww there; Toms River negged a similar request.

Guess they gotta need to keep the quota of overly tanned girls with giant fake boobs saying inane things to a minimum ... or at least limit the traffic.

Season 1 was filmed in Jersey City, N.J., after Hoboken negged them. Jersey Shore itself is filmed in Seaside Heights, further down the Atlantic coast.

Although it doesn't have a location yet, Season 2 of Snooki & JWoww will be an entertaining ride to say the least, given all that should transpire.

"It would probably be up to my labor and [my baby] being born," Snooki told E! News, though she adds that things won't be too intimate.

Thank goodness.

"[Fiancé Jionni Lavelle] wants [the birth] to be private and I totally respect him for that," she said. "But I'm going to record it for myself."

"I want to remember that moment. And I want to show Lorenzo when he's like 16 in front of all his friends and really embarrass him."

At this rate, let's just hope the hot mess can find a hospital that will allow her in the door. Tip: Check in as Nicole Polizzi, not Snooki.

Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star Stevie J probably should stop two-timing Joseline and Mimi, or at least routinely rubbing this fact in both of their faces.

Last night in L.A., baby mama Mimi hit him in the face after he made a joke about Joseline, his on/off piece on the side, getting in a fight with Mimi.

Stevie J and Joseline's questionable relationship has played out on the VH1 reality show ... at one point she went after him pretty hard as well.

Check out that infamous clip, during "couples therapy," below:

Joseline-Stevie J Fight on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta

The moral of the story here? Don't brag about the other woman you're sleeping with ... or bring her to any sort of counseling with you. Or watch VH1.

It took a last-second goal by Alex Morgan to send the U.S. Women's Soccer Team into its Gold Medal matchup against Japan, but no such heroics were required to earn the Yanks a revenge-filled victory today:

Yes, we did! By a score of 2-1, America took down the team that shocked us in last summer's World Cup finals.

Carli Lloyd scored in the eighth and 54th minutes of the game, with Yuki Ogimi netting a shot in the 63rd minute, and the U.S. held on for the prize it had been aiming for over the past two weeks.

An Olympic record crowd for women's soccer (80,203) at Wembley Stadium watched Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and company pile on to each other when the final whistle sounded, as bars and offices across the county broke out into chants and toasts just a few moments ago.

Canada, meanwhile, defeated France earlier in the day to earn the Bronze.

McKayla Maroney's brutally honest, unmoved reaction after winning the silver medal and not the gold in the Olympic individual vault competition earlier this week has spawned a hilarious Internet meme starring the American gymnast.

If you missed it, here's McKayla's expression:

Hey, you can't blame a girl for her high standards, or for wearing her heart (and look of disappointed apathy) on her sleeve. She just expects better.

This demanding philosophy extends to all facets of Maroney's life, it turns out.

According to a new Tumblr created in honor of the exacting vault queen, McKayla is not impressed by the well-endowed U.S. rowing team either ...

... or the 2011 Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton ...

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The public will hear from Robert Pattinson for the first time since his split from Kristen Stewart when he's a guest on The Daily Show this Monday.

But sources tell In Touch Weekly that Stewart herself has been hearing from the actor often since news of her affair with Rupert Sanders went public. How so?

"He’s been drunk dialing Kristen," an insider claims.

Friends tell the magazine that Rob has "been drinking like crazy," since the split, which is actually the second time this assertion has been made.

So, assuming this story is valid, what actually happens when Pattinson gets Stewart on the line? A lot of "dead silences," this Robsten mole says.

Another supposed know-it-all adds that Rob is clearly considering some kind of reconciliation, but "his friends are working hard to make sure that he doesn’t go back to her."

Do you think he should? Should Pattinson forgive Stewart?

Say what you will about Karrueche Tran … we have no witty conclusion to this sentence, but the "aspiring model" is now modeling boyfriend Chris Brown's clothing line.

Tran poses in a couple of Mechanical Dummy outfits in the pics below:

While many ladies out there would love to be in Chris Brown's pants (for reasons that defy self-respect and human logic), only Karrueche can say that she is … LITERALLY!

CB posted these images on Twitter, hoping for some fan reactions and free publicity (you are welcome), before the Mechanical Dummy designs are officially released.

What do you think? Does Chris Brown have any talent for fashion design? It appears safe to say he and Karrueche Tran are going strong regardless.

Tell us: Would you buy anything from Mechanical Dummy?