Rihanna Photo

Rumors have been swirling for more than a week that her boyfriend, 19-year-old singer Chris Brown, struck her during an argument that took place following a party on Feb. 7. The release of the photo comes just days after Brown said much of what has been reported of the incident is untrue.
In a statement, the LAPD said it takes "seriously its duty to maintain the confidentiality of victims of domestic violence.

The Los Angeles Police Department launched an internal investigation Thursday into the release of a domestic violence photograph that appears to be pop singer Rihanna after she was allegedly attacked by Chris Brown earlier this month.

Alexis Grace

Alexis Grace, who belted out a soulful rendition of Aretha Franklin's "Never Loved a Man" that earned her comparisons to a former "Idol" champ, Kelly Clarkson. Then Danny Gokey closed the night with a take on Mariah Carey's "Hero" that had the studio audience — and the judges — cheering wildly. Ricky Braddy and Michael Sarver also received high marks for their versions of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" and Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Wanna Be."

You can file the performances by Casey Carlson, Stevie Wright and Stephen Fowler under "disastrous." Carlson, the button-cute former bikini model, winked her way through a karaoke-fied version of the Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," a performance that left "Idol" judges agape. Wright, a 17-year-old with a husky set of pipes, decided to go "younger," taking on Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me" and failing spectacularly.

Everyone else was somewhere in between. Normally dramatic Tatiana Del Toro unveiled her demure side with a controlled version of Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You," a decision that left judges praising her pipes but questioning her identity as an artist. Brent Keith tried to remain loyal to his country roots by singing James Aldean's "Hicktown," a performance the judges deemed "forgettable."

Howard Davidowitz

Howard Davidowitz appears to me, to be one of the few who 'see the light' - or at least my light. He is Anti Kool Aid [Aug 14, 2008: Howard Davidowitz - the Only Realistic Retail Analyst in America?] [Mar 30, 2008: Howard Davidowitz on US Consumer] I do believe the average American, in narcissistic form, is in denial as is our leadership. I was saying the same "alarmist" type of things about the economy in 2007 - and was proven correct.

This "Pooring of America" mantra will take much longer to play out so I cannot be proven wrong or right as quickly as came to be with the economy. But we'll check back in 2019 on this thesis of mine ;) One can agree or disagree with this view today - but I'd ask people to consider viewpoints that differ from theirs. We have a too many people who act like ostriches with head in the sand; until you recognize a problem you cannot begin to address it.

Back when I started the blog, I coined a phrase "The Pooring of America" - this was a theme based on a confluence of events, some of which we brought upon ourselves, some global changes. We don't spend a lot of time talking about the "long long" term because in the stock market "long term" is now next week. The "shopping culture" we've transformed into, while dispensing with productive industries - is also a whole 'nother animal.