Lady Gaga talks to President-elect Joe Biden and Jill Biden after singing the National Anthem during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington,DC on January 20, 2021. (Photo by Patrick Semansky / POOL / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK SEMANSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Stefani Germanotta, or better known as Lady Gaga, had a central spot on the day of President Biden’s inauguration as she sang the national anthem. Her presence there didn’t come as a surprise because she was pretty vocal about her support for Biden during the presidential campaign.
In 2020, she shared a video of herself wearing outfit with a military pattern and drinking beer in front of a pickup truck. “Hey, this is Lady Gaga. I’m voting for America, which means I’m voting for Joe Biden,” she could be heard saying. She ended the video with the words “Cheers to the 2020 election,” as she crashed the can of beer.
In a separate tweet, she shared a photo of her with the president referring to him as of “a good friend.”
“That’s a pic of me in Pennsylvania when I lived in Lancaster. I LOVE THIS STATE. I’m here now! This place is filled with good hearted people — good hearted people that [Biden] loves,” she wrote. “He’s a good friend. He’s the President this country needs to bring us back together.”
Recently, Lady Gaga decided to speak of the inauguration day and revealed that she wore a bulletproof dress. The famous singer and performer confessed that she felt fear during the time Donald Trump served as the president of the country.
“Like many people in America, I felt a deep fear when Trump was president, and ushering 45 out and 46 in is something I’ll be able to tell my children all about.”
Out of all the reality shows on TV, those who are designed to help people in need are definitely my favorite. If you are a fan of such shows, chances are you are familiar with Ty Pennington, the host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Ever since he appeared on the popular BBC program Trading Spaces where he worked as a carpenter, he stole many people’s hearts. Extremely skillful and smoking hot, it didn’t come as a surprise that Ty was soon offered to host Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Instagram/TyPennington
During the nine seasons it originally aired, the show helped built the homes of thousands of families. However, as much as he was happy to help one family at a time, rejecting the rest was very hard. Ty once revealed that they were getting over 4,000 videos a week of people who wanted to get renovations.
“Yeah, that’s the worst part, but who knows, we might be able to go back and help some of those people we had to say “no” to earlier,” he told Ability Magazine in 2007.
“What’s really cool is, some of the families we’ve helped have come out and helped us with other families. They really want to give back what’s been given to them. There’s definitely a pay-it-forward kind of vibe on our show.”
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Hosting the show put Ty in the spotlight, but being on the set took its toll. He could barely find the time for his private life.
“I didn’t see family or a girlfriend for 10 years. I would come home to do laundry and go out again,” he told The Atlanta Constitution in 2019.
“When I saw people from the old TV show, they said ’My God! You look amazing!’ I got some sleep! I would imagine I look a lot better than when I was on the show.”
Instagram/TyPennington
After the show was canceled back in 2011, Ty turned to other projects. He joined ABC’s talk show The Revolution and later on became a part of two cooking shows, On The Menu and American Diner Revival. He also opened a Los Angeles based design store. In 2018, Ty was part of the third season of the Deluxe Corporation’s series Small Business Revolution: Main Street, and he also did some renovations for Trading Spaces. Most recently, he was seen hosting Battle on the Beach.
When Extreme Makeover: Home Edition aired again recently, he wasn’t offered to get back on the show, but he said there are no hard feelings or any bad blood.
Today, Ty is engaged to 33-year-old social media manager Kellee Merrell. He proposed to her with a beautiful tea-drop-shaped diamond ring and shared the great news on Instagram by posting a photo with the caption “It’s the ‘yes’ for me…”
They have known in each other for a long time but only started dating last year after they stumbled upon each other.
“I have admired Kellee from afar for years. She’s a beautiful person inside and out,” Ty told People.
“Luckily our paths finally crossed at the right time. It’s one of those things where you just feel happy being around a person. I never thought I would get married, but she changed that. Glad I waited for the one.”
Instagram/TyPennington
The couple is currently residing in Florida until their Savannah, Georgia home is ready. We are so happy Ty settled down with the woman he loves.
The influence Michael Landon had on Hollywood is enormous. This incredibly talented man was part of some of the series which are until this day considered iconic, among which Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie.
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Landon was married three times and had nine children.
Not surprisingly, some of them decided to follow into their famous father’s footsteps. Michael Landon Jr. is one of them. However, Landon Jr. found his spot in the film industry but behind the camera instead in front of it.
Landon Jr.’s childhood wasn’t an ordinary one. He would spend his days on the set of Little House on the Prairiewhere he, his sister, and the rest of the kids would play hide and seek and hunt for snakes at the 100-acre backyard in Simi Valley.
“My father was a prankster,” he told VisionTv. “And he was fearless in terms of putting things in his mouth. So there might be a guest who would show up to the set and [my father] would put a small frog or something in his mouth, a lizard, and then he would go shake their hand and open his mouth and freak them out.”
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Landon Jr. describes his dad as a devoted man who was always there for his family.
He would always choose spending time in the house around his kids over anything else. However, when Landon Jr. was only 16 years old, his parents split and he had a hard time accepting that Michael Landon and Lynn Noe won’t be together any longer.
Sadly, this experience made young Landon turn to alcohol and drugs, but it was his mother, who was a “wreck” herself at the time, that helped him get on the right path again. “I had some tough knocks, thank God,” he explained. “My mom kicked me out of the home, cut me off financially. I was not happy at the time, having come from an extremely extravagant lifestyle but thank God they did that to me.”
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Landon Jr. studied at the University of Southern California (USC) and later at the American Film Institute, and today, he is a very successful director and producer with a number of awards under his belt. He has been working with huge names in the business like Fox, NBC, CBS, Disney and Hallmark and produced his own movies.
He remembers one time working together with his dad on the set of filming an episode of the show Us.
“I was an assistant camera man. I remember him looking over at me for the first time after a certain performance he gave,” Landon Jr. told Title Trakk.
“He looked over, and he wanted my affirmation, whether I thought he’d nailed the scene or not. Having worked with him for 5 years on “Highway to Heaven” and some other work, just having that first moment where he entrusted me with the creative process was very powerful.”
In 2019, the cast of Little House on the Prairie had a reunion on The Today Show, and Michael Landon Jr. was there to honor his father who passed away in 1991 from pancreatic cancer.
Landon Jr. is married to wife Sharee Gregory and they have three children together, Ashley, Brittany, and Austin.
Michael Landon Jr. doesn’t only keep his dad’s legacy alive by following into his footsteps but he also resembles him a great deal. Looking at pictures of them side by side, it’s easy to notice that Landon Jr. is a spitting image of legendary Michael Landon.
Barbara Walters is a pioneer who helped pave the way for women in journalism.
Her interviews were never dull, on the contrary, millions of Americans were eagerly waiting for each new guest to pour out their heart to her because she possessed that superpower to have people trust her.
During her career, which spanned almost half a century, Walters interviewed the most famous people of her time, including celebrities, politicians, leaders like Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein, and each president from Richard Nixon through Barack Obama. She also interviewed Trump, but not as his current role as a president.
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Walters was born on September 25, 1929, in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father, Lou Walters, opened the famous nightclubs Latin Quarter described by The New Yorker as “American version of the type of Parisian night club that had elaborate floor shows with dozens of expensively costumed chorus girl.” In 1937, the family moved to “The Big Apple” in an apartment building just off Central Park West. However, Lou’s business collapsed and they lost the place. Speaking to The New York Times about her father in 1996, she said, “He had a breakdown. He went down to live in our house in Florida, and then the government took the house, and they took the car, and they took the furniture.”
This experience taught Walters that she had to stand on her feet and rely on herself.
So, she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, earning a bachelor’s degree in English, and soon found herself working as an assistant to the publicity director for New York City’s NBC-affiliated television station. Her next job was with CBS, where she worked as a writer, and in 1961, she was hired by NBC as a researcher and writer for its popular Today show.
In 1964 she earned the nickname “Today girl,” and 10 years after starring alongside Hugh Downs and, later Frank McGee, Walters was named co-host of Today. In 1976, she signed a contract for $1 million per year with ABC, making her the highest paid journalist at the time.
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For her impressive career, Walters earned numerous awards, including three Daytime Emmy Awards and a Prime Time Emmy. Her face became the most famous face on TV.
Walters’ interview with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, during which she broke her silence regarding her relationship with then president Bill Clinton, remains until this day the most watched interview ever. The eyes of 50 million viewers were on Monica and Walters on March 4, 1999.
Speaking of some of the most memorable interviews, Walters told Oprah Winfrey how she remembers Clint Eastwood flirting with her and having crush on him, she “fell apart.”
During the years, Walters hosted most notable shows like The View and 20/20. She excelled wherever she worked and her courage and boldness to ask the right questions at the right time is something many journalists dream of.
In 2014, she felt it was the time for her to say goodbye to her career. ”With Barbara’s retirement, so goes TV news,” longtime news anchor Connie Chung told the New York Times.
She was married twice and has an adopted daughter with second husband Lee Guber. During an interview with Oprah, Walters confessed how she regretted she didn’t spend as much time as she wanted with her daughter because she was always busy with her career. “I would have been home more—and you and I wouldn’t be talking today,” she admitted. “It’s not just about spending quality time. It’s about time in general. . . When ‘Jacki’e was going through the turmoil of her teen years, which I don’t want to talk about, it was a terrible heartache. But maybe I did something right, because look how she turned out.”
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Now, the most famous journalist and host is 91 years old and sadly, it has been reported by certain media outlets and magazines that she is suffering from advanced dementia and that her health is declining with each passing day.
Radar reported last year how a source told them that Walters “is very frail and spends a great deal of the day napping!” adding “On good days, Barbara can distinguish Joy Behar’s voice, but on a bad day, she might just hang up!”
We truly hope for the best for this legendary TV icon who marked an era.
On October 16, 2021, 17 Christian missionaries associated with Christian Aid Ministries (CAM), based in Ohio, have been kidnapped in Haiti after returning from an orphanage. The missionaries, both from the U.S. and Canada, made up of Amish, Mennonite and other Anabaptist Christians, are believed to still be alive. Five of them are children aged 15, 14, 6, 3 and 8 months.
The people behind the kidnapping are the members of the notorious gang 400 Mawozo who are known for killing, kidnapping, and extortion.
The gang’s leader, Wilson Joseph, asked ransom of $17 million, one million per person.
“The demand was made to the country chief of the Christian Aid Ministries — they asked for $1 million per person,” Justice Minister Liszt Quitel told The New York Times.
“Often these gangs know these demands cannot be met and they will consider a counteroffer from the families, and the negotiations can take a couple of days sometimes, or a couple of weeks.”
If not given what they are asking for, the gang was reported to have said they would put a bullet in the head of each of the missionaries.
The friends and the families of the kidnapped members of CAM are praying for their loved ones to be brought back home safe and sound.
CAM released a statement saying, “It is now the 24th day of this crisis, and our workers and loved ones are still being held hostage in Haiti.
“We, along with government authorities, continue to work hard to bring them home safely. This is our heartfelt desire, but we want to surrender to God’s plan and timing.
“The families of the hostages continue to face long days of waiting for news about their loved ones. The hostages no doubt face long days as well, wondering when they might be released.”
“Your prayers have been a lifeline of hope and encouragement for the families, for us at CAM, and no doubt for the hostages during the past several weeks. Keep praying!”
We all hope for a positive outcome and wait for the missionaries to return home.
Life is unpredictable. We never know what the new day will bring and what obstacles would come on the way.
Jean Manning from Florida was a single mother of a boy with Down Syndrome named Jack. Unfortunately, Jean had cancer and was forced to move to Massachusetts in order to get the medical care she needed. That meant that her son needed to change schools.
Jean was worried at first because she assumed that Jack would have a hard time adapting to the new place. Luckily, the teacher at the new school, Kerry Bremer, helped Jake a lot. Over time, she grew fond of the boy.
As Jean was undergoing chemo treatments, Kerry couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to Jake if his mom lost the battle with the cancer. After giving it a lot of thought, she spoke to her husband and asked him what he thought of welcoming Jack in case his mom passes. He loved the idea of stepping in and Kerry told Jean that her son would be at a safe and loving place if the worst happens to her.
Source: WCVB
“Kerry Bremer came to Jeanie as an angel on earth and stepped up and offered to bring Jake into her family of five should Jeanie’s cancer win,” one of Jean’s friends, Cheryl, said.
Jean was relieved to hear that, because at that stage, her cancer progressed and her future was uncertain.
Then one day, after taking a nap following a chemo treatment, Jean never woke up.
Needless to say, Jake was devastated to lose his mother, but he was aware she was now in Heaven where there is no pain.
Source: WCVB
Even when his mom was alive, Jake spent a lot of time with Kerry’s family so he didn’t have a hard time adapting to his new life.
“We shared our boy and she will live on here in this house,” Kerry said.
We are so glad there are still people like Kerry out there. She gave one special boy a home and that’s not something many people would do.
On the night of August 25, 2020, then 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse killed two people and wounded one. For some reason, he decided to leave his home in Antioch, Illinois, and head to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to be part of the armed group of people who claimed that gathered in order to protect businesses from the rioters protesting against the police in the shooting of Jacob Blake.
Blake was a black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down after a police officer shot him four times.
This incident took place some three months after the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The shooting of Blake only added fuel to the fire and made people even more angry at the police, which resulted in the riots.
Source: Getty Images
After he decided not to speak of the night of the killing, Rittenhouse now testified at his own trial, claiming he only shot two of the rioters and injured another one because he was trying to protect himself. He, however, carried a rifle and a medical kit when he left home.
The previous night, a car dealership owner claimed that rioters caused him $1.5 million in arson damage, and according to Rittenhouse he only went to Kenosha to prevent anything similar from happening.
When asked what he was doing there with a rifle, Rittenhouse answered, “So, people are getting injured, and our job is to protect this business. Part of my job is also to help people. If there is somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That’s why I have my rifle, because I have to protect myself, obviously. I also have my med kit.”
I have zero sympathy for Kyle Rittenhouse.
Black & Latino kids have been imprisoned and killed just for the color of their skin.
According to Rittenhouse, he encountered one of his victims, Joseph Rosenbaum, prior to killing him. Apparently, late Rosenbau told Rittenhouse, “If I catch any of you f**kers alone, I’ll f**king kill you.”
After that, the two met again after Rosenbau “ambushed” Rittenhouse at a parking lot. Speaking of this encounter, Rittenhouse, who is now facing charges of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, first-degree intentional homicide, and attempted-first degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon, broke in tears at the court.
He then claimed that he heard someone telling Rosenbau to get him and kill him. “I remember his hand on the barrel of my gun,” Rittenhouse said. After that, he shot Rosenbay dead.
Kyle Rittenhouse broke down in tears at his murder trial while on the witness stand as he described the events of Aug. 25, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/bFoip1xmSg
What followed was Rittenhouse getting on the ground and another unarmed man approaching him. “I thought if I were to be knocked out, he would have stomped my face in if I didn’t fire,” the defendant said. 26-year-old Anthony Huber hit Rittenhouse with a skateboard and tried taking his rifle from his arms, but he got shot, just like his friend.
After confessing all this, Rittenhouse said he didn’t do anything wrong. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” he told the court.
Kyle Rittenhouse was: Not there to give first aid. Not there to save lives. Not defending himself. Not a victim.
He was there to play MAGA vigilante super-soldier and he executed two strangers. pic.twitter.com/zRi1inUME0
He also said that he was aware his victims were unarmed, and added, “He was chasing me, I was alone, he threatened to kill me earlier that night. I didn’t want to have to shoot him. I pointed it at him because he kept running at me and I didn’t want him to chase me.
“If I would have let Mr. Rosenbaum take my firearm from me, he would have used it and killed me with it and probably killed more people if I would have let him get my gun.”
Coming back from lunch, Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense team argues that the prosecution is purposely aiming for a mistrial.
Meanwhile, the judge’s phone rings. The ringtone is Lee Greenwood’s patriotic anthem “God Bless the U.S.A” pic.twitter.com/xGY3dJd4e4
Judge Schroeder accused the lead prosecutor Thomas Binger of violating pre-trial rulings on introducing evidence he had previously ruled not relevant to the trial. Those evidence involve a footage of the teenager talking about shooting men he believed were shoplifting. The video was taken two weeks prior to the Kenosha killings.
“Don’t get brazen with me,” Judge Schroeder told Binger. “You know very well that an attorney can’t go into these types of areas when the judge has already ruled without asking outside the presence of the jury to do so.”
Binger answered that he was acting in good faith to which the judge replied, “When you say you were acting in good faith, I don’t believe you.”
Holy f**cking shit the judge just completely snapped at the Kyle Rittenhouse prosector:
“I was astonished when you began his examination by commenting on the defendant’s post arrest silence. That’s basic law. It’s been basic law in this country for 40 years, 50 years.” pic.twitter.com/BeWwcX4GH3
Expecting a baby has to be one of the best feelings in the world. Just thinking of the happy times that follow with the birth of that bundle of joy causes excitement at the parents-to-be.
A woman named Valerie Watts was looking forward to seeing her baby’s face, but her happiness and heart were crushed when she gave birth to a stillborn baby boy.
Her pregnancy was developing great throughout the whole time, but then, all of a sudden, that changed.
“All week, I knew,” Watts reflected. “He wasn’t moving as much. I was very nervous.”
Baby Noah’s umbilical cord become pinched in the womb, and his life ended before it even started.
Watts couldn’t get over the sadness. Although her baby didn’t make it, she wasn’t ready to part with the crib she bought for him, and keeping it home was a reminder of the tragedy that struck her.
FOX9
She was kind of hesitant,” Gerald Kumpula recalled. “I knew that maybe she didn’t want to sell it, but yet, she did.”
Kumpula lived a few miles away and had a workshop on the outskirt of Cokato. When he spotted the crib at the Watts family garage sale, he was interested in buying it although it wasn’t on sale.
FOX9
“When he asked me if I was selling that, that he made benches, I hesitated,” Watts admitted.
Back then, Kumpulas didn’t know the story behind that crib.
“His wife was there looking through my garage sale — at some of the baby clothes — and asked how old my son was since I don’t use the crib anymore, and I told her that he had passed in July,” Watts explained.
Kumpulas knew that crib belonged to the Watts family, so after he transformed it, he decided to return it back .
“I started crying instantly,” Watts said.
The bench that Kumpulas made out of the crib is a reminder of the sad times, but it also stands as a symbol of comfort for the mourning parents.
Check the video below:
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Love and Peace
Expecting a baby has to be one of the best feelings in the world. Just thinking of the happy times that follow with the birth of that bundle of joy causes excitement at the parents-to-be.
