Sunday, October 30, 2011

Discussion Thread: Kate on The View 10/31/11


Kate's off in NYC for Halloween to appear on The View. Will the ladies treat her with kid gloves? Or will they dare question her about the recent arrest of Bill Blankinship, a writer and editor for her show, on charges of child pornography, as well as their tirade against her just last month after she called Jon "mediocre"?



(Video, September 2011: Whoopi Goldberg, who once so desperately tried to convince the other ladies of The View Kate is an "angry bitch" who should be voted off DWTS, has finally brought them around that Kate needs to be voted off. As in, this planet.)

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Figure 8 calls arrest of Jon and Kate Plus 8 editor for child porn 'shocking'

In a brief statement, Figure 8 (the company that produced Jon and Kate) says Blankinship, who was contracted by them, has been fired, and [thankfully] never had direct contact with any of TLC's 'talent'


Blankinship, 56, was contracted by Figure 8 Films to edit Jon and Kate Plus 8 and other reality shows about children. He was arrested October 21 and charged with 10 counts of 2nd-degree distribution of child pornography.

According to IMDB.com, Blankinship was involved in some form in the following 23 episodes of Jon and Kate Plus 8:


  1. Girls Day Out (29 June 2008) - Editor  
  2. Sextuplets' 4th Birthday (7 July 2008) - Editor  
  3. Wild Horses (11 August 2008) - Editor  
  4. Leis & Luaus (10 November 2008) - on-line editor , Editor  
  5. Twins Are Mommy for a Day (8 December 2008) - Editor  
  6. All You Wanted to Know (19 January 2009) - on-line editor , Editor  
  7. The Big Move (2 February 2009) - on-line editor  
  8. Home Sweet Home (16 February 2009) - Editor  
  9. Bye Old House (2 March 2009) - on-line editor  
  10. Slopes, Sleds and Sesame (16 March 2009) - on-line editor , Editor  
  11. Family Outing (23 March 2009) - on-line editor , Editor  
  12. B-Ball & More (23 March 2009) - on-line editor  
  13. Turning 5 & The Future! (25 May 2009) - Editor  
  14. Bam! 100th Episode (8 June 2009) - on-line editor , Editor  
  15. Jon & Kate Plus 8: The First 10 Years (29 June 2009) - on-line editor  
  16. Renovations & Vacations (3 August 2009) - Editor  
  17. Camping Out (3 August 2009) - on-line editor  
  18. Beach and Kitchen Reveal (10 August 2009) - on-line editor  
  19. Battleship & Barber (17 August 2009) - on-line editor , Editor  
  20. Dude Ranch and Dress Up (31 August 2009) - on-line editor  
  21. Movie & a Catch (14 September 2009) - on-line editor  
  22. Farm to Table (21 September 2009) - on-line editor  
  23. Gymnastics and Baseball (16 November 2009) - on-line editor  

Friday, October 28, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: Former Jon and Kate Plus 8 writer and editor arrested for child pornography

Blankinship's mug shot
A large bust in North Carolina included the arrest of William Johnson Blankinship, credited by TLC as Bill Blankinship, who is listed as a writer, editor and on-line editor for Jon and Kate Plus 8 from 2007-2009 and an on-line editor for Kate Plus 8 from 2010-2011.

Blankinship also worked on 19 Kids and Counting, Sister Wives and Table for 12, three other TLC shows about children.

According to authorities, "Operation Spyglass" resulted in the arrest of 24 men over five months on felony charges ranging from the possession and distribution of child pornography to indecent liberties with a minor. Several of the men will be charged with felonies and could face prison time.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/10/28/1600197/child-porn-effort-snares-25.html

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Kate gets caught parking in the fire lane again

Will it take someone to die because they couldn't get emergency treatment for Kate to get out of the fire lane? What is this, the fourth time? Won't someone please just tow her?

infdaily.com


Meanwhile Kate is scheduled to be interviewed Thursday (10/27) by SiriusXM Satellite Radio's What's Worth Watching, the authority on what you should be watching on TV every night. LIVE Thursdays @ 2pm Eastern on Howard 101.

http://www.jonhein.com

Monday, October 24, 2011

Study: Young girls who watch reality TV value physical appearance more, and lying, bullying and gossiping

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

However interestingly, the study by the Girl Scout Research Institute also suggests girls who watch reality TV view themselves as leaders and role models and say reality TV exposes them to new perspectives.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Relationships/Reality-TV-induces-real-life-drama/Article1-760008.aspx

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Kate admits she was 'stressed' on Old Navy trip with twins

infdaily.com
In response to some depressing photos of Kate upset at her kids again, Kate tweeted this:

Lies again! Old navy pics were taken on SUNDAY before fam photo shoot.stressed 2b styling Fam of 9 1hr before pics?Yes! Good try INF daily!


Regardless when the photos were taken, it's sad to see Kate take stress out on her children, If her obligations when it comes to staying relevant, including professional photo shoots, are too stressful for her to handle, then don't do them.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Kate and the kids' (working) fall photo shoot and more grifting

http://www.infdaily.com/2011/10/exclusive-pics-kate-gosselin-the-kids-pose-for-fall-family-portrait.html

Although the show is cancelled, Kate is still putting the kids to work--this time at elaborate professional photo shoots for her blog. The kids spent their Sunday last weekend going to church (allegedly) and then sitting for photos. Kate tweeted she was up at 7 a.m. that day and was moving "full force" all day.

Despite having just participated in what was surely an expensive photo shoot, Kate accepted another free cereal freebie today, even tweeting what kind of cereal she preferred, instead of asking the cereal company to please donate to those really in need.

http://www.steveirwinday.org/?p=gala-dinner
In other news, Kate is slated to attend "Steve Irwin Day Gala Dinner" on November 12 in Brisbane, Australia, where "LUNCH WITH KATE GOSSELIN, STAR OF KATE PLUS 8 A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you and 9 friends to dine with Kate Gosselin at the multi-award winning Chalk Hotel in Brisbane, plus a signed copy of her book" will be auctioned off.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Kate's gross recipes vs. our yummy ones


Kate's Monday recipes she's been posting on her blog often seem not only unhealthy, but at times, well, gross. What are your favorite delicious, (relatively) healthy recipes?

Here's one of ours:

Not-my-original-idea Simple Fall Supper in One Pan (compiled over the years from a variety of recipes and chefs):

Main ingredients: Chicken, zucchini, yams, fresh uncooked spinach, dried cranberries.

1. Saute chicken with a little salt and pepper, olive oil, big squeeze of real lemon and chopped garlic. If using chicken on the bone, it'll have to be roasted to finish cooking thoroughly. If using skinless boneless, cook at slightly lower temperature to prevent drying out.
2. Chop into bite-sized green and yellow zucchini, throw in the pan next to the chicken with more garlic, a little salt and pepper, and if you have it fresh thyme or whatever herb you have on hand.
3. Peel yams and chop into bite-sized. Add a sprinkling of brown sugar if you want to really bring out the sweet flavor. Throw in some more thyme and saute with zucchini.
4. Combine uncooked spinach and dried cranberries with favorite salad dressing, or make a simple vinaigrette of extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lemon and a bit of brown sugar.

All done, plate it up! Salad can be served on the side, or yummier still, place chicken and veggies directly on top of salad and dress all together. Slice of pumpkin pie for dessert. For variety, try subbing out the chicken for salmon or other favorite fish, poached egg, or whole wheat pasta. Or if you eat meat, steak strips.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Jason Duggar's terrifying accident is filmed by his mom and siblings for their show

Michelle Duggar (left) whips out a camera phone right after the accident
After the eleven-year-old could have been killed when he fell 12 feet into an orchestra pit (luckily, he only knocked out some teeth, fractured his jaw, and sprained his knee), his family members' first reactions were to pull out their phones and start filming the aftermath.

The Duggars have gone too far, and need a serious, perhaps permanent, break from documenting every moment of their lives, including accidents and illness (they have also filmed their children going through chicken pox and wisdom teeth removal). Why was making sure this child's serious accident was captured on film the priority?




Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Teachers are not to blame for educational lapses when kids are put to work

Stewart, age 12, with Jodi Foster in The Panic Room (2002)
Twilight actress and former child star Kirsten Stewart spoke out this week about her childhood education. Stewart, who has been acting working since she was eight years old, was in regular school until the seventh grade, when it became too difficult to make it mesh with her career: "My teachers became a problem," Stewart said. "They didn't want to do the extra work or put packages together so I could keep up while away. They failed me. My teachers failed me. Not one, but all of them."

Stewart, now 21, has every right to feel like she missed out on a lot not being in regular school, because she did. But it wasn't her teachers' faults. In fact, they were doing the right thing by not accommodating her.

It does not serve a working child's best interest to constantly give them special treatment. Working or not, kids need to learn that in the real working world, there likely won't be any special treatment either. Projects need to be done, phone calls need to be made, and meetings need to be attended whether one is a star, or has a second job, or is very busy at home. Giving a child the impression the world will bend around their needs does them a disservice. If a child really wants to work, home schooling them may be the only option and is a sacrifice they may have to make and live with.
Stewart (in a Twilight hunk sandwich), 2011

Moreover, singling a child out as special can wreck havoc on a child's social life. Mady Gosselin admitted to cameras that some children at school are mean to her about the show (although fortunately, most are nice, according to her). Being just one of the crowd fosters healthy relationships among children during crucial developmental years when fitting in is of primary importance to a child. Singling a child out as different and special and deserving of special treatment for no good reason (as in, they just happen to work and be famous) can sabotage that child's ability to form healthy friendships with normal kids. In fact, many child stars have reported their closest friends are adults they've met on sets, set teachers, and other actors. Age-appropriate friendships can become very difficult to maintain the more immersed a child becomes in that world, and treating child actors differently only makes it worse.
 
Finally, it's not fair to the educational needs of the other children in the class and at the entire school for their teachers to be spending so much time trying to accommodate a working child who is being pulled out of school. Kristen Stewart didn't suggest she had a learning disability or other special needs that would require extra attention. Her special needs that required extra attention were the result of a choice to work as a child. She could have chosen to wait to work until she finished school, or her parents could have made the choice for her and made her wait. Teachers, whose time is already stretched thin, need to be spending extra time with students who have real special needs, such as learning disabilities or illness.

Stewart is yet another living breathing example of the negative consequences of children working. It's too bad she missed out on regular school, but it was through no fault of anyone but her and her parents' choices.

http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/teachers-forced-kristen-stewart-out-of-school-20111007-1ld0p.html#ixzz1acTw91PT

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Kate and Steve spotted in Wyoming: Where is all this money coming from?

A fan passing through Wyoming snapped a photo with Kate on Saturday night. Steve can be seen in the background on the left.

http://yfrog.com/user/thackert/profile
Another traveler says she saw Kate, the twins and Steve in the Denver airport, on Friday, a day before the twins' eleventh birthday. This is Kate's second trip to Wyoming this year, and her fourth trip total to Wyoming. How does a mom who cannot even afford gymnastics manage to splurge on a trip like this, or was it another freebie? We just hope the twins didn't have to work on their special day, or at all.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Reality T.V. may finally be losing steam

After over a decade of bad singers and bug eating and sex and freakish families, reality television is disappearing from the line-up

This fall's ratings show a promising trend: scripted television. Only two reality shows managed to break into the top 20 rated primetime shows last week, Dancing With the Stars and The X Factor. The rest of the slots were filled with actors, plots, scripts, and made-up stories, as well as a few football games. Welcome back, writers, it's been too long.

http://www.zap2it.com/zap-weekly-ratings,0,2436061.htmlstory

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Kate's bizarre, rage-fueled rampage on Twitter

Kate took to twitter last night to clear the air about some rumors, in the process insulting Jon, Jodi and Kevin, and the "riff raff" she has to deal with, as well as denying how much money she spends on herself, ignoring questions about travel expenses to go collect her freebies.

Kate thought she was putting to rest some rumors, however Kate's unstable streaming consciousness just made her seem, well:


Kateplusmy8
response2article:nvr had 2bsitters-died laughing@their 'salary',sch tuition$-noteven close.hav nvr pd $ 4 Elysasuzanne clothing


Kateplusmy8 
we all wish he [Jon] would tak them mor than 4d/mo but doesn't.they hav fun there but def love living w me/here. So happy here!

Kateplusmy8
Hate the rif raf that goes w this line of work 


Kateplusmy8
oh yeah! [Jodi and Kevin] sold and bought a big house and went on vacation too... Blood money... Sick.

Kateplusmy8
never. Always comped. Wouldn't dream of spending that kind of $ on hair!!??! 

Monday, October 3, 2011

Amanda Knox is going back to 'normal' after four years in the public eye

Knox in 2006, a year before the murder of her roommate
How will Knox adjust to her old life after her horrifying reality has been broadcast around the world for so long?

"Amanda Knox is free," an Italian court said today. Knox and her family are in Rome and are expected to fly home to Seattle within hours.

Knox today after she was freed
Knox, the victim of a botched investigation, shaky evidence, and a corrupt prosecutor, has been unwittingly thrust into the public eye as a trial and then an appeal has dragged on seemingly endlessly in Perugia, Italy. Are there parallels here between this young woman forced to live her life in the public eye against her will, and other young people who have been forced to live their lives on reality T.V.?

Family members say Knox is not even aware of the full extent of the media coverage and they want to protect her from it. How will this young woman adjust not only to life back in the United States, but the barrage of media that is not likely to go away anytime soon?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/03/world/europe/knox-obsession-continues/index.html