Vice Agent

On May 7 Professor David Ray Griffin came to Lucerne Switzerland on his tour through Europe that took him to Paris, Brussels and Madrid, and several other cities for an evening under the motto: "9/11 Time for a second look".

As a leading figure in the world wide 9/11 truth movement it was an honour to welcome him and listen to his speech live and in person. At the same time I grabbed the opportunity because of the currentness of the topic and also invited Professor Dr. Niels Harrit to our event, who published together with eight other scientists their paper about nano-thermite that they found in the dust of ground zero. That both respected personalities would inform us in the same evening was a special experience.

Wanda Sykes, who plays Christine’s sidekick/reality check on The New Adventures of Old Christine, has had a very busy year or so. In October of last year she married her wife, Alex amidst all the controversy regarding the passing of Proposition 8, which took away the legal rights of gay marriage. So now not only are Wanda and Alex newlyweds but they’re also the proud parents of not one but two beautiful babies! One boy and one girl! From People,

“Wanda Sykes and her wife, Alex, welcomed twins on April 27, her rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Daughter Olivia Lou weighed in at 6 lbs., 7 oz., and was 19-inches long. Son Lucas Claude debuted at 7 lbs., 9 oz., and was 20-inches long. The comedian’s wife gave birth to the babies.

“All are happy and healthy and at home,” says Sykes’s rep Danica Smith.

The actress, who stars on New Adventures of Old Christine, and her wife were married on Oct. 25, 2008. The twins are the first children for the couple.”

Congratulations to the happy - and very busy - couple!

Well it seems that we have taken the low road with the whole Jon and Kate Gosselin scandal. When it was revealed weeks ago that Jon was caught having an affair with Deanna Hummel, he chose to deny it and hope that it all went away. Now that it hasn’t, he has turned the blame back on Kate, saying that she was actually the first to step out on the marriage. I have a general rule where I’m suspicious of cheaters so at first I was inclined not to believe this story and the fact that it comes from an anonymous source doesn’t help. But I don’t know. The relationship sounds much friendlier than just client/bodyguard and does seem to suggest that Kate may have found her happiness elsewhere. A long time ago, might I add. From US, 

“The new issue of Us Weekly reports that Jon & Kate mom Kate Gosselin grew so close to her bodyguard, Steve Neild, it caught the attention of her husband, Jon — and has become the talk of many locals in their Berks County, Pennsylvania, community. Since May 2008, Kate has made 50 public appearances, criss-crossing the country, often with Neild by her side, as Jon stayed home with the kids. Even when at home — whether at Starbucks or at restaurants — Neild has been a constant companion to Gosselin, who is estranged from her family and viewed in town as not having friends.

“He threatened to hire a private investigator,” a family source informed by Jon Gosselin tells Us.

The married Neild — who once worked for Bill Clinton, and is often photographed not wearing his wedding band — were “very physical, often touching each other,” says an employee at a recent promotional appearance for their TLC reality show. “She was gently poking him, giving him little love pats, totally unlike the slapping she does with Jon. She and Steve were joking around so much, I actually wondered if they were having an affair. There’s a lot of open affection between them.” The employee adds Kate showed no affection at all to Jon at the same event.

(Neild’s wife Gina, a one-time close friend of Kate’s, tells Us local and online talk of an affair is “ridiculous”; Kate has confessed she and Jon might split in the same interview she says she is “horrified” by any allegations suggesting she and Neild are romantically involved; TLC refused comment.)

Meanwhile, Us has learned that Jon has had more public trysts with 23-year-old third grade teacher Deanna Hummel than first reported.”

Maybe at this particular event where Kate was showing more affection to someone that was on her payroll than she was to her husband, it was just a bad day for the two. It’s not uncommon for people to overcompensate with people they’re not angry with when someone they’re pissed at is in the same room. It’s petty and stupid but that is Kate after all. And she does always treat Jon like trash, there’s also no denying that. However if this is true, it shows that the marriage was in trouble long before Jon ever made eyes towards Deanna. Not that Kate’s cheating gives Jon the right to nor does Kate treating Jon like trash. If he doesn’t like it, he should have left and that’s that.

But it seems now that things have gone too far and Jon and Kate just won’t be able to see it through this one. And when both people have already quit and walked out mentally, there’s really no going back. So…I wonder what this means for the show. Will there still be a show? Will it be Kate Plus Eight one week and then Jon Plus Eight the other? Who knows but this couple has bigger problems right now than their television show. Most importantly, what’s going to happen to those 8 kids who have already had nothing close to a normal life and now have to live through their parents’ marriage problems? Who could have foreseen that something that was once such an ‘opportunity’ has now become their downfall? It’s really very sad.

In a new revelation, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the CIA of the United States and his country's ISI together created the Taliban.

"I think it was part of your past and our past, and the ISI and CIA created them together," Zardari told the NBC news channel in an interview.

In the interview, which was given to the NBC on May 7, Zardari also accused the US of supporting the military rule of Pervez Musharraf who was alleged to be taking sides of the Taliban.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has alleged that elusive Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was a US operator who had tried to destabilise his late wife Benazir Bhutto's government back in 1989.

In fact, as premier Bhutto had "warned America about Osama bin Laden in 1989 with a call to then US president George H. Bush", Zardari said on NBC's Meet the Press programme Sunday.

Communication gap is listed as one of the main causes for an unhappy marriage and even divorce. That’s really not surprising. When you were a baby and weren’t able to communicate, what did you do? You cried and threw a tantrum until somebody figured out what your needs were. Now that you’re grown up that won’t work although it’s tried in some form by many spouses.

Good communication needs practice. Remember, you’re communicating even though you may not be talking.Your body language and expressions can speak volumes about what you like and dislike. Your facial actions speak a lot too. Do you still smile at your spouse?
Some spouses are afraid to smile or be too nice for fear of being asked to do something they don’t want to do.

If that’s your attitude, maybe it’s time to talk. If you’re not happy with your relationship be honest about it and seek a solution. Solutions usually start at the negotiating table where both parties are inclined to negotiate and come up with a solution both can live with.

Find a good and convenient time to communicate. If either of you has a pressing project that needs to be completed or an upcoming appointment, then agree to a more convenient time. At least you’ve made the effort and the cards are on the table. Don’t trap your spouse in a situation where they must listen such as driving to visit the in laws. You may not be in a good mood when you arrive if this happens.

Be tactful in suggesting a talk is necessary. Don’t be demanding but suggest you’d like to visit a while about such and such as soon as they have time. This gives both of you some time to summarize your thoughts. It’s not good to come to the table unprepared. Know what you’re unhappy with and how you’d suggest the problem be solved.

Once you’re talking, be a good listener. Listening is as important as talking. If your partner is not as good at communicating as you then counterbalance it.  Repeat what they’ve said by commenting something like “Here’s what I think you’re trying to say.” Don’t talk down to your spouse and make them feel inappropriate.Both opinions are equally significant.

Don’t have distractions when talking like the radio or television and certainly not when the kids are present. Bringing up a problem during dinner is not appropriate.  That would qualify as trapping your partner and problem ruin both your appetites. Your attention must be united and you must make eye contact. Allow enough time for a complete discussion.

Look for a solution but if one is not reached, again schedule a time to continue.Do not leave it. Remember there’s another world besides yours and you must live in both.
Compromise is always a good choice. If you’re wrong, take responsibility and change. If no result is apparent, professional help may be needed.Communication will not solve all your problems but it’s a good initiative to start.

In the world of crazy Hollywood marriages and even crazier Hollywood divorces, it’s quite impressive when a couple as famous as Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck hook up, get married, have a couple of kids, and manage to keep it all together. One of their biggest advantages is that they both know how to tune out the bad and keep in the good. Jen recently gave one of her fabulous interviews with US and she talked about it all from her family to her career and of course her new movie, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. From US via Celebitchy,

“Q: How are you enjoying motherhood second time around?
JG: “It’s the same thing but crazier (laughs). No, everything is going really well, thank you very much. Everybody is happy and healthy. It feels like it’s only one more but it feels like three more.”

Q: What is your secret to keeping your family out of the tabloids?
JG: “We try to be boring (laughs). I try to stay away from it. Ben taught me that you cannot read that stuff, that it’s poison. It is horrible to read anything written about you. I would read the positive stuff if somebody read it through for me beforehand.”

Q: Did you learn anything from this movie?
JG: “Well, I think yeah, of course, there are messages to the movie: that you have to take a chance on love. That it’s worth the risk.”

Q: Would you like to do more romantic comedies or are you itching to go back to action roles?
JG: “I’ve been lucky to be able to change because I did become known out of the gate so much for action. I’m really happy that I didn’t get stuck there. The whole point to me of being an actor is to get to do different things or else you might as well just go to an office and show up every day. Of course, you’re always looking for how to flip it for yourself, as well as how can I surprise people. That’s the fun.”

Q: Would you like to do another movie with Ben?
JG: “A big part of it is that somebody’s got to raise the kids, so if we’re both at work, that’s a bummer for them. But there’s no rush. We’re not looking for anything to do together just now.”

Some, including Celebitchy, think that Jennifer Garner is boring because her family stays out of the spotlight (with the exception of the daily preschool shots of Violet) and when it comes to their relationship, both Jen and Ben keep pretty much mum. But I think it’s one of the reasons why I like her so much. She really does just seem like a down-to-earth mom that has a job that happens to make her famous and she doesn’t get too caught up in the glamour and phoniness of it all. Hopefully, they really are in it for the long haul and this isn’t going to be one of those shocking Hollywood divorces you hear about (*ahem* Brad Pitt.) And if Jen’s looking to hire someone to go through all the stuff written about her to take only pass on the good, I’d like to say I’m officially handing in my application.

I believe there are two levels of knowing things.

You can know things on the surface. Someone tells you something that you take for truth, you read certain facts or statistics, etc…

You can also know things, truly know them, and the only way to know things on that level is to experience them for yourself.

So while I am probably going to list some things that I knew already, I now know them on that deeper level having experienced them for myself.

1. Like everything, there is an ebb and flow to happy times in marriage. Fighting or even growling is actually healthy in a marriage. They are reminders of where we stand, what we need to work on and sometimes just reminders that we need a bit of personal space every now and then.

2. Bad times do end. I hate the bad times. I truly, truly do, but I know there is a reason for them. One of the hardest things I have to keep reminding myself is that the bad times do end. Sometimes you bear a scar, sometimes you don’t, but they do come to an end.

3. Sometimes there is nothing you can do. It’s nice to think of you and your spouse as one unit, working together and such, but you have to remember you are two human beings. You will not be alike in every single thing. And sometimes there is nothing you can do – you have to let your spouse work things out.

Short and sweet, bur that’s the way it should be at this point. I am so happy my husband and I are still going strong.

« Older Entries