New reports show that with the end of Matt Lauer’s contract coming to an end this December, the Today Show host is looking for a rather massive raise to $30 Million per year from the $17 Million per year he currently makes.  With the show making an estimated $450 Million annually… guess what he’s asking for isn’t too much?

Fox News

In an effort to bring some attention to Aruba, the tourism board has extended a free vacation to the New England Patriots who were defeated by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI last weekend.  Here is the official statement from the board:

“We want to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work, dedication and season-long success of the team, despite their loss,” said Ronella Tjin Asjoe, CEO of the Aruba Tourism Authority. “We believe there is no better place to recover after a loss than Aruba. After all, we are known as ‘One Happy Island.’”

Spotted

From CNN:

Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual and reproductive health think tank, say the pregnancy rate among teens is down 42 percent, from 116.9 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 1990, to 67.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 2008. This means about 7 percent of young women between the ages of 15 to 19 became pregnant in the United States in 2008.

The report did show that racial and ethnic disparities still exist among teenagers.  Pregnancy rates among African-American and Hispanic teens were two to three times higher compared to white teens. Abortion rates among Hispanic teens were also twice the rate of abortions in whites, and  abortion rates among black teens were four times higher compared to white teens.

Some more of you still need to wrap it up….

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An Illinois woman who is pregnant and her husband say that during a recent trip to Walmart they were confronted by an off duty police officer who pulled a gun on them after an argument that started when he said they had too many items to be in the express lane. The incident is now being investigated, but the husband was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery for shoving the man who he later found out was a sheriff’s deputy.  Count those items!!!

You know President Obama and his teams are masters of using social networking and new technologies to engage voters, so it should be no surprise that they are now using music community Spotify.  Check out the playlist his staff picked which surprisingly doesn’t include any Jay-Z or Beyonce tunes after the jump.

Different People – No Doubt
Got to Get You Into My Life – Earth, Wind & Fire
Green Onions – Booker T & The MG’s
I Got You – Wilco
Keep on Pushing – The Impressions
Keep Reachin’ Up – Nicole Willis & the Soul Investigators
Love You I Do? – Jennifer Hudson
No Nostalgia – AgesAndAges
Raise Up – Ledisi
Stand Up – Sugarland
This – Darius Rucker
We Used To Wait – Arcade Fire
You’ve Got the Love – Florence and the Machine
Your Smiling Face – James Taylor
Roll with the Changes – REO Speedwagon
Everyday America – Sugarland
Learn to Live – Darius Rucker
Let’s Stay Together – Al Green
Mr. Blue Sky – Electric Light Orchestra
My Town – Montgomery Gentry
The Best Thing about Me Is You – Ricky Martin, featuring Joss Stone
You are the Best Thing – Ray Lamontagne
Keep Marchin’ – Raphael Saadiq
Tonight’s The Kind of Night – Noah and the Whale
We Take Care of Our Own – Bruce Springsteen
Keep Me In Mind – Zac Brown Band
The Weight – Aretha Franklin
Even Better Than The Real Thing – U2
Home – Dierks Bentley

Consequence Of Sound

A YouTube video entitled “Why I Hate Religion, But Love God” has gone super viral, receiving nearly 20 million views in one month. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the back story:

A poem I wrote to highlight the difference between Jesus and false religion. In the scriptures Jesus received the most opposition from the most religious people of his day. At it’s core Jesus’ gospel and the good news of the Cross is in pure opposition to self-righteousness/self-justification. Religion is man centered, Jesus is God-centered. This poem highlights my journey to discover this truth. Religion either ends in pride or despair. Pride because you make a list and can do it and act better than everyone, or despair because you can’t do your own list of rules and feel “not good enough” for God. With Jesus though you have humble confident joy because He represents you, you don’t represent yourself and His sacrifice is perfect putting us in perfect standing with God the Father.

Thoughts?

We’re going to have to conduct our own in-depth study on this, but according to a survey of 2,500 people, 43% of women carry an extra sexy pair of underwear in their bags on a date in case things go really well.  Is this true ladies?

[YouTube Link]

This video is pretty long but it’s well worth it to see what happens when a 15-year old girl writes an angry posts about her parents on her wall they weren’t supposed to be able to see. Dad just happens to be an IT specialist and the owner of a pistol……….you my dear are grounded forever.

TDW

While you get comfortable with your iPad 2 and show off on those that have the first ever iPad, look out because according to Internet rumors the iPad 3 could be here next month in March.  The LA Times reports:

The tech news site AllThingsD reported Wednesday that unnamed sources have said that Apple has selected the first week of next month for the next iPad launch event, which will likely take place in San Francisco at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where Apple has held many events in the past.

Who will be buying the new iPad the third time around?

[YouTube Link]

Oh boy… KUSA-TV anchor Kyle Dyer gets her face nipped at by a dog that was appearing on the news program. That could have been really, really bad. OUCH!

Sandra Rose

[YouTube Link]

This is an interesting idea, an organization in Sweden called the Swedish Free School Organization has designed a new educational concept which allows students to work in a classroom free enviornment either independently or in groups.  Their most recent school the Vittra Telefonplan was opened last August and hopes to help student develop a greater sense of community and creativity. Would you send your child here?

Check out the photos of the school after the jump.

Photos: Rosan Bosch VIA

The 35-year old graffiti artist who went viral last week when it was discovered he would received “hundreds of millions” for painting some murals on the first Facebook offices wall sits down and tells Barbara Walters why he turned down $60,000 to take stock in a company he didn’t believe in.  Turns out David is not jumping up and down from his new found fame and riches….he’s not happy with his $200 million!

Jack In The Box restaurant chain is now offering a Bacon Milkshake that you have to ask for, but doesn’t appear on their menu. The drink is for a limited time only and is to promote their new campaign for “Marry Bacon.” CRAZINESS!

The ladies of The View were discussing a new Texas Law that would require women to have a doctors visit where they would hear the heartbeat and see a sonogram of the fetus before deciding to have an abortion. Sherri Shepherd got choked up when talking about her own experience with abortion. Watch the video.

Jimmy Fallon helps Michelle Obama promote her Let’s Move fitness campaign by having a tug of war game, playing dodgeball and having a potatoe sack race at the White House.  Video footage of the race after the jump.  Jimmy Fallon is crazy!