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<p>More than 1,800 people showed up to help ABC's "Extreme Makeover" team demolish a family's decrepit home and replace it with a sparkling, four-bedroom mini-mansion in 2005.</p> <p>Three years later, the reality TV show's most ambitious project at the time has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis.</p>

Call it the “Extreme Rake-Over: Taxpayer Edition.” Three years ago, Patricia and Milton Harper were handed the keys to their brand-new, 4BR dream home on ABC-TV. When Ty Pennington handed them the keys, he also gave the Harpers $250,000 to cover taxes and maintenance for the next 25 years. Three years later, the home is in foreclosure and scheduled for auction - another “casualty” of the mortgage crisis. A free house, a sack of dough, and the Harpers still managed to get $450,000 in debt and lose their home? They are the poster couple for the $300 billion mortgage bailout...

“Ooh-rah!” What else did you think Marine Iraq war veteran Daniel Gilyeat would yell when he saw his new home? Today was the day Gilyeat and his four children finally got to see what a crew of hundreds has been working on for the past week: their new home, compliments of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) speaks at a news conference after an altercation with a Capitol Hill police officer earlier in the week in Washington March 31, 2006. McKinney is waiting to learn if she will be charged for apparently striking an officer after she entered a House office building earlier this week unrecognized and did not stop when asked. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Extreme Makeover: Church Edition From the producers of the hit Trading Worship Spaces comes an all new ecclesial reality series Extreme Makeover: Church Edition. Put together a Church renovated sometime since or during the sixties, a deserving parish, and our team of experts. Our special team consists of Duncan G. Stroik and others of the new wave of classical architects, liturgical experts who actually follow Church documents, artisans in hand embroidered liturgical vestments, and Choir directors specializing in Gregorian chant. Each episode of Extreme Makeover: Church Edition is self-contained and features a race against the liturgical clock on a project...

Last week, we wrote about the cornucopia of celebs who support clemency for convicted murderer Stanley "Tookie" Williams, co-founder of the Crips and murderer of at least four people (probably more). To recap, we reported that Williams was a multiple-time Nobel Prize nominee for writing a kids book and allegedly helping to stop violence (not really). Today, we have some questions we'd like to raise about Tookie. Questions that were NOT raised by the mainstream media. But, first, we'd like to draw your attention to "their" Tookie versus the REAL Tookie Williams, as encapsulated in the photo the liberal (mainstream)...

WELLS — Doug Goodale's story was custom built for television. A Maine lobsterman who cut off his right arm in a freak fishing accident, Goodale made a perfect candidate for "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," the hit reality TV show that each week creates a lavish new dwelling for a needy family with a compelling story. This fall the show enlisted more than 1,000 volunteers and replaced Goodale's double-wide mobile home with a $500,000 log home. But in the weeks since Goodale, his wife and their two children moved into their new home, the story of the 40-year-old lobsterman has become...

Facing criticism that he appeared disengaged from the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina, President Bush has been looking for opportunities to show his concern. But the White House will take the effort a step further Tuesday, venturing into untested waters by putting the nation's first lady on reality television. Laura Bush will travel to storm-damaged Biloxi, Miss., to film a spot on the feel-good, wish-granting hit "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Mrs. Bush sought to be on the program because she shares the "same principles" that the producers hold, her press secretary said. It's not clear exactly what Mrs. Bush will...

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (Army News Service, Sept. 19, 2005) – The home “makeover” of a Soldier injured in Iraq will kick off the season premiere of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” Sept. 25. In late June, the family of Master Sgt. Luis Rodriguez got a surprise visit from the cast and crew, including the popular Ty Pennington, and a new 3,225-square-foot home near Fort Campbell, Ky., specifically tailored to the Rodriguez family’s needs. Rodriguez was injured in Iraq in 2003, losing his right leg above the knee, two fingertips on his left hand and he sustained serious shrapnel wounds when...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Texas woman has sued ABC's popular reality show "Extreme Makeover" for more than $1 million claiming among other things that an abrupt cancellation of her appearance on the program led to her sister's death. Deleese Williams of Conroe, Texas, claims she came to Los Angeles to be a contestant on the show after undergoing a series of medical exams to determine if her crooked teeth and droopy eyes could be fixed and her small breasts enhanced, according the suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The suit starts with the blunt description: "Deleese Williams is...

LOS ANGELES - The producers of "Extreme Makeover" promised Deleese Williams "a Cinderella-like" fix for a deformed jaw, crooked teeth, droopy eyes and tiny boobs that would "transform her life and destiny." But when the ABC reality show dumped the Texas mom the night before the life-changing plastic surgeries, it shattered her family's dream and triggered her sister Kellie McGee's suicide, says a bombshell lawsuit filed in L.A. Superior Court. As part of the premakeover hype, producers coaxed McGee and other family members to trash Williams' looks on videotape, the suit alleges. When they suddenly pulled the plug on the...

Downey family has sued ABC and the producers of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," claiming that there is a tale of greed and deception behind the scenes of the heartstring-tugging reality hit. In a suit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Charles Higgins II, 22, and his four younger siblings say that the producers took advantage of the family's hard-luck story and promised them new cars and other prizes to persuade them to participate in the program, first broadcast on Easter Sunday, March 27. The Higgins children say that after both parents died within weeks of one another in 2004,...

WASHINGTON, May 20, 2005 – ABC's hit TV program "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" this weekend will feature the show's design team building and furnishing a new home for the family of a soldier killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The family of Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, a soldier who died during the opening days of the Iraqi war, recently took ownership of a new $500,000 house north of Flagstaff, Ariz., that resulted from the effort. A team from the Extreme Makeover program designed the sprawling home and furnished it in a southwestern motif. A two-hour season finale, to air May 22,...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to make a cameo appearance on the ABC television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" on Sunday to tout the use of solar electricity in homes and businesses. The Republican governor will appear during Sunday night's episode, when a home is renovated with a solar photovoltaic system that allows the house to produce its own electricity, helping the owner to save on electricity bills, according to ABC's Web site and the San Francisco nonprofit Vote Solar. Schwarzenegger is championing new legislation - known as the Million Solar Roofs Initiative - that would create...

BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- A Kingston, Wash., family benefited from the generosity and teamwork of Navy volunteers when ABC's hit TV show, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" built them a new 3,200 square foot custom home Nov. 10-17. In the episode, which airs on ABC Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. eastern, nearly 200 crew members from USS Columbus (SSN 762) and USS Ohio (SSGN 726), together with Seabees from Bangor, Wash., and some crew members' spouses, answered the call to help build a new home for the Dore family. The family, a widow and her three daughters, had been living on...

TO:  Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign LeadershipFM:  Matthew Dowd       Chief StrategistRE:  The Democratic convention and its       effect on the presidential race John Kerry becomes the first presidential candidate since 1972 to receive a negative bounce from his convention.  Kerry’s performance in Gallup's post-convention poll is even worse than George McGovern’s in 1972, making it the worst convention bounce in Gallup’s history of presidential campaign polling.  "An examination of Gallup polls in presidential elections since 1976 reveals that a challenger's vice presidential selection and nominating convention can have a dramatic (if often short-lived) effect on the head-to-head poll numbers.  In fact, historical analysis suggests John Kerry should...

BostonAT 4:15 ON MONDAY, July 26, Miss Teen New Mexico takes the stage at the Democratic convention to belt out a stirring rendition of the national anthem to the nearly empty Fleet Center. What it stirs, mainly, is a sense of dread. Looking for my niche in the teeming journalistic ecosystem, I've settled on the quaint concept of ditching the receptions and covering the convention--the parts you don't see on TV. The sessions are gaveled to order each day at 4:00 P.M., and there are hours of events before prime-time coverage begins. Happily, there are almost no other reporters around....

BostonSOME PARENTS probably had visions of incontinence on long family car trips when Alexandra Kerry promised Thursday night that, should her father become president, our children will be able to "control their own bodies." But if the reference went over the heads of confused Middle Americans, abortion advocates had no trouble recognizing it as a bone thrown their way by the Democratic campaign. Kerry's own challenge to President Bush--"Let's never misuse for political purposes the most precious document in American history, the Constitution of the United States"--will have been received in living rooms across the nation as an insistence that...

IF IT’S SUNDAY, IT’S MISLEAD THE PRESSKerry And Edwards Continue Their Extreme Makeover On The Sunday Shows________________________________________________KERRY-EDWARDS TOUT INTEL EXPERIENCE, BUT FAILTO MENTION THEY DIDN’T SHOW UP FOR WORKKerry-Edwards Ticket Tours Their Experience On Senate Intelligence Committee.  SEN. JOHN EDWARDS: “As you know, for many years, John served on the Intelligence Committee. I’m on the Intelligence Committee now.”  (Fox News’ “Fox News Sunday,” 8/1/04)But Kerry And Edwards Didn’t Show Up For Work On Committee:ü      While On Committee, Kerry Missed 38 Of 49 Intelligence Committee Hearings.  During John Kerry's eight years of service on the Senate's Select Committee on Intelligence, there...

New York Post: John Kerry "Doesn't Get It" When it Comes to the War on Terror. "Give John Forbes Kerry credit for being honest as he accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for president last night. Because in his 55 minutes at the mike, he was truthful about how he'd fight the War on Terror. He won't. 'The United States never goes to war because we want to,' Kerry said. 'We only go to war because we have to.' At best, this is a gross calumny: President Bush never 'wanted' war — and it is repugnant even to hint otherwise. At...

LEFT ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOORKerry's Time As Lieutenant Governor Under Mike Dukakis Conspicuously Absent From Biographical Video____________________________________Not Even Spielberg's Magic Can Erase Kerry's Time As Lt. Governor Under Dukakis From History             

"It's disappointing that John Kerry's frank talk stopped with a discussion of his complexities and failed to include an explanation of his inconsistencies and contradictions on the central front in the War on Terror. John Kerry missed an opportunity to help the American people understand his vote for the war in Iraq based on the same intelligence that the President viewed, his description of himself as an anti-war candidate and his subsequent vote against troops on the front lines. He's right, America can do better."- Campaign Chairman Marc Racicot Even before John Kerry has spoken, he is working to...

Even before John Kerry has spoken, he is working to distort his own record and the President's. He is engaged in an extreme makeover of his out of the mainstream record. My fellow Americans, this is the most important election of our lifetime. The stakes are high. We are a nation at war -- a global war on terror against an enemy unlike any we have ever known before. And here at home, wages are falling, health care costs are rising, and our great middle class is shrinking. People are working weekends; they're working two jobs, three jobs, and...

Boston- Below is a transcript of today’s 10:30 a.m. Republican press conference. (Due to technical difficulties, the transcript starts during Lt. Gov. Healey’s remarks.) Transcript:LT. GOV. KERRY HEALEY (MA): ... the Democrats have misrepresented the President’s record just as they have tried to obscure the Senator’s record on so many important issues. In speech after speech we have heard nothing about Senator Kerry’s votes on the issues. We’ve heard nothing about his votes to raise taxes on social security that will hurt our elders. We’ve heard nothing about his votes to raise taxes on small businesses. We have heard nothing...

TO: Interested Parties FR: Marc Racicot, Chairman, Bush-Cheney '04 Ed Gillespie, Chairman, Republican National Committee DT: 7/29/04 RE: Preview of John Kerry's Acceptance Speech After 18 months on the campaign trail and more than $100 million in paid advertising, John Kerry's chief objective this evening will be to introduce himself to Americans. Again. We can expect John Kerry to deliver a well-crafted speech that pleases Democrats and attempts a pivot to more moderate rhetoric designed to appeal to independent voters. If his convention meets the historical standard for moving a challenger campaign in the polls, the Kerry-Edwards ticket will...

"We saw John Kerry's running mate tonight portray America as a nation in decline, but the American people know we are strong and overcoming the challenges of the past three years. John Kerry's extreme makeover of adding a smile to his pessimistic rhetoric cannot change his out of the mainstream record." -Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney '04 Spokesman The Facts On Health CareAll Seniors Will Be Guaranteed Access To Affordable Prescription Drug Coverage Under Medicare. In December 2003, President Bush signed into law legislation that will make Medicare prescription drug coverage available to 40 million seniors and people with disabilities. (Health Care...

John Edwards Claims John Kerry Is "Decisive. Strong." "John Edwards saluted John Kerry Wednesday night as a man tested a generation ago in the heat of battle, ready now to lead America in an age of terrorism. 'Decisive. Strong. Aren't those the traits you want in a commander in chief?' Edwards said at the Democratic National Convention." (David Espo, "Edwards Calls Kerry 'Decisive, Strong,' An Ideal Commander In Chief," The Associated Press, 7/28/04) Kerry Flip-Flopped On John EdwardsDuring Primary, Kerry Questioned Edwards' Lack Of Experience. (Nick Anderson, "Edwards' Track Record On Trade Has Lane Changes," Los Angeles Times, 2/19/04) Kerry:...

John Edwards: "Between Now And November - You, The American People - You Can Reject The Tired, Old, Hateful, Negative, Politics Of The Past." (John Edwards, Remarks As Prepared For Delivery, 7/28/04) February 2004: Kerry Campaign Advisor Stated "[E]verything Is On The Table. Everything." (Robin Toner, "G.O.P. Revives Line Of Attack Against Kerry," The New York Times, 2/5/04) Kerry Criticized President Bush’s Policies For Making America A "Target." "On the opening day of the convention that will make him the party's presidential nominee, Kerry underscored its theme that America can be both stronger at home and respected abroad. He criticized...

Dear FReeper,The extreme makeover of John Kerry continued last night in Boston.Centrist Democrats paraded across your television screen to praise the most liberal Senator in Washington and his running mate - the 4th most liberal member of the Senate.The Democrats are working hard to make Americans believe that these far-left politicians are actually mainstream.  Only you can ensure this doesn't happen.www.GeorgeWBush.com/JebBush/My brother is the President, and I am very proud of him.  But the truth is, I would be working just as hard for his re-election if he wasn't.Why?Because I believe he is the right person to lead.My brother believes that...

"There is neither strength nor wisdom in John Kerry's vacillation on the very serious issue of Iraq and the War on Terror.  John Kerry's positions have shifted with the political winds - a troubling sign for a candidate for President at a time when our nation faces unprecedented challenges at home and abroad.  President Bush has led with the clarity, purpose and strength that comes with the wisdom of a leader with deep convictions and principles and a clear vision for where he wants to lead this country over the next four years."- Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney '04 Spokesman Kerry's...

"Last Thursday we heard John Kerry assert that he will take responsibility for what is said at this convention, and tonight John Kerry's partner in the Senate and political mentor of 20 years attacked the President in a base and personal way without identifying one positive aspect of John Kerry's record or vision. This night exemplified the anger, pessimism and negativity of the Democratic Party." - Jim Dyke, RNC Spokesman John Kerry: "I'm Putting On This Convention, So Obviously I Care About The Tone And I'll Be Responsible." (Jill Lawrence and Martin Kasindorf, "Interview: On Iraq, 'The President Broke His...

DUKAKIS WATCH – DAY 2Have You Seen This Man?________________________________________ JOHN KERRY: MICHAEL DUKAKIS' LT. GOVERNOR (1983-1984) Kerry Wrong On Taxes & Spending As Lt. GovernorIn 1983 Letter, Kerry Said Federal Government Didn't Need To Cut Taxes. "We don't need enormous tax breaks for the wealthy …" (Lt. Gov. John F. Kerry, Letter To Paul Mann, 4/83)Kerry Called 1981 Tax Cut, Which Reduced Top Rate To 50 Percent, "Misguided." "Our offices of Federal/State Relations has been studying [President Reagan's FY 1985 budget] … Based on these preliminary findings, we can report that the President's proposals once again ask our state to...

DNC Convention Speeches Going Under Cosmetic Makeover: Kerry: "I'm Putting On This Convention, So Obviously I Care About The Tone And I'll Be Responsible." (Jill Lawrence And Martin Kasindorf, "Interview: On Iraq, 'The President Broke His Word,'" USA Today, 7/23/04) Kerry Speechwriting Team Sits In "Windowless Room" Rewriting DNC Convention Speeches Removing Hateful Language. "In a windowless room beneath the podium, a team of speechwriters is imposing John Kerry's will on the words of the other speakers at the Democratic National Convention. Their orders: Go easy on the Bush bashing. Each speech is read and re-read, heavily edited and rehearsed...

CONVENTION SPEECHES –NIGHT 1   Clinton In Old Form, Promises "Positive Campaign" ____________________________________ BILL CLINTON:  "We Democrats will bring the American people a positive campaign, arguing not who's good and who's bad, but what is the best way to build the safe, prosperous world our children deserve."  (Former President Bill Clinton, Prepared Remarks To 2004 DNC Convention, 7/26/04)BUT, BILL CLINTON ATTACKED PRESIDENT BUSH YESTERDAYClinton Attacks President Bush's Policies.  "But four years after Gore mostly kept him on the shelf in the 2000 campaign, Clinton also has made it clear that he's ready to help Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, the...

Rhetoric NARRATOR: "The Associated Press reports that John Kerry will try to keep voters focused on the most dismal economic data while fueling their anxieties about interest rates, health care premiums, tuition bills and other costs of living."CHYRON: "Kerry will try to keep voters focused on the most dismal economic data while fueling their anxieties about interest rates, health care premiums, tuition bills and other costs of living." The Associated Press, June 11, 2004 The Facts "Kerry Will Try To Keep Voters Focused On The Most Dismal Economic Data While Fueling Their Anxieties About Interest Rates, Health Care Premiums, Tuition...

"The one thing you won't hear John Kerry talk about this week is the record that earned him the ranking of the Senate's most out of the mainstream member. For 19 years in the U.S. Senate, John Kerry voted for higher taxes on everything from a gallon of gas to the family farm. He proposed cutting funding for our nation's defense and intelligence agencies, and now says he's 'proud' of voting against $87 billion in funding for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the issues that are important to the American people the extreme makeover is beginning."-Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney...

Maine Bush-Cheney ’04 Chairman Peter Cianchette Previews John Kerry’s Expected Makeover During the Democratic National Convention(title edited for length) BANGOR, ME – Today, Bush-Cheney ’04 Chairman Peter Cianchette made the following comments in regard to Sen. John Kerry’s expected makeover during the Democratic National Convention in Boston next week: “John Kerry will not be able to gloss over his out-of-the-mainstream positions during a week-long convention in Boston. Although we expect him to try to transform his record into something that would relate to the American people, he cannot cover up the fact that he has a record of supporting deep...

Statement by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) Regarding(title was incomplete so I finished it)WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) issued the following statement: "John Kerry may have been born in Colorado, but he learned his priorities in Massachusetts. Kerry is trying to pull off an extreme makeover of his votes for higher taxes and opposition to President Bush's plan to guarantee affordable drugs for our nation's seniors, which helped earn him the ranking of the Senate's most out of the mainstream member. Kerry voted in favor of the Iraq War and then voted against $87 billion in funding to...

COLUMBUS, OH – Today, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell issued the following statement in regards to the upcoming Democratic Convention: "With his convention just days away, John Kerry is beginning an extreme makeover. John Kerry will use the Democratic convention to attempt to re-invent himself for the American public. When he’s in the Midwest he claims to be the candidate who stands for conservative values, but when he is back in Boston he boasts that he is proud to be a liberal. It will be interesting to see which John Kerry shows up next week - will it...

The Democrats’ Extreme Makeover – Can John Kerry and John Edwards do anything to shake their extreme liberal record? That’s what they’re trying to do in Boston next week but it’s a big job considering those pesky National Journal ratings that list Kerry as the most liberal member of the Senate in 2003 and Edwards as the 4th most liberal member that year. The Problem With the Democrat Platform – Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie began setting the stage for the RNC’s response to the Dems Extreme Makeover in Boston, telling journalists in a conference call Monday, “John Kerry...

To:     Interested Parties From: Bush-Cheney '04 RE:     Kerry's Extreme Makeover On The War            On Terror/Kerry Surrogates On The            Attack With his convention just days away, John Kerry is working to reverse a record on intelligence and national security that would weaken our ability to fight and win the War on Terror. The United States is engaged in a war against terror that requires principled, decisive leadership and an unflinching commitment to protect our homeland from the threat of global terror.  President George W. Bush provides this leadership.While the 9/11 Commission report confirms that the blame for 9/11 lies squarely with the...

<p>June 21, 2004 -- CHELSEA Clinton's chic new look is turning heads. With her sleek, honey-blond coif and understated but deftly applied makeup, the former first daughter has undergone a dramatic transformation from bookish collegiate to soign‚e sophisticate - sparking rumors she had help from a plastic surgeon. Not so, counter a panel of insiders - who insist the 24-year-old's new urban-cool polish is the result of flattering makeup, soft golden highlights and a layered haircut that aspiring look-alikes have already christened "The Chelsea."</p>

<p>How to even begin criticizing the idea behind The Swan, Fox's new reality show that finds unhappy women and offers them a combo of plastic surgery, life coaching, therapy and a beauty-pageant finale, as they compete for our entertainment all the while?</p>

WASHINGTON (SH) - The "Symphony of Soul" was swinging alongside the indifferent Pennsylvania Avenue traffic. Soon, presidential candidate Al Sharpton would show. Many blocks and a world away from the avenue's most famous residence, the one he aspires to, Sharpton was cutting the ribbon of his new Washington presidential campaign headquarters. Sharpton meant for his new office to resonate symbolically. While other Democratic candidates have backed out of the District of Columbia's primary Jan. 13, Sharpton has made it the centerpiece of a highly unconventional campaign. It's a campaign whose success or failure can't really be measured in delegate votes.But...