AAA to AA+: Here come the battery jokes!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- S&P's rating downgrade of the United States has hit a nerve with the public, sparking outrage, confusion and even jokes.

Never before has the world's largest economy been stripped of its prized triple-A status. That changed Friday, when Standard & Poor's downgraded the U.S. to AA+, a rating still considered high quality, but no longer on top.

After an event like this, whoever thought batteries could be so funny?

Twitter user scaryduck posted: "They've changed the US from AAA to AA. All this time and they didn't realise they were using the wrong batteries."

And simon_price01 said: "Until today I didn't even know America ran on batteries, never mind what size."

Others poked fun at the U.S. for no longer being No. 1. After boasting the triple-A credit rating since 1917, the U.S. is suddenly considered less creditworthy than 15 other countries, (and even the small Isle of Man), which still have the rating.

@GBeerLego wrote: "Canada currently beating us. Not a hockey update, but a credit report?!?"

Even economist Nouriel Roubini, known for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, chimed in from a fishing trip in Maine.

"Caught a just downgraded AA+ 11-inch Maine bass. Gotta cross to Canada across lake for AAA fish!" he tweeted..

On Saturday, the phrases "AAA to AA" and "S&P" were two of the most popular terms used on Twitter.

"America went from the AAA to AA? Yay, we're the same bra size!" wrote verymarykate on Twitter.

NoraMKE said, "Yo momma so poor she raised her debt ceiling and the S&P STILL downgraded her."

But of course, not all the commentary is light. The angry public discourse was dominated by finger-pointing in every direction.

Look no further than the roughly 6,000 comments CNNMoney readers have left so far on our initial article about the downgrade.

"Obama is the captain of the ship and he has allowed it to run into the iceberg," wrote a user called GetErDonee.

Another, named DChmu wrote: "Thanks Republican conservatives for running the country into the ground, expecting the Democrats to clean up your mess, and throwing every road block you could in the way of doing just that!"

Others criticized Standard and Poor's, after the company at first miscalculated the growth trajectory of the nation's debt, but then went through with the downgrade anyway.

"If Standard & Poor's is off by trillions in their analysis, then governments and businesses need to seriously question the credibility and competency of this company," wrote atilaDetroit.?

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George Lopez jokes about cancellation of 'Lopez Tonight,' references Charlie Sheen

George Lopez joked about the cancellation of "Lopez Tonight" on the TBS talk show and even paid tribute to troubled actor Charlie Sheen.

The cable network had announced on Wednesday that it had decided not to renew the late-night series, whose ratings have declined since its 2009 debut.

"Unemployment is at an all-time high and for Latinos, it just got a little higher," Lopez said during his monologue on "Lopez Tonight" on Wednesday. "We're not saying goodbye - we're saying cable doesn't work."

"Everybody asks ... 'What are you going to do now?'" Lopez added. "Like every TV star before me - I'm gonna find some crack. I'm going to get on the pipe. But I'm taking it good. My goddesses are a wreck. They left me and I'm losing teeth."

Sheen, who has battled alcohol and drug abuse for years, was fired from the hit CBS series "Two and a Half Man" in March after he insulted show co-creator Chuck Lorre in the media and following a rehab stint.

Before he was axed, Sheen, the top-paid TV actor at the time, was suspended from the show. He appeared on various news programs, touting his "winning," party-loving lifestyle and live-in girlfriends, or "goddesses." The actor maintained he was sober, dubbed himself a "rock star from Mars" and demanded a pay raise.

After TBS announced "Lopez Tonight" was canceled, Lopez received Twitter messages of support from fans as well as from several of his fellow comedians and actors, including Ashton Kutcher, who is replacing Sheen on "Two and a Half Men" when it returns for a ninth season in September.

"Hey @georgelopez sending love your way flaco," Kutcher Tweeted.

"Thank you El Kutch!" Lopez responded. "How about 3 1/2 men? I'm ready and close by!"

The news of the cancellation of "Lopez Tonight" even spurred a display of unity between comedienne and actress Roseanne Barr and her ex-husband, actor Tom Arnold.

"So sorry to hear of your cancellation--you are great!" Barr Tweeted, to which Arnold responded: "Finally something we agree on! Good luck George."

Others who expressed support for Lopez on Twitter include Margaret Cho, Judah Friedlander, "ER" and "Mulan" star Ming-Na, Holly Robinson Peete of "21 Jump Street" and the daytime series "The Talk," Niecy Nash, "Private Practice" actress Kate Walsh and "Rizzoli & Isles" star Angie Harmon, who was scheduled to appear on the show on Monday.

Lopez rose to fame as a comedian and later starred in his own scripted comedy series, "George Lopez," which aired originally between 2002 and 2007.

Lopez also appears in films and has voiced characters in animated movies such as "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," "Rio" and "The Smurfs." He recently filmed the comedy film "The Skank Robbers" with Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence.

The final episode of "Lopez Tonight" airs on Thursday, August 11, at its regular timeslot of midnight and is set to feature Eva Longoria from "Desperate Housewives," which was also canceled recently and is set to air its eighth and final season in September.

Others set to appear on "Lopez Tonight" on Thursday are actor Benjamin Bratt, NBA player Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers, former Guns n' Roses guitarist Slash and comedian Russell Peters.

(Copyright c2011 OnTheRedCarpet.com. All Rights Reserved.)

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Tea Party official jokes on Facebook about killing Obamas

Credit: Facebook

Shery Smith (Source: Facebook)

By: Logan Smith (WIS)
Published: August 12, 2011 ? ?Comments | Post a Comment SUMTER, SC --

The chairwoman of the Sumter Tea Party is taking some heat after posting a joke on Facebook about killing the president and first lady.

Shery Lanford Smith posted the joke on her public profile Thursday afternoon, according to a screen-capture taken by the Sumter Item's Nick McCormac. Smith removed the post after being asked about it.

In the joke, the Obamas' helicopter pilot says to his co-pilot, "I could throw both of them out of the window and make 256 million people very happy!" Smith also posted, "If you're one of [the] 256 million, pass it on," implying she herself would be happy to see the Obamas killed.

The joke has been circulating for years in various forms which have included the names of multiple political figures. "It's just a joke," Smith told the Item when contacted about her post. "I had no idea it would be an issue."

Smith was elected chairwoman of the Sumter Tea Party in February 2011, according to the organization's now-defunct website.

While Smith's joke was clearly posted in jest, this isn't the first time a South Carolina political figure has come under fire for inflammatory Facebook posts. In 2009, longtime SCGOP activist Rusty DePass drew national attention after posting that an escaped gorilla was probably "just one of Michelle [Obama]'s ancestors."

In July, the co-chairman of the Kershaw County Republican Party was asked to resign after 'liking' a post which outlines when one should "shoot a cop." That article was posted by the Kershaw County Patriots, another tea party-affiliated group.

View More: Activist, Chairwoman, Co-Chairman, Co-Pilot, County Republican Party, Facebook, Helicopter Pilot, Human Interest, Kershaw County, Nick Mccormac, Php, Politics, President And First Lady, Rusty Depass, Scgop, Shery Lanford Smith, South Carolina, Sumter Tea Party Not what you're looking for? Try our quick search:

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Kirstie Alley calls out David Letterman for 'fat' jokes

 

The weekend is all about catching up on important things we missed during the week. Or napping. Anyhow, this falls into the first category: On Thursday (July 28), Kirstie Alley stopped by the "Late Show" to take David Letterman to task for a series of fat jokes he told while she was competing on "Dancing with the Stars" in the spring.

"I feel like I'm a little estranged from you," says Alley in the clip above. "I thought you loved me madly, but then you talked about me being a little 'chub'."

Letterman admits to having poked fun at Alley's weight, at which point the actress produces a list of said jokes to read back to Dave:

"Kirstie Alley joining Dancing with the Stars. If you don't already own one, now might be a good time to get a wide-screen TV."

"Last night on 'Dancing,' Kirstie Alley fell on the dance floor. How many of you felt it? However, the judges scored her an 8 -- on the Richter scale."

"I did these because I felt like I had your tacit approval," says a none-too-concerned Letterman.

"I said it was okay," Alley replies, "So that was like go ahead and tell 50 of them?"

Yup.

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George Lopez Jokes About Cancellation, Compares Himself to Charlie Sheen (Video)

Now that George Lopez's TBS late-night show is canceled, he's following in the footsteps of another TV actor… Charlie Sheen.

"I'm taking it good, but my goddesses are a wreck… they left me," joked Lopez Wednesday. "And I'm losing teeth."

Lopez also quipped: "In case you did not see the news on unemployment, it's at an all-time high? and for Latinos, it just got a little higher."

"Big news: Sony just announced they're doing a sequel to the Smurf's movie, so today I lost some work because I'm brown, but I got some work because I'm blue," he added.

"We're not saying goodbye, we're just saying cable doesn't work," he went on.

RELATED:

TBS Cancels 'Lopez Tonight'

George Lopez Cancellation: Fans React

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'The Mo'Nique Show': Funniest Comedian Yet

'The Mo'Nique Show': Funniest Comedian Yet HPFB.init(); var _gaq = _gaq || [];HPTrack.async = true;HPTrack.getTracker();HPTrack.setCustomVar("news", "default");HPTrack.setCustomVar('vertical', 'BlackVoices'); HPTrack.trackPageview();(function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(ga);})(); bN_cfg = {h: location.hostname,p: {"dL_ch":"us.hpmgbv","dL_dpt":"default","dL_cmsID":"hpo:923446","cobrand":"HuffPost"} }; function runOmni() {s_265.pfxID = 'hpo';s_265..
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George Lopez Speaks About Show Cancellation, Still Has Jokes

George Lopez’s TBS late night talk show Lopez Tonight was cancelled but the comedian is taking it in stride. During his opening monologue last night he turned the bad news into a comedic routine.

“So hey! Did you guys see the news?” he asked. “Unemployment is at an all-time high and for Latinos it just got a little higher.”

But George is trying to stay positive.

“I did get some good news this morning though. Sony announced they were doing a sequel to The Smurfs movie,” George said while wiping his brow. “So today I lost some work because I’m brown, but also I got some work because I’m blue.”

OK! Magazine caught up with the comedian to see what he was working on and a jokey Lopez still had people laughin.

“And really almost like every TV star who loses his job. Now what am I going to do, everybody asks. What am I going to do now? Like every TV star before I’m going to find some crack,” he joked. “I’m going to get on the pipe. Lose that unwanted 110 pounds I’ve been trying to lose.”

All jokes aside, he added that this really won’t be the last we see of him but the lesson he learned in this is that cable isn’t always the best place for a late night show. It works for small few but he just didn’t have that fortune.

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