---Michelle Obama: setting trends---
Parade.com polled Americans on celebrity pop culture in its annual Summer Pop Culture Poll. Forty-one percent felt that Michael Jackson's death was the most gripping headline of 2009. Also noted were: Bernie Madoff swindling investors out of millions (31%) and John Travolta's son Jett's sudden death (18%). The biggest trendsetter in America is First Lady Michelle Obama, with 50% of the vote. Sarah Jessica Parker came in second with 17%, Victoria Beckham came in third (13%). Among the 'beautiful people' highlighted are: Sexiest male is Johnny Depp, (49%) Sexiest lady is Halle Berry (34%) Most distinguished-looking gentleman is George Clooney (40%), while Barack Obama came in second, with 15%.

Michael Jackson

Donna Brazile

Business World Index

---CNN Presents: Michael Jackson – The Man in the Mirror on 8/29--CNN’s Don Lemon reports on the extraordinary life and unexpected death of music legend Michael Jackson in a CNN Presents special documentary.  Beginning with his life as a precocious child prodigy in Gary, Indiana, his talents soon outgrew those of his performing brothers.  Jackson rose to heights of super stardom not achieved previously or since – and he exercised shrewd business decisions along with his unparalleled creative gifts.  But along with his transitions to becoming the “King of Pop,” he joined some family members in accusing patriarch Joseph Jackson of beatings and other child abuse, and Michael Jackson’s own behavior and appearance grew increasingly bizarre.  Later, allegations of sexual abuse and financial troubles began to overshadow his musical notoriety.  At the time of his sudden death, Jackson was preparing for a 3 year farewell tour.  The documentary includes new interviews with music artist Usher and producer and close family friend Rodney Jerkins who collaborated with Jackson on his last finished album.

---Joint Center for Political Studies update---
Veteran national political strategist Donna Brazile and philanthropist Norma Ketay Asnes are the newest members of the Board of Governors of the Joint Center for Political Studies, one of the nation’s leading research and public policy institutions. The two were elected this week at a meeting of the board in Washington, D.C. Brazile is the founder and managing director of Brazile & Associates LLC, a general consulting, grassroots advocacy, and training firm based in Washington, D.C.

---Hate crime in Baltimore---
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) praised the Baltimore Police Department for the arrest of the three individuals alleged to have attacked a 76-year old African-American man because of his race. The alleged leader of the attack, Calvin E. Lockner, has been charged with a hate crime, attempted murder, first-degree assault, and carjacking. "This unprovoked, violent, and apparently racially motivated attack against a man who was peacefully fishing with his wife is intolerable," says Emily Friedman, ADL Assistant Regional Director. "We applaud the Baltimore Police Department for their swift investigation and arrest of these three perpetrators and their decision to charge Lockner with not only attempted murder, first-degree assault, and carjacking, but also with a hate crime." Hate crime statutes have been adopted by 45 states. Many of those laws are based on a model statute crafted by ADL, which has long been in the forefront of national and state efforts to deter and counteract hate-motivated criminal activity. The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.