I'm going to guess it's not romantic, but more arguements.

Oma and Nick going at it? I could see neither backing down.

Funny thing: If Oma is being truthful, and I think she is, then growing up in the porjects, and furthermore, working in DC has to do strange things to a persons psyche.

You don't stay weak in either enviornment and last for long.

I've got a pal who is a successful attorney, and he does things that are amazingly insensitive, and has NO idea.

I've heard him prattle on about him being a good boss and whatnot... It's incredible...

Who was it that said, "Man's capacity for self delusion is infinite?"

Working in DC can be as normal as working anywhere else. Working in politics in DC can scar you for life. Or not, depending on what you bring coming into it. (And "politics" and "the federal government" are two very different things. One's crazy, and the other's like a big corporation, sort of.) I imagine Omo was one of the driven politicos. I avoid them. But the most psycho politico I ever met worked for the Montana state government.

Meanwhile -- romance? Hmm. I'm definitely picking up that some of these people are bonding as friends. The dinners seem pretty chummy at times. We'll see. I wouldn't put it past The Donald to drop in a red herring. Or six.

Did anyone see Psycho Sam propose to his "girlfriend" on TV today (The Today Show)?

EDIT - Okay, there are some mentions on Sam's thread.

On Conan last night, Trump claimed all the contestants had IQ scores in the area of 200. He said many times they are all “brilliant.”

Washington Post - Sam, Outside the Box and Off the Show

The Post article about Sam is great! The best part is that he went to Landon with a friend of mine. Which gives me...3 degrees of separation from Trump! Whoo-hoo! But also three degrees from Assorama. Ewww.

I was going to post that link if no one else did. I love how his dad called him a "mutation", then called the reporter back to clarify that he meant "a wonderful mutation." I was disappointed that Sam's height wasn't revealed, though.

Just proves IQs aren't all they're trumped up to be. (Oh, Jeez, I can't believe I.....sigh) But without an equally high EQ, and a lot of common sense, IMO the higher the IQ the lower the sociability factor. To me, high IQs don't mean much unless the worker is going to be a lab rat somewhere, where they can't do much harm to their fellow lab rats.

IQ is normally distributed with an average of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. That means he is claiming that each of the contestants is more than 6 standard deviations more intelligent than average? There is a 1 in a billion chance of something 6 standard deviations from the norm happening. Yet Trump found 14 of these people?

Somebody's exaggerating.

And then did Trump's nose start growing?

NBC Moves Trump to Save Him from Simon Cowell

Wait... if it's Conan's show he said it on then he was clearly joking. If I remember right, isn't 145 considered genius level? Only a few of these people could theoretically be geniuses, although I suppose we can at least conclude that most of them probably have three digit IQs.

Point of reference: here is a table with estimated IQs for some historical geniuses.

Interesting post, Kromm on the historical IQs. But since few, if any, of these people ever took IQ tests, I've always wondered exactly how these scores were derived and validated. I have the nagging feeling that this is kinda after-the-fact rationalization: these people were great, therefore they must have had high IQs.

Similarly, I think some of the folks on Apprentice are impressive just on the basis of what they have achieved already. The extra validation of their apparently high IQs is, I suspect, PR smoke being blown up our wazoos.

C'mon, can you envision a universe where Sam has a 200 I.Q.? Trump was speaking to a comedian. On a comedic talk show. Where he felt a need to seem flippant. Why is it unimaginable that he was (trying to) make a joke?

Since I didn't see the show, I obviously don't know whether he was joking or not. Although, if he was joking, it does explain my impulse to laugh wildly at that statement.

Trump has also said the same thing about the 200 IQ on Regis and The View and Carson Daly, that I've seen. He actually seems to believe it.

Has anyone else seen the odds that are being given on these folks? Here's the only "net" sighting I can find of odds:

http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showth...091#post1664091

A bit odd. I would rate Troy, Kwame and Amy near the top, not Katrina, Nick and Ereka. Also, whatever we think of Tammy's week 1 shenanigans, she's been decent enough after that to deserve more than 20/1.

He seemed serious. Trump said the contestants were chosen from 250,000 applicants, the largest reality show contestant pool ever. And the apprentices were finally selected for brilliance.

Here's an article on DT and the show from Sunday's New York Times Arts section. It gives some of the truths behind the show. There's one minor, minor spoiler (what one of the upcoming challenges is).

My favorite quote:

Wow. According to that article Trump fudges the facts about himself in a downright Omarosian fashion.

Love this quote, and...I think we can now put the inflated IQ claims to rest. An IQ of 180 or more is extremely rare: Less than 1 in a million. I mean, imagine - all 8 women have extremely high IQs and washboard abs? Amazing! (I think "washboard abs" was a much higher selection criterion than intelligence quotient- for the women, anyway.)

On the IQ question... I thought that no method had been developed for accurately measuring IQ past 180 or so. The idea is that you have to miss some questions to see where your intelligence "levels off," and it is so incredibly rare that anyone scores higher than a 180, it wasn't worth the effort/cost to develop extra items -- makes the test too long for 99.99999% of folks that are somewhere in the bell curve.

So, either I dreamed that, or its changed recently, or The Donald is talking out of his ass.

The best part of that NYT article is when Trump refers to "some guy in Queens" who may sell more units than Trump does. *Snort* As if Trump doesn't know exactly who his competitors are: names, phone numbers and net worths.

NY Post - THE DONALD'S FINE LINE BETWEEN FIGHTING BACK AND PLAYING NICE

Trump neglects to point out in that article, however, that the guys were clearly choosing to follow Sam's orders in order to let Sam cut his own throat in the competition, and that if it was up to them they probably would have fought back harder; witness their decision not to argue about Sam's order to head uptown.

Mama Tiger - that might be what he was referring to:

In this case, that's exactly what happened.

I'll keep this quick since I don't want to stray too far from the media-focus of this thread, but the game -- as approved by Trump, I would imagine -- includes the aspect of having a "boss" for the task every week to make the decisions. The rest of the guys did raise some dissenting opinions with Sam; he just didn't seem to listen or be particularly open to the suggestions. Sometimes, even in the real world, there is a need for self-preservation in that if you have a boss that doesn't listen to reason, it can sometimes be better to suffer in silence than to fight every move. Even fighting for what you believe in can get you fired if you end up being portrayed as the one who couldn't follow orders.

Back to the media subject, I hope there are more articles like this that lay into Trump a little bit for wanting to become a TV personality. I love to see him be the object of a little ridicule over this show. ;)

It boggles my mind that anyone wanting to be perceived as a legitimate, serious businessman would even want to be associated with such a thing as a reality TV show, but hey, at least it's entertaining to those of us whose reputations are not at stake. (Okay, except that reputation-damaging part about watching the show every week. Long live the relative anonymity of TWoP usernames! ;)

Per Zap2It Sam's scheduled to be on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Monday night. I just hate that I know I'll be watching.

Damn you MB!!!

The Death Glare was featured on Leno. Leno started with Sam by asking him about it. Sam claimed again that it was merely surprise.

Fellow guest David Spade asked Sam if the "prize" of being able to work for Trump was for the winners or losers.

Jay asked Sam if he sucked up to Trump (Jay's apparently actually watched the show in detail). Sam hedged, but eventually admitted it and claimed that sucking up and having your lips attached to someone's ass was a great thing to do if it worked (he came pretty close to those words actually). Jay accused Sam of being a stalker (after he talked about his excessive Trump book reading), but Sam shrugged it off.

Jay asked about The Hair, but Sam ducked the question.

Sam at least was able to joke about his height. That's something at least.

THE HAT was brought up, but Sam's explanation was really nothing but a rehash of what we saw on the show about THE HAT. Sam did claim that Troy was nicknamed something idiotic like "Country Troy".

Jay cut on the girls and how they dress on the show. He made some joke about showing up at the office in a leather miniskirt. Sam called them all "smoking hot".

Sam came off better than on the show... but still as a massive brown-noser and a bit creepy. He also briefly talked about some mystery fiance and an upcoming wedding, and referred constantly to some business partner who he never named.

Later in the show Sam was visible drooling over a photo of Rod Stewart's 6 foot tall young girlfriend.

Thanks for the recap, Kromm. Well done!

I wasn't sure where to put this link. It's an article not directly related to the show but it is about appropriate dress at work for women. Executive 'fired for not wearing short skirts'is the link if you want to read it. Anyhow, the headline caught my eye and I felt it was apt for this show. Gosh I hope Miss Alli agrees.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ETA -- I fixed it pseudo. Sorry if I offended. It was quite early in the morning when I did that.

goobaletta, just providing the link is fine.

Since I'm really an old person in a 25-year-old's body, I listened to NPR's Talk of the Nation call-in show today. Lo and behold, the topic of conversation was the role of women and men in the workplace, and even though the conversation seemed to be about how it's tough for women to break the glass ceiling, they started the conversation with Trump's quote, "I'm starting to think that I may never hire a man again!" They went on to talk about how for women it's difficult to have to balance priorities with family and career commitment, but at the same time it's tough for men because they're expected to commit wholly to their careers. Which is kinda funny to me, because none of these girls seems the type to say to their husbands, "No way honey, I want to stay in the rat race!" if their husbands offered to take full financial responsibility for the family. But hey, that's just me.

I apologize if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but I tripped across this profile on Trump when looking up his daughter's name. Evidently, he doesn't like to shake hands because he's a germophobe, and if Sam knew that (and his extensive research suggests that he might), his reaction to getting the rare "treat" might be a little more understandable. Trump's habit of hanging out with Marla Maples and Melania (or whatever her name is) becomes even less comprehensable, though.

I apologize if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but I tripped across this profile on Trump when looking up his daughter's name. Evidently, he doesn't like to shake hands because he's a germophobe, and if Sam knew that (and his extensive research suggests that he might), his reaction to getting the rare "treat" might be a little more understandable. Trump's habit of hanging out with Marla Maples and Melania (or whatever her name is) becomes even less comprehensible, though.

Then again, Trump may have just realized that his germ phobia would come over as wacky on TV and purposefully chose an opportunity to shake a hand. No doubt the hand sanitizer was waiting somewhere in a tacky gold plated bathroom nearby...

Trump's "thing" with shaking hands is well explained in his latest book. He'd rather you bowed. If you taped his tour of his apartment, you'll notice Heidi "bowed". (Maybe it showed more of her, assets)

Trump would rather never shake hands again.

Yes, creepy Mr. Deutch never read the book, he was too busy pasting his t-shirt on his nipples.

Hair and hair, alike!
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/0...ts/bagl.184.jpg(Donald Trump and Mark Burnett, executive producers of "The Apprentice.")

I'm sure he'd rather we bow to him. The question is... does he ever bow back, and how deeply.

Hey all, I've scanned the last week of posts, but don't think I've seen this article from Reality News Online (sorry if I missed it...)

"I Think Donald Trump Really Wanted Me to Win": An Interview with Sam Solovey of 'The Apprentice'

Some *ahem* "stirling" quotes?



OK, there's familiarizing yourself with your potential employer, and then there's psychotic overkill, yo.



Hello, my name is Sam, and I am petulant, self absorbed five year old. I don't know why people don't respect me! Aren't 8 year olds in a 30+ body cool and unique and "outside the box?!?"



Dislike for a colleague is often a form of impatience with incompetence, too.

Sort of interesting look at Omarosa and race on the show here.

(I say "sort of" interesting because there's not really anything in there I haven't read before in some way, shape or form, even if not directly related to the show.)

Okay: I'll grab da book:

DONALD TRUMP: The Art of the Comeback:

(All his books are great, btw. There are some real gems of wisdom in all of them.)

Anyhow. Page 175 starts the chapter: THE PRESS and other germs

(And I quote:)

In any event, if any of you folks reading this book really like me, please approach me at any time, in a restaurant or elsewhere, and don't stick out your hand but simply bow. I will bow back and greatly appreciate the thought.

(Endquote)

You'll notice Samwise asked, "You want to shake my hand?" in the loft, and in the cab he said, "Trump shook my hand".

Sydygirl posted this interesting article on Omarosa and the portrayal of workplace racial issues on "The Apprentice" over in the Omarosa thread, but I think it is appropriate for here, as well. (And I now see that cellochick was quicker on the draw than I.)

Anyway, what I was struck by was the way the writer presents the situation between Omarosa and the other women as one in which Omarosa herself has no culpability. Basically, it's presented as if all Omarosa had said was that she was a "strong black woman," and that her statement was all it took to cause the harpies of Protege, Inc. to descend upon her. This does not comport with what I've seen on the show thus far.

Edited to get rid of aesthetically displeasing use of bolding.

Yeah, I thought that article was very poorly written. She makes repeated references to viewers saying Omarosa was "playing the race card," and doesn't even mention the pot/kettle incident.

The author makes it sound like the moment Omarosa declared herself to be a strong black woman, all the other women descended on her like harpies. Sounds like rewritten history to me!

Here is this week's USA Today analysis by a writer, The Donald, and a panel of 12 experts. The Donald thought the teams' tactics came close to the line but didn't cross it. He also said that "Usually, when it feels bad, it is bad," in regard to ethics. Most of the panel agreed with that statement. He and others also suggested that Nick either should have worked harder, suggested an alternative, or been more vocal about his objections.

Highlights from the panel discussion, which isn't online (or if it is, I can't find it):
From an associate dean at Yale School of Management:

From a female vice president of Avon:

From the CEO of Sovereign Bank (big in the East, I don't know about elsewhere):

The guy seriously does not know the meaning of the word "earn." Failing to earn their respect does not make you the victim, you dolt.

Oy.

The guy from Random House is funny, though.

It's interesting to me that Tammy was clearly the outcast amongst the women in the first episode and said what Omorosa has said herself: she's not there to make friends. Yet I don't recall any hoopla about how whites can't handle strong, opinionated Asian women in the workplace. If writers want to make race an issue, then they should include Tammy and the group's reaction to her in the discussion too. Just sayin'.

USA Today article:


Please, I saw no 12 yo hanging out in Times Square at night buying the items. I did see children with their parents who could have said no. They got their faces on tv like they wanted.

Rustina--could you give some idea what the EW article you linked to was about? It is not accessible to anybody who isn't an EW or AOL subscriber.

Thanks.