Blacks v. White, take 2 As the fourth season of “The Apprentice” is gearing up – it’ll be going on in September – we’re already looking ahead to Season Five. For “The Apprentice,” someone suggested pitting a team of successful whites against a team of successful blacks. I posed the idea to listeners and boy, did you respond. Although it wasn’t overwhelming, more people were against the idea than in favor of it, but plenty of them liked it a lot. In response to my web site, 46 percent of the people thought it was a bad idea, 27 percent thought it was a good idea and the remaining 27 percent weren’t exactly sure what they thought. I wasn’t a big fan of the idea to begin with, but I really wanted to get feedback from the viewers and fans of “The Apprentice.” While the blacks-versus-whites idea may be very reflective of our country and the sad state of things, it may not be the best idea to highlight it even further. Student Assault I’ve heard all kinds of problems in schools but here’s a new one. A high school student in Kansas was convicted of battery for vomiting on his Spanish teacher. Apparently, the teenager threw up on the teacher when he turned his text book in on the last day of school. He claimed that it was an accident and it happened because he was nervous about the final exams. But two other students testified that the kid threw up on purpose. The judge who heard the case said that he considered the boy’s actions an assault upon the dignity of all teachers. As punishment he ordered the student to spend the next four months cleaning up after people who throw up in police cars. Now that’s a tough sentence. As kids all over the country get ready to go back to school, let this be a lesson to everyone involved. Students, don’t throw up on your teachers. And teachers, don’t get too close to your students, especially the ones that look a little green around the gills. Ghosts I have to admit, this one surprises me. A Gallup poll recently found that one out of every three Americans believes in ghosts. Even more Americans actually believe that houses can be haunted. That’s a lot of people. Interestingly, whether or not you believe in ghosts and spirits can depend on your political affiliations. According to the poll, 42 percent of liberals say they believe in ghosts but only 25 percent of conservatives and about one-third of the moderates believe in ghosts. The poll finds that the older that people are the less likely they are to believe in spirits and haunted houses. Personally, I’m not a believer. I think when people die they hopefully have better things to do than bug the people that are still alive. In a related note, Tom Cruise became even more of a gossip item recently when he said he believed in aliens. I wonder if he believes in ghosts. Fighting spam If you have an email account, you have spam. No doubt your inbox is filled with hundreds of offers for everything from low-cost prescription medicine to chain letters and questionable investment opportunities. Now a technology firm is offering consumers a chance to get spammers back with a taste of their own medicine. The company – called Blue Security – has a software program that will go to any online forms on the spammers’ web site and fill them out with anti-spam complaints instead of orders. The creators are hoping that all those complaints will clog the spammers’ web sites and make it more difficult and more costly for them to stay in business. Some people are critical of the approach, saying that this fighting fire with fire is vigilantism and that it borders on the illegal. But it appears to be a fairly straight-forward way to fight spammers at their own game. If they stay out of our email, then we’ll stay out of theirs. Sienna and Jude So Jude Law’s in trouble. He admitted having an affair with his children’s nanny and has apologized to his fiancé – or to be technically correct – his former fiancée, Sienna Miller. Sienna has decided not to forgive and forget. She reportedly called off the engagement and is refusing to even speak to Jude. Actually, that sounds like a lot of the women I used to know. Yes, I believe that maybe her heart is broken and yes, I bet she feels pretty humiliated. She probably never wants to see the guy again and I guess I don’t blame her. But Sienna needs to look at the bright side. For the most part, nobody knew who she was before this happened. These days she’s on the front pages of all the tabloids and entertainment tabloids. You really can’t buy that kind of publicity. And whether or not Jude Law likes it or not, at this point she’s going to be a bigger star than him. Sienna, sorry to hear about your misfortune. But you know what? Congratulations, you’ve just become a star. Fast Food Education Students employed at several fast food restaurants around the country are getting paid to do their homework while they’re at work. There’s a McDonald’s franchise owner in Wisconsin who allows his student employees to stay on the clock when they’re studying. Franchise owners of two fast food restaurants in Detroit are paying high school and college students an extra hour of salary either before or after their shifts as long as they’re spending that time doing schoolwork. Other restaurant bosses allow their foreign-born employees to take English language classes as part of their shifts, for which they get paid. Isn’t that nice? These programs obviously offer great benefits to students. It gives them wonderful motivation – money – to make sure they do their homework. But it’s also a benefit to the employers themselves. It should help them attract and keep good, strong, young employees. And by the way, smart ones, at that. Martha Stewart’s Apprentice The new fall season is around the corner and this time you’ll get an extra helping of “The Apprentice.” In addition to the groundbreaking original version -- starring, of course, me -- I’ll be producing along with Mark Burnett a second “Apprentice” featuring Martha Stewart. “The Apprentice” has been so strong and is such a ratings monster that it has become one of NBC’s newest and biggest franchises. We thought how better to showcase a winning formula than by adding a second edition? Since I have buildings to build, Mark and I signed Martha to do the firing and hiring on Wednesday nights starting in mid-September. The original Apprentice – MY Apprentice -- will be on Thursday nights as usual. Martha has certainly proven her strength and determination, having made it through her prison sentence with ease. We’re not revealing a lot of details about Martha’s show yet. One thing is for sure, however. Martha won’t be using my boardroom and she won’t be saying, “You’re fired.” OK! USA magazine Anyone who has been through a supermarket checkout or walked by a newspaper stand certainly knows there’s a sea of celebrity magazines out there. Now a British publisher is launching an American version of the British weekly magazine, “OK.” This will be a different kind of publication because the magazine is prepared to pay celebrities for their stories and will give them control over the exclusive interviews and the photographs that run with them. It certainly seems like a good idea. I’m sure most celebrities will welcome this kind of publication. Who wouldn’t like to get his or her story told the way they’d like with the photos they choose? On top of it all, the celebrities will even get paid. Listen to that one. That is just beautiful. Spokespeople for “OK! USA” say the stars that they’ve approached so far love the idea and are lining up to tell – and sell – their stories. Maybe I’ll just be one of them. Date Lance Recently I told you about a couple of men who were going to extremes in order to find the perfect woman. Now there’s a 31-year-old guy in Utah whose friends have plastered his face on a billboard hoping to find him a girlfriend. His name is Lance. He’s a former basketball player at Brigham Young University and a graduate of Harvard Business School Lance’s friends say that because he’s in his 30s and a Mormon, he’s basically the male equivalent of an old maid. A few thousand people have visited the web site, datelance.com, and plenty of women have applied for a date. As for Lance, who didn’t know about the billboard until his friends drove him past it, he’s keeping his sense of humor. He says he’s not overly concerned about marriage although he’d certainly like to do it someday. But what’s a guy who graduated from Harvard doing advertising for women this way? I’ll tell you what, all of my friends from the Harvard Business School are just a little bit embarrassed. I’m Donald Trump and that’s the Real Deal. Email I get thousands of letters and email messages from people asking all kinds of questions about everything from investment advice to “Apprentice” trivia. I thought that I’d take a minute to answer some of the most common questions I received on TrumpOnAir.com. To all of the people in New Zealand and Australia who sent so many nice messages now that they finally get to listen to my radio commentaries and watch “the Apprentice” on television…thank you for your kind words. In answer to the smart people who heard all about my Donald J. Trump Signature Collection of suits, ties and shirts but don’t know where to buy them, just go to Macy’s. It’s exclusive. I’m not sure why you want to know but in response to other questions: My favorite movie is “Citizen Kane.” And if I could meet any former president – living or dead – I’d want to meet Lincoln or Washington. Keep the questions coming and go to Macy’s and buy a suit. Bad Bosses What makes a really bad boss? I wouldn’t know. But according to an ongoing survey of thousands of employees from all lines of work across the country, the worse offense a boss can commit is belittling an employee in front of others. There’s no excuse for that. The other qualities that make a terrible boss include an employer who lies, who is condescending or embarrasses employees or one who micromanages. I like to think I’m not guilty of those things. I try to be fair and upfront with my employees. I know I expect a lot from them but in turn, I would imagine they expect a lot from me. Can bad bosses change their ways? They have to. If your employees can’t stand you, you’re certainly not going to get their respect and most definitely not going to get their best work. And if you can’t motivate your employees, then you should just give up the corner office and walk away. Shuttle and Space The first United States shuttle mission in more than two years came to a successful end last week when the Discovery touched down at Edwards Air Force Base in California. I’m a big fan of progress and I think Discovery’s accomplishment was great. The astronauts are about as brave as people can get. They truly are American heroines and heroes. But when it’s all said and done, I ask myself, “What are we doing? What do we get from this?” I really haven’t been able to figure out why we need manned missions to space. It would seem to be safer, cheaper and probably more scientifically productive to concentrate only on robotic missions. We wouldn’t be risking lives and we’d be making more progress, if in fact dealing in space is progress…and I’m not 100 percent sure it is. Maybe some money should be taken out of our space program and put into things like cheaper energy. You know, there are a lot of answers to energy and we’re not even close. Jennifer Aniston After months of keeping quiet about her ex-husband’s fling with Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston finally tells her side of the story in the current issue of Vanity Fair magazine. Jennifer says she chooses to believe Brad’s comments that he didn’t cheat on her before they were separated. Jennifer, don’t be a dope. Believe me, he cheated. Throughout the interview, Jennifer appears to be reflective, emotional and even funny. The interviewer says Jennifer even cried at times during their conversation. Critics are questioning the authenticity of Jennifer’s emotions since she allegedly agreed to do the interview only if she were given the questions in advance. So what? I think it’s Jennifer’s turn in the spotlight. Maybe Brad and Angelina could just disappear for awhile. Besides, I actually happen to think that Jennifer’s better looking than Angelina. And I’d also like to see Jennifer come back and be the lead-in on NBC for “The Apprentice.” Katrina and Oil Prices Everybody in news is today focused on Katrina, the devastating hurricane that took place all over the Gulf Coast. The other thing everyone’s talking about is the price of fuel. I watch now as everybody is blaming Katrina for the huge increase in the cost of gasoline. I say to myself, “You know, it sounds good but in my opinion, this is just a bunch of countries getting together and saying let’s use this terrible hurricane in order to lift our fuel prices even higher. It’s not Katrina. It’s the oil producing states. It’s Saudi Arabia saying, “Let’s screw the public.” When are we going to get smart in Washington? When are we going to go after these people and say, “Hey look. We’re protecting you. We’re making your lives beautiful. It’s enough. You get those damn oil prices down right now. And don’t blame this natural disaster.” Jerk-O-Meter How many times have you been on the phone when you get bored with the conversation and your attention starts to wander? Now there is a way that you can keep yourself in check. Researchers at MIT are developing software for cell phones that would analyze a caller’s speech patterns and voice tones in order to rate them on how engaged they really are in a conversation. A message will pop up on the phone warning you that you’re starting to sound like a jerk or suggest that you’re fading fast. Once they get the bugs worked out, you’ll be able to analyze the caller to see how bored they are with the conversation. Although I have a lot of respect for MIT -- in fact, my uncle went there -- I really don’t understand the value this offers. In most instances I don’t care how I come across in a phone conversation and I don’t need help from a software program to tell me if the person on the other line is acting like a jerk. I deal with jerks all the time and I know how to handle them. Getting Fired I’m not the only one who has been doing a lot of firing recently. It’s been a busy summer for corporate job cuts. There’s one web site that lets people tell tales about getting fired, laid off or downsized. The best story at SimplyFired.com will win a trip for two aboard the Apprentice cruise ship to the Caribbean. They’ll sail along with plenty of people I’ve fired including Raj, Heidi, Danny and Troy so they can all sit around and talk about their bad ex-bosses including me, Donald Trump. So far, the firing stories have been pretty good. There was this guy who was canned after running over his boss’s foot with the company car. But one of my favorites is the man who was fired for calling in sick when he was feeling just fine. He went to spend the afternoon with his new girlfriend only to have her dad stop by for a surprise visit. Turns out that the girlfriend’s dad was the guy’s boss. He got his pink slip the next day. I wonder what happened to the relationship. Esquire’s Best-Dressed In their September issue, the editors of Esquire magazine chose the 21 best-dressed men in the world. Although I hate to brag, I have to admit I made the list. But I’m in some pretty good company – actors like George Clooney, Jude Law and Luke Wilson and other well-known people like NBC’s Matt Lauer, quarterback Tom Brady (who happens to be a great friend of mine and a total winner) and former president Bill Clinton. The best-dressed man according to Esquire is hitmaker Pharrell Williams, whoever the hell that is. I’m very honored to be in such good company because I know how important it is to look good and dress well. Oftentimes you can size someone up within seconds of an introduction just by looking at what they’re wearing. Just remember how important it is to dress for success. If you don’t look like you want to succeed, you’re probably going to have a very tough time. Why Men Don’t Listen New research from British scientists at the University of Sheffield finds that men’s brains aren’t exactly wired to hear a woman’s voice. In the study, researchers tracked brain activity in men as they listen to recordings of many different voices. They found that men deciphered female voices using the same part of the brain that processes music. However, men use a much simpler mechanism in a different part of the brain in order to process voices from other men. In order to understand what a woman says it’s like listening to an intricate symphony. So whether women are saying “Take out the garbage” or “How do I look?” there’s an anatomical reason why we don’t respond. It’s not because we don’t care or we’re much more engrossed in the sports pages or television. It’s because your voice is too beautiful, too complex, too melodious for our simple minds to register. Sienna and Jude again Looks like maybe Sienna Miller hasn’t really said goodbye for good to Jude Law after his affair with the children’s nanny. Jude and Sienna were spotted together strolling on a street in London. Jude has certainly been letting the pictures do the talking recently. The day before the photo with Sienna hit the press a picture of Jude with his pants down hit the papers. Maybe seeing Jude in the buff is what made Sienna change her mind. In any case, a survey by the Wall Street Journal Europe found that if you’re going to cheat on your spouse, you might want to consider moving to Britain. Seventy percent of Britons said infidelity can be forgiven. I guess I haven’t gone out with very many British women. However, the survey also found that women overall are much less tolerant of affairs than men are. Maybe that’s because men are usually the ones doing the cheating. In any case, Jude and Sienna are still on all the magazine covers and in Hollywood, you just can’t do better than that. Vioxx Lawsuit Just last week, Merck Pharmaceutical Company was held liable in the first lawsuit involving its controversial drug Vioxx. A jury awarded more than $250 million in damages to a Texas woman whose husband – a 59-year-old marathon runner – died of a heart attack while taking the drug for arthritis. This case will probably have a profound effect on thousands of other lawsuits that are pending against the company. The award to me seems very excessive and with heart attacks being the number one cause of death in the United States, who’s to say that he really died from Vioxx anyway? That was the whole purpose of the case. Maybe Merck should get a different set of lawyers. I don’t know if Vioxx was really the problem with this 59-year-old marathon runner. Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn’t. But lots of people die of heart attacks. And lots of widows don’t get $250 million in damages from a drug company Next Apprentice In just a matter of weeks I’ll be joined by a new group of job applicants all vying for a job in the Trump Organization in another season of The Apprentice. I have to be totally honest that I wasn’t very happy with the candidates over the last couple of seasons. For the most part they just weren’t a very exciting group and I had nothing to do with picking them. So this year for Apprentice Number Four, I chose the candidates myself and they are spectacular, the best group that we’ve had so far. I shouldn’t say this I guess, but some of the women are among the best-looking women I’ve ever seen. In fact, I took a little heat. Some people thought it wasn’t realistic to have such beautiful women. Well, I’ll just have to suffer with this one. So, I’ll see you on September 22 as a whole new crop of talented and in some cases very beautiful people will be hearing those terrible words, “You’re fired!” Terrell Owens Superstar wide receiver Terrell Owens has been making a lot of football fans unhappy in Philadelphia. He signed a contract last year with the Eagles and now he wants a new deal. There’s no question that Terrell has great talent but Terrell is handling things terribly. I really wish I could represent him. He’s being belligerent and disrespectful. He was suspended for a week from training camp after getting into a verbal altercation with his coach. He’s handling the situation with arrogance while alienating many of his teammates and the fans. In sports it’s really interesting. If you have a bad season, the athletes want to be paid according to their contracts. And oftentimes, if they have a great season the athletes say, “What contract? I don’t know about a contract.” The fact is Terrell gave it a shot. Now he ought to get back, play football, do well. And maybe some day in the not-so-distant future he’ll get a new and better contract. Most Popular Dead Stars Of all the celebrities in the world, who’s your favorite dead star? It turns out that most people adore Lucille Ball and I don’t blame them. The company that developed the Q score -- that’s what broadcasters use to measure celebrities’ popularity – did a survey testing the reputation of performers that are no longer with us. As in years’ past, Lucy topped the list, just like she used to top the ratings’ list on television. Lucy was followed by a spectacular guy named Bob Hope, then John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and Red Skelton. The way the Q score works is consumers are given a list of famous names and asked if they recognize the people and how much they like them. From those responses they calculate the Q score which is used to see how stars rank in popularity. Actually, somebody told me that I have one of the highest on record Q scores. I’m totally shocked to hear that.