Mike Buday isn’t married to his last name. In fact, he and his fiancee decided before they wed that he would take hers. But Buday was stunned to learn that he couldn’t simply become Mike Bijon when they married in 2005.
As in most other states, that would require some bureaucratic paperwork well beyond what a woman must go through to change her name when marrying.
Instead of completing the expensive, time-consuming process, Buday and his wife, Diana Bijon, enlisted the American Civil Liberties Union and filed a discrimination lawsuit against the state of California. They claim the difficulty faced by a husband seeking to change his name violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
“Diana and I feel strongly about gender equality for both men and women,” Buday said. “I think the most important thing in all of this is to bring it to a new level of awareness.”
Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the ACLU in Southern California, said it is the first federal lawsuit of its kind in the country. “It’s the perfect marriage application for the 17th century,” Rosenbaum said. “It belongs in the same trash can as dowries.”
Only six states — Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York and North Dakota — have statutes establishing equal name-change processes for men and women when they marry. In California and other states, men cannot choose a different last name while filing a marriage license.
In California, a man who wants to take his wife’s name must file a petition, pay more than $300, place a public notice for weeks in a local newspaper and then appear before a judge.
Because of Buday’s case, a California state lawmaker has introduced a bill to put a space on the marriage license for either spouse to change names.
The Census Bureau does not keep figures on how many U.S. men are taking their brides’ names. But clearly it happening more and more. Milwaukee County, Wis., Clerk Mark Ryan estimated that one in every 100 grooms there now takes the name of his wife.
Bijon, 28, approached Buday about the idea when they were dating. She had no brothers but wanted to prolong the family name. Buday, a 29-year-old developer of interactive advertising, was estranged from his own father and was not attached to his own last name.
“I knew immediately it was pretty important to her or else she wouldn’t have brought it up,” Buday said.
At one point, the couple tried the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a name change. But Buday said he was told by a woman behind the counter: “Men just don’t do that type of thing.”
Couples who want to hyphenate or combine their names also must endure the lengthy court procedures in California. One of the more notable examples was Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who went to court to fuse his last name, Villar, with his wife’s, Raigosa, when they married in 1987.
Laws giving women an easy choice of names were largely a byproduct of the feminist movement. A 2004 Harvard University study found that the number of college-educated women who kept their surnames upon marriage rose from about 3 percent in 1975 to nearly 20 percent in 2001.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Boy Kidnapped in 2002 Found Alive with Other Kidnapped Boy
A 13-year-old boy missing since the beginning of the week was found alive in a suburban St. Louis home, along with a 15-year-old boy missing since 2002, authorities said Friday.
Sheriff Gary Toelke said Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck were found in a Kirkwood home belonging to Michael Devlin, 41. Devlin has been charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping, and Franklin County prosecutor Robert Parks said more charges are likely.
Ownby was last seen Monday, when he stepped off his school bus. The straight-A student and Boy Scout was last seen running the few hundred feet down a gravel road to his home.
Hornbeck disappeared from his home in rural Washington County in October 2002, when he was 11. He had gone for a bike ride and never returned.
Toelke said both boys appeared unharmed. Ownby has been reunited with his family, and Hornbeck's parents were coming to meet their son in Union, the Franklin County seat, Toelke said.
Toelke said the break in the case came Thursday night. Kirkwood city police officers were serving a warrant on an apartment complex when they noticed a white truck matching the description of a vehicle authorities had been searching for in the Ownby investigation.
Kirkwood officers contacted the Franklin County Sheriff's Department and determined where the owner of the truck was. Authorities then searched Devlin's house and found both boys.
Toelke said authorities were surprised to find Hornbeck, who identified himself when officers arrived.
Toelke said authorities were still investigating the motive behind the abductions.
"There are a lot of things we don't know right now," he said.
Around 5 p.m. Friday, police escorted Ownby into the sheriff's department. The slight boy was wearing a red shirt and jeans and appeared somewhat dazed as he walked inside. A moment later, a car door opened and Hornbeck stepped out. He had a thick head of dark hair and was dressed in a leather jacket and jeans.
Sheriff Gary Toelke said Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck were found in a Kirkwood home belonging to Michael Devlin, 41. Devlin has been charged with one count of first-degree kidnapping, and Franklin County prosecutor Robert Parks said more charges are likely.
Ownby was last seen Monday, when he stepped off his school bus. The straight-A student and Boy Scout was last seen running the few hundred feet down a gravel road to his home.
Hornbeck disappeared from his home in rural Washington County in October 2002, when he was 11. He had gone for a bike ride and never returned.
Toelke said both boys appeared unharmed. Ownby has been reunited with his family, and Hornbeck's parents were coming to meet their son in Union, the Franklin County seat, Toelke said.
Toelke said the break in the case came Thursday night. Kirkwood city police officers were serving a warrant on an apartment complex when they noticed a white truck matching the description of a vehicle authorities had been searching for in the Ownby investigation.
Kirkwood officers contacted the Franklin County Sheriff's Department and determined where the owner of the truck was. Authorities then searched Devlin's house and found both boys.
Toelke said authorities were surprised to find Hornbeck, who identified himself when officers arrived.
Toelke said authorities were still investigating the motive behind the abductions.
"There are a lot of things we don't know right now," he said.
Around 5 p.m. Friday, police escorted Ownby into the sheriff's department. The slight boy was wearing a red shirt and jeans and appeared somewhat dazed as he walked inside. A moment later, a car door opened and Hornbeck stepped out. He had a thick head of dark hair and was dressed in a leather jacket and jeans.
Jeru The Damaja - Jeru'damus
In the early to mid ‘90’s hip-hop was getting bigger and bigger and this era definitely was the period when the motivational music genre was on its way to cultural, mainstream, and worldwide dominance. Just think about who was out then, especially when it came to dropping classic albums. During the 90's golden era of hip-hop everybody was dropping albums that were made to never be forgotten. You had Ice Cube with his rebellious “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” the jazzy sound of Tribe Called Quest with classic releases “The Low End Theory” and “Midnight Marauders”, the grimey street album from Wu-Tang Clan’s The Chef Raekwon with “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx”, the birth of Nas with “Illmatic”, hustler music with Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt” and many more. One man that many don’t seem to mention is that conscious creative rhyme-slayer Jeru the Damaja who made classic music with his album “The Sun Rises in The East”. Many of you remember Jeru the Damaja and probably thought he disappeared, but you can’t forget he definitely was an important figure in that time of hip-hop’s uprising.
Jeru the Damaja is no doubt one of the illest MC’s to come in this game, especially with albums like “Wrath of the Math” and the previously mentioned classic “The Sun Rises in The East”. When it came to raw bars Jeru is the man, especially when spitting on the conscious subjects current MC’s Common, Talib Kweli, and others are known for. Jeru the Damaja never left hip-hop, the man has been on the grind touring, touring crazy. While there is so much debate on whether hip-hop is dead, according to Jeru the Damaja it’s currently on a respirator and has to be smacked out its coma. Besides all the hip-hop is dead talk Jeru explains why it can come back as artists just need to be more creative.Every rapper loves to talk about the experience working with the legendary DJ Premier, but to Jeru it wasn’t a big deal, they remains friends before the music. Jeru also speaks on traveling the world and the new album coming soon.
What’s been good with Jeru the Damaja lately?
Jeru : I have my own label out I’m running and that’s been pretty good for me selling a lot of records worldwide. I’m also doing a lot of touring in which I almost do 200 shows a year.
You said 200 shows a year, I see you been traveling all crazy!
Jeru : Yeah, I’m all over the world, Russia, Colombia, Italy, Greece just wherever you can think of on the planet earth I’m there.
What you like most about traveling all over the world and what was your favorite country to visit?
Jeru : Oh man I really can’t say I have a favorite country too much. I like South Africa a lot, London is like my second home, but I just like to travel in general. I like to move and as long as I got some type of full movement I’m doing great.
: Now in the past you were known for working with DJ Premier who produced the classic album “The Sun Rises In The East”, so what was that experience like working with him?
Jeru : We was just boys so it wasn’t like how you might think of Premier is not how I think of Premier. We’ve been hanging out six or seven years before that so it was never a thing were as I was like “Aw I’m so excited”, because that was my boy. We was hanging out and we worked on the records together. Premier never gave me a beat and be like “Here’s a beat”, I wanted it as I was ...(continued below)
in the studio picking out certain sounds going over things together that was my boy.
Yeah, because when a lot of rappers tell me their experience of working with Premier they talk like it was one of their best experiences.
Jeru :Yeah, like I said it’s from a different perspective, Premier is definitely a legend, but he’s my boy first before anything. We was hanging out before we even did records together, we shared food. I was in the studio when Nas did “Illmatic”, him and Premier use to come to my crib in the projects and pick me up. It’s a different vibe, it’s like somebody who don’t know me. Someone might ask somebody “What it was like working with Jeru” and they will talk like it was the best thing, but if you ask one of my homeboys they’ll be like “Aw it ain’t nothing, that’s my man”. When your around somebody everyday it’s a little different, Premier is definitely a legend, he’s one of the greatest producers ever, but we was hanging out before that. That’s what created the vibe to create those records we did, that’s why the records me and Premier did nobody has really done those type of records. Yeah he can give them a beat and they can write some dope rhymes, but the vibe is gonna be different, because we knew each other. When you know somebody more or less, inside or out the way you are going to create is different.
: Why didn’t you work with Premier after the first two albums?
Jeru : It was just that time, sometimes you have to spread your wings and do other things.
: Now a lot of people would say you were doing music when hip-hop was “Real hip-hop”, so what was it like making music during that era when plenty of classics were coming out?
Jeru : You don’t know something is gonna be a classic until ten or fifteen years later, you know what I’m saying, all we was doing was trying to make dope records. Were from a time where it wasn’t about how much money you got or whatever. I mean that’s dope, but for us it was about burning everybody else. We was like “Alright this record is dope, but I want to make a record doper than that”, that’s what hip-hop is about, it’s kind of like battling.
: During that period were there any artist that you haven’t worked with that you would have liked to?
Jeru : I pretty much got to work with everybody that I wanted to work with, it wasn’t that type of thing you know, it’s was about who knew how to rap really good. Things are much different right now, like this person was an artist and that person was an artist. Back then I wanted to work with KRS-One, I wanted to work with whoever, the dudes who were way before my era. The Biggie’s, the Nas’s and all those type of guys we pretty much knew each other and we was just dudes who knew how to rap good. I don’t know if that’s how they felt, but that’s how I felt about it. Its people that will tell you they hung out with me for years and didn’t even know I could rhyme. The first time Fat Joe heard “Kid Come Clean”, he was like “Yo Premier who did that sh*t”, who wrote that record” and he was like Jeru. He was like “Get the fu*k outta here son, I never knew he could rhyme and I knew him for like five years”.
: A lot of people say hip-hop is not what it used to be, would you agree?
Jeru : Of course, it’s nothing like what it used to be, television ain’t what it used to be, nothing is what it used to be. It doesn’t mean that it’s worse, it’s going through stages of evolution, but the real deals are still gonna be here. Everything has to go through change in order for it to remain, most of the sh*t that stayed the same is not here anymore.
: What you think it was that made it change?
Jeru : It’s generational, it’s technology, it’s all types of different sh*t. First thing right now anybody can make hip-hop right in their house, before you had to go to the studio and it was a lot more you had to put in.
: Do you think it will ever come back to it’s original form?
Jeru : I don’t know about coming back to it’s original form, because I don’t know too many things that really do that. I think people will start emphasizing more on skill and more creativity, but right now it’s in the hands of corporate America.
: That’s the thing as a lot of people would say artist didn’t kill hip-hop, corporate America killed it.
Jeru : I predicted this whole sh*t on my second album years ago and people was saying I was hating. I already knew it was going to happen, because I seen it happen in everything, it’s not just rap, it’s everything. True Rock N’ Roll fans would say it happened to Rock N’ Roll right? Fans have to also remember is that if you can’t get the music if I can’t get it to you, so what you expect me to not eat. You are not going to quit your job, because their making changes in the administration. A true fan will grow with you, if it’s dope it’s dope, some will be like “If he didn’t do it this time maybe the next time”
What I’m saying is the people who say their fans just abandon the artist and expect him to hold it up himself. Things are gonna change, I can’t say nobody truly killed hip-hop. I know that sounds dope “Hip-Hop is Dead”, but hip-hop’s not dead it’s on a respirator. It’s on a respirator, it will come back, but it’s in a coma. It will wake up, you just have to get back to creativity. I think a lot of the creativity is gone and a lot of people talk about the dirty south, but that’s what they know.
Don’t get mad at them, get mad at you for listening to that sh*t, how about that? Don’t listen to it if you can’t relate to it, I don’t listen to stuff I can’t relate to. They talk about grillz and all that, this is where they really contradict themselves. They talk about they want things to come back the way it was, but that’s where it started, “Grillz” that is hip-hop. As I got older and started to travel the world I see everything is not that cut and dry, my best is that “You can do the best that you can”.
Jeru the Damaja is no doubt one of the illest MC’s to come in this game, especially with albums like “Wrath of the Math” and the previously mentioned classic “The Sun Rises in The East”. When it came to raw bars Jeru is the man, especially when spitting on the conscious subjects current MC’s Common, Talib Kweli, and others are known for. Jeru the Damaja never left hip-hop, the man has been on the grind touring, touring crazy. While there is so much debate on whether hip-hop is dead, according to Jeru the Damaja it’s currently on a respirator and has to be smacked out its coma. Besides all the hip-hop is dead talk Jeru explains why it can come back as artists just need to be more creative.Every rapper loves to talk about the experience working with the legendary DJ Premier, but to Jeru it wasn’t a big deal, they remains friends before the music. Jeru also speaks on traveling the world and the new album coming soon.
What’s been good with Jeru the Damaja lately?
Jeru : I have my own label out I’m running and that’s been pretty good for me selling a lot of records worldwide. I’m also doing a lot of touring in which I almost do 200 shows a year.
You said 200 shows a year, I see you been traveling all crazy!
Jeru : Yeah, I’m all over the world, Russia, Colombia, Italy, Greece just wherever you can think of on the planet earth I’m there.
What you like most about traveling all over the world and what was your favorite country to visit?
Jeru : Oh man I really can’t say I have a favorite country too much. I like South Africa a lot, London is like my second home, but I just like to travel in general. I like to move and as long as I got some type of full movement I’m doing great.
: Now in the past you were known for working with DJ Premier who produced the classic album “The Sun Rises In The East”, so what was that experience like working with him?
Jeru : We was just boys so it wasn’t like how you might think of Premier is not how I think of Premier. We’ve been hanging out six or seven years before that so it was never a thing were as I was like “Aw I’m so excited”, because that was my boy. We was hanging out and we worked on the records together. Premier never gave me a beat and be like “Here’s a beat”, I wanted it as I was ...(continued below)
in the studio picking out certain sounds going over things together that was my boy.
Yeah, because when a lot of rappers tell me their experience of working with Premier they talk like it was one of their best experiences.
Jeru :Yeah, like I said it’s from a different perspective, Premier is definitely a legend, but he’s my boy first before anything. We was hanging out before we even did records together, we shared food. I was in the studio when Nas did “Illmatic”, him and Premier use to come to my crib in the projects and pick me up. It’s a different vibe, it’s like somebody who don’t know me. Someone might ask somebody “What it was like working with Jeru” and they will talk like it was the best thing, but if you ask one of my homeboys they’ll be like “Aw it ain’t nothing, that’s my man”. When your around somebody everyday it’s a little different, Premier is definitely a legend, he’s one of the greatest producers ever, but we was hanging out before that. That’s what created the vibe to create those records we did, that’s why the records me and Premier did nobody has really done those type of records. Yeah he can give them a beat and they can write some dope rhymes, but the vibe is gonna be different, because we knew each other. When you know somebody more or less, inside or out the way you are going to create is different.
: Why didn’t you work with Premier after the first two albums?
Jeru : It was just that time, sometimes you have to spread your wings and do other things.
: Now a lot of people would say you were doing music when hip-hop was “Real hip-hop”, so what was it like making music during that era when plenty of classics were coming out?
Jeru : You don’t know something is gonna be a classic until ten or fifteen years later, you know what I’m saying, all we was doing was trying to make dope records. Were from a time where it wasn’t about how much money you got or whatever. I mean that’s dope, but for us it was about burning everybody else. We was like “Alright this record is dope, but I want to make a record doper than that”, that’s what hip-hop is about, it’s kind of like battling.
: During that period were there any artist that you haven’t worked with that you would have liked to?
Jeru : I pretty much got to work with everybody that I wanted to work with, it wasn’t that type of thing you know, it’s was about who knew how to rap really good. Things are much different right now, like this person was an artist and that person was an artist. Back then I wanted to work with KRS-One, I wanted to work with whoever, the dudes who were way before my era. The Biggie’s, the Nas’s and all those type of guys we pretty much knew each other and we was just dudes who knew how to rap good. I don’t know if that’s how they felt, but that’s how I felt about it. Its people that will tell you they hung out with me for years and didn’t even know I could rhyme. The first time Fat Joe heard “Kid Come Clean”, he was like “Yo Premier who did that sh*t”, who wrote that record” and he was like Jeru. He was like “Get the fu*k outta here son, I never knew he could rhyme and I knew him for like five years”.
: A lot of people say hip-hop is not what it used to be, would you agree?
Jeru : Of course, it’s nothing like what it used to be, television ain’t what it used to be, nothing is what it used to be. It doesn’t mean that it’s worse, it’s going through stages of evolution, but the real deals are still gonna be here. Everything has to go through change in order for it to remain, most of the sh*t that stayed the same is not here anymore.
: What you think it was that made it change?
Jeru : It’s generational, it’s technology, it’s all types of different sh*t. First thing right now anybody can make hip-hop right in their house, before you had to go to the studio and it was a lot more you had to put in.
: Do you think it will ever come back to it’s original form?
Jeru : I don’t know about coming back to it’s original form, because I don’t know too many things that really do that. I think people will start emphasizing more on skill and more creativity, but right now it’s in the hands of corporate America.
: That’s the thing as a lot of people would say artist didn’t kill hip-hop, corporate America killed it.
Jeru : I predicted this whole sh*t on my second album years ago and people was saying I was hating. I already knew it was going to happen, because I seen it happen in everything, it’s not just rap, it’s everything. True Rock N’ Roll fans would say it happened to Rock N’ Roll right? Fans have to also remember is that if you can’t get the music if I can’t get it to you, so what you expect me to not eat. You are not going to quit your job, because their making changes in the administration. A true fan will grow with you, if it’s dope it’s dope, some will be like “If he didn’t do it this time maybe the next time”
What I’m saying is the people who say their fans just abandon the artist and expect him to hold it up himself. Things are gonna change, I can’t say nobody truly killed hip-hop. I know that sounds dope “Hip-Hop is Dead”, but hip-hop’s not dead it’s on a respirator. It’s on a respirator, it will come back, but it’s in a coma. It will wake up, you just have to get back to creativity. I think a lot of the creativity is gone and a lot of people talk about the dirty south, but that’s what they know.
Don’t get mad at them, get mad at you for listening to that sh*t, how about that? Don’t listen to it if you can’t relate to it, I don’t listen to stuff I can’t relate to. They talk about grillz and all that, this is where they really contradict themselves. They talk about they want things to come back the way it was, but that’s where it started, “Grillz” that is hip-hop. As I got older and started to travel the world I see everything is not that cut and dry, my best is that “You can do the best that you can”.
Brat Pack dork turned gangsta AMH join the white n word club
Brat packer Anthony Michael Hall used the N-word twice while signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans last night, and it all went down outside the Laugh Factory, of all places.
Hall, the star of such 80s classics as "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club," uttered several obscenities as he joked around with fans and photographers outside the same Hollywood comedy club where Michael Richards made his infamous rant back in November. When a particularly large, Hispanic looking fan came up to Hall looking to take a picture with him, Hall jokingly said, "I am scared of this nigga right here."
About a minute or two later, while posing for a pic with another fan, Hall says to someone off camera, "What up nigga?"
Throughout the video, Hall half-seriously told several people to "get the f**k out of here" and joked that the cameraman would sell the video to a TV show -- ha, close! During the taping, Hall also joked several times about being high.
Hall, the star of such 80s classics as "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club," uttered several obscenities as he joked around with fans and photographers outside the same Hollywood comedy club where Michael Richards made his infamous rant back in November. When a particularly large, Hispanic looking fan came up to Hall looking to take a picture with him, Hall jokingly said, "I am scared of this nigga right here."
About a minute or two later, while posing for a pic with another fan, Hall says to someone off camera, "What up nigga?"
Throughout the video, Hall half-seriously told several people to "get the f**k out of here" and joked that the cameraman would sell the video to a TV show -- ha, close! During the taping, Hall also joked several times about being high.
END OF THE WORLD: Officials flap as 5000 birds fall from sky
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Wildlife authorities investigating why thousands of birds fell from the sky over a town in remote southwestern Australia have ruled out infectious diseases but are no closer to figuring out what killed them, a state official said Friday.
Around 5,000 birds have been found dead in Esperance, Western Australia, since mid-December, according to Nigel Higgs, spokesman for the state's Department of Environment and Conservation.
The birds were mostly nectar- and insect-eating species, although some seagulls also have been found, Higgs said in a telephone interview from his office in the Western Australia capital, Perth.
Pathologists at the Western Australia Department of Agriculture examined several of the carcasses, and have ruled out the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus and other infectious diseases.
"It may be an environmental toxin. It may be an agricultural or industrial toxin. We just can't be specific," Higgs said.
Further tests were being done on the dead birds, and Higgs said that it would be at least another week before pathologists have any more information on the mysterious deaths. Meanwhile, the reports of dead birds were waning, he said.
Michelle Crisp was one of the first residents of Esperance to report the dead birds.
She told The Australian newspaper earlier this week that she normally had hundreds of birds on her property, but she and a neighbor had counted 80 dead birds in one day.
"It went to the point where we had nothing, not a bird," she was quoted as saying. "It was like a moonscape, just horrible."
Earlier this week, authorities discovered 63 dead birds in a section of downtown Austin, Texas, and temporarily shut down the area. Officials are awaiting lab results to determine the cause of the deaths.
Around 5,000 birds have been found dead in Esperance, Western Australia, since mid-December, according to Nigel Higgs, spokesman for the state's Department of Environment and Conservation.
The birds were mostly nectar- and insect-eating species, although some seagulls also have been found, Higgs said in a telephone interview from his office in the Western Australia capital, Perth.
Pathologists at the Western Australia Department of Agriculture examined several of the carcasses, and have ruled out the virulent H5N1 bird flu virus and other infectious diseases.
"It may be an environmental toxin. It may be an agricultural or industrial toxin. We just can't be specific," Higgs said.
Further tests were being done on the dead birds, and Higgs said that it would be at least another week before pathologists have any more information on the mysterious deaths. Meanwhile, the reports of dead birds were waning, he said.
Michelle Crisp was one of the first residents of Esperance to report the dead birds.
She told The Australian newspaper earlier this week that she normally had hundreds of birds on her property, but she and a neighbor had counted 80 dead birds in one day.
"It went to the point where we had nothing, not a bird," she was quoted as saying. "It was like a moonscape, just horrible."
Earlier this week, authorities discovered 63 dead birds in a section of downtown Austin, Texas, and temporarily shut down the area. Officials are awaiting lab results to determine the cause of the deaths.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
lil wayne"I'm better than Jay, i made bape hot not pharell"
Here it is folks, what you’ve all been waiting for. Our December-January cover with Lil’ Wayne and Travis Barker. In addition to exposing Lindsay Lohan, revealing pus*ycat Doll Nicole, and taking a look at Hollywood strippers, this issue is sure to raise the ire of a few Hip Hop notables as Lil’ Wayne goes off and takes shots at Jay-Z, Young Buck, and BAPE wearing Pharrel. Check out some highlights from the interview but you’re gonna have to buy the magazine to read all the sh*t talking. Hits newsstands December 12th.
He had some words for Jay-Z:
“I don’t like what he’s saying about how he had to come back because hip hop’s dead and we need him,” he says. “What the fu*k do you mean? If anything it’s reborn, so he’s probably having a problem with that. You left on a good note, and all of the artists were saying, ‘Yo, this is Jay’s house. He’s the best.’ Now he comes back and still thinks it’s his house. But we fu*ked bi*ches in your bed already. It’s not your house anymore and I’m better than you.”
We asked if he thinks he’s better than Jay-Z:
“Who don’t? [to friends in the background] Ay-yo, am I better than Jay? [friends laugh and nod]. I ain’t got nothing to do with who he is. I’m better than him, though. I’m 24 years old… The dude’s like…? It’s scary. I’m 13 years deep with five albums and 10 million records sold.”
On the infamous photo of he and Baby kissing:
”I don’t fault nobody for misunderstanding. I don’t understand a lot of sh*t. Baby walked in the crib one day and was like, ‘Everybody’s doing this black mob sh*t. When I see you niggas, this is what we’re gonna do.’ And that’s why you’ve probably got a picture of me because I stuck with everything that man said. But every nigga’s done that. I’ve done kissed [Juvenile and B.G.]. No homo. Pause.”
On Pharrell and the Clipse:
”I don’t see no fu*king Clipse. This is a fu*king legend you’re talking to right here. How many years them niggas been around? Who the fu*k is Pharrell? Do you really respect him? That nigga wore BAPE and y’all thought he was weird. I wore it and y’all thought it was hot. What I gotta go in the store and say, ‘I like these colors but I can’t buy them because other rappers wore them?”
He had some words for Jay-Z:
“I don’t like what he’s saying about how he had to come back because hip hop’s dead and we need him,” he says. “What the fu*k do you mean? If anything it’s reborn, so he’s probably having a problem with that. You left on a good note, and all of the artists were saying, ‘Yo, this is Jay’s house. He’s the best.’ Now he comes back and still thinks it’s his house. But we fu*ked bi*ches in your bed already. It’s not your house anymore and I’m better than you.”
We asked if he thinks he’s better than Jay-Z:
“Who don’t? [to friends in the background] Ay-yo, am I better than Jay? [friends laugh and nod]. I ain’t got nothing to do with who he is. I’m better than him, though. I’m 24 years old… The dude’s like…? It’s scary. I’m 13 years deep with five albums and 10 million records sold.”
On the infamous photo of he and Baby kissing:
”I don’t fault nobody for misunderstanding. I don’t understand a lot of sh*t. Baby walked in the crib one day and was like, ‘Everybody’s doing this black mob sh*t. When I see you niggas, this is what we’re gonna do.’ And that’s why you’ve probably got a picture of me because I stuck with everything that man said. But every nigga’s done that. I’ve done kissed [Juvenile and B.G.]. No homo. Pause.”
On Pharrell and the Clipse:
”I don’t see no fu*king Clipse. This is a fu*king legend you’re talking to right here. How many years them niggas been around? Who the fu*k is Pharrell? Do you really respect him? That nigga wore BAPE and y’all thought he was weird. I wore it and y’all thought it was hot. What I gotta go in the store and say, ‘I like these colors but I can’t buy them because other rappers wore them?”
Scientists find potential 'off-switch' for HIV virus
The following is a press release regarding an announcement from Princeton University about a "potential 'off-switch'" for the HIV virus. The university's research was "funded in part by the National Institutes of Health," according to the release.
While there is no cure for lingering viral infections such as HIV and herpes, a recent study at Princeton University suggests it may be possible to deactivate such viruses indefinitely with the flick of a genetic switch.
Princeton scientists Leor Weinberger and Thomas Shenk hope their work will illuminate the processes by which human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other viruses transition into dormant phases in their hosts. The researchers have discovered a specific genetic trigger that makes HIV fall into its latent phase, where the virus essentially hibernates, relatively harmlessly, but awaiting an opportunity to re-emerge and wreak havoc.
Weinberger and Shenk studied how an HIV protein, called Tat, plays a major part in initiating and also interrupting the cascade of chemical reactions that leads to full-blown infection. Based on their work and previous studies by others, they have proposed that the Tat protein and the enzymes that modify it serve as a "resistor," a component of an electrical circuit that reduces the flow of current.
"The resistor paradigm is a helpful way to think about how HIV enters and exits latency, and it might serve as a useful model for latent infections by other viruses, as well," said Shenk, Princeton's James A. Elkins Jr. Professor in the Life Sciences in the Department of Molecular Biology. "Understanding how to activate the Tat resistor to interrupt the reactions leading to viral infection could one day have repercussions in both the lab and the clinic."
Weinberger and Shenk share their findings in a research paper appearing in the Dec. 26 issue of the online journal Public Library of Science Biology.
"We have helped understand how HIV can turn off, and in doing so I believe we've uncovered an important component of the biological switch," said Weinberger, a Lewis-Thomas Fellow in Princeton's Department of Molecular Biology. "If we can figure out how such resistors affect viruses, it might lead to a whole new class of drugs that can treat some of the world's most dangerous illnesses."
Though Weinberger emphasized the significance of the discovery was primarily for fundamental science research, he said that potential applications to HIV might be an improvement over drug cocktails, which are the mixtures of antiviral agents that have been the best-available treatment for the disease for a decade.
"Drug cocktails extend the life of the patient, but they do not completely alleviate the symptoms of HIV, nor do they work for all victims," Weinberger said. "Even when the cocktails get most of the infectious virus in a victim's body, some viruses will escape because they have hidden by going dormant. Eventually, these dormant viruses wake up and the infection returns, so it makes sense to try to keep the virus asleep if possible."
HIV weakens the body's immune system by invading CD4+ T cells, which in essence serve as the metaphorical generals in the body's defense system against illness. When an HIV virus particle invades a T cell, most often it converts the cell into a factory for making other viral particles, killing the cell in the process. Without these T cells, the body loses its ability to repel other infectious bacteria and viruses, and eventually dies from assaults from these other "opportunistic" infectious invaders.
On rare occasions, however, a virus will infect the T cell and become dormant. Why this individual viral infection would not begin to replicate when others do remains a mystery.
"It's somewhat like the unpopped kernels of corn left in the bottom of the bag when you take it out of the microwave," Weinberger said. "They were exposed to the same heat as the others but did not pop. We wanted to know why about one in a million HIV particles didn't 'pop' immediately like all the rest did."
Weinberger and Shenk found the answer in a strand of HIV's DNA where a genetic circuit exists -- not an electrical circuit, but a set of chemical reactions that runs in a loop. First, one of HIV's genes creates the Tat protein, which is part of the chemical signal for the virus to begin replicating. An important player to complete the signal is an enzyme within the T cell called p300 that decorates the Tat protein with a small chemical tail. The p300 enzyme converts the Tat protein into a message that activates the virus and creates more Tat protein, and eventually converts the T cell into an active HIV factory.
"The more of these [messages] sensed within the cell, the more Tat proteins the gene creates, resulting in a snowball effect that is difficult to stop," Weinberger said of the onset of full-blown infection.
Mechanisms do exist to halt the process, however. For example, another enzyme within the affected cell called SirT1 is capable of pulling the chemical tail off the Tat protein, rendering it silent. The interplay between p300 and SirT1 comprises the resistor and can effectively keep the virus in its dormant phase.
"SirT1 reduces the strength of the signal to replicate," Weinberger said. "It may prove to be the key part of the resistor in the circuit, as our mathematical models are strongly suggesting."
Not all the molecular players are known yet, nor how their relative roles determine whether the virus becomes dormant, but Weinberger said his and Shenk's results lead them to think they are on the right track. If their theories prove correct, they could form the basis for therapies that combat HIV and other viruses that possess these genetic circuits within their own DNA.
"SirT1 and related processes might eventually turn off viral activation in T cells all by themselves, but the cell is usually dead before it can happen," Weinberger said. "If we can create drugs that target these enzymes, perhaps we can get SirT1 and related enzymes to assert themselves immediately, forcing HIV into hibernation with high frequency and reducing the threat to the host."
Weinberger said that drugs already exist that target other cellular enzymes, so there is reason to hope the approach will work.
"There is precedent for this type of treatment," he said.
Though more research will be needed to develop drugs based on the Princeton scientists' "resistor" model, Weinberger said he hopes the discovery stimulates more research into potential gene-targeted therapies.
"It would be wonderful to learn more about how these genetic circuits work so that we can enter a new age of drug design," he said. "Rather than just giving a static drug, we might one day design therapies that are precisely timed to turn off viruses just like a natural genetic circuit might."
While there is no cure for lingering viral infections such as HIV and herpes, a recent study at Princeton University suggests it may be possible to deactivate such viruses indefinitely with the flick of a genetic switch.
Princeton scientists Leor Weinberger and Thomas Shenk hope their work will illuminate the processes by which human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other viruses transition into dormant phases in their hosts. The researchers have discovered a specific genetic trigger that makes HIV fall into its latent phase, where the virus essentially hibernates, relatively harmlessly, but awaiting an opportunity to re-emerge and wreak havoc.
Weinberger and Shenk studied how an HIV protein, called Tat, plays a major part in initiating and also interrupting the cascade of chemical reactions that leads to full-blown infection. Based on their work and previous studies by others, they have proposed that the Tat protein and the enzymes that modify it serve as a "resistor," a component of an electrical circuit that reduces the flow of current.
"The resistor paradigm is a helpful way to think about how HIV enters and exits latency, and it might serve as a useful model for latent infections by other viruses, as well," said Shenk, Princeton's James A. Elkins Jr. Professor in the Life Sciences in the Department of Molecular Biology. "Understanding how to activate the Tat resistor to interrupt the reactions leading to viral infection could one day have repercussions in both the lab and the clinic."
Weinberger and Shenk share their findings in a research paper appearing in the Dec. 26 issue of the online journal Public Library of Science Biology.
"We have helped understand how HIV can turn off, and in doing so I believe we've uncovered an important component of the biological switch," said Weinberger, a Lewis-Thomas Fellow in Princeton's Department of Molecular Biology. "If we can figure out how such resistors affect viruses, it might lead to a whole new class of drugs that can treat some of the world's most dangerous illnesses."
Though Weinberger emphasized the significance of the discovery was primarily for fundamental science research, he said that potential applications to HIV might be an improvement over drug cocktails, which are the mixtures of antiviral agents that have been the best-available treatment for the disease for a decade.
"Drug cocktails extend the life of the patient, but they do not completely alleviate the symptoms of HIV, nor do they work for all victims," Weinberger said. "Even when the cocktails get most of the infectious virus in a victim's body, some viruses will escape because they have hidden by going dormant. Eventually, these dormant viruses wake up and the infection returns, so it makes sense to try to keep the virus asleep if possible."
HIV weakens the body's immune system by invading CD4+ T cells, which in essence serve as the metaphorical generals in the body's defense system against illness. When an HIV virus particle invades a T cell, most often it converts the cell into a factory for making other viral particles, killing the cell in the process. Without these T cells, the body loses its ability to repel other infectious bacteria and viruses, and eventually dies from assaults from these other "opportunistic" infectious invaders.
On rare occasions, however, a virus will infect the T cell and become dormant. Why this individual viral infection would not begin to replicate when others do remains a mystery.
"It's somewhat like the unpopped kernels of corn left in the bottom of the bag when you take it out of the microwave," Weinberger said. "They were exposed to the same heat as the others but did not pop. We wanted to know why about one in a million HIV particles didn't 'pop' immediately like all the rest did."
Weinberger and Shenk found the answer in a strand of HIV's DNA where a genetic circuit exists -- not an electrical circuit, but a set of chemical reactions that runs in a loop. First, one of HIV's genes creates the Tat protein, which is part of the chemical signal for the virus to begin replicating. An important player to complete the signal is an enzyme within the T cell called p300 that decorates the Tat protein with a small chemical tail. The p300 enzyme converts the Tat protein into a message that activates the virus and creates more Tat protein, and eventually converts the T cell into an active HIV factory.
"The more of these [messages] sensed within the cell, the more Tat proteins the gene creates, resulting in a snowball effect that is difficult to stop," Weinberger said of the onset of full-blown infection.
Mechanisms do exist to halt the process, however. For example, another enzyme within the affected cell called SirT1 is capable of pulling the chemical tail off the Tat protein, rendering it silent. The interplay between p300 and SirT1 comprises the resistor and can effectively keep the virus in its dormant phase.
"SirT1 reduces the strength of the signal to replicate," Weinberger said. "It may prove to be the key part of the resistor in the circuit, as our mathematical models are strongly suggesting."
Not all the molecular players are known yet, nor how their relative roles determine whether the virus becomes dormant, but Weinberger said his and Shenk's results lead them to think they are on the right track. If their theories prove correct, they could form the basis for therapies that combat HIV and other viruses that possess these genetic circuits within their own DNA.
"SirT1 and related processes might eventually turn off viral activation in T cells all by themselves, but the cell is usually dead before it can happen," Weinberger said. "If we can create drugs that target these enzymes, perhaps we can get SirT1 and related enzymes to assert themselves immediately, forcing HIV into hibernation with high frequency and reducing the threat to the host."
Weinberger said that drugs already exist that target other cellular enzymes, so there is reason to hope the approach will work.
"There is precedent for this type of treatment," he said.
Though more research will be needed to develop drugs based on the Princeton scientists' "resistor" model, Weinberger said he hopes the discovery stimulates more research into potential gene-targeted therapies.
"It would be wonderful to learn more about how these genetic circuits work so that we can enter a new age of drug design," he said. "Rather than just giving a static drug, we might one day design therapies that are precisely timed to turn off viruses just like a natural genetic circuit might."
Indianapolis - Workplace shooting leaves at least 85 workers disabled
A man shot and wounded four co-workers Thursday at a factory that employs disabled people, telling police he did it "over respect," authorities said.
Two men and two women were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Lt. Douglas Scheffel said.
Jason Burnam, 24, was arrested inside the company cafeteria, where he was standing with a .380-caliber handgun next to a vending machine, Police Chief Michael Spears said. Burnam told officers he targeted the victims and said "it was over respect," Scheffel said. Police did not elaborate.
"There was some type of confrontation that was brewing all week and it just came to a head and he got fed up and started shooting people," Scheffel said.
Burnam was charged with four counts of attempted murder and one count of carrying a handgun without a license.
Burnam's mother, Judy Burnam, said her son was taking medication for depression and seemed fine when she dropped him off for work in the morning.
"I had no idea, none whatsoever, something was wrong," she said.
Crossroads Industrial Services, a division of an Easter Seals program, has about 100 employees who do light manufacturing, such as making identification tags for military vehicles under a contract with the Army, said Candy Morrison, director of marketing.
About 85 percent of Crossroads workers have physical or mental disabilities, Morrison said.
The victims were identified as Howard Mallory, 53; Jermaine Ealy, 29; Cammie Duncan, 38; and Anita Frazen, 52. All were shot at least once in the leg or arm. Ealy was shot twice.
Easter Seals is a nonprofit group that assists more than 1 million people with physical and mental disabilities a year.
Two men and two women were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, Lt. Douglas Scheffel said.
Jason Burnam, 24, was arrested inside the company cafeteria, where he was standing with a .380-caliber handgun next to a vending machine, Police Chief Michael Spears said. Burnam told officers he targeted the victims and said "it was over respect," Scheffel said. Police did not elaborate.
"There was some type of confrontation that was brewing all week and it just came to a head and he got fed up and started shooting people," Scheffel said.
Burnam was charged with four counts of attempted murder and one count of carrying a handgun without a license.
Burnam's mother, Judy Burnam, said her son was taking medication for depression and seemed fine when she dropped him off for work in the morning.
"I had no idea, none whatsoever, something was wrong," she said.
Crossroads Industrial Services, a division of an Easter Seals program, has about 100 employees who do light manufacturing, such as making identification tags for military vehicles under a contract with the Army, said Candy Morrison, director of marketing.
About 85 percent of Crossroads workers have physical or mental disabilities, Morrison said.
The victims were identified as Howard Mallory, 53; Jermaine Ealy, 29; Cammie Duncan, 38; and Anita Frazen, 52. All were shot at least once in the leg or arm. Ealy was shot twice.
Easter Seals is a nonprofit group that assists more than 1 million people with physical and mental disabilities a year.
Jason Kidd & Wife Split
A day after Jason Kidd claimed in divorce papers to be a victim of spousal abuse, his wife's attorney said the New Jersey Nets point guard had no reason to fear the diminutive woman. "He says he's threatened by her? He's a star athlete. She's 5-foot-2, I think, and 105 pounds," said celebrity New York divorce lawyer Raoul Felder, one of the attorneys representing Joumana Kidd.
"It's shameful what he did here. The truth will come out," said Felder on Wednesday, adding his client planned to file a counter compliant within a week.
The 33-year-old Kidd filed for divorce from his wife of 10 years Tuesday, a day after a court issued him a temporary restraining order against her.
In court papers, Kidd said his wife physically and mentally abused him, threatened to make false domestic violence complaints against him to police and interfered with his relationship with his children.
The papers accuse Joumana Kidd of kicking, hitting, punching and throwing household objects at her 6-foot-4, 210-pound husband as she became "increasingly controlling and manipulative" in the last few years of their marriage.
Monday night, Felder said police showed up at the couple's Saddle River estate and, instead of serving Joumana Kidd with the restraining order, forced her to leave.
"The police put her out of her own home, originally giving her 30 minutes to get out with the three children," Felder said. "It turns out the police misinterpreted the court's order."
Attorneys for Kidd said he never intended for his wife to be kicked out of their home when he applied for the order of protection. On Tuesday morning, they went to court to get the order clarified so Joumana Kidd legally could remain in the house.
Under the order, Jason Kidd will have to pick up his children curbside for visits so that Joumana does not violate the order, attorneys said.
Calling her "a battered and harassed wife in every sense of the word," Felder said it was "absurd" to think that the former Budweiser model was the abuser in the relationship given Kidd's former domestic violence charge.
"He's going to have to deal with the real court and not the basketball court," Felder said.
Jason Kidd's attorney, Madeline M. Marzano-Lesnevich, objected to the suggestion that size was a factor in the abuse.
"The complaint speaks for itself, but if the suggestion is that you need to be smaller than someone to be abused by them, the police logs are filled with examples to the contrary."
The Kidds, married in 1997, were involved in a domestic violence matter six years ago when he played for the Phoenix SunsIn that incident, Jason Kidd was arrested in January 2001 after Joumana told police he slapped her in the face during an argument about feeding their son, who is now 8. The couple also have 4-year-old twin daughters.
Kidd pleaded guilty to spousal abuse, was fined $200 and ordered to take anger-management training.
Kidd's complaint filed Tuesday, however, painted a detailed portrait of Joumana Kidd as a vitriolic, jealous and paranoid wife who suspected her husband was cheating and who was prone to public outbursts and threats.
"The defendant's extreme and unwarranted jealousy and rage has left the plaintiff concerned about her emotional stability," the papers say.
The papers accuse her of installing tracking devices on his cars and computers, of violent rages in public and in front of their children, and of harassing his trainer, friends and family.
"It's shameful what he did here. The truth will come out," said Felder on Wednesday, adding his client planned to file a counter compliant within a week.
The 33-year-old Kidd filed for divorce from his wife of 10 years Tuesday, a day after a court issued him a temporary restraining order against her.
In court papers, Kidd said his wife physically and mentally abused him, threatened to make false domestic violence complaints against him to police and interfered with his relationship with his children.
The papers accuse Joumana Kidd of kicking, hitting, punching and throwing household objects at her 6-foot-4, 210-pound husband as she became "increasingly controlling and manipulative" in the last few years of their marriage.
Monday night, Felder said police showed up at the couple's Saddle River estate and, instead of serving Joumana Kidd with the restraining order, forced her to leave.
"The police put her out of her own home, originally giving her 30 minutes to get out with the three children," Felder said. "It turns out the police misinterpreted the court's order."
Attorneys for Kidd said he never intended for his wife to be kicked out of their home when he applied for the order of protection. On Tuesday morning, they went to court to get the order clarified so Joumana Kidd legally could remain in the house.
Under the order, Jason Kidd will have to pick up his children curbside for visits so that Joumana does not violate the order, attorneys said.
Calling her "a battered and harassed wife in every sense of the word," Felder said it was "absurd" to think that the former Budweiser model was the abuser in the relationship given Kidd's former domestic violence charge.
"He's going to have to deal with the real court and not the basketball court," Felder said.
Jason Kidd's attorney, Madeline M. Marzano-Lesnevich, objected to the suggestion that size was a factor in the abuse.
"The complaint speaks for itself, but if the suggestion is that you need to be smaller than someone to be abused by them, the police logs are filled with examples to the contrary."
The Kidds, married in 1997, were involved in a domestic violence matter six years ago when he played for the Phoenix SunsIn that incident, Jason Kidd was arrested in January 2001 after Joumana told police he slapped her in the face during an argument about feeding their son, who is now 8. The couple also have 4-year-old twin daughters.
Kidd pleaded guilty to spousal abuse, was fined $200 and ordered to take anger-management training.
Kidd's complaint filed Tuesday, however, painted a detailed portrait of Joumana Kidd as a vitriolic, jealous and paranoid wife who suspected her husband was cheating and who was prone to public outbursts and threats.
"The defendant's extreme and unwarranted jealousy and rage has left the plaintiff concerned about her emotional stability," the papers say.
The papers accuse her of installing tracking devices on his cars and computers, of violent rages in public and in front of their children, and of harassing his trainer, friends and family.
Baby Found In Operating Oven
A woman was charged with aggravated child abuse for putting her baby in an oven, turning it on and leaving her apartment after fighting with her boyfriend, police said.
The oven had not gotten hot enough to burn the child, whose age was not immediately available.
Sharlyn Singh, 29, was at the Orange County Jail on a $15,000 bond Tuesday.
A man who was helping Singh's boyfriend move out of the apartment Monday heard the baby crying and walked into the kitchen. He told police that he asked Singh where the baby was, but she did not answer and walked out of the apartment. He found the baby in the oven, police said.
Officers that answered the call reported seeing oven grease on the child's hand and clothes.
Police did not release the boyfriend's name and his relationship to the child was unclear.
It was not immediately known if Singh had an attorney.
The oven had not gotten hot enough to burn the child, whose age was not immediately available.
Sharlyn Singh, 29, was at the Orange County Jail on a $15,000 bond Tuesday.
A man who was helping Singh's boyfriend move out of the apartment Monday heard the baby crying and walked into the kitchen. He told police that he asked Singh where the baby was, but she did not answer and walked out of the apartment. He found the baby in the oven, police said.
Officers that answered the call reported seeing oven grease on the child's hand and clothes.
Police did not release the boyfriend's name and his relationship to the child was unclear.
It was not immediately known if Singh had an attorney.
Beckham to quit Real Madrid and head for L.A.
Former England captain David Beckham will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and sign a five-year deal for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy, he told Reuters on Thursday.
"This week Real Madrid asked me to make a decision regarding my future and the offer to extend my contract for a further two seasons," Beckham told Reuters.
"After discussing several options with my family and my advisors to either stay here in Madrid or join other major British and European teams I have decided to join LA Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year.
"I would like to thank supporters and the people of Madrid who have made my family and I so welcome in my time here making this an extremely difficult decision to make.
"I have enjoyed my time here enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me an opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans."
The 31-year-old, who joined Real from Manchester United in June 2003, is the most famous player to sign up for Major League Soccer since it began in 1996.
He is also the biggest name player to move to club soccer in the U.S. since the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff played in the long-defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 1970s and early eighties.
HUGE DEAL
His deal is reported to be one of the biggest in global sport with Beckham set to earn more than $250 million over the duration of his contract.
The news ends months of speculation about the future of the midfielder whose contract with Real expires at the end of the season.
Having been first choice in the Real Madrid starting lineup since he moved to Spain, Beckham lost his place following the arrival of Italian coach Fabio Capello.
He has only started five of Real's 16 league games this season and was known to be frustrated with his lack of opportunities in the first team.
The former Manchester United player said he was now inspired by the challenge of cracking the American soccer market.
"I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world's most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport as my own.
But he insisted he would be giving his all for Real Madrid until the end of the season to try and win the major trophy that has eluded him since he joined the club in 2003.
"For the rest of this season I will continue to give 100 percent to my coach, team mates and fans and I believe Fabio Capello will bring this club and its supporters the success they truly deserve."
"This week Real Madrid asked me to make a decision regarding my future and the offer to extend my contract for a further two seasons," Beckham told Reuters.
"After discussing several options with my family and my advisors to either stay here in Madrid or join other major British and European teams I have decided to join LA Galaxy and play in the MLS from August this year.
"I would like to thank supporters and the people of Madrid who have made my family and I so welcome in my time here making this an extremely difficult decision to make.
"I have enjoyed my time here enormously and I am extremely grateful to the club for giving me an opportunity to play for such a great team and their amazing fans."
The 31-year-old, who joined Real from Manchester United in June 2003, is the most famous player to sign up for Major League Soccer since it began in 1996.
He is also the biggest name player to move to club soccer in the U.S. since the likes of Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff played in the long-defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 1970s and early eighties.
HUGE DEAL
His deal is reported to be one of the biggest in global sport with Beckham set to earn more than $250 million over the duration of his contract.
The news ends months of speculation about the future of the midfielder whose contract with Real expires at the end of the season.
Having been first choice in the Real Madrid starting lineup since he moved to Spain, Beckham lost his place following the arrival of Italian coach Fabio Capello.
He has only started five of Real's 16 league games this season and was known to be frustrated with his lack of opportunities in the first team.
The former Manchester United player said he was now inspired by the challenge of cracking the American soccer market.
"I am proud to have played for two of the biggest clubs in football and I look forward to the new challenge of growing the world's most popular game in a country that is as passionate about its sport as my own.
But he insisted he would be giving his all for Real Madrid until the end of the season to try and win the major trophy that has eluded him since he joined the club in 2003.
"For the rest of this season I will continue to give 100 percent to my coach, team mates and fans and I believe Fabio Capello will bring this club and its supporters the success they truly deserve."
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Naked Model Melissa Midwest Sues City Over Wet T-Shirt Contest Arrest
Melissa Harrington feels the city of Lincoln, Neb., is all wet -- for busting her at a wet T-shirt contest.
She's filed a $75,000 claim for restitution against the city and the police department, claiming officers are intimidating bar owners to keep them from hiring her for promotions.
She was sentenced in August to six months' probation for violating a public decency ordinance. Harrington had hosted a wet T-shirt contest at a Lincoln bar in March. Officers charged her with being topless. But Harrington claims she wasn't, because her nipples and areolas were covered with pink paint.
Harrington said if she wins her claim, she'll donate the money to charity.
Harrington filed a claim before the Nebraska State Claims Board Tuesday, seeking damages for what she says are lost business opportunities.
GROCERY STAFF FINDS DRUGS IN BANANA BOXES
Dutch supermarket staff found millions of dollars worth of cocaine stashed in banana boxes as they were unpacking them, police said.
The drugs, 50 kilos of cocaine, had a value of 5-6 million euros ($6.5-7.8 million), a police spokesman said.
The drugs were found in the towns of Hoensbroek and Brunssum in the province of Limburg.
Supermarket employees discovered the cocaine hidden under bananas in three boxes, the spokesman said.
It was unclear how the cocaine ended up in the supermarkets.
"There probably must have been a logistic mistake," the spokesman said, adding a Colombian label indicated a South American origin for the drugs.
The drugs, 50 kilos of cocaine, had a value of 5-6 million euros ($6.5-7.8 million), a police spokesman said.
The drugs were found in the towns of Hoensbroek and Brunssum in the province of Limburg.
Supermarket employees discovered the cocaine hidden under bananas in three boxes, the spokesman said.
It was unclear how the cocaine ended up in the supermarkets.
"There probably must have been a logistic mistake," the spokesman said, adding a Colombian label indicated a South American origin for the drugs.
The Two Headed Girl: Ten Years Later w/ Video
I remember seeing this on tv back in the day when I guess you say the girls were 6 years old!
The girl with the head on the right controls the legs and one arm and the left head controls the other arm.
http://www.vidmax.com/index.php/videos/view/209
Here are some things to ponder when watching the video:
1. What happens if they get in a fight? The one that controls most of the body could threaten to dunk your head in the toilet!
2. Do they need one driver's license or two?
3. Can they use the carpool lane?
4. Do they both have to have health insurance or just one?
5. What if one commits a crime & is sentenced to jail?
6. Do they have one social security card or two?
7. If one is gonna give oral sex and the other one starts licking the balls, is that cheating?
8. If they masturbate is that considered incest?
The girl with the head on the right controls the legs and one arm and the left head controls the other arm.
http://www.vidmax.com/index.php/videos/view/209
Here are some things to ponder when watching the video:
1. What happens if they get in a fight? The one that controls most of the body could threaten to dunk your head in the toilet!
2. Do they need one driver's license or two?
3. Can they use the carpool lane?
4. Do they both have to have health insurance or just one?
5. What if one commits a crime & is sentenced to jail?
6. Do they have one social security card or two?
7. If one is gonna give oral sex and the other one starts licking the balls, is that cheating?
8. If they masturbate is that considered incest?
MAN STAGED ROBBERY TO GET BACK IN PRISON
Danny Robert Villegas liked prison so much he staged a robbery just to get back in, police say. Officers were called to the Kennedy Space Center Federal Credit Union on Monday after Villegas allegedly walked inside, told the teller he was robbing her and said, "You might as well call the police now," according to a police report.
Police Lt. Ron Wright said Villegas then sat on a couch in the bank lobby to wait for police.
"He said he wanted to rob a federal bank because he wanted to go back to a federal penitentiary," Wright said. "Apparently he robbed a bank in Fresno, California, 10 years ago, was sentenced to 70 months in a federal penitentiary in Phoenix and he enjoyed his time there."
Villegas told police he was a roofer in Texas for five years after he was released from prison, but had grown tired of the work, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
"Two days ago he said he decided to drive to Florida because he wanted to see the ocean," Wright said. "But he ran out of money."
Police Lt. Ron Wright said Villegas then sat on a couch in the bank lobby to wait for police.
"He said he wanted to rob a federal bank because he wanted to go back to a federal penitentiary," Wright said. "Apparently he robbed a bank in Fresno, California, 10 years ago, was sentenced to 70 months in a federal penitentiary in Phoenix and he enjoyed his time there."
Villegas told police he was a roofer in Texas for five years after he was released from prison, but had grown tired of the work, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
"Two days ago he said he decided to drive to Florida because he wanted to see the ocean," Wright said. "But he ran out of money."
DRACULA'S CASTLE IS FOR SALE FOR $78M
The Habsburg family said Wednesday that it wanted to sell a Transylvanian castle famous for its connections to the 15th century medieval ruler who inspired "Dracula" for 60 million euros, or $78 million, to the local authorities, an attorney said.
The local council says it is interested in buying Bran Castle, but a government minister criticized the price tag, calling it too expensive.
Dominic Habsburg, the owner, insisted the family had honorable intentions.
"We are trying to find the best way to preserve the castle in the interest of the family and the people of Bran," Habsburg said in a statement made available exclusively to The Associated Press.
The castle was returned to Habsburg, a New York architect, on May 26, decades after it was confiscated by the communists from Habsburg's mother, Princess Ileana, in 1948, the year the royals were forced to leave the country.
After the restitution, concerns were raised that the family could sell castle to a hotel chain and that the site could end up being the centerpiece of a Dracula theme park that would blight the surrounding, pristine countryside.
The castle, perched high on a rock and surrounded by snowcapped mountains in southern Transylvania, is one of Romania's top tourist attractions and is visited by 400,000 people each year.
Faced with the enormous expense of the castle's upkeep, Habsburg said he wanted to place the property in the hands of the local council with an eye toward ensuring its historic character is preserved.
"The family has the country and the people in their heart. We are grateful for the restitution as a moral act to amend injustice," the statement from Habsburg said.
But he added, "The way of life cannot be returned and the restitution has come with financial sacrifice. ... We would like Castle Bran to remain a symbol of everything that is honorable and good in Romania."
The community of Bran, where the fortress was built in the 14th century to help stave off invasion, gave it to Ileana's mother, Queen Marie, in 1920 to thank her for her efforts in unifying the country. It was briefly associated with Prince "Vlad the Impaler," whose cruelty inspired novelist Bram Stoker's creation, the vampire Count Dracula. History says he spent one night there.
In 1938, Ileana inherited the castle, which is located some 105 miles north of Bucharest.
In recent years, the castle — complete with occasional glimpses of bats floating around its ramparts in the twilight — has attracted movie makers as a backdrop for films about Dracula and other spooky themes.
Lia Trandafir, an attorney for Habsburg, said the local authorities are interested in buying it. "They'd like to see it coming back to the community and they consider it a central pillar of tourism in Brasov county," she said.
Aristotel Cancescu, head of the local city council is due to travel to Vienna, Austria, on Monday to open discussions about a bank loan. If he manages to secure a loan, it will need to be approved by local councilors.
Culture Minister Adrian Iorgulescu has criticized the planned purchase of the castle, saying it is too expensive. "I have nothing against the castle being bought by the city council if they are stupid enough to pay this money," he said. He added he believed the castle was worth a fourth of Habsburg's asking price.
The local council says it is interested in buying Bran Castle, but a government minister criticized the price tag, calling it too expensive.
Dominic Habsburg, the owner, insisted the family had honorable intentions.
"We are trying to find the best way to preserve the castle in the interest of the family and the people of Bran," Habsburg said in a statement made available exclusively to The Associated Press.
The castle was returned to Habsburg, a New York architect, on May 26, decades after it was confiscated by the communists from Habsburg's mother, Princess Ileana, in 1948, the year the royals were forced to leave the country.
After the restitution, concerns were raised that the family could sell castle to a hotel chain and that the site could end up being the centerpiece of a Dracula theme park that would blight the surrounding, pristine countryside.
The castle, perched high on a rock and surrounded by snowcapped mountains in southern Transylvania, is one of Romania's top tourist attractions and is visited by 400,000 people each year.
Faced with the enormous expense of the castle's upkeep, Habsburg said he wanted to place the property in the hands of the local council with an eye toward ensuring its historic character is preserved.
"The family has the country and the people in their heart. We are grateful for the restitution as a moral act to amend injustice," the statement from Habsburg said.
But he added, "The way of life cannot be returned and the restitution has come with financial sacrifice. ... We would like Castle Bran to remain a symbol of everything that is honorable and good in Romania."
The community of Bran, where the fortress was built in the 14th century to help stave off invasion, gave it to Ileana's mother, Queen Marie, in 1920 to thank her for her efforts in unifying the country. It was briefly associated with Prince "Vlad the Impaler," whose cruelty inspired novelist Bram Stoker's creation, the vampire Count Dracula. History says he spent one night there.
In 1938, Ileana inherited the castle, which is located some 105 miles north of Bucharest.
In recent years, the castle — complete with occasional glimpses of bats floating around its ramparts in the twilight — has attracted movie makers as a backdrop for films about Dracula and other spooky themes.
Lia Trandafir, an attorney for Habsburg, said the local authorities are interested in buying it. "They'd like to see it coming back to the community and they consider it a central pillar of tourism in Brasov county," she said.
Aristotel Cancescu, head of the local city council is due to travel to Vienna, Austria, on Monday to open discussions about a bank loan. If he manages to secure a loan, it will need to be approved by local councilors.
Culture Minister Adrian Iorgulescu has criticized the planned purchase of the castle, saying it is too expensive. "I have nothing against the castle being bought by the city council if they are stupid enough to pay this money," he said. He added he believed the castle was worth a fourth of Habsburg's asking price.
Student faces child porn charges
A college student who mistakenly submitted a compact disc loaded with child pornography images to his professor last week is now facing felony kiddie porn possession charges.
Andrew Erickson, 18, of 57 Lee's River Ave., Swansea, was arrested by Fall River and Swansea police late last week. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released after a family member posted his $500 cash bail.
Advertisement
AOT 2007
The Bristol Community College student was to submit his computer information systems final examination on compact disc last week.
But instead of submitting the class work, Erickson allegedly handed in a disc that contained images of children as young as 7-years-old in sexually explicit situations. The disc, according to police reports, listed each youth by age, ranging from 7 to 14.
The professor opened the compact disc while at home last week, and upon realizing what was on the disc, turned it over to Wayne Wood, BCC's director of public safety.
Wood immediately set up a meeting with Fall River Detective Brian Cordeiro, which was held at the Elsbree Street campus last Friday.
Sgt. Ronald Furtado said after viewing the disc, police requested and received a search warrant for Erickson's home. He said Fall River and Swansea police executed the search warrant late last week and found "other items that were taken into evidence," from Erickson's bedroom.
Prior to being arrested, Erickson apparently realized he had handed in the wrong disc to his professor.
Police reports quote an e-mail Erickson sent to his professor, in which he appears to attempt to shift ownership of the disc from himself to an unnamed friend.
"Oh snap, I am sorry. I accidentally gave you my friend's mixed music CD that I meant to keep here and install the music on my computer," Erickson said in an e-mail to his professor. "I found the CD with the (final exam) on it. If there's some way I could send it to you, that would be great.
"I am sorry about that, and hope it didn't affect the grade at all. Again, if I could get that CD back so that I can install the music. Sorry for the mix up."
Erickson is due back in Second District Court for a pretrial hearing Feb. 21.
Pictures of this scum are found below, offtopic forums found this scumbags myspace profile after some digging around
…bought a funny t-shirt he at the mall…just like a regular teenager……
…hanging out in the forest, taking pictures of himself…
…hanging out with some underaged boys.
Wait what?
Let’s look at that one again…
Andrew Erickson, 18, of 57 Lee's River Ave., Swansea, was arrested by Fall River and Swansea police late last week. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released after a family member posted his $500 cash bail.
Advertisement
AOT 2007
The Bristol Community College student was to submit his computer information systems final examination on compact disc last week.
But instead of submitting the class work, Erickson allegedly handed in a disc that contained images of children as young as 7-years-old in sexually explicit situations. The disc, according to police reports, listed each youth by age, ranging from 7 to 14.
The professor opened the compact disc while at home last week, and upon realizing what was on the disc, turned it over to Wayne Wood, BCC's director of public safety.
Wood immediately set up a meeting with Fall River Detective Brian Cordeiro, which was held at the Elsbree Street campus last Friday.
Sgt. Ronald Furtado said after viewing the disc, police requested and received a search warrant for Erickson's home. He said Fall River and Swansea police executed the search warrant late last week and found "other items that were taken into evidence," from Erickson's bedroom.
Prior to being arrested, Erickson apparently realized he had handed in the wrong disc to his professor.
Police reports quote an e-mail Erickson sent to his professor, in which he appears to attempt to shift ownership of the disc from himself to an unnamed friend.
"Oh snap, I am sorry. I accidentally gave you my friend's mixed music CD that I meant to keep here and install the music on my computer," Erickson said in an e-mail to his professor. "I found the CD with the (final exam) on it. If there's some way I could send it to you, that would be great.
"I am sorry about that, and hope it didn't affect the grade at all. Again, if I could get that CD back so that I can install the music. Sorry for the mix up."
Erickson is due back in Second District Court for a pretrial hearing Feb. 21.
Pictures of this scum are found below, offtopic forums found this scumbags myspace profile after some digging around
…bought a funny t-shirt he at the mall…just like a regular teenager……
…hanging out in the forest, taking pictures of himself…
…hanging out with some underaged boys.
Wait what?
Let’s look at that one again…
Dunkin Donuts Denies Man In Wheelchair Access To Drive-In Window
A wheelchair-bound Weymouth man suffering from multiple sclerosis says he’s being denied his right to a hot cup of coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts.
Donald Hayes said he’s bought coffee before by driving his motorized wheelchair up to the drive-up window at a Dunkin’ Donuts shop in the middle of a Weymouth shopping-market parking lot.
But now, that Dunkin’ store, which has no inside seating and only serves drive-up customers, has told him he can’t use the window anymore and refused him service, citing traffic safety concerns.
“It’s discrimination,” said Hayes, 54, who says he’s an ordained minister with an online following.
Hayes said he’s thinking of taking legal action if he can’t whirl up to the window to get his java.
“I’m just defending my rights,” Hayes said. “I’m not looking for monetary compensation.”
A Boston lawyer who specializes in employment and discrimination law said Dunkin’ Donuts better listen to him, based on case law.
“I think they have a problem,” said Laura Studen, a senior partner at Burns & Levinson. “It’s a public place - and it needs to be accessible.”
And a motorized wheelchair is a motorized vehicle, she said.
A spokesman for Canton-based Dunkin’ Donuts said the giant chain doesn’t have a corporate policy regarding the use of wheelchairs at drive-throughs.
But he added: “Our number one priority is the safety of our customers. Our franchisee’s objective in this particular instance is to protect customers from potential injury in a traffic accident.”
Weymouth police Chief James Thomas said Dunkin’ Donuts’ safety concerns are valid, according to The Patriot Ledger of Quincy.
Hayes, who lives about three miles away from the shopping plaza, gets to the Dunkin’ Donuts via an MBTA van, which picks him up at his home. The van won’t go through the drive-up window to fetch coffee on behalf of riders, he said.
Hayes rejected the notion that he should go to a Dunkin’ Donuts across the busy street that has in-store service. “People don’t understand the problems faced by the disabled,” he said.
Donald Hayes said he’s bought coffee before by driving his motorized wheelchair up to the drive-up window at a Dunkin’ Donuts shop in the middle of a Weymouth shopping-market parking lot.
But now, that Dunkin’ store, which has no inside seating and only serves drive-up customers, has told him he can’t use the window anymore and refused him service, citing traffic safety concerns.
“It’s discrimination,” said Hayes, 54, who says he’s an ordained minister with an online following.
Hayes said he’s thinking of taking legal action if he can’t whirl up to the window to get his java.
“I’m just defending my rights,” Hayes said. “I’m not looking for monetary compensation.”
A Boston lawyer who specializes in employment and discrimination law said Dunkin’ Donuts better listen to him, based on case law.
“I think they have a problem,” said Laura Studen, a senior partner at Burns & Levinson. “It’s a public place - and it needs to be accessible.”
And a motorized wheelchair is a motorized vehicle, she said.
A spokesman for Canton-based Dunkin’ Donuts said the giant chain doesn’t have a corporate policy regarding the use of wheelchairs at drive-throughs.
But he added: “Our number one priority is the safety of our customers. Our franchisee’s objective in this particular instance is to protect customers from potential injury in a traffic accident.”
Weymouth police Chief James Thomas said Dunkin’ Donuts’ safety concerns are valid, according to The Patriot Ledger of Quincy.
Hayes, who lives about three miles away from the shopping plaza, gets to the Dunkin’ Donuts via an MBTA van, which picks him up at his home. The van won’t go through the drive-up window to fetch coffee on behalf of riders, he said.
Hayes rejected the notion that he should go to a Dunkin’ Donuts across the busy street that has in-store service. “People don’t understand the problems faced by the disabled,” he said.
Woman charged with castrating a man at a Christmas Eve party Pleas Not Guilty
A woman charged with castrating a man at a Christmas Eve party intends to plead not guilty to that charge and others, her attorney said.
Rebecca Arnold Dawson, 34, is innocent of the charges of attacking Kevin Russ, 38, and castrating him with her hands, attorney Jason Wunsch said Thursday.
Dawson is charged with malicious castration, which state law describes as cutting off, maiming or disfiguring a person's genitals with the intent to hurt or render the victim impotent.
She also is charged with assault causing serious bodily injury and injury to personal property. She will plead not guilty to those charges as well, Wunsch said.
"This case has received a substantial amount of attention from the media," Wunsch said. "Ms. Dawson, therefore, requests that the media and public not judge her until all the facts of this case have been put forth."
Russ was treated and later released from Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital. Dawson was released from the Harnett County Jail after posting a $50,000 bond.
Dawson is scheduled to appear in court for a probable cause hearing Jan. 17.
Rebecca Arnold Dawson, 34, is innocent of the charges of attacking Kevin Russ, 38, and castrating him with her hands, attorney Jason Wunsch said Thursday.
Dawson is charged with malicious castration, which state law describes as cutting off, maiming or disfiguring a person's genitals with the intent to hurt or render the victim impotent.
She also is charged with assault causing serious bodily injury and injury to personal property. She will plead not guilty to those charges as well, Wunsch said.
"This case has received a substantial amount of attention from the media," Wunsch said. "Ms. Dawson, therefore, requests that the media and public not judge her until all the facts of this case have been put forth."
Russ was treated and later released from Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital. Dawson was released from the Harnett County Jail after posting a $50,000 bond.
Dawson is scheduled to appear in court for a probable cause hearing Jan. 17.
U.S. Wipes Out Small Village In Somalia Looking For One Guy
A U.S. attack plane killed many people with barrages of gunfire in a remote Somali village occupied by Islamists thought to be hiding at least one al Qaeda suspect, a Somali government source said on Tuesday.
In the first known direct U.S. military intervention in Somalia since a failed peacekeeping mission that ended in 1994, an AC-130 plane rained gunfire on the desolate southern village of Hayo near the Kenyan border late on Monday.
"I understand there are so many dead bodies and animals in the village," the senior source told Reuters.
The
U.S. Navy also confirmed it had moved the aircraft carrier Eisenhower to the Somali coast -- Africa's longest -- to beef up a naval cordon it had already put there as the Islamists sought refuge in the remote southern tip.
"They are, with other ships, making sure that terrorists are not able to use the sea as a means of transport," said Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is based in the Gulf state of Bahrain.
U.S. intelligence believes Abu Talha al-Sudani, identified in grand jury testimony against
Osama bin Laden as an explosives expert from Sudan, is the leader of east Africa's al Qaeda cell and has been in and out of Somalia for over a decade.
"The Americans are saying an al Qaeda member heading operations in east Africa is among the Islamists there," the source said. He did not know the man's name or whether he died.
U.S., Ethiopian and Kenyan intelligence officials say some Islamists have provided shelter to a handful of al Qaeda members, including suspects in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and a 2002 hotel bombing on the Kenyan coast.
Besides al-Sudani, Washington has named Comorian Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Kenyan Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan among the al Qaeda members in Somalia.
The Washington Post, quoting unnamed military sources, said al-Sudani was one target of the raid.
'PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON'
Ethiopian and Somali troops have chased al-Sudani since he was leading Islamist fighters near Buur Hakaba, close to the government base Baidoa, in the early days of a war which began around Christmas, Somali government officials told Reuters.
Hayo is in the southern tip of Somalia between Afmadow and Doble, areas where Ethiopian and Somali troops chased the Islamists' last remnants after ending their six-month rule of Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia in a two-week offensive.
Though many have suspected an American hand in the Somali conflict, this attack is the first solid evidence of it and is in line with previous U.S. attacks targeting al Qaeda members.
An unmanned Predator drone flown from the U.S. Horn of Africa counter-terrorism base in Djibouti killed an al Qaeda suspect in Yemen in 2002, and the AC-130 was almost certainly flown from there by the elite Special Operations Command.
The AC-130 is a propeller-driven converted cargo plane derived from the AC-47 gunships flown in Vietnam that were known as "Puff the Magic Dragon." It has sophisticated sensors that allow it to pinpoint targets with heavy automatic cannon fire.
The lumbering, 29 meter (95 foot) long plane can fire 1,800 rounds a minute from a Gatling gun and has in its arsenal a 105mm howitzer -- ordinarily a crew-fired ground artillery cannon that has to be towed by a truck.
The Islamists deny any al Qaeda links, saying the accusation has been invented to justify intervention in Somalia.
DISASTROUS INTERVENTION
Born out of sharia courts, the Islamists took Mogadishu and much of the south in June and threatened just weeks ago to overrun Baidoa, then the only town the government controlled.
Ethiopian troops with armor and air power, along with government forces, quickly pushed the Islamists from Baidoa, forced them out of their stronghold, Mogadishu, and caused them to scatter to Somalia's desolate southern edges.
Hundreds of Islamist fighters are now hiding in the bushland there, while Kenya's military is trying to seal its lengthy border to prevent them escaping.
Mindful of a disastrous intervention in the early 1990s -- related in the book and film "Black Hawk Down" -- Washington had until Monday not overtly involved its forces in the war.
But it did receive a setback when
CIA was found in April to have paid despised Mogadishu warlords to help fight the Islamists on counter-terrorism grounds, only for them to lose the city to disciplined Islamist fighters in June.
The presence of troops from traditionally Christian Ethiopia has stirred both nationalist and religious fervor in mainly Muslim Somalia, with a series of protests and small attacks on Ethiopian troops in recent days.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, who on Monday entered Mogadishu for the first time since his appointment in 2004, insisted the Ethiopians were not occupiers and would leave soon.
Ethiopia wants to withdraw his troops within a few weeks, but that may depend on the speed with which an African peacekeeping force can be mustered to replace them.
(Additional reporting by Eric Beech in Washington, Mohammed Abbas in Bahrain, and Bryson Hull in Nairobi)
In the first known direct U.S. military intervention in Somalia since a failed peacekeeping mission that ended in 1994, an AC-130 plane rained gunfire on the desolate southern village of Hayo near the Kenyan border late on Monday.
"I understand there are so many dead bodies and animals in the village," the senior source told Reuters.
The
U.S. Navy also confirmed it had moved the aircraft carrier Eisenhower to the Somali coast -- Africa's longest -- to beef up a naval cordon it had already put there as the Islamists sought refuge in the remote southern tip.
"They are, with other ships, making sure that terrorists are not able to use the sea as a means of transport," said Charlie Brown, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is based in the Gulf state of Bahrain.
U.S. intelligence believes Abu Talha al-Sudani, identified in grand jury testimony against
Osama bin Laden as an explosives expert from Sudan, is the leader of east Africa's al Qaeda cell and has been in and out of Somalia for over a decade.
"The Americans are saying an al Qaeda member heading operations in east Africa is among the Islamists there," the source said. He did not know the man's name or whether he died.
U.S., Ethiopian and Kenyan intelligence officials say some Islamists have provided shelter to a handful of al Qaeda members, including suspects in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and a 2002 hotel bombing on the Kenyan coast.
Besides al-Sudani, Washington has named Comorian Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Kenyan Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan among the al Qaeda members in Somalia.
The Washington Post, quoting unnamed military sources, said al-Sudani was one target of the raid.
'PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON'
Ethiopian and Somali troops have chased al-Sudani since he was leading Islamist fighters near Buur Hakaba, close to the government base Baidoa, in the early days of a war which began around Christmas, Somali government officials told Reuters.
Hayo is in the southern tip of Somalia between Afmadow and Doble, areas where Ethiopian and Somali troops chased the Islamists' last remnants after ending their six-month rule of Mogadishu and most of southern Somalia in a two-week offensive.
Though many have suspected an American hand in the Somali conflict, this attack is the first solid evidence of it and is in line with previous U.S. attacks targeting al Qaeda members.
An unmanned Predator drone flown from the U.S. Horn of Africa counter-terrorism base in Djibouti killed an al Qaeda suspect in Yemen in 2002, and the AC-130 was almost certainly flown from there by the elite Special Operations Command.
The AC-130 is a propeller-driven converted cargo plane derived from the AC-47 gunships flown in Vietnam that were known as "Puff the Magic Dragon." It has sophisticated sensors that allow it to pinpoint targets with heavy automatic cannon fire.
The lumbering, 29 meter (95 foot) long plane can fire 1,800 rounds a minute from a Gatling gun and has in its arsenal a 105mm howitzer -- ordinarily a crew-fired ground artillery cannon that has to be towed by a truck.
The Islamists deny any al Qaeda links, saying the accusation has been invented to justify intervention in Somalia.
DISASTROUS INTERVENTION
Born out of sharia courts, the Islamists took Mogadishu and much of the south in June and threatened just weeks ago to overrun Baidoa, then the only town the government controlled.
Ethiopian troops with armor and air power, along with government forces, quickly pushed the Islamists from Baidoa, forced them out of their stronghold, Mogadishu, and caused them to scatter to Somalia's desolate southern edges.
Hundreds of Islamist fighters are now hiding in the bushland there, while Kenya's military is trying to seal its lengthy border to prevent them escaping.
Mindful of a disastrous intervention in the early 1990s -- related in the book and film "Black Hawk Down" -- Washington had until Monday not overtly involved its forces in the war.
But it did receive a setback when
CIA was found in April to have paid despised Mogadishu warlords to help fight the Islamists on counter-terrorism grounds, only for them to lose the city to disciplined Islamist fighters in June.
The presence of troops from traditionally Christian Ethiopia has stirred both nationalist and religious fervor in mainly Muslim Somalia, with a series of protests and small attacks on Ethiopian troops in recent days.
Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, who on Monday entered Mogadishu for the first time since his appointment in 2004, insisted the Ethiopians were not occupiers and would leave soon.
Ethiopia wants to withdraw his troops within a few weeks, but that may depend on the speed with which an African peacekeeping force can be mustered to replace them.
(Additional reporting by Eric Beech in Washington, Mohammed Abbas in Bahrain, and Bryson Hull in Nairobi)
Nas To bring out a New Album for 2007 - No Time To Waste
Nas has kept albums pretty spaced out for most of his career, but he's in such a zone right now that he doesn't want to waste any time. Not even a month after releasing Hip Hop Is Dead, the MC is planning to jump right back in the studio and release an LP sometime this year.
"New album is in the making right now," Nas said Sunday night, sitting in his trailer outside the set of his new video for "Can't Forget About You." " '07, new Nas album, I can't wait. I'm not finished. I feel like something is starting right now. This is a momentum and a movement that's happening out here. I gotta make sure I stay the captain of this ship and push it forward. I'm here at Def Jam, I'm renaming it the Black Oasis. You bring Nas into any situation like the situation that's at Def Jam and you gonna get nothing but the top of the line.
"Look," he continued after a long pause, grinning. "I'm sounding like I'm really feeling myself right now. But real talk, I'm really feeling myself again. '07, I'm gonna drop again and see what's really good with y'all out there. ... When it comes to this, man, sometimes when you're feeling it, you gotta just let it go."
Even with a potential classic in his sights, Nas said he's far from done with his #1-debuting LP Hip Hop Is Dead.
"Ah, man, going into the year the way I went into the year was real good," he said. "The irony of a title like Hip Hop Is Dead being #1, what is that? That's what it's all about. At the end of the day, it's real big. It feels like a good time. I'm excited, I'm loving the rap game, the potential that it has to grow. A lot of people thought that because I was hating the state of the rap game, I was hating rappers. I don't hate. It's just that there were a lot of rappers that were corny. There's always going to be corny rappers. They didn't understand the message. People were not getting it. It's a slow process, but it's all good. We're going to keep grinding, keep giving them more, showing them more. This is a record that's going to take time. We gonna push it on them for the whole year.
"With an album like this and a title like Hip Hop Is Dead, this is going to be a long burial," he continued. "You plant it, then maybe we could get some rain to fall, then you see stuff start sprouting and maybe get something reborn out here. But right now I'm at the funeral service, man. We got more material that's going to be showed to the world. I don't wanna stop this record. I usually fade out and not be a part of the scene ... but this one right here don't matter. I'm not even thinking about too much attention. I'm not thinking that. I'm thinking this one gotta play all the way out."
Nas and Def Jam are talking about making videos for "Hustlers," which features the Game, or even his duet with Jay-Z, "Black Republicans." But for now, the track is "Can't Forget About You." He shot the video Saturday and Sunday with director Chris Robinson. On Sunday, God's Son wore a tuxedo and bowtie, recalling the days he was suited up on the regular with the Firm in his Nas Escobar phase. On Saturday, Nas had taken his look back even further to the It Was Written days. He was shot on top of a triple-decker bus that cruised through Manhattan, similar to how he glided through those same streets in the clip for "If I Ruled the World."
"The concept of the video is [that] I put a lot of things on the map," he explained in his trailer, with friends like Swizz Beatz looking on. "Whether it's the pink-suit thing or the real dress-up look for the rappers. I been doing it for so long, and right now is a good moment in the '07. It's a good time to get that energy going."
If you've heard the single, you know the Will.I.Am-produced track uses a sample of Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable." Nas felt it was only right that he pay the legend's family tribute by inviting the legendary singer's daughter, Natalie Cole, to participate in filming on Sunday.
"I'm friends with [Def Jam A&R rep] J. Brown, and he said, 'Nas wants you to be in the video.' I said 'OK,' " said Natalie Cole, wearing a black suit, Chuck Taylor sneakers and a pendant of a crown (to pay homage to her famous father). "I hadn't heard [the song yet]. But I've heard of Nas, and I thought it was cool. I knew we had already given the license for the use of 'Unforgettable.' I think it's great every time I see the hip-hop world reaching back and getting great vintage stuff. I think the title ['Can't Forget About You'], it's appropriate. Then Nas got on the phone, we talked, and here I am."
"It was just an idea I wanted," Nas elaborated about reaching out to Cole. "It's a given, though, if we use the track. Nobody could forget what she did with the record, her and her father," he added, referring to the 1991 album on which Natalie sang a posthumous duet with her father using a track of his original vocal. That was one of the most major moments in music. With the family and what the song meant to a generation before her and our generation when she did it with her father. I'm not blood-related, but I'm musically related, and I guess I'm the child of their generation and I'm bridging the gap from Nat King Cole to Natalie Cole to Nas King Cole, and we're going to make it one family all over again."
Natalie Cole isn't the only female co-star Nas has in the video. R&B newcomer Chrisette Michele (Jay-Z's "Lost Ones") makes her video debut. The Long Island native, who appears four times on Hip-Hop Is Dead ("Not Going Back," "Still Dreaming," "Hope" and, of course, "Can't Forget Abut You"), said she was able to get on the album after Nas heard her freestyling over one of his incomplete tracks.
"I was introduced to Chrisette just from her being in the Def Jam family," Nas said. "When I heard her, I wanted to work with her more. She's an incredible writer and an incredible singer. It's something about her voice that's just the truth."
"New album is in the making right now," Nas said Sunday night, sitting in his trailer outside the set of his new video for "Can't Forget About You." " '07, new Nas album, I can't wait. I'm not finished. I feel like something is starting right now. This is a momentum and a movement that's happening out here. I gotta make sure I stay the captain of this ship and push it forward. I'm here at Def Jam, I'm renaming it the Black Oasis. You bring Nas into any situation like the situation that's at Def Jam and you gonna get nothing but the top of the line.
"Look," he continued after a long pause, grinning. "I'm sounding like I'm really feeling myself right now. But real talk, I'm really feeling myself again. '07, I'm gonna drop again and see what's really good with y'all out there. ... When it comes to this, man, sometimes when you're feeling it, you gotta just let it go."
Even with a potential classic in his sights, Nas said he's far from done with his #1-debuting LP Hip Hop Is Dead.
"Ah, man, going into the year the way I went into the year was real good," he said. "The irony of a title like Hip Hop Is Dead being #1, what is that? That's what it's all about. At the end of the day, it's real big. It feels like a good time. I'm excited, I'm loving the rap game, the potential that it has to grow. A lot of people thought that because I was hating the state of the rap game, I was hating rappers. I don't hate. It's just that there were a lot of rappers that were corny. There's always going to be corny rappers. They didn't understand the message. People were not getting it. It's a slow process, but it's all good. We're going to keep grinding, keep giving them more, showing them more. This is a record that's going to take time. We gonna push it on them for the whole year.
"With an album like this and a title like Hip Hop Is Dead, this is going to be a long burial," he continued. "You plant it, then maybe we could get some rain to fall, then you see stuff start sprouting and maybe get something reborn out here. But right now I'm at the funeral service, man. We got more material that's going to be showed to the world. I don't wanna stop this record. I usually fade out and not be a part of the scene ... but this one right here don't matter. I'm not even thinking about too much attention. I'm not thinking that. I'm thinking this one gotta play all the way out."
Nas and Def Jam are talking about making videos for "Hustlers," which features the Game, or even his duet with Jay-Z, "Black Republicans." But for now, the track is "Can't Forget About You." He shot the video Saturday and Sunday with director Chris Robinson. On Sunday, God's Son wore a tuxedo and bowtie, recalling the days he was suited up on the regular with the Firm in his Nas Escobar phase. On Saturday, Nas had taken his look back even further to the It Was Written days. He was shot on top of a triple-decker bus that cruised through Manhattan, similar to how he glided through those same streets in the clip for "If I Ruled the World."
"The concept of the video is [that] I put a lot of things on the map," he explained in his trailer, with friends like Swizz Beatz looking on. "Whether it's the pink-suit thing or the real dress-up look for the rappers. I been doing it for so long, and right now is a good moment in the '07. It's a good time to get that energy going."
If you've heard the single, you know the Will.I.Am-produced track uses a sample of Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable." Nas felt it was only right that he pay the legend's family tribute by inviting the legendary singer's daughter, Natalie Cole, to participate in filming on Sunday.
"I'm friends with [Def Jam A&R rep] J. Brown, and he said, 'Nas wants you to be in the video.' I said 'OK,' " said Natalie Cole, wearing a black suit, Chuck Taylor sneakers and a pendant of a crown (to pay homage to her famous father). "I hadn't heard [the song yet]. But I've heard of Nas, and I thought it was cool. I knew we had already given the license for the use of 'Unforgettable.' I think it's great every time I see the hip-hop world reaching back and getting great vintage stuff. I think the title ['Can't Forget About You'], it's appropriate. Then Nas got on the phone, we talked, and here I am."
"It was just an idea I wanted," Nas elaborated about reaching out to Cole. "It's a given, though, if we use the track. Nobody could forget what she did with the record, her and her father," he added, referring to the 1991 album on which Natalie sang a posthumous duet with her father using a track of his original vocal. That was one of the most major moments in music. With the family and what the song meant to a generation before her and our generation when she did it with her father. I'm not blood-related, but I'm musically related, and I guess I'm the child of their generation and I'm bridging the gap from Nat King Cole to Natalie Cole to Nas King Cole, and we're going to make it one family all over again."
Natalie Cole isn't the only female co-star Nas has in the video. R&B newcomer Chrisette Michele (Jay-Z's "Lost Ones") makes her video debut. The Long Island native, who appears four times on Hip-Hop Is Dead ("Not Going Back," "Still Dreaming," "Hope" and, of course, "Can't Forget Abut You"), said she was able to get on the album after Nas heard her freestyling over one of his incomplete tracks.
"I was introduced to Chrisette just from her being in the Def Jam family," Nas said. "When I heard her, I wanted to work with her more. She's an incredible writer and an incredible singer. It's something about her voice that's just the truth."
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Walking With Dinosaurs premieres in Sydney
An angry Tyrannosaurus Rex bellows out an almighty roar as it takes centre stage for the arena spectacular, Walking With Dinosaurs: The Live Experience.
The star diva may have the largest dressing room of the $12 million production, but she's far from smiling.
Fiercely protective of her young, the life-like and sized dinosaur wants her baby back.
The scene that unfolds is dramatic, complete with frenzied music, a haze of smoke and a panicked mother, until finally mother and child reunite.
Suddenly the Tyrannosaurus Rex's roar turns to a soothing purr.
This is just one scene to be played out when the 80-minute show, featuring 15 mechanically-driven dinosaurs, holds its world premiere in Sydney on Wednesday night.
Already 160,000 tickets have been sold nationally for the production inspired by the BBC TV program, which attracted 700 million viewers in more than 100 countries.
Walking With Dinosaurs transports audiences back some 160 million years, to experience these huge beasts in action.
And while it's educational, that isn't the key focus.
"It evokes the sense of this being real and that's an education in itself," said dinosaur designer and engineer Sonny Tilders.
"We try not to get bogged down in the scientific facts because it's entertainment and about evoking that sense that these things once roamed the world.
"The dinosaurs aren't fictitious, they aren't dragons, they were actually living creatures and we show that."
Tilders warns the vicious jaws and roars of some of the production's stars may disturb some viewers.
"We have seen four-year-olds jump up with glee when they see the T-Rex and others hide under the seat," Tilders admits.
"I wouldn't discourage any young children coming, but just be warned it might be a little bit scary."
Walking With Dinosaurs premieres in Sydney on Wednesday night and runs until Australia Day, before heading to Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.
A tour of North America will begin in July 2007 before tackling Asia and Europe
The star diva may have the largest dressing room of the $12 million production, but she's far from smiling.
Fiercely protective of her young, the life-like and sized dinosaur wants her baby back.
The scene that unfolds is dramatic, complete with frenzied music, a haze of smoke and a panicked mother, until finally mother and child reunite.
Suddenly the Tyrannosaurus Rex's roar turns to a soothing purr.
This is just one scene to be played out when the 80-minute show, featuring 15 mechanically-driven dinosaurs, holds its world premiere in Sydney on Wednesday night.
Already 160,000 tickets have been sold nationally for the production inspired by the BBC TV program, which attracted 700 million viewers in more than 100 countries.
Walking With Dinosaurs transports audiences back some 160 million years, to experience these huge beasts in action.
And while it's educational, that isn't the key focus.
"It evokes the sense of this being real and that's an education in itself," said dinosaur designer and engineer Sonny Tilders.
"We try not to get bogged down in the scientific facts because it's entertainment and about evoking that sense that these things once roamed the world.
"The dinosaurs aren't fictitious, they aren't dragons, they were actually living creatures and we show that."
Tilders warns the vicious jaws and roars of some of the production's stars may disturb some viewers.
"We have seen four-year-olds jump up with glee when they see the T-Rex and others hide under the seat," Tilders admits.
"I wouldn't discourage any young children coming, but just be warned it might be a little bit scary."
Walking With Dinosaurs premieres in Sydney on Wednesday night and runs until Australia Day, before heading to Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne.
A tour of North America will begin in July 2007 before tackling Asia and Europe
Paris Hilton has pleaded not guilty to drunken driving charges
Paris Hilton has pleaded not guilty to drunken driving charges following her arrest for allegedly weaving around a Hollywood street in her Mercedes-Benz last year.
The socialite was not required to be in Superior Court.
Her lawyer entered the pleas on her behalf to one count each of driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or above.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $US1,000 ($A1,284) fine.
However, the minimum penalty for a first-time offender is a fine, probation and participation in an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Hilton's lawyer, Shawn Chapman, declined to speak with reporters after the hearing.
Motorcycle officers said they saw Hilton's Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR being driven erratically and stopped in the early hours of September 7.
Hilton later said she may have been "speeding a little bit" and was on her way to get a hamburger because she had filmed a music video all day without eating.
The 25-year-old hotel heiress, singer, actress and handbag designer said she had drunk only a single margarita at a charity event that evening.
Police said she appeared intoxicated and failed a field sobriety test.
Her publicist said she had a blood alcohol level of .08 per cent.
The socialite was not required to be in Superior Court.
Her lawyer entered the pleas on her behalf to one count each of driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or above.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $US1,000 ($A1,284) fine.
However, the minimum penalty for a first-time offender is a fine, probation and participation in an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Hilton's lawyer, Shawn Chapman, declined to speak with reporters after the hearing.
Motorcycle officers said they saw Hilton's Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR being driven erratically and stopped in the early hours of September 7.
Hilton later said she may have been "speeding a little bit" and was on her way to get a hamburger because she had filmed a music video all day without eating.
The 25-year-old hotel heiress, singer, actress and handbag designer said she had drunk only a single margarita at a charity event that evening.
Police said she appeared intoxicated and failed a field sobriety test.
Her publicist said she had a blood alcohol level of .08 per cent.
Iran smog 'kills 3,600 in month'
Tehran is one of the world's most polluted cities
Air pollution is estimated to have killed nearly 10,000 people in Tehran over a one-year period, including 3,600 in a month, Iranian officials say.
Most of the deaths were caused by heart attacks and respiratory illnesses brought on by smog, they said.
The scale of the problem led one senior official to say living in the Iranian capital was like "collective suicide".
Cheap fuel encourages car use in Iran, correspondents say, and many vehicles do not meet global emissions standards.
"It is a very serious and lethal crisis, a collective suicide," the director of Tehran's clean air committee, Mohammad Hadi Heydarzadeh, told an Iranian newspaper.
"A real revolution is needed to resolve this problem."
He said air quality had worsened and was linked to some 3,600 deaths in October. Many of the deaths were caused by heart attacks brought on by the air pollution.
New figures showed a sharp rise in pollution-related deaths in Iran, where 9,900 people died of pollution in the previous Iranian year (March 2005 to March 2006).
The latest assessments were based on World Bank figures which extrapolate mortality rates according to certain levels of pollution.
Air pollution is estimated to have killed nearly 10,000 people in Tehran over a one-year period, including 3,600 in a month, Iranian officials say.
Most of the deaths were caused by heart attacks and respiratory illnesses brought on by smog, they said.
The scale of the problem led one senior official to say living in the Iranian capital was like "collective suicide".
Cheap fuel encourages car use in Iran, correspondents say, and many vehicles do not meet global emissions standards.
"It is a very serious and lethal crisis, a collective suicide," the director of Tehran's clean air committee, Mohammad Hadi Heydarzadeh, told an Iranian newspaper.
"A real revolution is needed to resolve this problem."
He said air quality had worsened and was linked to some 3,600 deaths in October. Many of the deaths were caused by heart attacks brought on by the air pollution.
New figures showed a sharp rise in pollution-related deaths in Iran, where 9,900 people died of pollution in the previous Iranian year (March 2005 to March 2006).
The latest assessments were based on World Bank figures which extrapolate mortality rates according to certain levels of pollution.
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five Inducted Into Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five have been inducted into the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the organization announced today (Jan. 8).
Also inducted with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were R.E.M., The Ronettes, Patti Smith and Van Halen. The five inductees will be honored during a ceremony at the Waldor-Astoria in New York on March 12.
“We couldn’t be more proud to honor this unique, diverse group of rockers, rappers, singers and poets. This is what rock and roll is all about,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President and C.E.O., Joel Peresman said in a statement.
The evening will also pay tribute to the late Ahmet Etregun, who was Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ertegun founded founded Atlantic Records and influenced the careers of Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and countless others.
The 2007 inductees were chosen by 600 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion 25-years after their first recording is released.
Each artist will be commemorated in the museum and artifacts and a multimedia film presentation that highlights each artists' career will also be showcased in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Also inducted with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were R.E.M., The Ronettes, Patti Smith and Van Halen. The five inductees will be honored during a ceremony at the Waldor-Astoria in New York on March 12.
“We couldn’t be more proud to honor this unique, diverse group of rockers, rappers, singers and poets. This is what rock and roll is all about,” Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation President and C.E.O., Joel Peresman said in a statement.
The evening will also pay tribute to the late Ahmet Etregun, who was Chairman of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ertegun founded founded Atlantic Records and influenced the careers of Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and countless others.
The 2007 inductees were chosen by 600 voters of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. Artists are eligible for inclusion 25-years after their first recording is released.
Each artist will be commemorated in the museum and artifacts and a multimedia film presentation that highlights each artists' career will also be showcased in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Jay Leno Reconsiders Retirement After Woman Sets Man Crotch On fire
Despite having announced plans to retire as host of The Tonight Show in 2008, Jay Leno admitted yesterday that he was "having serious doubts" about leaving the TV show after coming across a recent news item in which a Georgia woman doused her philandering husband's groin in kerosene and set it aflame. The veteran comedian said the incident would provide a wealth of material for "many, many years to come." "Boy, talk about keeping your marriage exciting," said Leno, who claimed he had already assigned 19 of his top writers to the story. "It's John Wayne Bobbit all over again—crotch violence set in the South. If I leave it for Conan [O'Brien], he'll just do two or three really good jokes and then drop it. What a waste." The victim, 32-year-old Kenny Garver of Athens, GA, was unavailable for comment due to the blistering third-degree burns covering 70 percent of his body.
Tyrese's Girlfriend: Fight Was "Distorted"
The attorney representing the girlfriend of singer/actor Tyrese Gibson has issued a statement in response to an altercation that allegedly occurred at a Los Angeles home last Thursday night.
The woman's attorney tells TMZ, "Reports that Tyrese punched my client -- his girlfriend -- in the arm, thigh or anywhere else are false. It is true, Mr. Gibson and his girlfriend had been arguing. She became very emotional and distressed during the argument and called 911 in an attempt to get a mediator. Mr. Gibson, frustrated, left the home. My client, Mr. Gibson's girlfriend, who is 11 weeks pregnant, then became more upset and began throwing up. When the paramedics arrived, concerned about the baby, they took her to the hospital. Fortunately, she was fine. Once at the hospital, she was asked by a nurse whether she had been assaulted. She said no. She was then asked what her pain level was on a scale of zero to ten. She said zero. She then discharged herself. Mr. Gibson and his girlfriend are very much still in love, together and excited about their expectant child. She is quite saddened that this event was so distorted."
Police sources tell TMZ they are "interested" in speaking to Tyrese about the incident.
No charges have been filed.
The woman's attorney tells TMZ, "Reports that Tyrese punched my client -- his girlfriend -- in the arm, thigh or anywhere else are false. It is true, Mr. Gibson and his girlfriend had been arguing. She became very emotional and distressed during the argument and called 911 in an attempt to get a mediator. Mr. Gibson, frustrated, left the home. My client, Mr. Gibson's girlfriend, who is 11 weeks pregnant, then became more upset and began throwing up. When the paramedics arrived, concerned about the baby, they took her to the hospital. Fortunately, she was fine. Once at the hospital, she was asked by a nurse whether she had been assaulted. She said no. She was then asked what her pain level was on a scale of zero to ten. She said zero. She then discharged herself. Mr. Gibson and his girlfriend are very much still in love, together and excited about their expectant child. She is quite saddened that this event was so distorted."
Police sources tell TMZ they are "interested" in speaking to Tyrese about the incident.
No charges have been filed.
Apple renames itself, unveils iPhone pic inside
Apple Computer CEO
Steve Jobs on Tuesday announced the iPod maker's long-awaited leap into the mobile phone business and renamed the company just "Apple Inc.," reflecting its increased focus on consumer electronics.
The iPhone, which will start at $499 when it launches in June, is controlled by touch, plays music, surfs the Internet and runs the
Macintosh computer operating system. Jobs said it will "reinvent" wireless communications and "leapfrog" past the current generation of smart phones.
"Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything," he said during his keynote address at the annual Macworld Conference and Expo. "It's very fortunate if you can work on just one of these in your career. ... Apple's been very fortunate in that it's introduced a few of these."
He said the company's name change is meant to reflect Apple's transformation from a computer manufacturer to a full-fledged consumer electronics company.
During his speech, Jobs also unveiled a TV set-top box that allows people to send video from their computers and announced the number of songs sold on its iTunes Music Store has topped 2 billion.
Apple shares jumped more than 8 percent on the announcements, while the stock of rival smart-phone makers plunged. The run on Apple stock created about $6 billion in shareholder wealth.
While Jobs noted the explosive growth of the cell phone market, it's not clear that a device as alluring as the iPhone poses a threat to mainstream handset makers due to the price, said Avi Greengart, mobile device analyst for the research firm Current Analysis.
"My initial reaction is that this product actually lives up to the extensive hype, and I'm not easily impressed," he said. "But the vast majority of phones sold cost way less than $500." Instead, the rivals most likely to face new competition from Apple's handset are makers of higher-end smart phones such as Palm Inc.
Tim Bajarin, principal analyst with Creative Strategies, said the iPhone could revolutionize the way cell phones are designed and sold.
"This goes beyond smart phones and should be given its own category called 'brilliant' phones," he said. "Cell phones are on track to become the largest platform for digital music playback and Apple needed to make this move to help defend their iPod franchise as well as extend it beyond a dedicated music environment."
Apple currently commands about 75 percent of the market for downloaded music and portable music players. But it's expected to lose market share on both fronts as rivals introduce their own gadgets and music stores.
Jobs said Apple expects to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, the first full year in which they'll be available. That's about 1 percent of the global market for mobile phones; 957 million were sold worldwide in 2006.
The Apple phones, which will operate exclusively on AT&T Inc.'s Cingular Wireless network, will start shipping in June. A 4-gigabyte model will cost $499, while an 8-gigabyte iPhone will be $599. While wireless carriers typically offer discounts and rebates on new devices when they agree to sign a two-year service contact, Cingular said it was unclear whether this would be the case with the iPhone.
Cingular declined to comment on its financial arrangement with Apple.
IPhone is less than a half-inch thin — less than almost any phone on the market today. It comes with a 2-megapixel digital camera built into the back, as well as a slot for headphones and a SIM card.
The phone automatically synchs the user's media — movies, music, photos — through iTunes on computers running either Mac
OS X or Microsoft Corp.'s Windows. The device also synchs e-mail, Web bookmarks and nearly any type of digital content stored on a PC.
"It's just like an iPod," Jobs said, "charge and synch."
To make a call, users can tap out the number on an onscreen keypad or scroll through their contacts and dial with a single touch.
"It works like magic," Jobs said. "It's far more accurate than any touch display ever shipped. It ignores unintended touches. It's super smart."
Apple is also introducing what it calls "visual voicemail," so users can jump to the most important messages rather than have to listen to all of them in order.
The phone supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology and can detect location from Global Positioning System satellites. It also can send and display e-mail and text messages. Apple is partnering with Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) on Web-based e-mail and Google Inc. on maps.
With a few finger taps, Jobs demonstrated how to pull up a Google Maps site and find the closest Starbucks to San Francisco's Moscone Center, where Macworld is held. He then prank-called the cafe and ordered 4,000 lattes to go before quickly hanging up.
Jobs demonstrated the iPhone's music capabilities by playing "Lovely Rita, Meter Maid," from the Beatles' "Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band." The audience cheered, spurred by speculation that an announcement was imminent about a deal to sell Beatles songs on iTunes. But there was no such announcement, and Beatles songs still cannot be legally downloaded.
Also Tuesday, Jobs said Apple will begin taking orders immediately for the $299 video box called Apple TV. It will ship next month.
The gadget is designed to bridge computers and television sets so users can more easily watch their downloaded movies on a big screen. A prototype of the gadget was displayed by Jobs in September when Apple announced it would sell TV shows and movies through iTunes.
Apple TV will come with a 40-gigabyte hard drive that stores up to 50 hours of video. It features an Intel Corp. microprocessor and can handle videos, photos and music streamed from up to five computers within the wireless range.
Apple also announced Tuesday it will sell movies from Paramount, increasing its online selection from about 100 to about 250.
Meanwhile, Apple's milestone of selling more than 2 billion songs on iTunes catapults the company into the top ranks of music sellers worldwide — more than Amazon.com Inc. and behind only Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. and Target Corp., Jobs said.
Apple shares jumped $7.10 to close at $92.57 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of $50.16 to $93.16.
Nearly 120 million Apple shares were traded on Tuesday, more than four times the average daily volume.
Meanwhile, shares of other smart-phone makers slid: Treo-maker Palm dropped 5.7 percent, BlackBerry's Research In Motion Ltd. lost 7.9 percent and Motorola Inc. shed 1.8 percent.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Canada, Mexico, and U.S. residents = "North Americanists"
Arizona State University is teaching that the U.S., Mexico and Canada need to be integrated into a unified superstate, where U.S. citizens of the future will be known as "North Americanists," according to the taxpayer-funded "Building North America" program.
The program openly advocates for the integration of economic issues across the continent, and in many places goes further – such as the call for a common North American currency.
One teaching module made available online for professors to integrate into their teachings was written by George Haynal, senior fellow at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, and implied a joint military is required. Since the security of the continent "is a joint need; it should be supplied as a common enterprise."
"Given the nature of the threats against our security in the current environment, the first task is to reinvent "borders." We must exercise the responsibility for protecting our society against external threats where we can do so most effectively, not where infrastructures happens to be in place," he added. "Multilateral cooperation is going to be essential among governments."
"It is clear, to me at least, that we must … move beyond NAFTA and do so with a purposeful determination," he wrote.
Another teaching paper advocates the adoption of a unified North American currency, the "amero," modeled after the euro currency of the European Union.
The programming the university is providing for help in teaching the new North American focus is just the latest evidence of the mounting campaign for a de facto North American Union. Although most in the establishment press are not covering the controversy, it has earned the opposition of a number of high-level voices including congressmen like Tom Tancredo, Virgil Goode and Ron Paul, and newsmen like CNN's Lou Dobbs who has described the U.S. government's actions in this effort as "Orwellian."
Paul, a maverick Republican from Texas, has denounced such integration plans and warns that most members of Congress aren't aware of the situation, and that he is opposing any transnational "superhighway" projects such as the "Trans-Texas Corridor" project in his home state.
Why? The ultimate goal, he said, is not simply a superhighway, "but an integrated North American Union – complete with a currency, a cross-national bureaucracy and virtually borderless travel within the union. Like the European Union, a North American Union would represent another step toward the abolition of national sovereignty altogether."
Rep. Goode, R-Va., already has introduced a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the U.S. should not engage in further NAFTA advances.
But progress already is significant down the road to a joint government, evidenced by confirmation that the U.S. government is planning to provide full Social Security benefits to Mexicans as well as a report by the powerful Council on Foreign Relations, considered by many to be something of a "shadow government," that calls for the transfer of massive amounts of wealth from the U.S. to Mexico and the setup of a "security perimeter" around North America.
A Canadian website set up by those who fear the loss of their Canadian national sovereignty already has established a timeline for the program.
The Arizona State contribution to the move towards a one-government continent was launched because of "the notion that economic integration in the NAFTA Triad (Canada-U.S.-Mexico) was advancing despite the lack of press and public attention it received …" and a new website would allow "those of us in the Triad" to link up with the growing body of research about "how businesses, governments, and organizations were shaping, and adapting to, the evolution of a shared economic space."
"We are now bringing together the fruits of this research endeavor in a new, updated and redesigned 'Building North America' website…" the group said. "We are betting on the continued existence of scholars and policy practitioners who would benefit from a site which would consolidate the research and data we are all generating, and thereby build community among us."
A telephone number for the managers of the site was unavailable, and a WND e-mail to the site did not generate a response.
But the goal is clear: "The links, documents, and other materials on this site have been selected, organized, and in some cases designed to advance teaching and research on North American regional integration. … At the same time the site also aims to benefit the broader community of North Americanists, within the academy and beyond, by putting at our collective fingertips – or mouse-reach – the kinds of current and historical material that will benefit research into, and understanding of, North American integration – past, present and future."
The site cross-references and links to organizations and university centers such as the Center for North American Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., institutional home for Robert Pastor.
Pastor has been described as a leading intellectual force in the move to create an EU-style North American Community, and recently told WND he believes a new 9/11 crisis could be the catalyst to merge the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Pastor said that in such a case the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP – launched in 2005 by the heads of the three countries at a summit in Waco, Texas – could be developed into a continental union, complete with a new currency, the amero, that would replace the U.S. dollar.
In May 2005, Pastor was co-chairman the Council on Foreign Relations task force that produced a report entitled "Toward a North American Community," which he has claimed is the blueprint behind the SSP declared by President Bush, Mexico's then-President Vicente Fox, and Canada's then-Prime Minister Paul Martin.
At American University, Pastor directs the Center for North American Studies where he teaches a course entitled "North America: A Union, A Community, or Just Three Nations?" As WND previously has reported, Pastor is on the board of the North American Forum on Integration, the NAFI, a non-profit organization that annually holds a mock trilateral parliament for 100 selected students drawn from 10 universities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Arizona State also lists government agencies in support of the merging of various functions that historically have been handled by each government, such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and others.
The website's archive contains "influential papers and articles which have shaped the debate on 'North America,'" including the 2005 document from the Council on Foreign Relations called "Building a North American Community: Report of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America."
Also available is a series of "Teaching Modules," where Haynal's instructions are available. "The section leads off with an introductory guide to Building North America Into Your Course, as well as a more structured 'Matrix' offering sample units by theme and subfield … Each of these TMs either has, or will have in the near future, an accompanying Teaching Note with more detailed suggestions for incorporation into a variety of courses."
Among the organizations being promoted are the Council of The Americas, the free market thinktank Fraser Institute, North America Works, North American Integration and Development Center, North America's Super Corridor Coalition, North American Integration and Development Center at UCLA, the Mexican Embassy, NORAD, North American Development Bank, NAFTA Secretariat, North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation,
One of the teaching notes lists Earl Fry's work titled: "The Role of Subnational Governments in the governance of North America."
Subtitled "Mapping the New North American Reality," that paper argues that provinces in Canada and states in the United States and Mexico are quite efficiently setting up their own integrated North America with or without their "federal" governments' participation.
It even warns against renegade states like South Dakota, which has undermined "treaties and agreements signed by national governments" with its requirements for inspections of Canadian cattle, hogs and wheat.
The North American Union plans were cited by WorldNetDaily editors as the Number One story on the news site's list of 10 most underreported stories for 2006.
The January 2007 edition of WND's monthly Whistleblower magazine, which explores this topic in-depth, is titled "PREMEDITATED MERGER: How our leaders are stealthily transforming the U.S.A. into the North American Union."
The program openly advocates for the integration of economic issues across the continent, and in many places goes further – such as the call for a common North American currency.
One teaching module made available online for professors to integrate into their teachings was written by George Haynal, senior fellow at the Norman Patterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, and implied a joint military is required. Since the security of the continent "is a joint need; it should be supplied as a common enterprise."
"Given the nature of the threats against our security in the current environment, the first task is to reinvent "borders." We must exercise the responsibility for protecting our society against external threats where we can do so most effectively, not where infrastructures happens to be in place," he added. "Multilateral cooperation is going to be essential among governments."
"It is clear, to me at least, that we must … move beyond NAFTA and do so with a purposeful determination," he wrote.
Another teaching paper advocates the adoption of a unified North American currency, the "amero," modeled after the euro currency of the European Union.
The programming the university is providing for help in teaching the new North American focus is just the latest evidence of the mounting campaign for a de facto North American Union. Although most in the establishment press are not covering the controversy, it has earned the opposition of a number of high-level voices including congressmen like Tom Tancredo, Virgil Goode and Ron Paul, and newsmen like CNN's Lou Dobbs who has described the U.S. government's actions in this effort as "Orwellian."
Paul, a maverick Republican from Texas, has denounced such integration plans and warns that most members of Congress aren't aware of the situation, and that he is opposing any transnational "superhighway" projects such as the "Trans-Texas Corridor" project in his home state.
Why? The ultimate goal, he said, is not simply a superhighway, "but an integrated North American Union – complete with a currency, a cross-national bureaucracy and virtually borderless travel within the union. Like the European Union, a North American Union would represent another step toward the abolition of national sovereignty altogether."
Rep. Goode, R-Va., already has introduced a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the U.S. should not engage in further NAFTA advances.
But progress already is significant down the road to a joint government, evidenced by confirmation that the U.S. government is planning to provide full Social Security benefits to Mexicans as well as a report by the powerful Council on Foreign Relations, considered by many to be something of a "shadow government," that calls for the transfer of massive amounts of wealth from the U.S. to Mexico and the setup of a "security perimeter" around North America.
A Canadian website set up by those who fear the loss of their Canadian national sovereignty already has established a timeline for the program.
The Arizona State contribution to the move towards a one-government continent was launched because of "the notion that economic integration in the NAFTA Triad (Canada-U.S.-Mexico) was advancing despite the lack of press and public attention it received …" and a new website would allow "those of us in the Triad" to link up with the growing body of research about "how businesses, governments, and organizations were shaping, and adapting to, the evolution of a shared economic space."
"We are now bringing together the fruits of this research endeavor in a new, updated and redesigned 'Building North America' website…" the group said. "We are betting on the continued existence of scholars and policy practitioners who would benefit from a site which would consolidate the research and data we are all generating, and thereby build community among us."
A telephone number for the managers of the site was unavailable, and a WND e-mail to the site did not generate a response.
But the goal is clear: "The links, documents, and other materials on this site have been selected, organized, and in some cases designed to advance teaching and research on North American regional integration. … At the same time the site also aims to benefit the broader community of North Americanists, within the academy and beyond, by putting at our collective fingertips – or mouse-reach – the kinds of current and historical material that will benefit research into, and understanding of, North American integration – past, present and future."
The site cross-references and links to organizations and university centers such as the Center for North American Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., institutional home for Robert Pastor.
Pastor has been described as a leading intellectual force in the move to create an EU-style North American Community, and recently told WND he believes a new 9/11 crisis could be the catalyst to merge the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
Pastor said that in such a case the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, or SPP – launched in 2005 by the heads of the three countries at a summit in Waco, Texas – could be developed into a continental union, complete with a new currency, the amero, that would replace the U.S. dollar.
In May 2005, Pastor was co-chairman the Council on Foreign Relations task force that produced a report entitled "Toward a North American Community," which he has claimed is the blueprint behind the SSP declared by President Bush, Mexico's then-President Vicente Fox, and Canada's then-Prime Minister Paul Martin.
At American University, Pastor directs the Center for North American Studies where he teaches a course entitled "North America: A Union, A Community, or Just Three Nations?" As WND previously has reported, Pastor is on the board of the North American Forum on Integration, the NAFI, a non-profit organization that annually holds a mock trilateral parliament for 100 selected students drawn from 10 universities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Arizona State also lists government agencies in support of the merging of various functions that historically have been handled by each government, such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and others.
The website's archive contains "influential papers and articles which have shaped the debate on 'North America,'" including the 2005 document from the Council on Foreign Relations called "Building a North American Community: Report of the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America."
Also available is a series of "Teaching Modules," where Haynal's instructions are available. "The section leads off with an introductory guide to Building North America Into Your Course, as well as a more structured 'Matrix' offering sample units by theme and subfield … Each of these TMs either has, or will have in the near future, an accompanying Teaching Note with more detailed suggestions for incorporation into a variety of courses."
Among the organizations being promoted are the Council of The Americas, the free market thinktank Fraser Institute, North America Works, North American Integration and Development Center, North America's Super Corridor Coalition, North American Integration and Development Center at UCLA, the Mexican Embassy, NORAD, North American Development Bank, NAFTA Secretariat, North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation,
One of the teaching notes lists Earl Fry's work titled: "The Role of Subnational Governments in the governance of North America."
Subtitled "Mapping the New North American Reality," that paper argues that provinces in Canada and states in the United States and Mexico are quite efficiently setting up their own integrated North America with or without their "federal" governments' participation.
It even warns against renegade states like South Dakota, which has undermined "treaties and agreements signed by national governments" with its requirements for inspections of Canadian cattle, hogs and wheat.
The North American Union plans were cited by WorldNetDaily editors as the Number One story on the news site's list of 10 most underreported stories for 2006.
The January 2007 edition of WND's monthly Whistleblower magazine, which explores this topic in-depth, is titled "PREMEDITATED MERGER: How our leaders are stealthily transforming the U.S.A. into the North American Union."
Over 1,000 protesters spell out 'IMPEACH!' on beach
On Saturday, over one thousand protesters occupied the sands of San Francisco's Ocean Beach - part of new Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's district - in order to spell out the message "IMPEACH!"
"America is a great country," Brad Newsham, a local cab driver and author who organized the event, stated in a press release. "But President Bush has betrayed our faith.
"He mislead us into a disastrous war, and is trampling on our Constitution.," Newsham continued. "He has to go. Now. I hope Nancy Pelosi is listening today."
San Francisco's ABC affiliate KGO TV covered the protest, and a video can be seen at its web site.
"Do you think the country has the stomach for another impeachment?" asked ABC7's Noel Cisneros.
"I think we don't have the stomach for another two years of Bush," protester Dan Brook responded.
While the station's legal analayst noted that "you can't impeach a president for incompetence," he does think "the strongest legal case against Mr. Bush would likely be for the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretaps of millions of American telephone calls."
"Section 1809 of the FISA Act provides that any public official who engages in a wiretap, without authorization, is guilty of a felony - I think it's beyond a reasonable dispute that President Bush violated that statute," said former prosecutor Dean Johnson.
A 2006 Zogby poll taken one year ago, commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a grassroots coalition that supports a Congressional investigation of Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, found that 52 percent of Americans agreed with the statement: "If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment?"
In that same poll - which had a margin of error of 2.9 percent - 43 percent disagreed, and 6 percent responded that "they didn't know or declined to answer."
The event had originally been scheduled on December 10th's "Human Rights and Impeachment Day," as reported earlier by RAW STORY, but "dangerous surf conditions" led to its "forced postponement" until Saturday.
"America is a great country," Brad Newsham, a local cab driver and author who organized the event, stated in a press release. "But President Bush has betrayed our faith.
"He mislead us into a disastrous war, and is trampling on our Constitution.," Newsham continued. "He has to go. Now. I hope Nancy Pelosi is listening today."
San Francisco's ABC affiliate KGO TV covered the protest, and a video can be seen at its web site.
"Do you think the country has the stomach for another impeachment?" asked ABC7's Noel Cisneros.
"I think we don't have the stomach for another two years of Bush," protester Dan Brook responded.
While the station's legal analayst noted that "you can't impeach a president for incompetence," he does think "the strongest legal case against Mr. Bush would likely be for the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretaps of millions of American telephone calls."
"Section 1809 of the FISA Act provides that any public official who engages in a wiretap, without authorization, is guilty of a felony - I think it's beyond a reasonable dispute that President Bush violated that statute," said former prosecutor Dean Johnson.
A 2006 Zogby poll taken one year ago, commissioned by AfterDowningStreet.org, a grassroots coalition that supports a Congressional investigation of Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, found that 52 percent of Americans agreed with the statement: "If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment?"
In that same poll - which had a margin of error of 2.9 percent - 43 percent disagreed, and 6 percent responded that "they didn't know or declined to answer."
The event had originally been scheduled on December 10th's "Human Rights and Impeachment Day," as reported earlier by RAW STORY, but "dangerous surf conditions" led to its "forced postponement" until Saturday.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Teen saves his aunts life in a fire but dies trying to save Cat
A teenager is being hailed as a hero for saving his aunt from a fire at their house, but he lost his own life when he went back into the burning building to search for the family's two cats, authorities say.
Seth A. DeShane, 14, was pronounced dead late Thursday at the family home, which was destroyed in the fire.
"He really saved his aunt," said the Rev. Kris Dietzen, pastor at Cambridge Lutheran Church. "He woke his aunt up and told her the Christmas tree was on fire.
"He got her out of the house. She thought he (Seth) was behind her, but he went back inside."
Dietzen said that when Seth's aunt realized the boy had gone back inside, she tried to get back in herself, but by then the smoke was so thick and the fire so intense, she had to leave the house.
"She ran to a neighbor's farm, and they proceeded to call 911," Dietzen said.
The fire is being blamed on malfunctioning lights on the Christmas tree on the first floor, Chief Edward Bole of the Cambridge Fire Department, said. The front half of the two-story home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived.
Seth A. DeShane, 14, was pronounced dead late Thursday at the family home, which was destroyed in the fire.
"He really saved his aunt," said the Rev. Kris Dietzen, pastor at Cambridge Lutheran Church. "He woke his aunt up and told her the Christmas tree was on fire.
"He got her out of the house. She thought he (Seth) was behind her, but he went back inside."
Dietzen said that when Seth's aunt realized the boy had gone back inside, she tried to get back in herself, but by then the smoke was so thick and the fire so intense, she had to leave the house.
"She ran to a neighbor's farm, and they proceeded to call 911," Dietzen said.
The fire is being blamed on malfunctioning lights on the Christmas tree on the first floor, Chief Edward Bole of the Cambridge Fire Department, said. The front half of the two-story home was fully engulfed when firefighters arrived.
LMAO..!! Disney suspends accused Tigger
Tigger, the bouncy sidekick to Walt Disney World's Winnie the Pooh, is in trouble with the law, again.
A Disney employee playing the famed cartoon character is under investigation after a New Hampshire family accused him of punching their 14-year-old son during a home-video session at Disney-MGM Studios.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office on Saturday said it took a report from Jerry Monaco Sr. stating that Tigger struck his son Jerry Jr. on the head about 12:30 p.m. Friday.
"He felt that Tigger essentially punched his son and he filed a police report," said Deputy Carlos Padilla, a sheriff's spokesman. "Right now the allegation is that a battery occurred. Of course, we see a little of that [family video] tape, and we see what appears to be a battery. We need to talk to all sides to see exactly what happened."
Padilla identified the man in the Tigger costume as Michael J. Fedelem, 31, of Kissimmee. Fedelem could not be reached for comment Saturday evening. Padilla said deputies have interviewed Fedelem and the investigation is "ongoing."
Friday's incident is the second in nearly three years involving Tigger-costumed Disney workers. In February 2004, a 13-year-old girl and her mother reported being groped and molested by someone dressed as Tigger at Magic Kingdom's Toon Town.
Sheriff's officials arrested Michael Chartrand, 38, but a jury later acquitted him, and he was reinstated as a Disney employee. In that case, the girl and her mother reported Tigger had groped their breasts during a photo session.
Padilla said Friday's confrontation was taped by Jerry Monaco Sr. and after reviewing the footage with his family, they decided to come forward.
Disney officials said Fedelem has been suspended until an internal investigation and the sheriff's criminal inquiry are completed.
"We received a complaint that a character allegedly struck a guest," said Zoraya Suarez, a Disney spokeswoman. "Naturally, a physical altercation between characters and guests is not tolerated."
The Monacos' home video, shot by Jerry Monaco Sr., shows a towering Tigger standing next to Jerry Monaco Jr. while his mother and two brothers kneel or stand in front of the costumed character.
In a series of seconds, Tigger grabs and locks Jerry Jr.'s left arm with his right arm and then throws a left jab at the teen's face.
The Monacos could not be reached for comment Saturday at their Greenville, N.H., home, but father and son told television reporters that Tigger threw a punch without provocation.
"At first, I thought he was kidding and all, just playing around, and then when he actually grabbed my arm. . .," Jerry Jr. said.
His father said their Disney vacation was marred: "You don't come here for this, I mean, Disney is supposed to be a safe place. It's supposed to be a place that you come and enjoy with your family."
"At first, I was upset at my son," he said. "I thought he did something to Tigger. But then I reviewed it and it is pretty clear; for no reason he just clocked him in the face."
A Disney employee playing the famed cartoon character is under investigation after a New Hampshire family accused him of punching their 14-year-old son during a home-video session at Disney-MGM Studios.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office on Saturday said it took a report from Jerry Monaco Sr. stating that Tigger struck his son Jerry Jr. on the head about 12:30 p.m. Friday.
"He felt that Tigger essentially punched his son and he filed a police report," said Deputy Carlos Padilla, a sheriff's spokesman. "Right now the allegation is that a battery occurred. Of course, we see a little of that [family video] tape, and we see what appears to be a battery. We need to talk to all sides to see exactly what happened."
Padilla identified the man in the Tigger costume as Michael J. Fedelem, 31, of Kissimmee. Fedelem could not be reached for comment Saturday evening. Padilla said deputies have interviewed Fedelem and the investigation is "ongoing."
Friday's incident is the second in nearly three years involving Tigger-costumed Disney workers. In February 2004, a 13-year-old girl and her mother reported being groped and molested by someone dressed as Tigger at Magic Kingdom's Toon Town.
Sheriff's officials arrested Michael Chartrand, 38, but a jury later acquitted him, and he was reinstated as a Disney employee. In that case, the girl and her mother reported Tigger had groped their breasts during a photo session.
Padilla said Friday's confrontation was taped by Jerry Monaco Sr. and after reviewing the footage with his family, they decided to come forward.
Disney officials said Fedelem has been suspended until an internal investigation and the sheriff's criminal inquiry are completed.
"We received a complaint that a character allegedly struck a guest," said Zoraya Suarez, a Disney spokeswoman. "Naturally, a physical altercation between characters and guests is not tolerated."
The Monacos' home video, shot by Jerry Monaco Sr., shows a towering Tigger standing next to Jerry Monaco Jr. while his mother and two brothers kneel or stand in front of the costumed character.
In a series of seconds, Tigger grabs and locks Jerry Jr.'s left arm with his right arm and then throws a left jab at the teen's face.
The Monacos could not be reached for comment Saturday at their Greenville, N.H., home, but father and son told television reporters that Tigger threw a punch without provocation.
"At first, I thought he was kidding and all, just playing around, and then when he actually grabbed my arm. . .," Jerry Jr. said.
His father said their Disney vacation was marred: "You don't come here for this, I mean, Disney is supposed to be a safe place. It's supposed to be a place that you come and enjoy with your family."
"At first, I was upset at my son," he said. "I thought he did something to Tigger. But then I reviewed it and it is pretty clear; for no reason he just clocked him in the face."
Boy Finds Porn in Madden 2007 xbox 360 game Case
This has to be a first: a 14-year old boy in Utah is claiming his factory-sealed copy of Madden 07 for the Xbox 360 displayed hardcore porn when he popped the disc into his system. The boy, Kolton Mahoney, immediately notified his parents, who are backing up his claim.
IGN contacted an Electronic Arts representative said the company is working with Circuit City, where the game was purchased, to resolve the issue. EA has not seen the disc in question and was unable to verify whether or not the claim is valid. The representative did say that EA "regrets any embarrassment this matter has caused the family," and pointed out over 5 million copies have been sold without any similar complaints.
IGN contacted an Electronic Arts representative said the company is working with Circuit City, where the game was purchased, to resolve the issue. EA has not seen the disc in question and was unable to verify whether or not the claim is valid. The representative did say that EA "regrets any embarrassment this matter has caused the family," and pointed out over 5 million copies have been sold without any similar complaints.
Man pays library $171, 47-year late fee
Robert Nuranen handed the local librarian a book he'd checked out for a ninth-grade assignment — along with a check for 47 years' worth of late fees.
Nuranen said his mother misplaced the copy of "Prince of Egypt" while cleaning the house. The family came across it every so often, only to set it aside again. He found it last week while looking through a box in the attic.
"I figured I'd better get it in before we waited another 10 years," he said after turning it in Friday with the $171.32 check. "Fifty-seven years would be embarrassing."
The book, with its last due date stamped June 2, 1960, was part of the young Nuranen's fascination with Egypt. He went on to visit that country and 54 others, and all 50 states, he said, but he never did finish the book.
Nuranen now lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches seventh-grade social studies and language arts.
The library had long ago lost any record of the book, librarian Sue Zubiena said.
"I'm going to use it as an example," she said. "It's never too late to return your books."
Nuranen said his mother misplaced the copy of "Prince of Egypt" while cleaning the house. The family came across it every so often, only to set it aside again. He found it last week while looking through a box in the attic.
"I figured I'd better get it in before we waited another 10 years," he said after turning it in Friday with the $171.32 check. "Fifty-seven years would be embarrassing."
The book, with its last due date stamped June 2, 1960, was part of the young Nuranen's fascination with Egypt. He went on to visit that country and 54 others, and all 50 states, he said, but he never did finish the book.
Nuranen now lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches seventh-grade social studies and language arts.
The library had long ago lost any record of the book, librarian Sue Zubiena said.
"I'm going to use it as an example," she said. "It's never too late to return your books."
BET Preps 'American Gangster,' Programming Hits iTunes
BET viewers will now be able to watch the network’s latest slate of programming, by downloading them on iTunes.
Available shows include BET’s new docudrama American Gangster as well as DMX: Soul of a Man, Lil' Kim: Countdown to Lockdown and Beef: The Series.
BET's latest series American Gangster chronicles the life and times of some of Black America's most notorious crime figures.
The show, which premieres Tuesday (Nov. 28), will showcase profiles of Leroy Nicky Barnes, "Freeway" Ricky Ross, The Chambers Brothers, Fat Cat Nicholas and Stanley "Tookie" Williams and how their actions affected their community.
"Crime is a cancer that eats away at our communities," said Reginald Hudlin, BET President of Entertainment. "But for a generation that grew up thinking greed is good -- whether on Wall Street or Martin Luther King Boulevard -- they're not quite so sure whether crime pays or not. We wanted to take an honest look at the criminal life, demystify that world and show what it does to our community."
In addition to exploring the lives of drug dealers, murderers and thieves, each American Gangster episode will include segments with those affected by the subjects profiled, as well as news footage, photographs and interviews.
The six-part docu-drama is narrated by actor Ving Rhames and executive produced by Nelson George, Frank Sinton (Asylum Entertainment), Mark Rowland and BET.
"We picked figures whose crimes were legendary in their cities and had national, and in some cases, an international dimension," George added. "U.S. presidents play a key role in four of the six episodes, which shows you these criminals were not just purse snatchers."
Viewers can download the first episode of American Gangster right now for free on iTunes.
Available shows include BET’s new docudrama American Gangster as well as DMX: Soul of a Man, Lil' Kim: Countdown to Lockdown and Beef: The Series.
BET's latest series American Gangster chronicles the life and times of some of Black America's most notorious crime figures.
The show, which premieres Tuesday (Nov. 28), will showcase profiles of Leroy Nicky Barnes, "Freeway" Ricky Ross, The Chambers Brothers, Fat Cat Nicholas and Stanley "Tookie" Williams and how their actions affected their community.
"Crime is a cancer that eats away at our communities," said Reginald Hudlin, BET President of Entertainment. "But for a generation that grew up thinking greed is good -- whether on Wall Street or Martin Luther King Boulevard -- they're not quite so sure whether crime pays or not. We wanted to take an honest look at the criminal life, demystify that world and show what it does to our community."
In addition to exploring the lives of drug dealers, murderers and thieves, each American Gangster episode will include segments with those affected by the subjects profiled, as well as news footage, photographs and interviews.
The six-part docu-drama is narrated by actor Ving Rhames and executive produced by Nelson George, Frank Sinton (Asylum Entertainment), Mark Rowland and BET.
"We picked figures whose crimes were legendary in their cities and had national, and in some cases, an international dimension," George added. "U.S. presidents play a key role in four of the six episodes, which shows you these criminals were not just purse snatchers."
Viewers can download the first episode of American Gangster right now for free on iTunes.
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