Lies and Fairy Tales

Tiger Woods apologizes

2010-02-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

After a short silence, Tiger has given a press conference to apologize to his family, beginning with his mother, who was sitting in the front row. Tiger Woods promises to come back soon to play golf, and not ruled out a reconciliation with his wife. Here we show the full text of his speech:

Good morning, and thank you for joining me. Many of you in this room are my friends. Many of you in this room know me. Many of you have cheered for me or you've worked with me or you've supported me.

Now every one of you has good reason to be critical of me. I want to say to each of you, simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.

I know people want to find out how I could be so selfish and so foolish. People want to know how I could have done these things to my wife, Elin, and to my children. And while I have always tried to be a private person, there are some things I want to say.

Elin and I have started the process of discussing the damage caused by my behavior. As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time. We have a lot to discuss; however, what we say to each other will remain between the two of us.

I am also aware of the pain my behavior has caused to those of you in this room. I have let you down, and I have let down my fans. For many of you, especially my friends, my behavior has been a personal disappointment. To those of you who work for me, I have let you down personally and professionally. My behavior has caused considerable worry to my business partners.

To everyone involved in my foundation, including my staff, board of directors, sponsors and most importantly, the young students we reach, our work is more important than ever. Thirteen years ago, my dad and I envisioned helping young people achieve their dreams through education. This work remains unchanged and will continue to grow. From the Learning Center students in Southern California to the Earl Woods scholars in Washington, D.C., millions of kids have changed their lives, and I am dedicated to making sure that continues.

But still, I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you. I have made you question who I am and how I could have done the things I did. I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position.

For all that I have done, I am so sorry.

I have a lot to atone for, but there is one issue I really want to discuss. Some people have speculated that Elin somehow hurt or attacked me on Thanksgiving night. It angers me that people would fabricate a story like that. Elin never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage, ever. Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal. Elin deserves praise, not blame.

The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.

I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them.

I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me. I brought this shame on myself. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife's family, my friends, my foundation and kids all around the world who admired me.

I've had a lot of time to think about what I've done. My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before. It's now up to me to make amends and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I've made. It's up to me to start living a life of integrity.

I once heard, and I believe it's true, it's not what you achieve in life that matters; it's what you overcome. Achievements on the golf course are only part of setting an example. Character and decency are what really count.

Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids. I owe all those families a special apology. I want to say to them that I am truly sorry.

It's hard to admit that I need help, but I do. For 45 days from the end of December to early February, I was in inpatient therapy receiving guidance for the issues I'm facing. I have a long way to go. But I've taken my first steps in the right direction.

As I proceed, I understand people have questions. I understand the press wants to ask me for the details and the times I was unfaithful. I understand people want to know whether Elin and I will remain together. Please know that as far as I'm concerned, every one of these questions and answers is a matter between Elin and me. These are issues between a husband and a wife.

Some people have made up things that never happened. They said I used performance-enhancing drugs. This is completely and utterly false. Some have written things about my family. Despite the damage I have done, I still believe it is right to shield my family from the public spotlight. They did not do these things; I did.

I have always tried to maintain a private space for my wife and children. They have been kept separate from my sponsors, my commercial endorsements. When my children were born, we only released photographs so that the paparazzi could not chase them. However, my behavior doesn't make it right for the media to follow my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter to school and report the school's location. They staked out my wife and they pursued my mom. Whatever my wrongdoings, for the sake of my family, please leave my wife and kids alone.

I recognize I have brought this on myself, and I know above all I am the one who needs to change. I owe it to my family to become a better person. I owe it to those closest to me to become a better man. That's where my focus will be.

I have a lot of work to do, and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it. Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age. People probably don't realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously, I lost track of what I was taught.

As I move forward, I will continue to receive help because I've learned that's how people really do change. Starting tomorrow, I will leave for more treatment and more therapy. I would like to thank my friends at Accenture and the players in the field this week for understanding why I'm making these remarks today.

In therapy, I've learned the importance of looking at my spiritual life and keeping in balance with my professional life. I need to regain my balance and be centered so I can save the things that are most important to me -- my marriage and my children.

That also means relying on others for help. I've learned to seek support from my peers in therapy, and I hope someday to return that support to others who are seeking help. I do plan to return to golf one day, I just don't know when that day will be.

I don't rule out that it will be this year. When I do return, I need to make my behavior more respectful of the game. In recent weeks, I have received many thousands of e-mails, letters and phone calls from people expressing good wishes. To everyone who has reached out to me and my family, thank you. Your encouragement means the world to Elin and me.

I want to thank the PGA Tour, Commissioner Finchem and the players for their patience and understanding while I work on my private life. I look forward to seeing my fellow players on the course.

Finally, there are many people in this room, and there are many people at home who believed in me. Today, I want to ask for your help. I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again.

Thank you.

We hope that Tiger Woods speedy recovery and return her life to be the best golf player in the world.

News for fairies and liars

2010-02-21T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Today I've decided to star a new stage on my blog. I know it was so deserted, I'm sorry. So I only wish start to write posts soon. It'll be the best way to compensate my lost months without appear for here.

Thank you for your understanding, I'll try to be better this time.

Polly

Actor Jocelyn Quivrin dies

2009-11-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

French actor Jocelyn Quivrin, known for films like Lol or 99 francs, died last night in a road accident, local media reported. Quivrin, 30, lost control of his sport car at the tunnel entrance of Saint-Cloud, near Paris, because the road was wet, which resulted in crashed into a concrete ramp and caught fire. Despite his youth, Quivrin had already participated in some thirty films.

Eggs florentine recipe

2009-09-24T03:11:00.000-07:00

1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen chopped spinach, cooked & drained
1 (11 oz.) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
4 eggs
1 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. minced dry onion
1 tsp. mustard
1/2 c. croutons

Combine spinach and 1/2 of the soup. Spoon into individual casseroles. Spread evenly on bottom and up sides. Break 1 egg into each casserole. Bake in 350 degree oven 20-25 minutes or until eggs are set. In pan heat and stir remaining soup, milk, onion and mustard. Spoon over eggs. Garnish with croutons.

Bon appetit!

Corpus Delicti

2009-09-24T03:04:00.000-07:00

Corpus delicti (plural: corpora delicti) (Latin: "body of crime") is a term from Western jurisprudence which refers to the principle that it must be proven that a crime has occurred before a person can be convicted of committing the crime. For example, a person cannot be tried for larceny unless it can be proven that property has been stolen. Likewise, in order for a person to be tried for arson it must be proven that a criminal act resulted in the burning of a property. Black's Law Dictionary (6th ed.) defines "corpus delicti" as: "the fact of a crime having been actually committed."

In the Anglo-American legal system, the concept has its outgrowth in several principles. Many jurisdictions hold as a legal rule that a defendant's out-of-court confession, alone, is not sufficient evidence to prove the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. See, e.g., Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 497 n.14, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963)(citing to corpus delicti rule and stating: "For the history and development of the corroboration requirement, see 7 Wigmore, Evidence [3d ed. 1940], §§ 2070-2071; Note, Proof of the Corpus Delicti Aliunde the Defendant's Confession, 103 U. of Pa. L. Rev. 638-649 [1955]. For the present scope and application of the rule, see 2 Underhill, Criminal Evidence [5th ed. 1956], §§ 402-403. For a comprehensive collection of cases, see Annot., 45 A. L. R.2d 1316 [1956].") A corollary to this rule is that an accused cannot be convicted solely upon the testimony of an accomplice. Some jurisdictions also hold that without first showing independent corroboration that a crime happened, the prosecution may not introduce evidence of the defendant's statement.

Specific Offenses

General- All corpus delicti requires at a minimum: 1) The occurrence of the specific injury; and 2) some criminal agency as the source of the injury. For example:

* Homicide - 1. An individual has died; and 2. By a criminal act.

* Larceny - 1. Property missing; and 2. Because it was stolen

Misinterpretation

Evidence in the case of British serial killer John George Haigh indicated that he decided to destroy the bodies of his victims with acid because he had the mistaken belief that, in the absence of a corpse, murder could not be proven because there was no corpus delicti. Haigh had misinterpreted the Latin word corpus as a literal body rather than a figurative one.

True Blood 2x10 New World in My View

2009-08-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

Robert Novak has died

2009-08-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

The journalist Bob Novak, a famous political columnist and defined by his colleagues as a "legend", died at 78 years after fighting for a year against a brain tumor, CNN reported today. Novak, married with two children, died at his home in Washington.

Robert Novak was born in 1931 in Joliet, in the state of Illinois. He began his journalistic career in politics in 1957 as a reporter for the Associated Press and then the daily Wall Street Journal.

Rest in Peace.

The most famous vampire

2009-08-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

Entertainment Weekly is the magazine that shows a list of 20 most famous vampire in the world, including Robert Pattinson and Stephen Moyer:

1. Lestat, Interview With the Vampire

2. Christopher Lee’s Dracula

3. Bela Lugosi’s Dracula

4. Edward Cullen, Twilight

5. Bill and Eric, True Blood

6. Asa Vajda, 1960’s Black Sunday

7. Angel

8. Mr. Barlow, Salem’s Lot

9. Schuyler Van Alen, Melissa de la Cruz’s Blue Bloods series

10. Gary Oldman’s Dracula

11. Klaus Kinski’s Dracula

12. Zoey Redbird, P.C. and Kristin Cast’s House of Night series

13. Jean-Claude, Laurel K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series

14. David, 1987’s The Lost Boys

15. Miriam Blaylock and Sarah Roberts, 1983’s The Hunger

16. Blade, the Blade trilogy

17. Eli, 2008’s Let the Right One In

18. Countess Bathory, 1971’s Daughters of Darkness

19. Selene, the Underworld trilogy

20. Caleb and Mae, 1987’s Near Dark

Which is your favorite vampire? I love Lestat!

Latoya Jackson knows who killed Michael Jackson

2009-07-12T03:20:00.000-07:00

Two weeks after the death of Michael Jackson, the conjecture about the causes of his death had happened to the tributes to the King of Pop. If this week claimed that the police did not rule out the hypothesis of murder and investigating all medical Jackson, this Sunday Latoya Jackson throws more fuel on the fire and sensational claims in two British newspapers, the News of the World and The Mail on Sunday, his brother was murdered and that she knows who the murderers.

In the News of the World, that the whole page entitled "I know who killed my Michael," Latoya says that several persons responsible for the disappearance of his brother and that reason was "a conspiracy to take money from Michael". Their statements are known two days after the police chief of Los Angeles admitted that the murder was one of the research, something that has no doubt Latoya. "There was a conspiracy. I think it was all for the money. Michael was worth over 1,000 million dollars in assets for broadcast rights of music and someone killed him for that. Worth more dead than alive," says the singer's older sister, who no names at any time about who might be murderers.

Latoya says that this "group of people" stole $ 2 million in cash and jewelry from many of his brother's house, which he hooked to drugs, it isolated from family and friends to feel alone and vulnerable " and that forced him to work to exhaustion to keep making money.

Michael, according to the testimony of Latoya, did not want to give the series of 50 concerts that were to have begun Monday in London. "Less than a month ago, I said I thought Michael was going to die before the actions of London because he was surrounded by people who did not harbor the best intentions in his heart," said Latoya, who describes his brother as a person " very docile, quiet and loving, which people use ". "I never thought that Michael lived until an old man," says the interviewee, believe that Michael Jackson was "the single person most of the world" and that "sooner or later it was something terrible to happen."

In interviews reveal other details such as the singer did not die in his bed, but on the doctor who was living with, Conrad Murray, who accused of disappearing from the hospital he was transferred to the singer when she began to ask questions. "He just mumble something and said something like 'Michael did not, sorry." Something was not right. I thought it was strange, "he says.

Latoya says that it was he who insisted that he did a second autopsy after seeing the corpse that had puncture marks on her neck and arms, "and predicted that knowing the final results will be a shock for all world. It also says that he hopes is a testament to his brother after 2002 in which Michael Jackson hopes that their children live with Diana Ross. Latoya says that it will never cease to live with her biological mother, Debbie Rowe, which was accused of being part of the type of people who "stood for Michael because he was interested in her money."

Latoya is confident that the children remain with Jackson and offers some details of how to react to the death of his father. According to his story, the children did not stop mourn until they were able to spend 30 minutes next to the body of his father and was able to dismiss him. Paris will put a collar around one of his hands, after which, according to Latoya, "said Dad had to work too hard."

Farrah Fawcett funeral photos

2009-07-01T03:06:00.000-07:00

Farrah Fawcet died on Thursday, victim of anus's cancer . The blonde actress will always be remembered for his role in Charlie's Angels. Here you can find all photos of her last performance: her funeral.

She was a beautiful actress who is always in our hearts. Rest in peace.

Latest news: the death of Michael Jackson

2009-06-29T10:48:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson weighed only 51 kilos, was partially dissolved pill in the stomach and had several broken ribs, according to leaked details of the autopsy to the sensationalist newspaper The Sun. As reported today by the British newspaper, to the first post mortem examination carried Jackson's body after his sudden death last Thursday, the body of the king of pop was almost a skeleton and was very deteriorated.

Jackson, whose remains were submitted over the weekend to a second autopsy requested by his family, had not eaten anything and only had pills in his stomach.

As a result of efforts to revive the singer, 50, had fractured ribs and four of needle puncture on the heart to supply the body with adrenaline. In addition, Jackson had been almost bald, and in fact wore a wig, says the British newspaper.

The coroners have also found bruises on the knees and shins of the singer and in the back, which could be the aftermath of a recent fall. Also, the body of the king of pop was packed with surgical scars caused by at least 13 cosmetic surgeries. The family and supporters of Michael is horrified when they realize the terrible state in which it was, "the newspaper said a source close to the vicinity of the star.

The Sun published details of an autopsy after the medical staff of Michael Jackson, Conrad Murray, was last weekend and released under suspicion after three hours of questioning to which he put to the Police. The spokesman for the doctor, Miranda Sevcik, said that Murray answered "all of the questions," performed by actors who work to elucidate the reasons for the singer's death, which the doctor was an eyewitness. According to the sensationalist British newspaper, the Jackson family is preparing a multimillion-dollar claim against the physician.

David Ogden Stiers is gay

2009-05-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

yes, it's gay, so what?

The popular actor David Ogden Stiers has openly said that he' s gay, and he is proud of it.

He has admitted his sexual orientation to the blog "Gossip Boy". Also, David has produced fear tell it that being gay closes many doors.

David Ogden Stiers (born October 31, 1942) is an actor, voice actor, and musician, noted for his role in the television sitcom M * A * S * H as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III and the science fiction drama The Dead Zone as Reverend Gene Purdy. A connoisseur of classical music, Stiers has been a guest conductor for over 50 Orchestras in North America and maintained a position as associate conductor of the Newport Symphony Orchestra and the Ernest Bloch Music Festival. He has also conducted for the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Really, are we interested in this story? Viva sexual freedom!

Easter pictures

2009-03-10T14:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!

Rihanna and Chris Brown get married?

2009-03-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

According to Star Magazine, the couple would have been to resolve their differences and ended up expressing his eternal love. The magazine says that Rihanna Chris Brown confessed: "I can not live without you."

The singer, excited, apologized, begged him to forgive and to finish so emotional that Rihanna was asked to marry him. And so say the media, forgave him and accepted the proposal.

The couple have secretly married last weekend at the mansion Diddy, an island located in Miami, ignoring the advice that friends and family gave Rihanna.

Chris Brown was arrested on February 8 and released on bail of $ 50,000. He is accused of assault and criminal threats to the singer. His appearance before the Superior Court of Los Angeles has been delayed until April 6.

Gisele Bündchen get married!

2009-02-27T04:57:00.000-08:00

The lucky man has been the New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, 31. The wedding was held last Thursday in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. Only friends and family closest to the couple went to the wedding.
Gisele Bündchen, 28, was outfitted by Dolce & Gabbana, as were her three dogs.

Congratulations for the couple!

'Deadly Creatures' a creepy adventure for the Wii

2009-02-20T05:03:00.000-08:00

Bugs are frowned upon in computer software, especially video games. But in the case of THQ video game Deadly Creatures, they're the main attraction.

The adventure for the Nintendo Wii features an interesting story told through the eyes of two unusual lead "characters": a scorpion and a tarantula. As they navigate the desert, they witness the action of two men — voiced by actors Dennis Hopper and Billy Bob Thornton — search for treasure in a landscape littered with dangerous animals and insects.

Players hear bits of conversation as they traverse a small tunnel, or watch key moments while perched on a ledge. The method is very clever and unique.

The game breaks down into 10 levels, five for each creature. While the tarantula is quick and nimble, the scorpion is both bigger and stronger. Attacks are handled using a combination of remote and nunchuk flourishes and well-timed button presses. Taking advantage of its agility, the tarantula can pounce on foes, for example. The scorpion, meanwhile, can deliver tail stings and whips.

Level objectives are pretty straightforward, with directives such as "find your way to the surface." Creatures will climb up walls, slip inside small crevices and even walk upside down on ceilings to reach their destination. The variety of objects keeps you engaged in this very large world, such as sneakers to crawl through or a broken-down truck to trek across.

Overall, the tarantula is a more interesting creature to control. Because you can't string together strikes as easily, you're forced to think more strategically about how best to vanquish enemy creatures. The scorpion, on the other hand, can dish out hits more quickly. Therefore, it's easy to just flail and press buttons frantically to beat down opponents.

Foes ranging from wolf spiders and black widows to gila monsters and rattlesnakes lurk in the wilderness. Yet your greatest nemesis is the perspective. The game's camera stalks your every move, yet struggles to keep pace when the action picks up. As a result, you're left viewing battles from awkward angles, blinded to approaching threats. Prepare to consistently press down on the remote's directional pad to center your view.

Don't be scared off by the creepy-crawly critters that adorn the box art for Deadly Creatures. Despite some noticeable flaws, this adventure offers plenty to embrace.

Source: USA Today

Nintendo DSi

2009-02-20T04:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning Nintendo of America announced that the latest evolution of its DS portable, the DSi, was due to hit stateside on April 5 of this year, priced at $169.99 MSRP. The device is the next system upgrade in the line of DS handhelds, and not a successor to the DS itself (much like the GBA SP or Micro releases for Game Boy Advance), though it promises to bring even more technology to the Big N's innovative pocket platform. Adding in two cameras, internal memory for music, pictures, and downloadable software, a SD port for additional memory, a new front end inspired by the Wii's channel system, and a pair of slightly larger screens, the DSi hopes to bring new lift into the already impressive DS hardware.

Where the real question comes in though, is in some of the changes and sacrifices the hardware asks players to make, and with that we hear the questioning cries of Nintendo fans everywhere as they shout "Should I, or should I not drop the cash and upgrade to DSi?"

Well, we're here to help. Yes the DSi is a bit pricey, and for those of you still catching up on your backlog of awesome Advance titles (or strumming away with Guitar Hero On Tour) the GBA slot has been removed, but there are benefits to the upgrade as well, and therein lies the rub. In order to make sense of it all, the IGN Nintendo Team has jotted down its own personal take on the system in a more personal editor-by-editor format.

Read more!

Source: IGN

Robert Pattinson To Present At Academy Awards

2009-02-19T05:43:00.000-08:00

If this latest report is to be believed, Sunday night’s Oscar ceremony will welcome a new and welcome face for many a young fan. Sure, you’ll get your Brad and Angelina fix this weekend (both are nominated of course) but who cares about the world’s most famous couple this side of Barack and Michelle when Robert Pattinson is involved.

Yes, HitFix claims they have confirmed the recent rumors that “Twilight” star Pattinson will indeed present an award at the Oscars. The report doesn’t indicate what award Pattinson will present nor whether his “Twilight” co-star Kristen Stewart will be by his side as he bestows a statuette to a lucky winner.

The decision to add Pattinson to the roster of presenters can’t be considered much of a surprise. It’s no secret that the Oscar telecast has been a ratings-challenged affair in recent years. And this year’s ceremony — without a blockbuster like “Titanic” (or even “The Dark Knight”) in competition for the major awards — could use all the help it can. Hugh Jackman will host the proceedings and that certainly establishes a different vibe than the usual stand-up host. But with the addition of Pattinson the Oscar producers are clearly hoping to draw in a younger crowd.

Source: MTV

Rihanna postpones Malaysian show amid attack case

2009-02-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

Singer Rihanna has postponed her scheduled February 13 concert in Malaysia, a concert promoter said on Tuesday, following reports she was attacked by boyfriend and singer Chris Brown this past weekend. Los Angeles police investigators have identified Rihanna as the victim in Sunday's attack. Brown has been arrested and charged with making criminal threats and Rihanna is cooperating with detectives, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Source: Washintong Post

Americans for Prosperity starts a no stimulus petition drive

2009-02-10T13:25:00.000-08:00

A group calling themselves, "Americans for Prosperity" has started a so-called no stimulus petition drive concerning the proposed economic stimulus package. Does this group involve concerned Americans in all financial categories or does it simply reflect the "haves" striving to hold down the "have not’s?"

Last month nearly 600,000 Americans lost their jobs, bring us a whopping three-and-a-half million loses during this recession. A recession, some have yet to even acknowledge.

I have a hard time watching John McCain (and others) urging everyone to run online and sign a silly petition. I don’t remember him doing that when Bush blindly announced the first bailout plan, Sure we all squawked when the CEO’s arrived in private jets and even giggled when they were asked if they couldn’t have “jet pooled” But I don’t remember any call for Americans to sign a petition!

And there were plenty of talks about how Bush’s invasion has set our Country into a spiral of debt. If ever there had been a need for Americans to ban together, it was then. But again, no petition was circulated and promoted by members of Congress!

In a time where Congress needs to come together, they seem bent on staying apart. One could argue they are simply setting the stage for their next election. On the other side, one could argue they are truly standing by what they think is right. But a petition, does anyone seriously believe that would have any impact?

And where was this group during the first bailout? Oh that’s right; it was mainly a bailout for the rich. So, maybe, just maybe if people promoting this petition were to lose one of their 7 (or was it 9) homes, they might be able to understand the need the average American. Remember, the idea here is to stimulate the economy which will in turn, help us all.

Source: Examiner

2PAC - All eyez on me

2009-02-10T05:56:00.000-08:00

['Pac talking]
Big Syke, Newt, Hank
Beugard, Big Sur (yeah)
Y'all know how this shit go (y'know)
{All Eyez On Me}
Motherfuckin O.G.
Roll up in the club and shit (is that right?)
{All Eyez On Me}
{All Eyez On Me}
But you know what?

[2Pac]
I bet you got it twisted you don't know who to trust
So many playa hating niggaz tryin to sound like us
Say they ready for the funk, but I don't think they knowin
Straight to the depths of hell is where those cowards goin
Well are you still down nigga? Holla when you see me
And let these devils be sorry for the day they finally freed me
I got a caravan of niggaz every time we ride (every time we ride)
Hittin motherfuckers up when we pass by (when we pass by)
Until I die; live the life of a boss playa
Cause even when I'm high, fuck with me and get crossed later
The futures in my eyes, cause all I want is cash and thangs
A five-double-oh - Benz flauntin flashy rings, uhh
Bitches pursue me like a dream
Been know to disappear before your eyes just like a dope fiend
It seems - my main thang was to be major paid
The game sharper than a motherfuckin razor blade
Say money bring bitches, bitches bring lies
One nigga's gettin jealous, and motherfuckers died
Depend on me like the first and fifteenth
They might hold me for a second, but these punks won't get me
We got foe niggaz, and lowriders, in ski masks
screamin Thug Life every time they pass {All Eyez On Me}

[Chorus One: 2Pac]

Live the life of a thug nigga, until the day I die
live the life of a boss playa {All Eyez On Me}
cause even gettin high.. ..{All Eyez On Me}
Live the life of a thug nigga, until the day I die
live the life of a boss playa, cause even gettin high..

[Syke]
Heeyyy, to my nigga 'Pac..
So much trouble in the world, nigga
Can't nobody feel your pain
The world's changin everyday, times moving faaast
My girl said I need a raise, how long will she last?
I'm caught between my woman, and my pistol, and my chips
Triple beam, got some smokers on, whistle as I dip
I'm lost in the land with no plan, livin life flawless
Crime boss, contraband, let me toss this
Needy hookers got a lot of nerve, let my bucket swerve
I'm takin off from the curb
The nervousness neglect make me pack a tec
Devoted to servin this, Moet and paaayyy-checks
Like Akai satellite nigga I'm forever ballin
It ain't right parasites triggers and fleas crawlin
Sucker duck and get busted, no emotion
My devotion is handlin my business nigga keep on coastin
Where you goin I been there came back as lonely homie
Steady flowin against the grain niggaz STILL don't know me
It's about the money in this rap shit, this crap shit
It ain't funny niggaz don't even know how to act - shit!
What can I do, what can I say, is there another way?
Blunts and gin all day, twenty-fo' parlay
My little homie G, can't you see, I'm busta free
Niggaz can't stand me - all eyes on me!

[Chorus Two: 2Pac]

I live the life of a thug nigga, until the day I die
Live the life as a boss playa {All Eyez On Me}
cause even gettin high {All Eyez On Me}
I live the life of a thug nigga, until the day I die
live the life as a boss playa {All Eyez On Me}
cause even gettin high

[2Pac]
The feds is watchin, niggaz plottin to get me
Will I survive, will I die? Come on let's picture the possibility
Givin me charges, lawyers makin a grip
I told the judge I was raised wrong, and that's why I blaze shit
Was hyper as a kid, cold as a teenager
On my mobile callin big shots on the scene major
Packing hundreds in my drawers; fuck the law
Bitches I fuck with a passion, I'm livin rough and raw
Catchin cases at a fast rate, ballin in the fast lane
Hustle til the mornin, never stopped until the cash came
Live my life as a thug nigga, until the day I die
Live my life as a boss playa, cause even gettin high
these niggaz got me tossin shit
I put the top down, now it's time to floss my shit
Keep your head up nigga, make these motherfuckers suffer
Up in the Benz burnin rubber
The money is mandatory, the hoes is fully strapped
This criminal lifestyle, equipped with the bulletproof vest
Make sure your eyes is on the meal ticket
Get your money motherfucker let's get rich and we'll kick it
All eyes on me!

[Chorus Three: 2Pac]

I live the life as a thug nigga, until the day I die
Live the life as a boss playa {All Eyez On Me}
cause even gettin high.. ..{All Eyez On Me}
I live the life as a thug nigga, until the day I die
Live the life as a boss playa {All Eyez On Me}
cause even gettin high.. ..{All Eyez On Me}

['Pac talking]
Pay attention my niggaz
See how that shit go? Nigga walk up in this motherfucker
and it be like "bing!"
Cops.. bitches.. everymotherfuckinbody
[overlap]
Live my life as a thug nigga, until the day I die
Live my life as a boss playa, cause even gettin high
I got bustas hoes and police watchin a nigga y'know?
[overlap]
I live my life as a thug nigga, until the day I die
Livin life as a boss playa, cause even gettin high
{All Eyez On Me}
Hehehe.. it's like what they think?
I'm walkin around with some ki's in my pocket or somethin?
{All Eyez On Me}
They think I'm goin back to jail, they REALLY on that dope
[overlap]
Live my life as a thug nigga, until the day I die
Live my life as a boss playa
I know y'all watchin, I know y'all got me in the scopes
[overlap]
Live my life as a thug nigga, until the day I die
Live my life as a boss playa, cause even gettin high
I know y'all know this is Thug Life baayy-bay
Y'all got me under surveillance huh?
{All Eyez On Me}
But I'm knowin

Source: Quedeletras

Blink 182 back together!

2009-02-10T05:46:00.000-08:00

Blink-182 are back together, the reunion confirmed after the Grammys. The reunion of Blink-182 for 2009 was broke by David Kennedy earlier this weekend with word of a new album for 2009.

Thursday night, David Kennedy told fans that even as A&A is about to put out a new album for 2009, so too is Blink-182 to everyone’s surprise.

“I’m trying to write a statement about how Angels is all good while Blink is coming back”.

Asked if no A&A album would be released in replacement for Blink-182, Kennedy added

“No sir. … It will be a good creative year and I want to make sure that comes across.”

And just to make sure it was super clear, another fan said, hey is Blink-182 reuniting?

“Yeah, putting out a record.”

The three appeared this Sunday as presenters at the Grammy Awards. Now after the awards show , Blink-182 issued the following official statement Sunday evening from Los Angeles:

“Hi. We’re blink-182. This past week there’ve been a lot of questions about the current status of the band, and we wanted you to hear it straight from us. To put it simply, We’re back. We mean, really back. Picking up where we left off and then some. In the studio writing and recording a new album. Preparing to tour the world yet again. Friendships reformed. 17 years deep in our legacy.

“Summer 2009. Thanks and get ready…”

2009 is going to be a great year!

Source: Lalate News

Alex Rodriguez admits drug use

2009-02-10T05:33:00.000-08:00

Already the highest-paid player, Alex Rodriguez wanted to prove himself one of the greatest. Instead, he wound up atop another list: the highest-profile player to confess to cheating in baseball’s steroids era.

The All-Star third baseman, responding to a weekend Sports Illustrated report that he flunked a drug test, told ESPN on Monday he used banned substances while playing with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03 to justify his 10-year, $252 million contract.

“Back then, it was a different culture,” Rodriguez said. “It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive, and I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, I was worth, you know — and being one of the greatest players of all time.”

He said he didn’t do it before that and quit during spring training in 2003, before the first of three American League MVP seasons, because “I’ve proved to myself and to everyone that I don’t need any of that.” He was traded to the New York Yankees before the 2004 season and said he hasn’t used banned substances since.

The admission came two days after Sports Illustrated reported on its Web site that Rodriguez was among 104 names on a list of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, when testing was intended to determine the extent of steroid use in baseball. The results weren’t subject to discipline and were supposed to remain anonymous.

“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day,” Rodriguez said.

“And I did take a banned substance and, you know, for that I’m very sorry and deeply regretful. And although it was the culture back then and Major League Baseball overall was very — I just feel that — You know, I’m just sorry. I’m sorry for that time. I’m sorry to fans. I’m sorry for my fans in Texas. It wasn’t until then that I ever thought about substance of any kind.”

Rodriguez said part of the reason he started using drugs was the heat in Texas.

“Can I have an edge just to get out there and play every day?” he said to himself. “You basically end up trusting the wrong people. You end up, you know, not being very careful about what you’re ingesting.”

Though Rodriguez said he experimented with a number of substances, he never provided details.

“It was such a loosey-goosey era. I’m guilty for a lot of things. I’m guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions,” Rodriguez said. “And to be quite honest, I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.”

Owner feels ‘betrayed’

SI reported Rodriguez tested positive for Primobolan and testosterone.

He said he stopped using during spring training 2003, when he sustained a neck injury. It was just as baseball started its drug-testing survey.

Rangers owner Tom Hicks said the admission caught him by surprise.

“I feel personally betrayed. I feel deceived by Alex,” Hicks said in a conference call. “He assured me that he had far too much respect for his own body to ever do that to himself. … I certainly don’t believe that if he’s now admitting that he started using when he came to the Texas Rangers, why should I believe that it didn’t start before he came to the Texas Rangers?”

During those three seasons, Rodriguez averaged 161.7 games, 52 homers, 131.7 RBIs and a .615 slugging percentage. In the other 10 full seasons of his career, he averaged 149.2 games, 39.2 homers, 119 RBIs, and a .574 slugging percentage, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“This is three years I’m not proud of,” Rodriguez said.

The 33-year-old Rodriguez ranks 12th on the career list with 553 homers, including 52, 57 and 47 in his three seasons with the Rangers. He is 209 behind Barry Bonds’ record 762.

U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who sits on the House committee that brought Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and other baseball players to Capitol Hill in recent years, favored a congressional hearing with Rodriguez.

“It would be good perhaps for us to sit down and talk to him,” Cummings said in a telephone interview. “I would think that he would want to cooperate with us so that the Congress would have the information it may need.”

Rodriguez’s admission was in stark contrast to the denials of Bonds and of Clemens, Rodriguez’s former Yankees teammate.

Bonds, a seven-time MVP, is scheduled for trial next month on charges that he lied when he told a federal grand jury in 2003 that he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. Another federal grand jury is considering whether to indict seven-time AL Cy Young Award winner Clemens on charges he lied when he told a congressional committee last year that he never used steroids or human growth hormone.

Questions remain

Rather than hold a news conference, as Giambi and Pettitte did for their confessionals, Rodriguez chose the controlled setting of an interview with ESPN, one of Major League Baseball’s television partners.

The interview left open many questions:

From whom did Rodriguez obtain drugs?
How did he pay for them?
Did anyone help him obtain them?

“You have nutritionists, you have doctors, you have trainers. That’s the right question today: Where did you get it? We’re in the era of BALCO,” Rodriguez said. “There’s many things that you can take that are banned substances. I mean, there’s things that have been removed from GNC today that would trigger a positive test.”

Monday’s ESPN interview directly contradicted a December 2007 interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” when Rodriguez said “No” when asked if he had ever used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance.

“I wasn’t even being truthful with myself,” he said Monday. “Today, I’m here to tell the truth.”

In his 2008 book, “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball,” Jose Canseco claimed he introduced Rodriguez to a steroids dealer. Canseco, who has admitted using steroids, subsequently said he had no knowledge of any drug use by Rodriguez.

“They are looking in the wrong places,” Canseco said in a text message to The Associated Press. “This is a 25-year cover-up. The true criminals are Gene Orza, (union head) Donald Fehr and (commissioner) Bud (Selig). Investigate them, and you will have all the answers.”

SI said that Orza, the union’s chief operating officer, tipped off three players in September 2004 that they would be tested. Orza repeatedly has denied that he tipped off players, saying he merely reminded them late in the season that if they had not yet been tested, baseball’s drug agreement required them to be tested by the end of the regular season.

Source: Ledger Enquirer

Flowers for Valentine`s Day

2009-02-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

The Rose is the best flower for Valentine's Day! It's so lovely! You can find it in many colors and shapes, but for the day of love, I recommend the red rose.

Poems for Valentine's Day

2009-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for love poems or love quotes, you have come to the right place. Read and enjoy with your lover:

Be my Valentine, for I
Each day have thought of you.
My whole life couldn't manage what
Your ready smile can do,
Vanquishing my loneliness
As though all light were new.
Let me be your Valentine
Even as you're mine,
Needing what I have to give
That each might each define
In friendship and in harmony,
Now you, now I the melody,
Each helping each to shine.

A Valentine is nothing like
A chocolate or a rose.
For in a week these shall be gone,
But Valentines remain.

If love were always sweet to tongue
Or fragrant to the nose,
Each day would be like Valentine's,
And we would go insane.

A Valentine just hangs around
Waiting to be kissed
Long after special days have passed
And every days are here.

So one is wise to choose one well
And chocolates to resist.
For in the midst of mania
It's nice to have one near.

Happy Valentine, my love!
All my love is yours.
Praised be love that brings us home,
Pilgrims to these shores.
Yearnings here find harborage;
Vanities, sly smiles.
All that righteous anger rends,
Love here reconciles.
Even in the darkness where
No bitterness finds rest,
Thoughts of you are like a dawn
Intent on happiness.
Nor would I have so light a heart
Except that I am blessed!

This Valentine's I wish that you were with me.
It's lonelier than most days I'm alone,
Even though we'll manage on the phone
To touch with words the face we cannot see.
You away are far more dear to me
Than anyone who might remain at home.
My love is in the places that you roam,
Being with you where I cannot be.
We do not choose the objects of our passion,
But passively await the holy fire
That immolates our past and lights our fate,
Twisting through the alleys of desire.
So I am yours, and will contented wait,
Allowing love my life and will to fashion.

Valentine Smile

On Valentine's Day we think of those
Who make our lives worthwhile,
Those gracious, friendly people who
We think of with a smile. I am fortunate to know you,
That's why I want to say,
To a rare and special person:
Happy Valentine's Day! By Joanna Fuchs

Valentine Treasures

Valentine treasures are people who
have often crossed your mind,
family, friends and others, too,
who in your life have shined
the warmth of love or a spark of light
that makes you remember them;
no matter how long since you’ve actually met,
each one is a luminous gem
who gleams and glows in your memory,
bringing special pleasures,
and that’s why this Valentine comes to you:
You’re one of those sparkling treasures! By Joanna Fuchs

Special Connection

Valentine’s Day is for expressing affection;
Fond thoughts are coming your way;
We’ve always had a special connection,
So Happy Valentine’s Day! By Joanna Fuchs

Valentine Gift

On Valentine’s Day,
I’m thinking about
the special ways
you have made my life better.
The little things,
the not-so-little things...
Your kindness,
the way you always listen
and pay attention to me.
You make my world
brighter and richer.
You’re a gift to me,
and I thank you
for being you. By Joanna Fuchs

Source: Poems for Free and Poems Source.

Valentine Cards

2009-02-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

The day of Love is near! Are you Are you looking for Valentine cards? You're so lucky. Here you can find your perfect Virtual Valentine Cards! Open your eyes and your heart:

Valentine's Day Cards. So beatiful!
More Cards!

Now, some examples:

Eluana Englaro, finally, has died

2009-02-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

Italian news agencies have reported that the woman at the heart of a right-to-die debate has died.

Senators who had been debating a bill designed to prevent Eluana Englaro's feeding tubes from being removed observed a minute of silence when the news was read out.

The ANSA agency, citing local, regional and law enforcement officials, reported Monday that Englaro died in the clinic in Udine where she has been cared for the past week.

Apcom news agency also reported the death, citing people close to the family.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Italian senators raced Monday to discuss a bill designed to keep a woman in vegetative state from having her feeding tube disconnected, the latest twist in a right-to-die case that has consumed Italy.

The bill aimed at keeping Eluana Englaro alive is expected to win quick approval. It was proposed by forces loyal to Premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose conservative lawmakers have solid majority in Parliament.

Englaro, 38, has been in a vegetative state since she was in a car accident 17 years ago. Her doctors have said her condition is irreversible. Late last year, her father won a decade-long court battle to allow her feeding tubes to be removed, saying that was her wish.

In line with the high court ruling, medical workers on Friday began gradually suspending food and water for Englaro. Citing privacy rules, they have not given updates on the procedure.

But Italy's center-right government, backed by the Vatican, has been pressing to keep her alive, racing against time to pass legislation prohibiting food and water from being suspended for patients who depend on them.

After debate, the legislation reached the Senate floor late Monday. The final Senate vote is scheduled for Tuesday, despite amendments that some center-left opposition lawmakers have promised. The lower house scheduled its vote for Wednesday.

Alessandro Pace, constitutional law professor at Rome University, said the law could not apply to Englaro because of previous court rulings but it could affect future right-to-die cases.

Health Minister Maurizio Sacconi, however, has said the text of the law might undergo changes to make sure it can be applied to Englaro.

Her case has stirred strong emotions on both sides of the right-to-die debate. Protesters have been staging daily demonstrations in front of the medical facility in Udine, in northeastern Italy, where Englaro is being cared for.

Italy does not allow euthanasia but patients have a right to refuse treatment. But there is no law that allows them to give advance directions on what treatment they wish to receive if they become unconscious.

Berlusconi has said stopping feeding Englaro is tantamount to the "killing of a human being who is still alive" and claimed that Englaro could in theory even bear a child.

Englaro's neurologist, Dr. Carlo Alberto Defanti, has said aside from her brain injury, Englaro was strong and in good health. In an interview published Monday in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, he said doubted she would die in the first week without food and water.

"From the moment of the suspension to death, some 12-14 days could pass," he was quoted as saying.

Berlusconi's government passed an emergency decree Friday to prevent Englaro from having her tube disconnected. But the move led to a rare institutional crisis, as the country's president, Giorgio Napolitano, rejected it on the grounds the decree defied court rulings.

The Englaro case has drawn comparisons with that of Terri Schiavo, the American woman who died in 2005 after an fierce right-to-die debate.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed in March 2005. Congress passed a bill to allow a federal court to review the Florida woman's case, and then-President George W. Bush returned from his Texas ranch to sign the bill into law. A federal judge refused to order the tube reinserted, a decision upheld by a federal appeals court and the Supreme Court.

Source: The Associated Press

Bernie Madoff's Victims: The List

2009-02-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

HSBC "has emerged as one the largest victims of Bernard Madoff’s alleged fraud with potential exposure of about $1bn...HSBC’s exposure stemmed from loans it provided to institutional clients, mainly hedge funds of funds, that wanted to invest with Mr Madoff. HSBC’s direct exposure is believed to be about $1bn in loans provided to clients who invested some $500m of their own funds in Mr Madoff’s venture. Under the typical terms of these deals, if the US authorities recover any funds from Mr Madoff, HSBC will be paid first, with its clients suffering the first tranche of losses." (FT:)

Access International. $1.4 billion

Fortis Bank. $1.4 billion

Man Group’s RMF division has about $350m invested in funds which outsourced their management to Madoff securities, although this is a tiny fraction of the division’s $25bn of assets. (FT)

Tremont Capital. Fund of funds. $3.3 billion invested. (FT)

Pioneer Investments, an arm of Italy’s UniCredit, had “substantially all” of $835m invested with Madoff. (FT)

Union Bancaire Privet: $1.1 billion

Benbasset & Cie: $935 million

BBVA: $404 million

Maxam Capital Management LLC. Combined loss of $280 million. "I'm wiped out," said Sandra Manzke, Maxam's founder and chairman. The Darien, Conn., fund of hedge funds will have to close as a result of the losses, she said. (WSJ)

Fairfield Greenwich Group. Bloomberg: The biggest loser may be Walter Noel’s Fairfield Greenwich Group, whose $7.3 billion Fairfield Sentry Ltd. invested with Madoff’s eponymous firm, three people familiar with the matter said... Fairfield Sentry has a record of more than 15 years with an annual return of 4 to 6 percentage points above benchmark interest rates, according to a marketing document dated this month that was prepared by Zurich-based NPB New Private Bank Ltd. On an absolute basis, returns exceeded 10 percent every year from 1991 through 2000. Since then, they ranged from 6.4 percent to 9.8 percent...The strategy is a “split-strike conversion,” where the investment manager buys shares of large U.S. companies and enters into options contracts to limit the risk, the document says.

Fix Asset Management. Bloomberg: Fix Asset Management, which had an account worth at least $400 million with Madoff Investments. The firm said it’s checking with lawyers about the holdings. “We are very shocked,” John Fix, the son of founder Charles Fix, said by phone from Greece. “We put in redemptions in the past few months and got our money back no problem. We are just so surprised about all this.”

Kingate Management Ltd. Bloomberg says $2.8 billion Kingate Global Fund Ltd. invested with Madoff.

Santander. WSJ: The eurozone's largest bank by market value, said its clients had an exposure of €2.33 billion ($3.1 billion) to Madoff's investment funds, mainly through its Optimal Strategic US Equity fund. More than €2 billion belongs to institutional investors and international clients of its private-banking business, which provides services to wealthy individuals, it said. The remaining €320 million belongs to private-banking customers in Spain, where Santander is based.

Thyssen Family. Source sends the following: Thybo Investments grew out of a family office for Thyssen. They have been in fund of funds it seems since 1989. Thybo International is a "proper" fund of fund but it's newer share class G invests only in one manager - and i'm 99% sure it's Madoff as the returns are almost the same. Some more info. The fund started in Jan 2007. Ernst & Young. Luxembourg are the auditors. UBS Luxembourg is the administrator. Thybo states on their webpage: "Our track record incorporates audited financial statements at both a composite firm-wide and individual portfolios level."

Ira Roth's family. WSJ: Ira Roth, a New Jersey resident, who says his family has about $1 million invested through Mr. Madoff's firm, is "in a state of panic." He said his 86-year-old mother-in-law has been living on the investments' returns, and he has been using the funds to pay college tuition.

Sterling Equities. Fund controlled by Fred Wilpon, co-owner of the NY Mets, confirms it had money with Madoff.

Stephen Abbott, a San Francisco lawyer. WSJ: [Abbott] and two siblings had several hundred thousand dollars invested with Mr. Madoff. They inherited the trust from their father, who had befriended Mr. Madoff years ago. Performance remained steady through the current bear market, he said. "People were floored," he says. "We were making money in this lousy market." He says he is concerned about recovering the money but "you have to get philosophical about this stuff. It could be worse; we still have our health."

Palm Beach Country Club. Source: CNBC's David Faber

Lawrence Velvel, "69, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, said he and a friend may have lost millions of dollars between them (AP). "This is a major disaster for a lot of people," Velvel said in a telephone interview from his Andover, Mass., office. "You work all your life, you finally manage to save up something, and somebody who's entrusted with it, it turns out suddenly he's a crook. Lots of people are getting fully or partially wiped out." Velvel said he wants to know where government regulators, as well as accountants and others at Madoff's company, were when the money was being lost." (AP)

Loeb Family. Source: CNBC's David Faber

J. Ezra Merkin. GMAC LLC Chairman. WSJ: Mr. Merkin, the chairman of former General Motors Corp. financing arm GMAC, is also a money manager at Ascot Partners LLC in New York. Ascot, which had $1.8 billion under management as of Sept. 30, had substantially all of its assets invested with Mr. Madoff, according to a letter to Mr. Merkin sent to clients Thursday night. Mr. Merkin said as one of the largest investors in Ascot, he believed he had personally "suffered major losses from this catastrophe."

Norman Braman. Former Philadelphia Eagles owner

Leonard Feinstein, co-founder of retailer Bed Bath & Beyond. (WSJ)

Mort Zuckerman. Mr. Zuckerman, the chairman of real-estate firm Boston Properties and owner of the New York Daily News and U.S. News & World Report, had significant exposure through a fund that invested substantially all of its assets with Mr. Madoff (WSJ)

Richard Spring. WSJ: A Boca Raton resident and former securities analyst, says he had about $11 million -- or 95% of his net worth -- invested with Mr. Madoff. "That's how much I believed in him," Mr. Spring said.

Elie Wiesel's Foundation For Humanity. Lost $37 million.

Members of half-a-dozen country clubs: WSJ: "Mr. Madoff tapped social networks in Dallas, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis. In Minnesota, he attracted investors from Hillcrest Golf Club of St. Paul and Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins, investors say. One of them estimated that investors from the two clubs may have invested more than $100 million combined. One of the largest clusters of Madoff investors was in Florida, where losses could be substantial. Mr. Madoff relied on a network of friends, family and business colleagues to attract investors. According to investors and agents, some of these agents were paid commissions for harvesting investors. Others had separate, lucrative business relationships with Mr. Madoff. "If you were eating lunch at the club or golfing, everyone was always talking about how Madoff was making them all this money," one investor says. "Everyone wanted to sign up." Jeff Fischer, a top divorce attorney in Palm Beach, says many of his clients were also Mr. Madoff's clients. "Every big divorce that came through my office had portfolio positions with Madoff," he says. Two of his investors said that among his clients, Mr. Madoff was considered a money-management legend; they would joke that if Mr. Madoff was a fraud, he'd take down half the world with him."

Bramdean Alternatives in the U.K. 9% of portfolio.

Banque Benedict Hentsch, Geneva-based private bank, $47.5 million.

Nomura and Neue Privat Bank. "Marketed access to Fairfield Sentry Ltd., a fund overseen by Mr. Madoff and sold through Fairfield Greenwich. The shares offered by Neue Privat and Nomura were leveraged three times -- meaning $3 of borrowed money was added to every $1 of capital invested in order to magnify returns, greatly increasing the potential losses for those investors." (WSJ)

Unicredit. The Italian firm had unspecified amount with Madoff via its Dublin-based Pioneer alt-asset group. (MarketWatch)

Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Unspecified (Newsday).

Robert Lappin Foundation in Massachusetts closed its doors today and is citing relationship to Maddoff fund. $8MM foundation plus personal holdings. Foundation supported Jewish organizations throughout North Shore of Massachusetts. (source: Jewish Journal)

Wunderkinder Foundation, a Steven Spielberg charity. In the past the foundation "appears to have invested a significant portion of its assets with Mr. Madoff, based on regulatory filings. In 2006, the Madoff firm accounted for roughly 70% of the foundation's interest and dividend income, according to regulatory filings. A representative of Mr. Spielberg confirmed that the foundation has suffered losses on its investments with the Madoff firm. He said he didn't know the size of the losses and couldn't comment further, including on whether Mr. Spielberg had any of his own money invested with the Madoff firm." WSJ

BNP Paribas. "BNP Paribas's exposure, the extent of which is not clear, may stem from BNP's lending relationship with a fund of funds that was a big Madoff client, said people familiar with the matter. A BNP spokeswoman declined to comment." WSJ: BNP, France's largest bank by market value, said it could lose as much as 350 million euros as a result of the alleged fraud. The bank said it has no investment of its own in the hedge funds managed by Bernard Madoff Investment Services. BNP Paribas, however, said it is exposed to these funds through its trading business and lending to hedge funds that had invested in Madoff's funds.

Ira Rennert. Vicky Ward of Vanity Fair, said on CNBC."Heavily, heavily invested."

Englebardt family of Los Angeles. (Reader)

Swiss private bank Reichmuth & Co. "said its clients had an exposure of some 385 million Swiss francs to Madoff funds. The bank said Reichmuth Matterhorn, a fund that invests in other hedge funds, faced a potential loss of about 8.6% on its exposure to Madoff. That amount represented about 3.5% of the 11 billion Swiss Francs Reichmuth & Co. has under management, the bank said." (WSJ)

Union Bancaire Privee. UBP spokesman said the bank's clients have "limited" losses related to Madoff, but wouldn't be more specific or comment further. (WSJ)

EIM Group, the European investment manager with about $11 billion in assets, had a number of non-U.S. investors into funds overseen by Mr. Madoff, according to people familiar with the matter. Overall, EIM assets at risk are less than 2% of what it manages, which means losses could top $200 million. (WSJ).

UBS: ""Very limited" direct exposure to the Madoff funds...But the Zurich-based bank's wealth-management arm helped clients in Europe and possibly elsewhere invest with Mr. Madoff, according to investment professionals in Europe who spoke with some of these clients. UBS is currently reviewing its clients' exposure to Mr. Madoff's funds, according to the person familiar with the matter. The person said the funds weren't on UBS's list of "recommended" investments for its U.S. clients, but that they may have been among the firm's suggested investments for overseas clients." (WSJ)

Stephen A. Fine, president of Biltrite Corp. (Reader)

Avram and Carol Goldberg, former owners of the Stop & Shop supermarket chain (Reader)

Helfman family of Miami. (Reader)

Saul Katz, co-owner of the New York Mets.

Irwin Kellner, of Port Washington. (Reader)

Carl and Ruth Shapiro, donors to Brandeis University, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Fairfield County, Connecticut. Bloomberg: First Selectman Ken Flatto and other elected officials in Fairfield, Connecticut, thought the 58,000- person town’s pension fund was holding up well amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The 18 percent decline in total assets since the end of June looked smart compared with the 31 percent plunge in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, and total assets of $286 million left a cushion over the $270 million of estimated liabilities. Flatto’s mood darkened yesterday when he heard Bernard Madoff, a Wall Street executive who oversaw $42 million of the assets, had been arrested and charged with fraud. “We classified this on our portfolio as one of the more conservative investments,” Flatto said in an interview. “You rely on your experts and your managers to be honest.”

Royal Bank of Scotland: $330 million

Nomura: $302 million

Aozora Bank: $137 million

Various Boston families: The Boston Globe.

Jeff Katzenberg. Dreamworks CEO has "millions" in Madoff losses. (WSJ)

Gerald Breslauer. Jeff Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg's financial advisor. WSJ: According to people familiar with the matter, Mr. Breslauer himself has likely sustained heavy losses in the Madoff affair. He customarily invests alongside his clients, say these people, and has sometimes been a larger investor than the people he represented. People familiar with the matter said Mr. Breslauer was known to be a Madoff investor.

Yeshiva University lost $100 million to $110 million. (NYT)

Jewish Federation of Greater Washington said it had $10 million invested with Mr. Madoff, about 8 percent of its endowment as of Nov. 30. The organization said it would work to recover the money. (NYT)

North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System: $5.7 million exposure to Madoff Securities in the form of a gift from a donor who insisted that it be invested that way. “The donor who contributed the funds has graciously agreed to reimburse the health system for any financial loss,” the organization said in a statement. (NYT)

Ramaz School lost some $6 million invested with Mr. Madoff, according to a letter sent to board members and two parents whose children attend the school. (NYT)

SAR Academy, a Jewish school in the Bronx, had roughly a third of its $3.7 million in assets invested with Mr. Madoff, according to an e-mail message it sent to donors and parents. (NYT)

Chais Family Foundation in Encino, Calif., announced over the weekend that its losses had forced it to stop operating, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The foundation had $178 million in assets in May 2007, according to its tax form. (NYT)

JEHT Foundation. May have lost hundreds of millions. Will cease operations. (NYT)

Arpad Busson. Uma Thurman's billionaire fiance runs hedge fund, EIM, which was reportedly exposed to roughly $270 million of products sold by Madoff (Mail on Sunday)

Accountants Scott Sosnik & Larry Bell. Accountants who worked for many of Madoff victims claim that they too lost money.

Swiss insurer Baloise. $13 million. (Reuters)

Swiss Re: Less than $3 million (Reuters)

Burt Ross. Former Ft. Lee, NJ mayor lost $5 million.

Maimonides School. Boston school lost $3 million. (Boston.com)

Charles & Cindi Nadler Foundation. $10 million.

Tufts University $20 million (Boston.com)

Alexandra Penney. Artist and author lost bulk of her life savings. (Daily Beast)

Robert Chew. Colorado-based investor. (TIME)

Fair Food Foundation. Detroit-based urban farming group. (NYMag)

Pasha S. Anwar and Julia Anwar. Investors first to sue Fairfield Greenwich. (DealBook)

Pedro Almodovar. Famed Spanish film director has $240,000 "at risk" (Bloomberg)

More as we get them...

Source: ClusterStock

Madoff Client List Is Disclosed in Filing

2009-02-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

The names of thousands of apparent customers of Bernard Madoff were made public Wednesday, including a legendary baseball player, famous actors, charities and pension funds -- as well as Mr. Madoff's own lawyer, who is defending him on charges that he ran a $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

The 162-page filing made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan doesn't list the amount each client invested.

Some notable names appear on the list, including Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets baseball team. It isn't clear how many of the clients listed had money at the firm at the time of Mr. Madoff's arrest on Dec. 11.

Other high-profile names on the list include former Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax, actor John Malkovich, talk-show host Larry King and New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg. A number of estates or entities associated with deceased people were listed, and those, too, had some famous names, including John Denver Concerts Inc. Charities, museums and pension funds also show up.

Mr. Madoff's laywer, Ira Sorkin, also is on the customer list. Mr. Sorkin previously denied investing and reiterated that fact Thursday morning. He said the "information is incorrect" but declined to elaborate.

The list includes numerous accounts held by the firm's outside auditors, Jerome Horowitz and David Friehling. Also among the names listed are Mr. Madoff's family members, including his sons, Mark and Andrew, and his brother, Peter, as well as the employees who ran the investment-advisory arm of the firm, where the alleged fraud took place. The employees included JoAnne "Jodi" Crupi, and a company owned by the family of Frank DiPascali, who was a key member of Mr. Madoff's investment business.

Also among those listed in the filing are Larry Silverstein, a New York developer who is currently working with partners to rebuild the World Trade Center, as well as a number of large financial institutions including HSBC Holdings PLC, UBS AG, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., BNP Paribas SA and Citigroup Inc.

A spokesman for Mr. Silverstein, Bud Perrone, said, "Losses incurred by Larry Silverstein and his family absolutely pale in comparison to those innocent investors who lost their life savings as a result of this scheme."

Other prominent New York real-estate names appeared on the list. Among them are two top officials of SL Green Realty, one of Manhattan's largest office building owners. Stephen L. Green, the chairman, and John S. Levy, a board member, are listed.

An SL Green spokesman said, "Steve Green prefers not to discuss his personal investments that have nothing to do with SL Green." He said, "SL Green as a company has had no exposure to investments with Madoff, and does not comment on the personal investments of its executives and board members."

Several members of the prominent Rechler family were on the list. A representative for several family members didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Scott Rechler, head of RXR Corp., a privately held property firm with holdings in the New York area who maintains a separate company from his relatives, said his investment with Mr. Madoff was "immaterial" and will have "no effect on anything."

The revelations come at a challenging time for New York property owners. Values have plunged in the face of dried up financing and the recession. It's virtually impossible to get loans for new construction.

The chief compliance officer of Resnick Investment Advisors LLC in Westport, Conn., which is on the list, said in an email that his firm isn't directly invested with Mr. Madoff but received client statements "for clients of ours who ... were Madoff clients."

Also listed as a customer is Blue Star Investors LLC, a fund started by leveraged buyout king Thomas H. Lee. A spokesman for Thomas H. Lee Capital Management, which is the investment manager for Blue Star, said Blue Star once had an account with Mr. Madoff but that it had long been closed. He declined to elaborate further.

David "Sandy" Gottesman, founder of First Manhattan Inc., a New York money management firm with roughly $10 billion in assets under management, is also on the list. Mr. Gottesman is a longtime friend of and investor with Warren Buffett. He owns roughly $1 billion of stock in Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, and in 2003 joined Berkshire's board.

A spokesman for First Manhattan said Mr. Gottesman did not have an investment with Mr. Madoff, but a foundation established by him had money there and his wife, Ruth, once had an account but no longer has any exposure.

Each page of the list filed in court has more than 80 names, but many names are repeated, possibly because they had more than one type of account at the Madoff firm, which is in liquidation.

A list of creditors of Mr. Madoff's bankrupt firm was also filed with the court, as well as a list of employees. Prosecutors say Mr. Madoff confessed to his sons that he was part of a giant fraud that cost investors many billions of dollars. He hasn't been indicted but is being held in his Manhattan apartment under house arrest.

The list, which was put together for the Madoff firm's court-appointed trustee, includes names individuals and institutions that "appeared to have been a customer of [Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities] with an open account" in the 12 months before Mr. Madoff's arrest, according to the court filing.

The firm that compiled the list, AlixPartners LLP, said it used records from Mr. Madoff's firm as well as information that alleged customers left in voicemails on the trustee's hotline or sent emails to the Securities Investor Protection Corp., an agency that is assisting with the firm's liquidation.

The trustee used the list to mail out claims forms that customers can fill out in the hopes of receiving up to $500,000 in cash advances from SIPC, which was set up by Congress to help customers of failed brokerages.

The list does not appear to include the thousands of customers who invested in the Madoff firm through so-called feeder funds run by Fairfield Greenwich Group and many other firms.

It is possible that some names on the list are trustees, executors and lawyers, who are not themselves clients of the Madoff firm but were on a mailing list to receive client statements because they dealt with tax issues for their own clients who had money invested with Mr. Madoff.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Michael Graves coffee maker rated best deal by Consumer Reports

2009-02-05T10:11:00.000-08:00

Many of us Frugal Forcers have a love/hate relationship with coffee. We love to suck down loads of it but hate the detrimental effect it can have on our wallets, especially if it's from a high-priced coffee shop. Fellow blogger Cheap Kate has blogged frequently about her attempts to save money by making her own coffee here at work.

Mercifully, Consumer Reports is coming to Kate's rescue. The magazine has tested 34 different coffee makers and have found the one they say is best: The Michael Graves 12-Cup Coffeemaker, which retails for a relatively inexpensive $40 (some of the "best" coffee makers are priced $100 or more). The magazine cites the coffee maker's high temperature, programmable features and coffee quality.

Consumer Reports also recommends the Melitta Take2, retailing at $25, for an even more frugal cup of coffee.

The always-caffeinated Frugal Force salutes Consumer Reports for its commitment to investigative coffee journalism!

Do you have a preferred coffee maker that's frugal friendly? Are you willing to compromise on price and the quality of your cup of Joe?

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Best Luxury Hotels in Spain

2009-02-05T09:35:00.000-08:00

Are you thinking about going on holiday to Spain? Do you want to surround yourself in luxury? Here we offer a selection of the most luxurious hotels in Spain. Relax and enjoy a luxury available to few.

Le Meridien Barcelona
Le Meridien Barcelona interior design is a blend of modern and traditional. Contemporary design is combined with rich natural materials. Luxurious amenities include pillow-top mattresses with feather-down duvets, 42-inch Plasma TVs in the bedrooms and smaller LCD TVs in the bathrooms, high-speed Internet and bathrooms with luxurious Rain Showers. Other pleasantries include complimentary coffee and tea making facilities, pay TV and trouser press and ironing facilities.

Majestic Hotel and Spa Barcelona
In the heart of Barcelona since 1918, the Hotel Majestic is located on Paseo de Gracia in the very center of it all, within walking distance to the city's most exciting landmarks: Las Ramblas, the Plaza de Cataluna, the Gothic Quarter, and Gaudi's major architectural works. The neoclassical facade invites discriminating travelers to enter a world of luxury: discover exquisite accommodations and excellence in service. With 303 rooms and suites, the Hotel Majestic offers a wide selection to meet the needs and tastes of the most demanding travelers. With a classic and comfortable style, all rooms offer an unsurpassed level of luxury and attention to detail. Indeed, many celebrities choose the warmth of the Majestic's rooms for their visits to Barcelona. The hotel's Drolma Restaurant, one of the finest restaurants in the ciy, has been awarded a Michelin star, its chef- Fermi Puig- deemed one of the best in Spain. From divine haute cuisine at the Drolma, the pampering of sauna and massage, remarkable views from the Pool, the most up-to-date technology including a Satellite Newspaper kiosk to access 168 international newspapers, and impeccable service- the Hotel Majestic is the place to stay in Barcelona.

Finca Cortesin Hotel, Golf and Spa — Malaga
Located by Casares, Andalucia, and just a mere 2km from the beach, Finca Cortesin is a cosseting, elegant essay in luxury. Designed by architects Roger Torras and Ignacio Sierra, the hotel is comprised of two Andalusian-inspired buildings. Suites are spacious, from 40-176 square meters with ornate, high ceilings, and interiors conceived by international designer Duarte Pinto Coelho. Technological features are balanced with modern, classic design, and gourmet food is available at 3 restaurants, overseen by the artful hand of Dutch chef Schilo Van Coevorden.

A 2,200 square meter signature spa offers a full range facilities and treatments for those seeking relaxation and great mental quietude. The 5-star deluxe hotel will offer one and two bedroom suites, all lavishly appointed and elegantly furnished, with high ceilings and top specifications.

Finca Cortesin is also home to a championship standard 18 holes golf course, designed by Cabell Robinson, together with Jack Nicklaus Academy and Home of the Volvo World Match Play Championship.

The Westin Palace Madrid
Comissioned by Alfonso XIII in 1912 and in only 18 months, the Westin Palace Madrid crowns the dream of a king, the desire to give Madrid a hotel worthy of a capital. Since then, The Westin Palace has been a meeting point, playing a central role in all the important events connected with Spain's history. Located in the heart of Madrid, a sparkling dynamic city full of charm that hosts the best of Spanish and world art in a kaleidoscope of sensations-- El Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza, Centro de Arte Reina Sofia Museums-- the Westin Palace is Warm and glittering, aristocratic and inviting. A Member Of The Starwood Luxury Collection, The Most Luxurious Hotel In Madrid Is A Monument To Elegance Combining Turn Of The Century Grandeur With New Amenities And High Tech Touches Of A Modern World Class Hotel. A Full Service Business Center And 18 Ultramodern Function Rooms Make The Westin Palace Ideal For Meetings And Conferences. Work Out At The 24 Hour Fitness Center, relax In The Sauna Or Solarium, then Enjoy Elegant Dining At La Rotonda Where Mediterranean Specialties Are Complemented By Selections From The Extensive Wine list.

AC Palacio del Retiro Madrid
This 50 room hotel is housed in a building that dates from the beginning of the 20th Century and it is protected by National Heritage status.

When you enter your room, you will feel like you have entered into a place deigned to help you rest, like the four pillows on your bed. Exclusive details, such as the special reading lamps on the bed head, smoker/non-smoker rooms, room service and personal climate control. Designed to make you feel that your room is always how you want it.

The hotel's restaurant, Indice, is set in the elegant public area of the hotel with privileged views over the Retiro park gardens. The restaurant offers a menu derived from the best products on the market, prepared to draw out the best of their natural characteristics and flavors. The hotel's menu, inspired by the cuisine of the Mediterranean, stands out for its first-rate preparation of the most traditional dishes in Spanish gastronomy.

Palacio de Santa Paula Granada
Hotel AC Palacio de Santa Paula is a 75 room property located in the old part of Granada, the result of a careful and meticulous renovation of the old Santa Paula Convent and conservation the old cloister. A unique establishment where guests are able to rest and enjoy one of the principal monuments of the city centre, in the luxury of a fine hotel.

The "El Claustro" restaurant, housed in the old Convent Library in the Cloister area, serves lunch, dinner and an exquisite buffet breakfast, featuring home made pastries. In addition to its comprehensive list of the best D.O. Spanish wines, the service is excellent.

Palacio Eugenia de Montijo Toledo
The Renaissance building which was the palace of the Empress Eugenia de Montijo, the wife of Napoleon III, houses a boutique hotel with 40 rooms. This palace which was reconstructed under the attentive and scrupulous supervision of architects, archaeologists and specialised restorers, enables you to admire Roman sewer systems, Arab walls from the 14th Century, coffered ceilings from the 14th and 16th Centuries where the coats of arms of the principal families of Toledo of that period appear.

The history, luxury, and relaxation provided by our spa and the exquisite cuisine of the famous chef Adolfo Munoz are to be found in the town of the three cultures.

Hotel Opera Valencia
Hotel Opera Valencia is housed in a brand new modern building just finished in spring 2007. A mix of interior design and functional ambiance is complimented by natural day light in all installations. Because of its image and design, the hotel is specially meant for all kind of guests whether business or leisure ones. Amenities includes panoramic lifts, convention centre, gymnasium, spa, bike hiring, left luggage office, business centre, and a VIP floor. It is a comfortable and modern space with all of the most advanced tecnological facilities. The interior design has been designed in order to make all the hotel facilities most warm and welcoming. The hotel is decorated plainly with high quality details and exclusive environment. The hotel has parking with special rates for guests. There are 262 rooms, along with spacious meeting rooms with integrated audiovisual materials.

Eurostars Madrid Tower
For this ambitious Madrid project, Eurostars Hotels has chosen an innovative decor in tune with the exterior image of the building, based on fine materials and an elegant combination of colours. As in the rest of the hotels belonging to the chain, art and culture will have a significant presence in the Eurostars Madrid Tower***** in the form of exclusive works by prestigious artists. Hotel guests will be able to perceive that they are in a high-rise building through the fantastic views that can be admired from each of its 478 guestrooms.

The Eurostars Madrid Tower takes up 30 floors of the majestic SyV Tower, rising 235 metres high. This spectacular colossus designed by architects Enrique Alvarez Sala and Carlos Rubio Carvajal is supported by three large elliptic pillars that emerge, as though from a crater, from the two levels of the public plaza situated beneath the tower. The triangular layout of the ground plan, with its vertices and curved sides, generates an unbroken double glazed facade. The distribution of space is conceived around a central core containing all the vertical communications systems. The interior design is the work of GCA Arquitectes, the studio who also decorated the Eurostars Grand Marina Hotel*****GL, the flagship of the company, set in the Port Vell harbour area of Barcelona. For this ambitious Madrid project, Eurostars Hotels has chosen an innovative decor in tune with the exterior image of the building, based on fine materials and an elegant combination of colours.

Hotel Murmuri Barcelona
The Hotel Murmuri is located in the very center of Barcelona, on Rambla de Catalunya, home of the best in shopping, Gaudi monuments. Sister property of the renowned 5 Star Grand Luxe Hotel Majestic, it offers excellent service to welcome the most demanding travellers.

Opened in March 2008, this boutique hotel offers the highest quality Asian cuisine, Asiatic Murmuri Restaurant - combining pleasure with healthy eating and The Marfil Bar & Terrace located in the hotel lobby with a large terrace on Rambla Catalunya.

Do not you think more and go on holiday to Spain! You will not regret!

Algarrobo, Spain

2009-02-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge this beautiful picture!

Algarrobo is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately in the coastal area of the La Axarquía, 32 kilometres from the city of Málaga. It has a population of approximately 6000 residents. Natives of the town are called Algarrobeños.

This small municipality, whose area is less than 10 square kilometres, extends over a territory where the mountains of La Axarquía begin to soften their edges before forming their coastal profile. It is crossed from north to south by the River Algarrobo-Sayalonga, which flows through a valley whose landscape was once covered by olive and almond trees and vineyards but is now undergoing substantial changes due to the cultivation of subtropical products and vegetables, so the gentle slopes are being taken over by the terraces needed by these new plantations. Historical evidence exists that there were human settlements in the municipal territory of Algarrobo since the Bronze Age, in the form of discoveries in the area of El Morro de Mezquitilla.

How to Get There:
Algarrobo can be reached from either the Mediterranean Expressway or the old N-340, which follows the coast, by taking the very well marked A-6203.

Source: Wikipedia

Phil groundhog predicts six more weeks of winter

2009-02-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

Phil, the world's most famous groundhog, saw his shadow reflected today, which means, according to the tradition of the town Punxsutawnew U.S., which in this cold winter still has six weeks more. Legend says that the February 2, groundhogs wake of his brief hibernation, and if they leaves outdoors and can see its shadow on the ground, winter will last at least six weeks.

Phil emerged from his burrow after sunrise and before 13,000 people attended this unique event. Many came dressed in black and gold to celebrate the victory of the football team Pittsburgh Steelers in the final of the night before. The annual ritual takes place in Gobble's Knob, a small hill in the town of Punxsutawney (Pennsylvania), a town of about 6100 people about 100 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Throughout the day there will be celebrations in the town to commemorate this tradition that dates back to 1887 and has its roots in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, which celebrated the fertility and became, with the arrival of Christianity to the British Isles in celebration of St. Brigid.

In the U.S., Phil is a celebrity and has its own supporters club, the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, whose members are responsible for carrying out the ceremony for which they dress with top hat and tuxedo. A ceremony that became popular comedy Groundhog Day (1993) (Trapped in time) starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell.

According to the website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, since Phil began to play its role as a "meteorologist" has seen its shadow on the floor 98 times, 15 times not seen, and there are records of nine years. So if their predictions do not fail, after the cold snap and snow affecting the northeast of the country, Americans must prepare for a few weeks of cold.

Rafa Nadal wins again!!

2009-02-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

Perhaps no individuals have met more often with more on the line than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Sunday's Australian Open final was the 19th match they've played. All but four have been in tournament finals, seven of them Grand Slams. Nadal has won the last three Slam finals, five overall. Perhaps most impressive is Nadal has won on three surfaces—the clay of Roland Garros, Wimbledon's grass and now the Australian hard courts.

Nadal's 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 victory denied Federer's bid to equal Pete Sampras' record 14 Grand Slam singles titles.

"In the first moment you're disappointed, you're shocked, you're sad, and then all of a sudden it overwhelms you," a sobbing Federer said in Melbourne.

"It's the worst feeling. ... It's rough. God, it's killing me."

But Federer returned to congratulate Nadal within minutes, saying: "You deserved it. You played a fantastic final."

After collecting the trophy from Australian great Rod Laver, who won all four Slams in 1969, Nadal put his arm around Federer.

"Roger, sorry for today," Nadal said. "Remember, you're a great champion, you're one of the best in history. You're going to improve on the 14 of Sampras."

So Nadal and Federer join the list of all-time great sports rivalries.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Autonomous Regions press home advantage at FITUR

2009-02-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

New products, hand in hand with the old favourites in each region, are the order of the day at the XXIX FITUR exhibition that openend in Madrid yesterday.

Andalucia is promoting its gastronomic treasures, its fiestas and its beautiful beaches under the forthright banner 'Andalucia loves you' ... .

The Comunidad Valenciana is plugging tourism to its inland areas as well as promoting itself as the ideal conference venue, in an attempt to reverse the recent downward trend in visitor numbers. 'Sun and sand' however, are still the main protagonists on its 7000 square metre stand.

With a striking red and black stand, Madrid hopes to catch the visitors' eyes and tempt them with its varied assortment of gastronomy, leisure, culture and sport.

The Canary Islands are setting their sights further afield, hoping to attract Scandinavian visitors to their unique islands by offering excellent health tourism.

Cantabria has put its eggs into the 'underground' basket, advertising the extensive cave paintings the region's subterranean world has to offer as 'the other Sistine'.

Visitors to the Basque Country stand are immediately transported to its green pastures. All three provinces are represented under the umbrella banner of the Basque Government with 'Euskadi, made in...' as their slogan.

Castilla y León, that has seen a 4% drop in tourism, remains faithful to its slogan ' Castilla y León is life' and is strongly promoting rural and inland tourism.

Galicia, ever-loyal to its traditional products like gastronomy and health tourism, has added a 'bar' area to this year's stand, where visitors can taste the region's different brands of mineral water.

Source: Think Spain

Kenya and Spain in tourism deal

2009-02-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

Kenya and Spain will jointly launch a web and conduct an e-learning programme for Spanish Tour Operators as the two countries seek to boost bilateral tourism relations with each other.

This follows an agreement on immediate areas of action following the signing of an MoU last November in Nairobi.

The Spain agreement was signed by Tourism minister, Najib Balala, and his Spanish counterpart Mr Juan Mesquida in Madrid at the Spanish tourism trade fair- the Fitur.

“The Spanish tourism ministry has a team of 40 experts to develop and manage its portal which enables on-line booking and e-transactions”, said Mr Mesquida.

Expressed interest

The agreement also includes the cross-marketing of tourism with other Kenyan products such as tea and coffee.

Kenya is taking part in the Fitur for the first time in line with the undertakings of the MoU, which was signed in November 2008 in Nairobi.

The Spanish minister had visited Kenya and was the chief guest during the annual Lamu Cultural Festival.

In order to promote the e-learning programme, the Spanish Minister will initiate action to establish the Spanish International School in Kenya

In 2007, which was the best year for Kenya, 15,000 Spanish tourists visited Kenya but this number went down to about 6,000 according to last year estimates.

Mr Balala also held discussions with Q Lineas Aereas airline, which has expressed interest in introducing direct flights to Kenya.

Source: Daily Nation

Ideas for Valentine

2009-01-30T09:08:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day with all its charisma and magnetism brings love in the air, scarlet color of roses painting the town with the vibrancy of love and romance make every heart eager to say it loud, 'I Love You' coz'...it's the Valentine's Day. This is a perfect occasion that marks the sharing of numerous symbols of loves as Valentine gifts among the lovers. We have come with myriad expressions of love with our romantic proposals, dating tips, Valentine gifts, love letters, love poems, relationship guide, love coupons, love horoscope, valentine history and many more.

You will be showered with tons of romantic gifts ideas and Valentine's Day celebration tips, which will leave behind a sweet memory for the rest of your life, just at a click of the mouse. My Dear Valentine is an ultimate 'Nirvana of love' where you will rediscover the scintillating passions of love coming alive.

14th February has been known as Valentine's Day, a time beloved of romantics. This is the perfect occasion for romantic proposals and dating. On this day, gift your sweetheart with flowers (especially roses), soft toys, candles, diamonds, chocolates, gift baskets, perfume, books, watches, jewelry and others. Shower love and enjoy the day with your beloved. During this marvelous day loving heart's come closer and romance fills the air.

Valentine Ideas

Valentines Day Cards
Valentine Poems
Valentine Wallpapers
Valentine Hearts
Valentine Symbols
Valentine Crafts
Valentine Flowers
Valentine Wedding
Valentine's Day Movies
Valentine's Day Gift Ideas
Valentine's Day Gift Baskets

Valentines Day Gifts

Gifts For Him
Gifts for Her
Soft Toys
Gift Wrap
Valentine Gifts to World
Valentine Chocolates
Fragrance Gifts
Valentine's Day Candy Gifts
Valentine Music
Valentine Jewelry

Oscar Nominations 2009

2009-01-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

BEST PICTURE
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

BEST ACTOR
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kate Winslet - The Reader

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin - Milk
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler

DIRECTOR
David Fincher
Ron Howard
Gus Van Sant
Stephen Daldry
Danny Boyle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Mike Leigh - Happy-Go-Lucky
Martin - In Bruges
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Andrew Stanton - WALL-E

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Eric Roth and Robin Swicord - Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
David Hare - The Reader
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Der Baader Meinhof Komplex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz with Bashir

ANIMATED
Bolt
Kung Fun Panda
WALL-E

Yes, Obama could

2009-01-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

Kennedy Collapses At Obama Luncheon

2009-01-20T12:22:00.000-08:00

Breaking news that Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has collapsed at the luncheon for President Obama. Paramedics have responded, no word yet on his condition. Early indications are that he may have had a seizure and it does not seem yet that he has been taken to a hospital.

Given his health and the stress of the day it is not unusual for a seizure to have happened and we can hope that his recovery will be quick. But we are hearing both good and bad reports.

Also possible word that Senator Byrd also collapsed (Now Capitol Police state that Byrd is fine.

Source: The moderate voice

Obama's Inaugural Speech

2009-01-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

"My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor - who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations."

Barack Hussein Obama

I Have a Dream Speech Full text

2009-01-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men -- yes, black men as well as white men -- would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check that has come back marked "insufficient funds."

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and security of justice. We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end but a beginning. Those who hoped that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. ****

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "for whites only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no we are not satisfied and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today my friends -- so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my father's died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi -- from every mountainside.

Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring -- when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children -- black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics -- will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Interview with the Vampire: Vampire Doll - Claudia

2009-01-19T10:07:00.000-08:00

John Muir first modern preservationists

2009-01-17T04:55:00.000-08:00

John Muir was born in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland. Arriving in San Francisco in March 1868, Muir immediately left for a place he had only read about called Yosemite. After seeing Yosemite Valley for the first time he was captivated, and wrote, “No temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite,” and “[Yosemite is] the grandest of all special temples of Nature.” After his initial eight-day visit, he returned to the Sierra foothills and became a ferry operator, sheepherder and bronco buster.

John Muir (1838–914) was one of the first modern preservationists. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, and wildlife, especially in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, were read by millions and are still popular today. Muir’s activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. His writings and philosophy strongly influenced the formation of the modern environmental movement.

The John Muir Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded occasionally by the John Muir Trust for outstanding contributions to wildland conservation.

Source: UB News

El perro del Mar

2009-01-14T08:24:00.001-08:00

El Perro del Mar (literaly "The Dog from the Sea" in Spanish) is a musical project that was founded in December 2003 in Gothenburg, Sweden. The sole member of El Perro del Mar, Sarah Assbring, initially started as an MP3/CD-R artist and released her first songs through Hybris Records. Her music could be described as m elancholic lo-fi twee pop.

From 2004 to late 2005, her records had only been released by the Swedish label, Hybris, but in 2006, Sarah experienced a host of new found success when her self-titled album El Perro del Mar was picked up by UK-based label, Memphis Industries, under which Dungen and The Go! Team also release. Prior to the self-titled album, Sarah had recorded and released Look! It's El Perro del Mar! and the EP You Gotta Give to Get, in Spring 2005 and November 2005 respectively.

In early 2007, El Perro del Mar ended her relationship with Scandinavian label Hybris and began a new relationship with The Concretes label Licking Fingers. Her second full-length album titled From the Valley to the Stars was released in Spring 2008.

Discography

Albums

EPs

You Gotta Give to Get (2005)

Singles

El Perro del Mar/Jens Lekman (2004)

External links

Source: Wikipedia

Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy

2009-01-13T03:35:00.000-08:00

Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy (born January 11, 1965), also known as Max Kennedy, is an American author. He was born in New York, New York. He is the ninth child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy. Maxwell Kennedy was baptized by Monsignor William McCormack in Manhattan's St. Patrick's Cathedral, in front of a crowd of 200 people. He is named after General Maxwell Taylor, who was then in Saigon serving as the American Ambassador to VietNam, and did not attend the baptism.^[1] General Taylor was a WWII hero who commanded the 101st Airborne Division, and developed the deterrence policy known as flexible response.^[2]

He graduated with honors from Harvard University and majored in American history. He married Victoria Anne Strauss^[3] (born February 10, 1964)^[4] on July 13, 1991 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both he and his wife graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1992.

They have three children: Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, Jr., born September 18, 1993, Caroline Summer Rose Kennedy, born December 29, 1994, and Noah Isabella Rose Kennedy, born July 9, 1998 in Hyannis, Massachusetts.

He completed Danger's Hour: The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her, which was released by Simon & Schuster on Veteran's Day (November 11, 2008).^[5]. The book garnered praise from filmaker Ken Burns.

Mr. Kennedy spoke with WGN Chicago about the role of suicide in asymmetrical warfare and his book Danger’s Hour in the Fall of 2008.^[6] Kennedy addressed the 2008 Miami book fair, speaking about the America’s shared purpose during the second World War.^[7] Kennedy claimed that with a new leadership “Americans can live, even comfortably, with danger.”^[8]

He is also writing, producing, and directing a documentary on the use of suicide as a weapon of war with Harvard documentary filmmaker Randolph Bell. His articles have appeared in DoubleTake Magazine, Conde Nast Traveller, and Escape. He began his law career in July 1992 by serving for three years as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia.

Mr. Kennedy co-founded the Urban Ecology Institute at Boston College, where he taught in the Biology and English Departments, with the goal of forcing change through community action and education. Since its founding, UEI has developed an array of programs that fall within its Education Division which engage students in hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, especially at the middle school and high school levels.^[9] In response to the considerable ecological and economic challenges in the city of Boston, the Urban Ecology Institute studies the emerging field of urban ecology to help residents understand the natural resources in their communities and take action to protect them.^[10]

Mr. Kennedy, an avid civil rights and environmental rights advocate spoke at the Loyola Marymount University Bellarmine Forum in 2006 about the importance of urban ecology. Kennedy claimed that the Jesuit colleges should be more involved in their local communities, and that scientists, educators and attorneys must work with middle and high school youth to improve science and civic education, and to protect and transform natural resources before they are lost forever.^[11]

Mr. Kennedy is working with the Pearl Coalition to build a museum of remembrance and recognition of the greatest African American Slave escape in American History.

Max Kennedy managed Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s re-election campaign in 2000, and has volunteered on a number of other campaigns, including the presidential campaigns of Edward M. Kennedy in 1980, Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004 and as a surrogate for Barack Obama in 2008. Maxwell Kennedy endorsed then-Senator Obama early in the primary season. ^[12]Kennedy campaigned for Senator Obama throughout 2008 at approximately 200 events in crucial swing states, including Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Kennedy campaigned hard for Senator Obama especially in Scranton where field organizer Gillian Bergeron created a hard-core field organization, and had Kennedy hitting diners and doughnut shops at six AM. Kennedy resorted to old-school politicking, leading senior citizens singing old Irish ballads at lunch centers.^[13] Kennedy campaigned in Indiana on Dr. King’s birthday^[14] and again during the Jefferson-Jackson dinnerJefferson-Jackson DinnerHe campaigned across Texas from Austin to Dallas and Fort Worth through San Antonio.^[15] He phone-banked for Senator Obama^[16] and spoke at several Rock the Vote Bus Tour events.^[17]Kennedy introduced Senator Obama at a dinner at Hickory Hill.^[18] A nice video produced by the Obama campaign shows Max and his mother Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy campaigning in Southwest Virginia. Speaking about Senator Obama on Morning Joe, Max Kennedy spoke about the shared courage, moral authority and willingness to take on tough issues, of Senator Obama, and his father Robert Kennedy.^[19]

His wife Vicki was a Cabot Fellow and taught for several years as a Fellow at Harvard College. Vicki is now an educational consultant at Loyola Marymount. She is devoted to being a parent within a political family.^[20]

He wrote the national best-selling book called Make Gentle the Life of This World : The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy and the Words That Inspired Him. Mr. Kennedy's father still looms large in his life.^[21]

Mr. Kennedy has served as a Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, where he led human rights missions to Haiti, South Africa, and Kenya.

At Georgetown University, he concentrated on Latin-American history, and has made dozens of trips through Central and Latin America, spending time in nearly every country in South America. He joined a Venezuelan mapping team to attempt to create the first detailed maps of the upper reaches of the Rio Caroni. He co-led in an expedition to locate the sunken French fleet of Admiral D`Estress in Las Aves Archipelago and participated in the subsequent filming of the BBC/Discovery Channel Documentary about the lost fleet. Max Kennedy partially financed and produced two Venezuelan historical long featured films about Manuela Saenz in 2000 (Lover of Simon Bolivar and Coronel of the Venezuelan Independence Army) and Francisco de Miranda in 2005 (Leader of the Venezuelan Independence). His name appears on the credits of both films and other Venezuelan films to which he has contributed. Mr Kennedy has toured the Venezuelan Barrios, and was successfully involved in the fundraising of donations from the U.S. to the homeless children’s shelter run by Fundacion Atenea in Caracas. Mr Kennedy has had extensive meetings with the Leopoldo Lopez, Mayor of Chacao, one of the only elected opposition figures in Caracas, and with Henrique Capriles, Mayor of Baruta and now the opposition candidate for Governor of the State of Miranda. He has been a personal friend for more than 15 years of Maria Corina Machado, the head of SUMATE, a Venezuelan NGO that promotes clean elections and who has been indicted by the Government under several criminal charges for that reason. While studying law at the University of Virginia, Mr. Kennedy was elected President of the Student Legal Forum.

Maxwell Kennedy organized an expedition with Barry Clifford to search for, and successfully located the lost fleet of the Counte D’Estrees, at Las Aves off the coast of Venezuela. The fleet had sunk in 1678 while attempting to sack the Dutch at Curacao.^[22]

PT-109

When Max and Edward Kennedy Jr. were small, grandmother Rose would tell them the story of how their uncle, President John F. Kennedy, saved a member of his PT boat crew in World War II by towing him to an island.^[23] Max would in return continue the legacy of his uncle by visiting Solomon Islands with Robert Ballard in 2002 to revisit the scene of the story of John F. Kennedy's PT-109. He presented a bust of the late president to Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana who were the native coastwatcher scouts who found the missing Kennedy and his crew.

Source: Wikipedia

'Butterfly Effect 3' Trailer and Poster!

2009-01-13T03:26:00.000-08:00

Since this year’s Horrorfest is providing yet another flap of the feeble Butterfly Effect wings in the third installment of the series, it’s only right that fans get a new trailer and poster to help ring in the New Year and start early Horrorfest celebration! Over at Horror-Movies.ca, they’ve scored a new poster from the flick and after the jump we’ve got the trailer! Butterfly Effect 3, stars Rachel Miner and last year’s Miss Horrorfest, and follows a young man with the power to time travel as he attempts to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's death but instead unleashes a serial killer. In any case, FEARnet correspondent, Spider, caught up with 2008 Miss Horrorfest and she told him ALL about her role. Her topless role. We’re just sayin’...

Source: Fearnet.com

Natalie Dylan's Virginity Now Worth $2.5 Million

2009-01-13T03:02:00.000-08:00

Natalie Dylan, a twenty two year old women's study student, is not the first woman to try to auction off her virginity for money. But Natalie Dylan, which is a pseudonym, appears to be the most successful so far in running up the bidding.

The highest bid for a night of passion with Natalie Dylan has come to $2.5 million. At least ten thousand men have out in bids to relieve Natalie Dylan, a cute brunette, of her virginity.

Natalie Dylan decided to auction her virginity off when she learned that her sister had worked for three weeks as a prostitute in order to pay for college. When she started the bidding about three or so months ago, Natalie Dylan had hoped that she would get a bid of a million dollars. That she now has the bidding up to two and a half times that number seems incredible.

The winning bidder will get to enjoy Natalie Dylan's favors at the famous Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada, where prostitution is legal. She has undergone a polygraph test and is willing to undergo a medical exam to prove her sexual status to the satisfaction of the winning bidder.

Now the question arises when seeing this story again, what kind of guy is going to shell out two and a half million dollars for a one night stand with someone who is not, after all, experienced? To be sure some of the bidders, according to Natalie Dylan, are men with questionable morals and taste, even by the standards of men who would bid on such an auction. But others seem to be polite businessmen who want to show Natalie Dylan a good time.

A night with a high class call girl, we are informed, might cost a few thousand dollars and might include the kind of kinks that Natalie Dylan is unwilling to participate in. So it is a mystery how Natalie Dylan's virginity is suddenly worth two and a half million dollars. Remember, the price is one night, not to keep Natalie Dylan for any length of time after that.

Source: Associated Content

Fargo woman wins 'Real Chance of Love' reality show

2009-01-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

Abbie Noah is Fargo’s latest reality TV winner as the hairstylist ended VH1’s “Real Chance of Love” hugging, kissing and smiling with “her man.”

Monday night’s finale featured Noah as one of the final four women vying for the hearts of two men – Real and Chance, two brothers who call themselves “The Stallionaires.” The show’s premise featured each brother choosing his prospective “love” from a group of women.

As the show started Monday night, each brother had two final women to choose from.

Noah, who was known on the show was “Corn Fed,” was up against a woman dubbed “Bay Bay Bay” for the love of Real. Early in the episode, Noah and Bay Bay Bay argued during a poolside dinner in a Puerto Rico resort. Noah left the table crying after Bay Bay Bay and Real each wondered if the polite, sweet Fargo woman could handle the honest, harsh lifestyle of Los Angeles and the celebrity scene following Real.

“I’d feel absolutely devastated if Real doesn’t pick me,” Noah said early on.

During the show’s final selection, Real again questioned Noah’s ability to handle his lifestyle in Los Angeles.

“L.A. is not Fargo,” he said.

The statement brought tears to Noah’s eyes as she turned away in agony, unable to face the possibility she couldn’t be with Real.

But as Real turned to Bay Bay Bay he said he came to the show to find a relationship that had “fireworks.” And, he said, he didn’t feel the explosions with Bay Bay Bay.

Looking at Noah, Real said, “I believe you fell in love with me. I fell in love with you too.”

After an embrace, the show switched to a post-interview with Noah and she said, “I have been waiting this entire time to hear Real say he fell in love with me, and he said it. … I am absolutely in love with Real.”

She was the only woman on the show who found love. In a surprising move, Chance dismissed both of his final women saying he wasn’t truly in love with either of them.

The “Real Chance of Love” finale will be followed in two weeks with a reunion episode on VH1.

Fargo's previous reality show champion was Caridee English, who won the seventh cycle - or season - "America's Next Top Model."

Source: In-forum

Eddy Curry

2009-01-13T02:56:00.000-08:00

Eddy Curry Jr. (born December 5, 1982) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA currently with the New York Knicks. He was born in Harvey, Illinois. He is 6'11" (2.11 m) and 285 lb (130 kg), and has a wingspan of 7'6½" (2.30 m).^[1]

High school

Prior to becoming considered one of the best high school basketball players in the nation as a senior at Thornwood High School in South Holland, Illinois, Curry aspired to be a gymnast and did not pick up basketball until the seventh grade when he reluctantly went out for the school team. In 2001, Curry led his team to second place in the IHSA State Playoffs. He was named to the 1998, 1999 and 2000 State Farm Holiday Classic all-tournament teams.

Curry is one of three current professional athletes who call Thornwood their alma mater, the others being St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mark Mulder and Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Cliff Floyd.

NBA Draft

Curry had signed a letter of intent to play at DePaul University but declared himself eligible for the 2001 NBA Draft in which the Chicago Bulls made him the fourth overall pick. The decision to draft Curry and pair him alongside fellow rookie Tyson Chandler was a major surprise to many basketball fans^[who?] given that both players were high school seniors. In trying to rebuild from the Michael Jordan era, both Curry and Chandler wore uniform numbers that when put together read 23; Curry wore number 2, and Chandler number 3.

Professional career

Curry's contribution was limited during his rookie year due to limited minutes. Curry improved in his second year, leading the NBA in field goal percentage (58.5%) and becoming the first Bull to lead the league in a major statistical category since Michael Jordan in 1998. His 2002-03 season was widely considered a disappointment as he failed to live up to expectations after a strong finish to the previous year. In the 2004-05 season the Bulls improved by 28 wins and made the playoffs as the 22-year-old Curry led the team in scoring before being hospitalized with an irregular heartbeat. This caused him to miss the last 13 games of the regular season and the entire playoffs. On June 24, 2005, heart specialists cleared Curry to resume practice. On October 3, 2005, after refusing on privacy grounds to submit to a DNA test, as requested by Bulls management, to assess whether he has a congenital heart condition, Curry was traded to the New York Knicks. The trade included the Bulls' Antonio Davis, as well as the Knicks' Mike Sweetney, Tim Thomas, and Jermaine Jackson.^[2] First-round draft picks were also exchanged in the trade - which later came back to haunt the Knicks as they had a poor 2005-06 season in which Curry averaged 13.6 points and 6.0 rebounds per game (numbers that were significantly down from the previous season). Curry's inability to defend and rebound was a source of frustration for former coaches Scott Skiles and Larry Brown. When asked by a reporter in 2003 what Curry needed to do to become a better rebounder, Skiles simply replied: "Jump."^[3] The 2006-07 season saw a resurgence in Curry's performance under new coach Isiah Thomas, with Curry anointed the team's primary offensive option, averaging career highs in points (19.6), rebounds (7.1), and minutes (34.9) per game. On April 7, 2007 Curry scored a career-best 43 points in an overtime win over the Milwaukee Bucks; his first three-pointer of the season forcing the game into the extra period.^[4] Curry is 2 for 2 (100%) from three-point range in his NBA career.^[4] In the 2007–2008 season, Curry was expected to form a great frontcourt with Zach Randolph, however both of them saw a regression in their games. Curry showed up to training camp in October 2008 out of shape for the second year in a row, incensing new head coach Mike D'Antoni. Curry not only lost his job, but was not even in D'Antoni's rotation at the beginning of the 2008–2009 season. Curry played his first game of the season on January 8, 2009 against the Dallas Mavericks.

Cardiac problems

Several prominent cardiologists cleared Curry to play, but Barry Maron, a world-renowned specialist in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, suggested the DNA test.^[5] During the team's media day, Bulls General Manager John Paxson said he understood the privacy issues involved but insisted the Bulls did not have an ulterior motive; they simply do not want a situation similar to those of former Boston Celtics guard Reggie Lewis or Loyola Marymount star Hank Gathers—players with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy who collapsed and died.

Awards and accomplishments

NBA

Led league in field goal percentage, 2002-03

High School

USA Today First Team All-American
PARADE High School Player of the Year
Earned Illinois Mr. Basketball honors
MVP of the McDonald's All-American game after scoring 28 points with 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in leading the West to a 131-125 victory
Led Thornwood High School to the Illinois State Championship game, averaging 22.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.0 blocked shots, shooting .640 from the floor, including 25.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in the state tournament. Averaged 24.6 points and 11.2 rebounds, along with 4.8 blocks, as a junior.
Was selected to the State Farm Holiday Classic all-tournament team in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Notes

Source: Wikipedia

Alvin York

2009-01-13T02:52:00.000-08:00

Alvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964) was a United States soldier, famous as a World War I hero. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, taking 32 machine guns, killing 28 German soldiers and capturing 132 others during the U.S.-led Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France.^[1]

Early years

Alvin Cullum York was born to an impoverished farming family in Tennessee on December 13, 1887, the third of eleven children.^[2] Up until a few years before the war, York was a hard drinker and prone to fighting in saloons. His mother, a member of a pacifist Christian denomination, tried to convince York to change his ways to no avail. Then during a night of heavy drinking when he and a friend got into a fight with other saloon patrons, York's friend was killed. The event shook York so much that he finally followed his mother and became a Christian, no longer fighting or drinking. On June 5, 1917, at the age of 29, Alvin York received a notice to register for the draft. From that day until he arrived back from the War on May 29, 1919, he kept a diary of his activities.^[3]

York belonged to a Christian denomination the Church of Christ in Christian Union which, despite having no specific doctrine of pacificism, discouraged warfare and violence.^[4] According to documentation (see image), York did apply for CO status but was not approved.

World War I 1917–1918

York enlisted in the United States Army and served in Company G, 328th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Infantry Division at Camp Gordon, Georgia. Discussion of the Biblical stance on war with his company commander, Captain Edward Courtney Bullock Danforth (1894–1974) of Augusta, Georgia and his Battalion Commander, Major Gonzalo Edward Buxton (1880–1949) of Providence, Rhode Island, eventually convinced York that warfare could be justified.^[2]

During a mission to secure the German Decauville rail-line on October 8, 1918, York's actions earned him the Medal of Honor. He recalled:

"The Germans got us, and they got us right smart. They just stopped us dead in our tracks. Their machine guns were up there on the heights overlooking us and well hidden, and we couldn’t tell for certain where the terrible heavy fire was coming from… And I'm telling you they were shooting straight. Our boys just went down like the long grass before the mowing machine at home. Our attack just faded out… And there we were, lying down, about halfway across [the valley] and those German machine guns and big shells getting us hard."^[5]

Seventeen men under the command of Sergeant Bernard Early (which included York) infiltrated behind the German lines to take out the machine guns. The group worked their way behind the Germans and overran the headquarters of a German unit, capturing a large group of German soldiers who were preparing to counter-attack against the US troops. Early’s men were contending with the prisoners when machine gun fire suddenly peppered the area, killing six Americans, Corp. Murray Savage, and Pvts. Maryan E. Dymowski, Ralph E. Weiler, Fred Waring, William Wins and Walter E. Swanson, and wounding three others, Sgt. Early, Corp. William S. Cutting (AKA Otis B. Merrithew) and Pvt. Mario Muzzi. The fire came from German machine guns on the ridge, which turned their weapons on the US soldiers. The loss of the nine put Corporal York in charge of the seven remaining U.S. soldiers, Privates Joseph Konotski (Kornacki), Percy Beardsley, Feodor Sok, Thomas C. Johnson, Michael A. Saccina, Patrick Donohue and George W. Wills. As his men remained under cover, and guarding the prisoners, York worked his way into position to silence the German machine guns. York recalled:

"And those machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful. And the Germans were yelling orders. You never heard such a racket in all of your life. I didn't have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush… As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. There were over thirty of them in continuous action, and all I could do was touch the Germans off just as fast as I could. I was sharp shooting… All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn't want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had."^[6]

One of York’s prisoners, German first lieutenant Paul Jürgen Vollmer of 1st Battalion, 120th Württemberg Landwehr Regiment[1], emptied his pistol trying to kill York while he was contending with the machine guns. Failing to injure York, and seeing his mounting losses, he offered to surrender the unit to York, which was gladly accepted. By the end of the engagement, York and his seven men marched 132 German prisoners back to the American lines. His actions silenced the German machine guns and were responsible for enabling the 328th Infantry Regiment to renew the offensive to capture the Decauville Railroad.^[7]

York was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism, but this was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, which was presented to York by the commanding general of the American Expeditionary Force, General John J. Pershing. The French Republic awarded him the Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor. Italy and Montenegro awarded him the Croce di Guerra and War Medal, respectively.

York was a corporal during the action. His promotion to sergeant was part of the honor for his valor. Of his deeds York said to his division commander, General Duncan, in 1919: "A higher power than man power guided and watched over me and told me what to do."

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company G, 328th Infantry, 82nd Division.
Place and date: Near Chatel-Chehery, France, October 8, 1918.
Entered service at: Pall Mall, Tennessee.
Born: December 13, 1887, Fentress County, Tennessee.
General Orders No.59. War Department, 1919.

Citation:

After his platoon suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading 7 men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.^[8]

Post-war life

On June 7, 1919, York married Gracie Williams. They had 7 children, all of whom were named after famous American historical figures which are five sons (Alvin C. Junior, Edward Buxton, Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson) and two daughters (Betsy Ross and Mary Alice).^{[citation needed]}

York founded the Alvin C. York Agricultural Institute, a private agricultural school in Jamestown, Tennessee, that was eventually turned over to the State of Tennessee. The school, now known as Alvin C. York Institute, is the only fully state-funded public high school in the State of Tennessee. The school is a nationally recognized school of excellence and boasts the highest high school graduation percentage in the state. It is home to almost 800 students.

York also opened a Bible School, and later operated a mill in Pall Mall on the Wolf River.

During World War II he attempted to re-enlist in the Infantry but was denied due to age. Instead he went on bond tours and made personal appearances to support the war effort. He convinced the state of the need for a reserve force at home and was active in the creation of the Tennessee State Guard in 1941, in which he served as a Colonel and Commanding Officer of the 7th Infantry Regiment. He was also involved with recruiting and war bond drives as well as inspection tours of American soldiers in training.

Alvin York died at the Veterans Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, 1964, of a cerebral hemorrhage and was buried at the Wolf River Cemetery in Pall Mall.^[9]

Awards

Legacy

Alvin C. York Veterans Hospital: Located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Alvin C. York Institute: Founded as a private agricultural high school in 1926 by Alvin York and residents of Fentress County, the school became public in 1937 due to the Depression and continues to serve as Jamestown's high school.

1941 film: York's story was told in the 1941 movie Sergeant York, with Gary Cooper in the title role. York refused to authorize a film version of his life story unless he received a contractual guarantee that Cooper would be the actor to portray him. Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

York Avenue, NYC: York Avenue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan was named for the Sergeant in 1928.^[10]

M-247 (DIVAD weapon system): In the 1980s, the United States Army named its DIVAD weapon system "Sergeant York"; the project was cancelled due to technical problems and massive cost overruns.^[11]

U.S. Postal Service Distinguished Soldiers stamp: On May 5, 2000, the United States Postal Service issued the "Distinguished Soldiers" stamps, in which York was honored.^[12]

Laura Cantrell song: Laura Cantrell's song "Old Downtown" mentions York in depth.^[13]

President Reagan funeral procession: The riderless horse in the funeral procession of President Ronald Reagan was named Sergeant York.^[14]

82nd Airborne theater: The 82nd Airborne Division's movie theater at Fort Bragg, North Carolina is named York Theater.^[15]

Sergeant York Historic Trail: "The Sergeant York Historic Trail is being constructed under the supervision of LTC Douglas Mastriano and the Sergeant York Discovery Expedition in the Argonne, so that all visitors to the Argonne can walk where York walked. Boy Scout troops have already started work on the trail. All French officials in the region approved the trail and the locations of markers. A large dedication ceremony will be done on the spot of York's feat in a date TBD. A large contingent from the French military and the US Army are expected."^[16]^[17]

Football trophy: The traveling American football trophy between Austin Peay, UT Martin, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech is called the Alvin C. York trophy.^[18]

229th Military Intelligence Battalion hall: The 229th US Army Military Intelligence Battalion, Alpha Company, Monterey California, dedicated their soldier's hall in honor of SGT York. COL Gerald York (US Army, retired, grandson of Alvin York) officiated at the dedication ceremony.^{[citation needed]}

Sergeant Alvin C. York Statue: A monumental sized statue of York by sculptor Felix de Weldon was placed on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol in 1968.

Alvin C. York Memorial: A modest bronze helmet rests atop a stone flag on the grounds of East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. A poem on this monument is dedicated to York.

Notes

Source: Wikipedia

Citizen jeans

2009-01-13T02:49:00.000-08:00

White Pointer Sharks Attack in Australia

2009-01-13T02:45:00.000-08:00

White pointer sharks are making their presence known around Australia. The white pointer shark, also known as the great white, has been blamed for three attacks on the heels of a fatal assault around Perth, so reports the latest issue of "Jaunted", a publication of The New Yorker.

In their article, "Australia Looking Out For White Pointer Sharks," "Jaunted" reports that the three attacks were non-fatal and were spread around the great Island of Australia including the tidal Lake Illawarra, New South Wales; also an attack occurred near Fringel Head which also is in New South Wales. Finally, the third white pointer shark attack occurring within a 48-hour period was reported in Binalong Bay in Tasmania.

As the article goes on to report, The Florida Museum of Natural History has tracked only 71 "un-provoked attacks" in 2007 worldwide and 32 of those happened in Florida.

In a related article, a 13-year-old girl was one of the three victims reported. She was attacked but because of her swimming skills was able to escape and was brought to shore by a friend. She was surfing. They are still searching for the shark.

Sharks swarm the Florida coast. I have linked to a video that shows Lemon Sharks hovering around the coast, over 200.

Of course the great white came to public attention from the popularity of the movie "Jaws" back in 1975. From that time people have been more aware of the existence of sharks even though there are so few shark attacks.

The reason that most sharks do attack is that they see a person that reminds them of natural prey. A good example would be a person on a surfboard who is paddling. They would look like a seal to a shark.

In the articles the comment is made that sharks are infiltrating Australia. I'm not sure that a few isolated attacks warrants the phrase "infiltration.

Sharks swim in less than three feet of water in Florida waters in and around swimmers without attacking.

This would lend credence to the concept that sharks, including white pointer sharks, rarely attack unless they think they are going to eat their normal prey.

Source: Associated Content

Carol Kane

2009-01-13T02:43:00.000-08:00

Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress, known for her work on stage, screen and television.

Biography

Early life

Kane was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Joy, a jazz singer, teacher, dancer, and pianist, and Michael Kane, an architect who worked for the World Bank.^[1] Her family is Jewish, her grandparents having emigrated from Russia.^[2] Her parents divorced when she was twelve years old.^[3] She attended the Cherry Lawn School, a progressive boarding school in Darien, Connecticut until 1965.^[4]^[5] She attended the Professional Children's School in New York and made her professional theatre debut in a 1966 production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Tammy Grimes.^[6]

Career

Kane is perhaps best-known for her portrayal of Simka Dahblitz-Gravas, wife of Latka Gravas (Andy Kaufman), on the American television series Taxi from 1981 to 1983, and also for her role as Allison Portchnik in Woody Allen's Annie Hall. Kane earned two Emmy Awards for her work in the series. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the film Hester Street. She also appeared in 1987's The Princess Bride and 1988's Scrooged with Bill Murray, in which Variety called her "unquestionably [the] pic's comic highlight".^[7]

Kane was a regular on the 1986 NBC series All Is Forgiven, a regular on the 1990-1991 NBC series American Dreamer, guest-starred on a 1994 episode of Seinfeld and had a supporting role in the short-lived 1996-1997 sitcom Pearl, which starred Rhea Perlman.

In early 2006, Kane began a ten month run in the Broadway musical Wicked, playing Madame Morrible, a role which she had previously played in the show's first national tour. She also appeared in the NBC television live action production of The Year Without a Santa Claus in December 2006. She recently reprised the role of Madame Morrible in the open-ended Los Angeles production of Wicked, which opened on February 21, 2007 at the Pantages Theatre. She left the production on December 30, 2007 along with co-stars Eden Espinosa and Adam Wylie. Kane was replaced by Jo Anne Worley. Kane returned to the Los Angeles company of Wicked on August 26, 2008 to once again play the role of Madame Morrible and stayed with the production till its closure on January 11, 2009. She will originate the role of Madame Morrible in the San Francisco production of Wicked which will begin performances January 27, 2009 at the Orpheum Theatre.^[8]

Filmography

Carnal Knowledge (1971) - Jennifer
Wedding in White (1972) - Jeannie Dougall
The Last Detail (1973) - Young Whore
Hester Street (1975) - Gitl
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) - Jenny
Annie Hall (1977) - Allison Portchnik
The World's Greatest Lover (1977) - Annie
The Mafu Cage (1978) - Cissy
When a Stranger Calls (1979) - Jill Johnson
Pandemonium (1982) - Candy
The Secret Diary of Sigmund Freud (1984)
Transylvania 6-5000 (1985) - Lupi
Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) - Cynthia
The Princess Bride (1987) - Valerie, Miracle Max's wife
License to Drive (1988)- Mrs. Anderson
Scrooged (1988) - The Ghost of Christmas Present
Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) - Cassie
My Blue Heaven (1990) - Shaldeen
Flashback (1990) - Maggy
In the Soup (1992) - Barbara
Addams Family Values (1993) - Grandmama
When a Stranger Calls Back (1993) - Jill Johnson
Big Bully (1996) - Faith Bigger
Trees Lounge (1996) - Connie
The Pallbearer (1996) - Tom's Mother
Office Killer (1997) - Dorine
Gone Fishin' (1997) - Donna Waters
Jawbreaker (1999) - Ms. Sherwood
Man on the Moon (1999) - Herself/Simka Dahblitz
My First Mister (2001) - Mrs. Benson
The Shrink Is In (2001) - Dr. Louise Rosenberg
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) - Ms. Baggoli
The Pacifier (2005) - Helga
Four Christmases (2008)

Partial other works

Wicked (2005-present) - Madame Morrible (Various productions)
The Happy Elf (2006) - Gilda (voice)
Family Guy (2001) - Carol Pewterschmidt (voice) in episode: "Emission Impossible"
Beggars and Choosers (1999-2000) - Lydia Ludden
Homicide: Life on the Street (1997) - Gwen Munch, John Munch's ex-wife, in episode "All is Bright"
Seinfeld (1994) - Corinne in episode: "The Marine Biologist"
Tales from the Crypt (1990) - Judy in episode: "Judy, You're Not Yourself Today"
Cheers (1984) - Amanda Boyer in episode: "A Ditch in Time"
Taxi (1980) - Simka Dahblitz

References

Source: Wikipedia

Did the press ‘misunderestimate’ the president?

2009-01-13T02:40:00.000-08:00

At President George W. Bush’s final press conference Monday, he thanked the press for their work.

“Sometimes you misunderestimated me,” Bush said, recalling one of his most famous gaffes.

The Buzz says, no, Mr. President, some just misoverstood you.

Source: Kansas City

Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave

2009-01-13T02:32:00.000-08:00

Piper PA-36 Pawnee Brave is a 1970s American single-engined, low-wing, propeller driven agricultural aircraft built by Piper Aircraft.

Design and development

The PA-36 was first announced in 1972 as a new version of the PA-25 Pawnee with a more powerful 285 hp Continental Tiara 6-285 flat six engine. The aircraft had a new wing, improved ventilation and heating system, and a larger standard hopper of 30 ft³ (0.85m³). An optional 38 ft³ (1.08 m³) hopper was also available. The type entered service in 1973.

In 1977 a new version the PA-36 Pawnee Brave 300 became available with a 300 hp (224 kW) Avco Lycoming IO-540-K1G5 engine. The original aircraft was redesignated the PA-36 Pawnee Brave 285. In 1978 the Pawnee Brave 300 became the standard model and another more powerful model was introduced, the PA-36 Pawnee Brave 375 with a 375 hp (280 kW) Avco Lycoming IO-720-D1CD flat-eight engine. In 1981 Piper sold the rights in the design to WTA Incorporated, who marketed two versions from 1984 as the New Brave 375 and New Brave 400.

Variants

PA-36-285 Pawnee Brave: Production version, 938 built.
PA-36-300 Pawnee Brave 300: Pawnee Brave with a 300 hp Avco Lycoming IO-540-K1G5 engine.
PA-36-375 Pawnee Brave 375: Pawnee Brave with a 375 hp Avco Lycoming IO-720-D1CD engine.

Specifications (Pawnee Brave 300)

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 27 ft 4¼ in (8.34 m)
Wingspan: 39 ft 0 in (11.89 m)
Height: 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Wing area: 225.65 ft² (20.96 m²)
Empty weight: 2,180 lb (989 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 4,400 lb (1996 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Avco Lycoming IO-540-K1G5 flat-six piston, 300 hp (224 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 142 mph (229 km/h)
Range: 460 miles (740 km)
Service ceiling 6,400 ft (1950 m)

Source: Wikipedia

Room A Day Giveaway 2009 - How To Enter

2009-01-13T02:29:00.000-08:00

If you've been watching "The View" recently you'll already know about the exciting "Room-A-Day Giveaway Sweepstakes" offer where 16 lucky winners will win $25,000 for a fabulous design makeover.

15 of the winners will be announced between February 2 to February 15, 2009 on ABC's "The View" and the final winner posted on the Room A Day Give Away website on March 15, 2009.

The sweepstakes begin January 10, 2009 and end on March 6, 2009. This contest is only available to those living in the United States who are 18 years of age and over. You can find out more about the makeover contest and enter online at www.roomadaygiveaway.com.

Source: Writer's Review

Bush Says Farewell To The 'Klieg Lights'? Bush's Public Comments On Obama

2009-01-13T02:27:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of talk over a remark that Bush made about Obama and his future as our president. Bush was quoted in saying "He'll make the decisions he thinks (are) necessary," Bush said. "When I get out of here, I'm getting off the stage. I believe there ought to be one person in the Klieg lights at a time and I've had my time in the Klieg lights." Many are wondering, what exactly are Klieg lights?

A Klieg light is considered movie lighting, they are lights that illuminate through the use of a tungsten-halogen filament. Basically, instead of saying spotlight, Bush decided to use the word Klieg lights. Which was invented by John H. Kliegl and brother Anton Tiberius Kliegl. Most notably Kliegl lights are used to convert scenes in movies from day to night. The lights were invented in 1911.

According to UPI, Bush said he "hoped the tone in Washington was different for Obama than for him. While noting that the White House and Congress "did find some good common ground ... the rhetoric got out of control." He congratulated Obama and said that "President-elect Obama's election does speak volumes about how far the country has come," he said. "It's going to be an amazing moment." A real class act from our President.

Source: Post Chronicle

Jim Rice, Rickey Henderson voted into Hall of Fame

2009-01-13T02:20:00.000-08:00

Rickey Henderson dashed into the Hall of Fame on his first try. Jim Rice made it with a final swing.

Henderson, who played 25 seasons, received 94.8% of the vote from the Baseball Writers' Assn. of America in balloting announced Monday, well above the 75% needed.

Rice got 76.4% in his 15th and final year on the ballot.

"The only thing I can say is I'm glad it's over with," Rice said. "I'm in there and they can't take it away."

Henderson, baseball's career leader in runs and stolen bases, became the 44th player elected in his first year of eligibility. Rice was only the third elected by the BBWAA in his final year, joining Red Ruffing in 1967 and Ralph Kiner in 1975.

Henderson and Rice will be inducted into the Hall during ceremonies July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y. They'll be joined by former New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians second baseman Joe Gordon, elected posthumously last month by the Veterans Committee.

"It's really just an honor to me. I'm really just spaced out," Henderson said. "I haven't really thought about what I'm going to say."

Henderson was picked on 511 of 539 ballots, Rice on 412, just above the 405 needed.

Some believed Rice's prickly personality and curt relationship with reporters during his playing career helped keep him out of the Hall all those years.

"I don't think I was difficult to deal with for writers. I think the writers were difficult to me," he said. "I wasn't going to bad-mouth my teammates. When you start talking about my teammates or what goes on outside baseball, I couldn't do that."

Andre Dawson fell 44 votes short with 67% and Mark McGwire, rumored to have used performance-enhancing drugs, received 118 votes (21.9%) in his third year of eligibility, down from the 128 votes he got in each of his first two tries.

Henderson, the 1990 American League most valuable player, was a 10-time All-Star who stole 1,406 bases. He batted .279 with 297 home runs, 1,115 runs batted in, 2,190 walks and 2,295 runs. He owns the modern-day season record with 130 steals in 1982, and the career mark with 81 leadoff homers. He played for Oakland, the New York Yankees, Toronto, San Diego, the Angels, the New York Mets, Seattle, Boston and the Dodgers.

Rice, the 1978 AL MVP, was an eight-time All-Star who hit 382 homers in 16 seasons with Boston from 1974 to 1989. He had a .298 career batting average and 1,451 RBIs, and from 1977 to 1979 averaged .320 with 41 homers and 128 RBIs.

He is the fourth Hall of Fame member to have spent his entire career with the Red Sox, joining Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Bobby Doerr.

Source: LA Times

Heritage Wealth Management Exec Fakes Plane Crash

2009-01-13T02:07:00.000-08:00

Marcus Schrenker, was, or is, an Indiana businessman whose financial management companies, Heritage Wealth Management Inc., Heritage Insurance Services Inc. and Icon Wealth Management, were under investigation. Now it appears he apparently bailed out of his small plane and let it crash in what may have been an attempt to fake his own death.

Now why would Schrenker do this? Well, reports are that he has been sued for $1.4 million:

In court papers filed in December in federal court in Indianapolis, collection agent Creative Marketing International claims that Marcus Schrenker, acting as an insurance broker, failed to remit commission reimbursements of $1.4 million to National Western Life.

That's just part of it. Also, according to AP:

On Friday, two days before the crash, a federal judge in Maryland issued a $533,500 judgment against Heritage Wealth Management Inc., and in favor of OM Financial Life Insurance Co. The OM lawsuit contended that Heritage Wealth Management should have returned more than $230,000 in commissions because there were problems with insurance or annuity plans Heritage had sold.

So, besides the lawsuit, there was also a judgment already in place.

According to authorities, Marcus Schrenker made a fake distress call and secretly parachuted to safety near Birmingham, Alabama. Meanwhile, his plane flew on autopilot, eventually crashing late Sunday more than 200 miles away in a swampy area of the Florida Panhandle.

His distress call said the windshield had imploded and he was bleeding, but after finding the plane, authorities could find no such evidence.

At any rate, the name Heritage Wealth Management, in these days of Bernie Madoff ponzi schemes, should raise red flags all over the place.

Authorities are still searching for Schrenker.

Source: Huliq

Kelly Stables

2009-01-13T02:01:00.000-08:00

Kelly Michelle Stables (born January 26, 1978 in metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri) is an American actress known for both stage and film acting.

Personal life

Kelly has led a mostly quiet life and is a very private individual. She was a well-known cheerleader in her high school years, a fact which would be commemorated in an article in the magazine American Cheerleader. She graduated from Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Missouri.

She would later acquire a bachelor's degree in stage performance at the University of Missouri.^[1] By March 2005, in correspondence with the release of The Ring Two in theaters, she married Kurt Patino.^[2]

Kelly is an avid baseball fan, and enjoys St. Louis Cardinals games.^[3] She uses resources from her local area church in her spare time in educating children about Parkinson's disease and ways to combat it.^[4]

Career

Kelly has acted in a number of Broadway plays. Her two largest roles were in the Thousand Oaks Civic Light Opera's Peter Pan as Wendy, and in Sleeping Beauty as the title role.^[5] Kelly has also starred in several other on-stage roles in her time, notably as Marion Davies in W.R. and the Daisy.^[6]

Kelly is best known in the world of film for the stunt work she did for The Ring and for taking over for Daveigh Chase in portraying the (off-tape) evil Samara Morgan for The Ring Two. She was also in the short film Rings. Her roles in the Bring it On and Ring franchises would boost her popularity to the point of gaining mention in Rolling Stone, Star and Us Weekly. She also voices Will Vandom in W.I.T.C.H., and plays roles in General Hospital and St. Bartes-Aspen. She also briefly appeared in the pilot for The Grubbs. As of November 2007, she has also had a role in an episode of Cavemen. Most recently she made a guest appearance as Melissa on Two and a Half Men. She is currently working on a film called My Life Untitled.^[7].

Stage

Peter Pan
Sleeping Beauty
W.R. and the Daisy

Filmography

Spider-Man (2002) (stunts)
The Haunted Mansion (2003)
Pride and Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy (2003)
Bring It On Again (2004)
The Princess Diaries 2 (2004) (stunts)
Hoodwinked (2005)
The Ring Two (2005)(she replaced Daveigh Chase as Samara Morgan)
Rings (2005)
Furnace (2006)
Telling Lies (2006)
State's Evidence (2006)
Together Again for the First Time (2007)

Upcoming Projects

Madness (2008)
My Life: Untitled (2008)
The Ring Three (2009)
Spring Break Dread (20??)

Television

BS
The Grubbs
General Hospital
Creating America's Next Hit Television Show
How I Met Your Mother
Two and a Half Men
W.I.T.C.H.
Shorty McShorts' Shorts
Greek

Video games

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam 2

References

Source: Wikipedia

Family Watch Dog Sex Offender Registry: FamilyWatchDog.Com

2009-01-13T01:49:00.000-08:00

Family Watch Dog is all the buzz this morning as parents learn about the website and how it's been put into place to protect our children from sex offenders.

Www.FamilyWatchDog.com, which has been featured on popular TV shows like The Oprah Winfrey Show and Dr Phil, is a website aimed toward protecting our children from local sex offenders.

The website ways of their goal and purpose: "Our goal at Family Watchdog is to provide you with the information you need to protect your loved ones. Our service allows you to view known registered offenders and predators in your area. Knowing who these people are and what they've done provides you with your best defense to protect your family - awareness."

The website also points out troubling statistics: 1 of 5 girls and 1 of 6 boys will be molested before their 18th birthday. 90% of all incidents against children are by people the victim already knew.

Go here to visit the website.

Source: Post Chronicle

Fake Jeff Hardy Car Accident Storyline Crosses The Line

2009-01-10T05:02:00.001-08:00

If you watched Smackdown this Friday night, no doubt you saw the ridiculous storyline featuring a fake car accident in which current WWE Champion Jeff Hardy and his fiance Beth were allegedly involved in.

The angle was that they were involved in some sort of hit-and-run accident where someone hit them from behind and took off. I've read the Internet rumors this week regarding the possibility that this angle (as well as the Jeff Hardy hotel incident) might have been done to bring in former TNA star and WWE veteran, Christian.

I have no issue with using a dramatic storyline to bring back a big-name Superstar. My issue is with the WWE's persistance of relying on poor gimmicks in an attempt to try to bring "reality" to their programing.

I understand that a large portion of the WWE's audience are children but that in and of itself might create another issue with these sort of things. I'm certain there were probably children at the live event who actually thought that their hero was actually injured.

I feel that the WWE needs to do a much better job at playing up the real injuries and stay away from building up these fake ones.

Remember when Randy Orton legitimately broke his collarbone against Triple H at One Night Stand? The WWE did almost nothing regarding this injury in terms of building up any kind of rivalry between the two Superstars.

Now I realize that Triple H got drafted to Smackdown, but they could have easily mentioned it when The Legacy faced Triple H and Batista on Raw a month ago.

Instead, the WWE creates fake injuries like Jeff's car accident and play them up to the hilt while ignoring the potential that real-life injuries could bring to the table.

To me, there's something wrong with the irony of that situation.

Source: Bleacher Report

Classic Mouseketeer Cheryl Holdridge Dead

2009-01-10T04:59:00.001-08:00

Before Mickey Mouse anointed Britney, Justin and Christina, there were Annette, Cubby and Cheryl.

Cheryl Holdridge, who grew up a Mouseketeer and graduated to roles on Leave It to Beaver, My Three Sons, Bewitched and The Dick Van Dyke Show, has died.

The actress, who appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club from 1956 to 1959, succumbed to lung cancer at her L.A.-area home, per the Los Angeles Times. She was 64.

Source: EOnline

Robert Carlyle Is Leader of the Stargate Universe

2009-01-10T04:55:00.001-08:00

Pieces are falling into place for the next Stargate installment. Robert Carlyle, most recently seen in 24: Redemption, will headline the franchise's third series, Stargate Universe, Sci Fi announced.

SGU, which will launch with a two-hour premiere this summer, centers on a group of soldiers, scientists and civilians who are stranded in space after their ship comes under attack. Carlyle will play Dr. David Rush, who leads the group on a mission to unlock the ship's mysteries and return home.

"Robert Carlyle brings a depth, intelligence and complexity to his roles, which will fit perfectly with the fresh, new reinvention of this franchise," Sci Fi original-programming chief, Mark Stern, said.

Last month, at a screening for 24: Redemption, Carlyle told TVGuide.com that television has been after him to front a show, saying, "And I welcome the attention!" (Watch video here, at the 1:10 mark).

SGU will begin production in February in Vancouver. Stargate Atlantis wraps up its five-season run on Jan. 9.

Source: Seattle Pi

BRITTNEY BERGERON: Girl's life a tale of sorrow

2009-01-10T04:52:00.001-08:00

The recent attack in which a knife-wielding assailant severed her spinal cord was one of many tragedies Brittney Bergeron has endured in her young life.

Hundreds of pages of police and court documents reviewed by the Review-Journal in Riverside County, Calif., indicate her parents fought a bitter custody battle over the girl, now 10.

Repeatedly, each parent won custody, only to forfeit that victory through transgressions that included drug abuse and drunken driving convictions.

As matters stood this past summer, Tammy Bergeron had custody of Brittney and her younger half sister, Kristyanna. But separate legal developments threatened to change that.

Child Protective Services in California was investigating Brittney's allegations that a cousin repeatedly had raped her. And Kristyanna's father had signaled his intention to seek custody of the toddler.

Tammy Bergeron left California in August and soon settled in a trailer park behind the CasaBlanca hotel-casino in Mesquite.

Early on Jan. 22, screams filled the trailer park as Tammy Bergeron returned home to find both children bleeding from dozens of stab wounds. The attack left Kristyanna dead and Brittney paralyzed from the waist down.

"Tammy'd been hiding for about five months, so we didn't know where Brittney was," the girl's grandmother, California resident Grace Bergeron, said in an interview last week. "We were always a step behind. We never caught up before finding out what had happened, and then I just cried and cried and cried."

Two teenage siblings, Beau and Monique Maestas, face murder and related charges in the attack. They remain jailed in Utah, where they are fighting extradition back to Nevada.

Beau Maestas told police he and his sister stabbed the girls after Tammy Bergeron's boyfriend, Robert Schmidt, duped him into paying $125 for a bag of table salt that he claimed was methamphetamine.

Court documents disclose that a California judge more than two years ago ordered Tammy Bergeron to keep Brittney away from Schmidt.

"This guy was bad news," said Ellen Phelps, a Riverside County Superior Court investigator who handled the Bergeron case for years. "We did order that the mother was not to be around the boyfriend, Schmidt, because he was causing problems."

Police reports and court documents from Brittney's custody case provide glimpses into the world of a child entrusted to the care of adults whose own behaviors landed them in jail.

When asked why Brittney never was placed in state custody, Phelps said such action had been considered during the four-year custody battle.

"But we try not to put them in foster care because the system is already overloaded," Phelps said. "We try to get aunts and grandmothers and other relatives involved so the child can stay with family."

Both of Brittney's parents refused to be interviewed for this story. In previous statements, both Tammy Bergeron and Kevin Bergeron have vowed to prevail in their custody battle for the girl.

As detectives continue their investigation into the stabbings, they next will focus on whether Tammy Bergeron, 33, should face felony neglect charges for leaving her two girls at home on the night of the stabbings.

To determine whether the grieving mother should be criminally charged and lose custody of Brittney, detectives say they will examine the living conditions Tammy Bergeron provided for her children before the attack.

Those conditions are disclosed at great length in the court documents.

Brittney was born to Tammy Bailie and Kevin Bergeron in Riverside County on April 6, 1992. The couple married when Brittney was 4 years old and lived in Banning, Calif., about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.

In an interview, Grace Bergeron portrayed her 40-year-old son as a good father who worked hard building mobile homes to provide for his daughter. Grace Bergeron said Tammy Bergeron worked as a waitress and in a shoe store before a drug addiction caused her to lose jobs and created problems in the marriage.

The court records indicate both parents struggled with substance abuse and the law.

About two years after they were married, Kevin Bergeron was arrested on a battery charge for beating a man. He was sentenced to one day in jail and three years' probation.

A few months later, Tammy Bergeron described her husband as a belligerent and violent man in an application for a restraining order against him. She wrote that Kevin Bergeron had battered her after accusing her of having an affair with a co-worker.

"When he got home, there was a very big fight," she wrote. "He hit me in the eye and was pushing me around."

The couple separated soon after, obtained restraining orders against one another and began what would become a more than four-year battle over control of their child. Riverside County authorities shuffled legal custody of Brittney between her warring parents five times in about three years.

"She was kind of being used as a weapon by the parents, and you see that a lot in ugly divorces," Phelps said.

The documents indicate Kevin Bergeron has had at least two DUI convictions since the separation, including an arrest that came after he crashed into a vehicle. He was sentenced to brief jail terms and probation in both cases.

According to court records and police, he has a bench warrant out for his arrest because he failed to complete an alcohol rehabilitation program that was a condition of his probation in the second DUI conviction.

"I feel there is child endangerment circumstances because he has taken her to a bar and is drinking with her," Tammy Bergeron wrote in March 1999 court documents in which she sought custody of her daughter. "(He) leaves her in a bad environment."

Months after authorities revoked his license for drunken driving, a judge ordered Kevin Bergeron to stop driving Brittney around without a valid license.

Brittney herself asked to be allowed to go live with her mother in a three-page, scrawled letter submitted to the judge in March 2002.

The girl, then 9, wrote that her father often left the house saying he had to buy car parts but would return with only a beer in his hand.

"I cry," the girl wrote. "The reason I cry is I do not want to go back with my Dad."

Tammy Bergeron also filed a letter complaining about her ex-husband's supervision of Brittney.

"My daughter has cut her hair, shaved her eye brows & cut her eye lashes. These are all signs of problems," Tammy Bergeron wrote to the judge. "Having Brittney live with me she would be in a clean & safe home."

But the court documents suggest Tammy Bergeron also had trouble providing an ideal home life for her daughter.

In early 1999, during one of the periods Tammy Bergeron had custody, she asked the judge to halt Kevin Bergeron's weekend visits with Brittney because of his drinking.

The judge denied her request and instead awarded full custody to Kevin Bergeron after drug abuse allegations arose against the mother.

"My wife has moved in with suspected drug users, and I want my daughter to live in a safe, stable and loving environment," Kevin Bergeron wrote in court papers filed in December 1998. "My daughter, Brittney, has not been in school this week, and I am unable to find her."

The judge ordered Tammy Bergeron not to visit her daughter until she passed a drug test. The judge also ordered her to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings weekly and to enroll in a drug treatment program.

Grace Bergeron, with whom Brittney often stayed, also sought and received a restraining order against her son's wife around this time. Grace Bergeron said she sought the order because her daughter-in-law constantly harassed her.

In August 1999, Kevin Bergeron's attorney filed a complaint with the court, stating that Tammy Bergeron had repeatedly violated this restraining order.

The attorney said Tammy Bergeron approached the girl when she was with her grandmother in a bank and refused to leave despite being reminded of the restraining order.

"(Tammy) then proceeded to lie down on the floor of the bank and continued to visit with Brittney," the documents state.

Just two weeks later, Tammy Bergeron was thrown out of a drug rehab program for noncompliance, court records show. She was picked up by police in Beaumont, Calif., the next year on a felony charge of possessing methamphetamine.

In October 2001, Tammy Bergeron's visits with her daughter were restricted to weekends until she could complete a drug rehab program. She finished the program in early 2002, prompting authorities to dismiss the drug charge.

Around that same time, the tale of tragedy told in the documents culminates with Brittney alleging that a young cousin raped her.

The girl underwent therapy with licensed clinical social worker Vivian Dunipace while Child Protective Services investigated her claims.

Brittney told Dunipace that the boy who raped her "threatened to kill her, chop her up in little pieces, then do the same to her family if she told," according to a letter Dunipace wrote to the judge in the case. "(Brittney) is afraid to go to her Dad's or even talk to him because Dad always took her to (the cousin's) house."

After their first session, Dunipace recommended the girl immediately be temporarily placed with her mother until the CPS investigation was completed. The judge complied.

Phelps, the Riverside County employee who tracked the Bergeron case, said CPS finally was preparing to place Brittney in the juvenile foster care system.

But after Tammy Bergeron had her daughter back, she stopped showing up for mandatory child custody hearings.

In court documents filed late last year, Kevin Bergeron's attorney asked to be excused from the case after his client also stopped attending court hearings.

"All attempts to locate Petitioner, Tamara Bergeron, have failed," attorney Keith Briley wrote by way of explanation.

Source: Review Journal

Jett Travolta, son of actors, dies at 16

2009-01-02T14:28:00.000-08:00

The 16-year-old son of actor John Travolta died Friday morning after suffering a seizure while vacationing with his family in the Bahamas, Travolta's attorney told CNN.

"At this point, we know that John Travolta and Kelly Preston's only son, Jett, had a seizure at around 10 a.m. this morning," attorney Michael Ossi said. "All attempts to revive him were unsuccessful."

The cause of death is not known, Ossi said. An autopsy will be conducted Monday. His body will be transferred to Ocala, Florida, for burial, he said.

Jett's death "was completely out of the blue," he said. "John and Kelly are happy when their children are happy. This is the worst day of John's life."

The Travoltas also have a daughter, Ella, 8.

Bahamian police said a caretaker at the West End resort where the Travoltas were vacationing found the teenager unconcious in the bathroom. Jett Travolta was taken by ambulance to Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport and was pronounced dead on arrival, police said.

Jett Travolta had a developmental disability that his parents, John Travolta and Kelly Preston, have linked to Kawasaki disease, an inflammatory disorder of the artery walls that most commonly occurs in young children and can lead to heart disease.

According to the American Heart Association, "About 80 percent of the people with Kawasaki disease are under age 5. Children over age 8 are rarely affected."

The causes of Kawasaki disease are unknown. Some scientists think it's caused by an infectious agent, such as a virus. Some studies have noted a link between the disease and carpet cleaning chemicals.

"With my son ... I was obsessive about cleaning -- his space being clean, so we constantly had the carpets cleaned," John Travolta told CNN's Larry King in 2001. "And I think, between him, the fumes and walking around, maybe picking up pieces or something, he got what is rarely a thing to deal with, but it's Kawasaki Syndrome."

Jett Travolta was about 2 at the time, John Travolta said

Source: CNN

Tjin Edition Pontiac Solstice

2009-01-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

Mobil 1 – One Lug Wheels Pontiac Solstice
Designed by Tjin Edition
Built by Unique Fabrication

Exterior:

Wheels: One Lug Wheels
Front: 19x8.5” 5-spoke (OLW-1) One Lug Wheels. Gloss black centers, color matched green lips, gold bolts, hub adapter, lug nuts and center locking nut.

Rear: 19x11.5” 5-spoke (OLW-1) One Lug Wheels. Gloss black centers, color matched green lips, gold bolts, hub adapter, lug nuts and center locking nut.

Tires: Falken Tires: 245/40/19 fronts and 275/35/19 rears

Body: Custom three-tone paint job. Body covered in Ninja Green PPG paint, interior painted in a stealth gunmetal and roll cage painted champagne. Custom front bumper, front fenders, rear valance with single exit exhaust, Unique Fabrication all metal rear deck lid and spoiler, re-sculpted a-pillars and window trim, black powdercoated front bumper and fender grilles and emblems, Top Secret hood pins customized in rear deck lid, Ignited HID 8000 headlight bulbs, and 3000k fog light bulbs.
Engine: HAHN Racecraft stage 2 turbo kit, front mount intercooler, ID-Tuning downpipe, Magnaflow full cat-back exhaust with custom exhaust tip (powdercoated black). Mobil 1 synthetic oil.

Fuel set-up: 10 gallon fuel cell, Walbro 255 fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator.

Measured Wheel HP: 284hp

Drivetrain:
Layout: Rear wheel drive, Drivetrain mods: 5-speed transmission

Suspension:
Front: Function and Form Type II fully adjustable coilovers, Rear: Function and Form Type II fully adjustable coilovers

Brakes:
Front: SSBC 6piston calipers, cross-drilled rotors, and stainless braided lines
Rear: SSBC 4piston calipers, cross-drilled rotors, and stainless braided lines

Interior:
GlowShift 7-color black boost, air/fuel, and EGT gauge., Status Racing / Tjin Edition Kevlar racing seats, Team Tech 4pt harnesses, Unique Fabrication seat mounts, ID-Tuning steering wheel adapter, Nardi steering wheel, Unique Fabrication 6pt chromoly roll cage (painted champagne), D2 Racing air jacks , Fully gutted interior, Interior painted gunmetal , Custom all metal door panels and rear section , Ignited Performance toggle switches

Source: Cardomain

Lies and Fairy Tales

Tiger Woods apologizes

News for fairies and liars

Actor Jocelyn Quivrin dies

Eggs florentine recipe

Corpus Delicti

True Blood 2x10 New World in My View

Robert Novak has died

The most famous vampire

Latoya Jackson knows who killed Michael Jackson

Farrah Fawcett funeral photos

Latest news: the death of Michael Jackson

David Ogden Stiers is gay

Easter pictures

Rihanna and Chris Brown get married?

Gisele Bündchen get married!

'Deadly Creatures' a creepy adventure for the Wii

Nintendo DSi

Robert Pattinson To Present At Academy Awards

Rihanna postpones Malaysian show amid attack case

Americans for Prosperity starts a no stimulus petition drive

2PAC - All eyez on me

Blink 182 back together!

Alex Rodriguez admits drug use

Flowers for Valentine`s Day

Poems for Valentine's Day

Valentine Cards

Eluana Englaro, finally, has died

Bernie Madoff's Victims: The List

Madoff Client List Is Disclosed in Filing

Michael Graves coffee maker rated best deal by Consumer Reports

Best Luxury Hotels in Spain

Algarrobo, Spain

Phil groundhog predicts six more weeks of winter

Rafa Nadal wins again!!

Autonomous Regions press home advantage at FITUR

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Ideas for Valentine

Valentine Ideas

Valentines Day Gifts

Oscar Nominations 2009

Yes, Obama could

Kennedy Collapses At Obama Luncheon

Obama's Inaugural Speech

I Have a Dream Speech Full text

Interview with the Vampire: Vampire Doll - Claudia

John Muir first modern preservationists

El perro del Mar

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

External links

Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy

PT-109

'Butterfly Effect 3' Trailer and Poster!

Natalie Dylan's Virginity Now Worth $2.5 Million

Fargo woman wins 'Real Chance of Love' reality show

Eddy Curry

High school

NBA Draft

Professional career

Cardiac problems

Awards and accomplishments

NBA

High School

Alvin York

Early years

World War I 1917–1918

Medal of Honor citation

Post-war life

Awards

Legacy

Citizen jeans

White Pointer Sharks Attack in Australia

Carol Kane

Biography

Early life

Career

Filmography