|
|||||
|
| Porn Users Forum » User Ranks » User Post History |
Post History:
lk2fireone (0)
|
| 151-200 of 237 Posts | < Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 3 | Page 4 | 5 | Next Page > |
| 11-05-16 06:09pm - 2969 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Alicia Keys explains that Snow White classic cartoon is sexist. Keys states she does not allow her sons to watch the film. Does no one realize that Snow White is cleaning for seven dwarfs? That Snow White is being exploited by dwarfs? Does the PU site allow this kind of exploitation to take place? Should PU boycott Disney for unfair and demeaning images of young women? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> http://etcanada.com/news/179251/alicia-k...ng-for-seven-dwarfs/ Alicia Keys Blasts Disney’s ‘Snow White’: ‘Totally Sexist, Misogynistic — She’s Cleaning For Seven Dwarfs’ By Brent Furdyk. 3 hours ago Walt Disney’s 1937 “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is considered a groundbreaking, trailblazing animated classic, but Alicia Keys admits she’s no fan of the film — and refuses to let her sons watch it. “I feel like it’s by design that I’m raising boys, like there’s a reason. I really feel that,” she says in a new interview with The Edit. “They say that every child learns from their mother – it’s ingrained from babyhood. Have you watched ‘Snow White’ lately? I get real funky about the classics; I don’t like [my sons] watching it. It’s totally sexist, misogynistic — she’s cleaning for seven dwarfs.” RELATED: Alicia Keys Talks Inner Beauty, Goes Makeup-Free For V Magazine As the “Voice” coach sees it it’s not the fact that Snow White stays in the house and cooks and cleans for the septet of dwarfs, but the message it sends. “There’s nothing wrong with a woman who chooses to stay at home with her family, it’s a hard-ass job,” she explains, “but it’s the way it’s spoken about.” +++++ >>>>> Vote for Trump. Let's make America great again. Watching the debates, I've come to realize that US politics are screwed. Trump is a bigot. Clinton is a liar. Who's the better choice? We're going to get screwed either way. As usual. JMHO.  | |
|
||
| 10-13-16 08:13am - 2992 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/arts/m...literature.html?_r=0 Bob Dylan Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature By SEWELL CHAN and BEN SISARIOOCT. 13, 2016 The singer and songwriter Bob Dylan, 75, won the prize on Thursday. The singer and songwriter Bob Dylan, one of the world’s most influential musicians, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition,” in the words of the Swedish Academy. He is the first American to win the prize since the novelist Toni Morrison, in 1993. The announcement, in Stockholm, was a surprise: Although Mr. Dylan, 75, has been mentioned often as having an outside shot at the prize, his work does not fit into the literary canons of novels, poetry and short stories that the prize has traditionally recognized. “Mr. Dylan’s work remains utterly lacking in conventionality, moral sleight of hand, pop pabulum or sops to his audience,” Bill Wyman, a journalist, wrote in a 2013 Op-Ed essay in The New York Times arguing for Mr. Dylan to get the award. “His lyricism is exquisite; his concerns and subjects are demonstrably timeless; and few poets of any era have seen their work bear more influence.” Sara Danius, a literary scholar and the permanent secretary of the 18-member Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, called Mr. Dylan “a great poet in the English-speaking tradition” and compared him to Homer and Sappho, whose work was delivered orally. Asked if the decision to award the prize to a musician signaled a broadening in the definition of literature, Ms. Danius jokingly responded, “The times they are a changing, perhaps,” referencing one of Mr. Dylan’s songs. Mr. Dylan emerged on the New York music scene in 1961 as an artist in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, singing protest songs and strumming an acoustic guitar in clubs and cafes in Greenwich Village. But from the start, Mr. Dylan stood out for dazzling lyrics and an oblique songwriting style that made him a source of fascination for artists and critics. In 1963, the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart with a version of his song “Blowin’ in the Wind,” with ambiguous refrains that evoked Ecclesiastes. Photo Mr. Dylan in Paris in 1987. Credit Bertrand Guay/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Within a few years, Mr. Dylan was confounding the very notion of folk music, with ever more complex songs and moves toward a more rock ’n’ roll sound. In 1965, he played with an electric rock band at the Newport Folk Festival, stewing controversy from folk purists who accused him of selling out. After reports of a motorcycle accident in 1966 near his home in Woodstock, N.Y., Mr. Dylan withdrew further from public life but remained intensely fertile as a songwriter. His career has continued to surprise fans and critics and has led to one of the most densely analyzed bodies of work in the history of pop music. His 1975 album “Blood on the Tracks” was interpreted as a supremely powerful account of the breakdown of a relationship, but just four years later the Christian themes of “Slow Train Coming” divided critics. His most recent two albums were chestnuts of traditional pop that had been associated with Frank Sinatra. Since 1988, Mr. Dylan has toured almost constantly, inspiring an unofficial name for his itinerary, the Never Ending Tour. Last weekend, he played the first of two performances at Desert Trip, a festival in Indio, Calif., that also featured the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and other stars of the 1960s. Mr. Dylan was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minn., and grew up in Hibbing. He played in bands as a teenager, influenced by the folk musician Woody Guthrie, the authors of the Beat Generation and modernist poets. Mr. Dylan, whose original name is Robert Allen Zimmerman, identifies as Christian and has released several albums of religiously inspired songs, but he was born into a Jewish family. The critic Greil Marcus, one of the foremost scholars of Mr. Dylan’s work, has examined the influence on his music of Harry Smith’s “Anthology of American Folk Music,” a 1952 compilation that was pivotal to the folk revival in the United States. Mr. Dylan first heard the anthology in 1959 after he had dropped out of the University of Minnesota. In 1962, Mr. Dylan signed a contract with the record producer John Hammond for his debut album, “Bob Dylan.” He was only 22 when he performed at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, singing “When the Ship Comes In,” with Joan Baez, and “Only a Pawn in Their Game,” a retelling of the murder of the civil rights activist Medgar Evers, before the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. “As the ’60s wore on,” Giles Harvey wrote in The New York Review of Books in 2010, “Dylan grew increasingly frustrated with what he came to regard as the pious sloganeering and doctrinaire leftist politics of the folk milieu.” He “began writing a kind of visionary nonsense verse, in which the rough, ribald, lawless America of the country’s traditional folk music collided with a surreal ensemble of characters from history, literature, legend, the Bible, and many other places besides.” David Hajdu, a music critic for The Nation who has written extensively about Mr. Dylan and his contemporaries, said that the Nobel recognition was long overdue and that it may be intended in part to honor the broader American music movement that Mr. Dylan emerged from. “It’s partly a recognition of the whole tradition that Bob Dylan represents, so it’s partly a retroactive award for Robert Johnson and Hank Williams and Smokey Robinson and the Beatles,” Mr. Hajdu said in an interview on Thursday. “It should have been taken seriously as an art form a long time ago.” In giving the literature prize to Mr. Dylan, the Nobel committee may also be recognizing that the gap between high art and more commercial art forms has narrowed. Nobel Prize Winning Scientists Reflect on Nearly Sleeping Through the Life-Changing Call How eight winners got the word. “It’s literature but it’s music, it’s performance, it’s art, it’s also highly commercial,” Mr. Hajdu said. “The old categories of high and low art, they’ve been collapsing for a long time, but this is it being made official.” Mr. Dylan’s many albums, which the Swedish Academy described as having “a tremendous impact on popular music,” include “Bringing It All Back Home” and “Highway 61 Revisited” (1965), “Blonde On Blonde” (1966) and “Blood on the Tracks” (1975), “Oh Mercy” (1989), “Time Out Of Mind” (1997), “Love and Theft” (2001) and “Modern Times” (2006). “Dylan has recorded a large number of albums revolving around topics like the social conditions of man, religion, politics and love,” the Swedish Academy said in a biographical note accompanying the announcement. “The lyrics have continuously been published in new editions, under the title ‘Lyrics.’ As an artist, he is strikingly versatile; he has been active as painter, actor and scriptwriter.” The academy added: “Since the late 1980s, Bob Dylan has toured persistently, an undertaking called the ‘Never-Ending Tour.’ Dylan has the status of an icon. His influence on contemporary music is profound, and he is the object of a steady stream of secondary literature.” Along with his albums, Mr. Dylan has produced experimental work like “Tarantula,” a 1971 collection of prose poetry, and “Writings and Drawings,” a 1973 compilation. The first volume of his autobiography, “Chronicles,” published in 2004, recounts his early years in New York, where he moved at age 19. Mr. Dylan’s many honors include Grammy, Academy and Golden Globe awards; he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. “By the time he was 23, Bob’s voice, with its weight, its unique, gravelly power, was redefining not just what music sounded like, but the message it carried and how it made people feel,” President Obama said at the White House ceremony. “Today, everybody from Bruce Springsteen to U2 owes Bob a debt of gratitude. There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music. All these years later, he’s still chasing that sound, still searching for a little bit of truth. And I have to say that I am a really big fan.” The Nobel comes with a prize of 8 million Swedish kronor, or just over $900,000. The literature prize is given for a lifetime of writing rather than for a single work. | |
|
||
| 10-13-16 05:50am - 2992 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
There have been past threads about cybersecurity threats. And it's been mentioned in the past that the US govt loves to snoop, on its citizens as well as anyone else who uses a computer, telephone, or takes a breath (anyone living on this planet). Here's an update on how the US govt probably has complete access to all Yahoo email accounts. Without a court order. Why should the US govt need a court order to access private citizens' data, as long as the companies supplying the technology want to remain friendly with the US govt? And what company wants to be considered "unfriendly" to the US govt? >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> Yahoo let the NSA read your email before you even opened it. Jeff at FFTF Oct 12 at 11:55 AM To XXXXXXX@YAHOO.COM Hey, I’m writing to all the Yahoo users on our list with some critical security information. I wanted to make sure you are aware about the massive security breach at Yahoo. Recently it was leaked that Yahoo compromised the security and privacy of hundreds of millions of users by installing a secret program that searched all incoming emails at the request of US intelligence officials. I strongly recommend that you delete your Yahoo account immediately. This is what we know so far: Sometime last year, the US government served Yahoo with a secret order asking them to install a program that would search all of its users incoming message for a specific piece of information called a “selector.” It is unclear what the exact selector was, but the New York Times reports that the US intelligence agency was searching for a “signature” tied to the communications of a state-sponsored terrorist organization. There have been conflicting reports about what kind of program was installed, with initial reports stating it was probably just a modified version of Yahoo’s existing scanning system that searches all incoming email for malware, spam and images of child pornography. But sources have since told Motherboard that the program was more like a “rootkit,” or a piece of malware that grants a hacker nearly complete and undetectable control over the infected system. Rootkits generally allow an attacker -- or in this case the government -- to take complete control over a computer or network in a manner that is difficult to detect. This also suggests that the government had much greater access to Yahoo's data than was previously reported. A rootkit could grant total surveillance capability over all data coming into or out of Yahoo's servers. Delete your Yahoo account, now. Please sign our pledge to continue receiving important updates from Fight for the Future. This is an absolutely unprecedented privacy violation. Surveillance experts and former government officials are saying they have never seen such a broad demand for real-time digital surveillance. Even former Yahoo Chief Information Security Officer, Alex Stamos, is appalled by the program. When he found out about it in 2015 he immediately resigned his position, telling coworkers that he had been excluded from the decision to implement the program. He also cited flaws that seriously endangered the security of user data and left the program vulnerable to hackers. You deserve to have the safety and privacy you expect. It’s time to dump Yahoo. Click here to sign the pledge and join thousands of users who have deleted their account to protect themselves and the people they care about. Thanks for all you do, Jeff Lyon CTO, Fight for the Future Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age. Edited on Oct 14, 2016, 04:04pm | |
|
||
| 09-16-16 10:58am - 3019 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
The death of Game of Thrones: How the Internet will demolish this series. Read the entire article below. Or just the sentence that states: "To put that in perspective, they noted it was fast enough to download an entire Games of Thrones series in high definition within one second." http://www.zdnet.com/article/think-googl...84754384421679931766 Think Google Fiber's fast? Nokia to show off tech that's 1,000 times faster Core internet networks could see a major boost in coming years with the new terabit-speed optical-fiber links of the type being unveiled by Nokia Bell Labs. Liam Tung By Liam Tung | September 16, 2016 -- 10:10 GMT (03:10 PDT) | Topic: Networking The terabit speeds achieved by Nokia over fiber will present a major leap forward over current internet-backbone network limits Researchers will this week demonstrate a newly-refined data-transmission technique that can deliver one terabit per second (Tbps) over optical fiber. Nokia Bell Labs, Deutsche Telekom T-Labs, and the Technical University of Munich will be showing off how a technique called Probabilistic Constellation Shaping, or PCS, can deliver blistering 1Tbps speeds over a fiber connection. The work provides more momentum behind the push to bring terabit networks to reality. It follows another optical breakthrough earlier this year by researchers at University College London, who achieved speeds of 1.25Tbps. To put that in perspective, they noted it was fast enough to download an entire Games of Thrones series in high definition within one second. Of course, thanks to streaming services such as Netflix, video bingeing doesn't require downloading a whole series at once and 5Mbps will suffice for HD-quality streaming. Still, terabit-speed networks will meet growing demand for higher-capacity core networks, thanks in large part to streaming. Terabit speeds will present a major leap forward over current internet-backbone network limits of 40Gbps to 100Gbps. For comparison on the consumer side, Alphabet's Google Fiber embryonic US fiber-to-the-premises service is offering 1Gbps connections. Nokia Bell Labs, which came to Nokia via its Alcatel Lucent acquisition last year, says its optical breakthrough will allow operators and enterprises to improve the distance and capacity of high-speed data transmissions in optical metro and core networks. "The trial of the novel modulation approach, known as Probabilistic Constellation Shaping (PCS), uses quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) formats to achieve higher transmission capacity over a given channel to significantly improve the spectral efficiency of optical communications," Nokia explains. "PCS modifies the probability with which constellation points, the alphabet of the transmission, are used. Traditionally, all constellation points are used with the same frequency. PCS cleverly uses constellation points with high amplitude less frequently than those with lesser amplitude to transmit signals that, on average, are more resilient to noise and other impairments. This allows the transmission rate to be tailored to ideally fit the transmission channel, delivering up to 30 percent greater reach." It's not clear when the technology will be deployed in real networks, although the demonstration is described as having been achieved in "real-world conditions". A Nokia Networks spokesman told ZDNet that earlier testing had achieved 1Tbps on a round trip between the German cities of Stuttgart and Darmstadt, as well as between Stuttgart and Nuremberg. It had also recorded 0.8Tbps between Stuttgart and Berlin. The technology may eventually be useful for backhaul networks for fiber-to-the-home connections, but currently is not applicable to backhaul for wireless networks, the spokesman added. "The success of the close collaboration with Nokia Bell Labs, who further developed the technology, and Deutsche Telekom T-Labs, who tested it under real conditions, is satisfying confirmation that TUM engineering is a label of outstanding quality, and that TUM teaching gives our students the intellectual tools to compete, succeed and lead globally," Technical University of Munich professor Gerhard Kramer said. | |
|
||
| 09-04-16 01:06pm - 3031 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
The law can be tough on convicted criminals. Drake Bell was sentenced to 96 hours in jail after DUI plea. This is his second conviction in the last 10 years. 96 hours translates into 4 days (if served consecutively). With good behavior, he might be allowed out of jail even earlier, I'm thinking. I live in LA county. The fine for running a red light is $490. So an actor gets a 4-day jail term for drunk driving? Of course, that doesn't count his probation period. But I've read that for other celebrities, the amount of jail time that is served can often be far less than what they are sentenced to serve. But 4 days for drunk driving? Ridiculous. https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/drake-be...hours-165906262.html Drake Bell Sentenced to 96 Hours in Jail After DUI Plea Us WeeklySeptember 3, 2016 Drake Bell was sentenced to 96 hours in jail for his second DUI conviction, according to TMZ. The Drake & Josh alum, 30, reportedly took a plea deal and will serve time in the Los Angeles County Jail. He will also be placed on four years’ probation and must attend an alcohol education program, TMZ reported on Saturday, September 3. Bell’s sentence for the December 2015 incident is mandatory under California state law as it is his second DUI conviction within a 10-year timeframe. As previously reported, the “Found a Way” singer was arrested in Glendale, California, at 2:20 a.m. local time on December 21 on suspicion of driving under the influence. According to the Los Angeles Times, Bell was swerving his car and speeding after abruptly stopping at a red light. After a police officer pulled him over and smelled alcohol coming from the car, Bell reportedly failed a field sobriety test. The Nickelodeon alum was reportedly previously arrested for DUI in San Diego in 2009. He was charged for the crime in 2010. Bell is best known for playing Drake Parker opposite Josh Peck on Drake & Josh from 2004 to 2007. He also starred alongside Amanda Bynes on The Amanda Show from 1999 to 2001. In recent years, the star has been busy touring and promoting his third album, Ready Set Go!, which was released in April 2014. | |
|
||
| 09-03-16 02:44am - 3032 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Jon Polito died on September 1, 2016 (age 65). A wonderful character actor, who appeared in many of the Coen brothers films. I remember him best from Miller's Crossing (1990), where he did a fantastic job playing a gang boss in competition with Albert Finney. http://www.avclub.com/article/rip-jon-po...p;utm_campaign=feeds R.I.P. Jon Polito, a favorite of the Coen brothers By Sean O'Neal@seanoneal Sep 2, 2016 11:21 AM Jon Polito, the mustachioed, raspy-voiced character actor who squeezed both humor and surprising pathos from the many mobster and cop roles he played—most memorably for the Coen brothers—has died. The news was passed along by Polito’s friend, filmmaker John McNaughton, who directed Polito in the early episodes of Homicide: Life On The Street where Polito first earned attention as the pugnacious, philosophical Detective Steve Crosetti, as well as in the anthology series Masters Of Horror. No official cause of death has been given, though Polito was diagnosed with incurable blood cancer in 2010. Polito was 65. Providing a comprehensive overview of Polito’s incredibly prolific, 35-year career would be an impossible task; his work stretched from off Broadway to Broadway to cop dramas to sitcoms to short films to arthouse indies to big-budget family films to cartoon voiceovers, encompassing more than 200 credits. Anyway, there is IMDb and Wikipedia for that, while our own Nathan Rabin barely scratched the surface of Polito’s understandably crowded memories in a 2011 Random Roles. Suffice to say, any actor whose résumé includes Highlander, Miami Vice, The Rocketeer, The Crow, Roseanne, Seinfeld, Tales From The Crypt, Gilmore Girls, Flags Of Our Fathers, American Dad, Blankman, and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia—to name just a very few—has had a long, unusually varied career. Polito was a quintessential “that guy,” one of those idiosyncratic yet so familiar presences you were always pleasantly surprised to see blustering into even forgettable dross like, say, Veronica’s Closet. So let’s focus on the ones that counted most. Polito almost turned down his role on Homicide—the bleakly grounded, ahead-of-its-time cop drama set in David Simon’s unvarnished Baltimore—neither wanting to move to the city nor play the part they were offering. But he so impressed producers Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana with his audition that they rewrote the role to suit him, reimagining Detective Crosetti as a tough-yet-tenderhearted Italian who deeply loved his daughter, jazz, and God, and who was endlessly fascinated by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, network executives saw only the show’s dismal ratings, so after the second season Polito was pushed out to make room for the addition of Megan Russert. After Polito complained about it to the press, his hiatus became permanent, setting off an even nastier feud with Fontana after the show had Crosetti die ignobly off-screen in a suicide, one that—while arguably creating Homicide’s most memorable episode—was a frustrating and thoroughly undeserved resolution for the character. Fortunately, bygones were bygones by the time of Homicide: The Movie, and Crosetti was allowed to return in a glimpse of the afterlife, finally at peace. Polito’s work for the Coen brothers began, quite naturally, with 1990’s Miller’s Crossing, where the actor—who’d already racked up a decade’s worth of mob roles in stuff like The Gangster Chronicles and Crime Story—was a perfect match for the part of Johnny Caspar. With his deeply held beliefs in friendship, character, and ethics, his refusal to take the “high hat,” and his strict adherence to code among thieves, Caspar makes for an unusually sympathetic murderer, simply because he’s one of the few characters in the film who isn’t out to double-cross anyone. Polito’s also given some of the funniest, most pointed lines in a screenplay full of them—and he also gives you some of the greatest advice you’ll ever receive about shaving. The Coens liked working with Polito so much, they would turn to him again and again, beginning with the film that spun out of their Miller’s Crossing-bred writer’s block, Barton Fink, where Polito plays a studio flunky. He would become part of the Coens’ stable of regulars, sometimes just popping up in bit parts (like a screaming business executive in The Hudsucker Proxy), but more often playing eccentrics who wander in from the fringes, like his “brother shamus” detective in The Big Lebowski, or the loquacious, flirtatious salesman who upends Billy Bob Thornton’s life in The Man Who Wasn’t There. “That alone has put me into the realm of the iconic, I guess, just because I’ve touched these Coen brothers,” Polito told The A.V. Club. “That I’ve really been able to have a career based on the fact that what they touch is gold and I just keep holding onto them and touching them.” When he wasn’t in the Coens’ company, of course, Polito still remained plenty busy, though their films had a huge impact in terms of Polito’s comic potential finally being recognized. While he continued to turn up in plenty of crime films and cop dramas, in the wake of his Coen movies, Polito also started bringing his intimidating yet oddly loveable energy to sitcoms like Dream On and Seinfeld (“Want me, love me, shower me with kisses!”). He also made good use of his voice—that gravelly, bulldog burr—in cartoons like Avatar: The Last Airbender and several animated Batman movies. That versatility allowed him to keep working steadily at a rate most actors would envy, completing as many as a dozen things per year even while in remission. A look at some of Polito’s final completed roles reflects his utility: another turn as Ed O’Neill’s estranged business partner on Modern Family; a grizzled detective on Comedy Bang! Bang!; and voicing mob boss Carmine Falcone in the Batman: Arkham Underworld video game. He may have been frequently typecast as the gruff heavy, but there were few who could make those often-thankless roles sing like Jon Polito. And the fact that he has such a lengthy recorded history of doing it means we’ll probably still be pleasantly surprised to find him popping up in something we’re just now getting around to discovering, long after he’s gone. | |
|
||
| 08-22-16 09:08am - 3044 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Bugatti price: $2,600,000 estimated, base price No MSRP available This is an estimated base MSRP for a 2017 Bugatti Chiron. 11 radiators. 16 cylinders. 1,500 horses. How Bugatti built the monstrous Chiron By Ronan Glon — March 11, 2016 3:00 AM A Bugatti is more of a work of art with four wheels than a car. And new models don’t come around very often. When one is introduced, the entire auto industry sits up and takes notice. Introduced at the Geneva show, the Chiron receives an 8.0-liter W16 engine that uses four turbochargers to generate a jaw-dropping 1,500 horsepower and 1,180 pound-feet of torque from 2,000 all the way up to 6,000 rpm. That’s enough power to fling the carbon fiber-bodied coupe from zero to 62 mph in 2.5 seconds, from zero to 124 mph in less than 6.5 seconds, and from zero to 186 mph in 13.5 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 261 mph, though insiders suggest the Chiron maxes out at over 290 mph when the limiter is turned off. Digital Trends sat down with Willi Netuschil, the head of Bugatti’s engineering department, to find out what makes the Chiron tick. Digital Trends: Saying that the Chiron has big shoes to fill is an understatement. What was the most challenging aspect of designing it? Willi Netuschil: The most challenging aspect was clearly to combine that much power and that much torque in a package that the driver can really control. As you can imagine, putting all that power to the ground is difficult, even with four-wheel drive. We looked into a lot of different solutions, and we ultimately developed a special two-stage turbocharging system that delivers a very straight power curve. In other words, it’s easy to control the Chiron. How much of the engine is new? Keep in mind the base engine was developed to generate 1,000 horsepower. We increased that figure to 1,200, and now we’ve just bumped it up again by 25 percent, so we re-worked it entirely for the sake of durability and efficiency. We didn’t stop at the engine, either. Notably, the air intake system is very innovative and completely new. It’s a one-piece component made out of carbon fiber in order to reduce back pressure and to shed as much weight as possible. We did the same with the exhaust system, which is made out of titanium. The transmission is a seven-speed, dual-clutch unit that has also been redesigned. The W16 generates a lot of torque over a very wide band so the durability requirements are much higher. Why did you choose 1,500 horsepower? We spent a lot of time discussing how much power we should give the Chiron. We knew we had to set a new high speed record, and it was clear from the beginning that we needed 1,500 horsepower. With eight liters of displacement we achieved more or less 200 horsepower per liter, which is amazing. How do you cool 16 cylinders? You can’t compare the Chiron with anything else on the road. There’s really only one way, and that’s to channel a lot of cold air to the radiators. The Chiron has 11 radiators, though they don’t all cool the engine. There’s one for the transmission, the braking system, the differential, and so forth. Speaking of brakes, tell us a little bit about what brings the Chiron to a stop. We had to really improve the braking system because the Chiron is so much faster. We’ve patented a completely new system. It has new calipers with titanium pistons, and a special cooling design with three channels that bring cold air through the discs. We also developed a shield that covers the discs to ensure that the heat generated while braking doesn’t go directly into the rims, because that would cause problems with the tires. Air curtains bring hot air away from the brake system while simultaneously keeping it out of the rim. You used carbon fiber to keep weight in check, right? Up front we have very short frames made out of aluminum, we need those for safety reasons. They’re about 21 inches long, and we installed carbon fiber crash elements inside of them. Then we have the carbon fiber monocoque, and then we’ve got the complete rear frame which adds stiffness. Finally, we have very short aluminum frames at the rear end of the car, also for safety reasons. This packaging solution allowed us to achieve the best level of stiffness in the industry. We’ve reached nearly 37,000 pound-feet of torque per degree, which is really on par with a LMP1 car. http://content.jwplatform.com/previews/kLTeMx1C-ERPbx32c Did you ask Veyron owners to give you feedback when you were designing the Chiron? We met with a lot of customers, and they told us they wanted a car with a relatively comfortable ride, that’s easy to handle, that provides very quick acceleration, and a high top speed. They also said they want to feel safe inside the car. Finally, buyers expect a luxurious interior and, broadly speaking, a very exclusive car. You can’t compare the Chiron with anything else on the road. Are you worried about competition from companies like Koenigsegg? The Regera makes 1,500 horsepower, too. If you select competitors by looking at performance data then you will find a few cars that come close to the Chiron, but I’m sure we’ll top them because we combine performance with four-wheel drive. Our car has more traction under heavy acceleration than other cars at this level. Also, most of the other cars are, in a way, race cars. Our philosophy is different: you can enjoy speed and acceleration while sitting in a relatively quiet cabin with excellent ergonomics. You can drive the Chiron long distances. We’re not out to develop race cars. Most of our customers own a lot of exclusive, high-end cars so if they’ve generally got at least one that they can take to the track if they want to. If anything, Bugatti owners drive to a track, go out for a lap or two, and drive home. Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/bugatti-engineering-chief-willi-netuschil-interview/#ixzz4I4qrxuhB | |
|
||
| 08-16-16 08:30am - 3050 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Welcome to the world of cyber crime, where even dummies can make profit (illegal?). I found this article on computer crime fascinating. I knew that hackers can sometimes make a lot of money. But here is an article showing how anyone can become a hacker, even the computer illiterate. I've been using a computer for many years, but I'm still computer illiterate, as far as knowing how to effectively protect myself against viruses, spyware, etc. But there's still hope for me, with friendly and unfriendly hackers willing to share their programs for a fee. http://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-...84754384421679931766 Ransomware-as-a-service allows wannabe hackers to cash-in on cyber extortion Authors of the Cerber ransomware are selling their ransomware as-a-service for a 40 percent cut of their customers' ill-gotten gains. Danny Palmer By Danny Palmer | August 16, 2016 -- 13:02 GMT (06:02 PDT) | Topic: Security The Cerber affiliate scheme allows anyone to become a cyber extortionist -- for a price. A ransomware-as-as-service scheme is enabling even the most technically illiterate cybercriminal to extort payments from victims infected with data-encrypting malware -- with the developers of the service taking a significant chunk of the ill-gotten gains. Cerber is one of the largest active ransomware rings operating today, with data collected by cybersecurity researchers at Check Point claiming 150,000 Microsoft Windows users were infected in July alone. One of the key reasons it's so widespread is because its original creators are selling Cerber on the dark web, allowing other criminals to use the code in return for receiving 40 percent of each ransom paid. With an average ransom payment of one Bitcoin, overall profit from Cerber during July is thought to be around $195,000, with the authors receiving around $78,000 in that month alone. In exchange for giving up some of the profits, wannabe cyber fraudsters are provided with everything they need in order to successfully make money through extortion of victims of the malware -- it's essentially "ransomware for dummies" in an all-in-one kit, says Maya Horowitz, group manager of intelligence operations at Check Point. "Our assumption is the affiliates wouldn't be able to create their own ransomware or malware, so they'd be willing to pay as much as the creator wants because, to them, it's either that or nothing. They get a very user-friendly panel to manage the Cerber ransomware campaign, detailing how many infections there are on a daily basis, how many people pay, the income they're generating. It's very much ransomware for dummies." she told ZDNet. The availability of Cerber to anyone who wants to pay for it differentiates it from another of the most successful ransomware families, Locky. "Locky is only being sent by one threat actor -- they use it on their own and don't share or sell it. Cerber acts as ransomware-as-a-service -- those who created it are now leasing it for anyone to use," says Horowitz. That arguably makes Cerber more dangerous than Locky because each affiliate user can infect victims using a variety of different attack methods, although the two most common involve the victim unknowingly executing a malicious program disguised as a legitimate file, delivered in a phishing email, or the victim is infected browsing a compromised website. Why Investing Only in "What You Know" Could Be a Mistake The temptation to focus your investments on companies or products that you already know and like is understandable. But does it make sense? Sponsored by Charles Schwab Researchers believe there are currently over 150 active Cerber campaigns targeting users in 201 countries, with victims in South Korea, the US, and Taiwan accounting for over half of ransom payments. Perhaps significantly, however, Cerber doesn't infect targets in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, or Uzbekistan. They're all former Soviet states, suggesting that Cerber is potentially developed in Russia. "It's pretty much everywhere except for Russian-speaking countries. Encoded in the ransomware is an instruction that if it finds a machine configured for Russian language, then it will not run. That makes us assume the writers are of Russian origin," says Horowitz. While the malware authors could just sit back and wait for the profits to roll in -- the original Cerber was spotted early this year -- they're craftier than that. Indeed, researchers discovered that a new version of the ransomware, Cerber 2, was released in July, advertising improvements to the malware. Affiliates are encouraged to become part of the Cerber programme via banners and marketing on dark web forums, with claims that up to three percent of victims will pay the ransom. In reality, Check Point says only 0.3 percent of victims pay the ransom to regain access to their files. While that number seems low, the sheer amount of Cerber infections means its creators are thought to make almost $1m a year using the affiliate scheme alone. The money made is effectively laundered by passing it through a maze of Bitcoin accounts in order to evade detection. In order to combat Cerber, Check Point has released a free Cerber decryption tool, allowing victims to decrypt their locked files without being forced to pay a ransom. | |
|
||
| 05-18-16 03:00pm - 3140 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Restores my faith in human nature. One of the paramedics who treated James Gandolfini when Gandolfini suffered a fatal heart attack in 2013 has been accused of stealing the actor's Rolex Submariner watch. The watch is worth thousands of dollars. But I think the paramedic might have just wanted a keepsake of Gandolfini. Maybe the paramedic was a fan of the actor. I know I was a fan of the Sopranos, and I enjoyed some of the movies that Gandolfini appeared in. What do PU members think? Did the paramedic have the right to keep Gandolini's watch as a keepsake? That might depend on the way it happened. Assuming the paramedic did take the watch: 1. Did he take it before or after Gandolfini was dead? 2. If he took it after Gandolfini died, did the paramedic take it off Gandolfini's wrist, or find it in the actor's hotel room? 3. If the paramedic took it off Gandolfini's wrist, was the paramedic trying to make Gandolfini more comfortable, by removing a constricting band from the actor's wrist? This can be an amazingly complicated event, that will be difficult to unravel. So: If you were one of the attending paramedics, what would you have done? Assuming you were a fan of Gandolfini. Would you have taken the watch, and told yourself, after Gandolfini died, that Gandolfini no longer needed the watch? Enquiring minds want to know. =================== =================== Paramedic Who Treated James Gandolfini Allegedly Stole Actor's Watch PEOPLE.com By Naja Rayne @najarayne 05/17/2016 AT 08:00 PM EDT A paramedic who treated James Gandolfini in Rome shortly before his death is on trial for allegedly stealing from the actor. According to NBC News, Claudio Bevilacqua, who was one of the attending paramedics when the actor suffered a fatal heart attack in 2013, is being accused of swiping the Sopranos star's Rolex Submariner, which is worth $3,000. Bevilacqua, 43, went on trial on Monday, but the judge decided to push the start of the trial back to November. It has not been confirmed if the watch taken from Gandolfini's hotel room or if it was still on his wrist we he collapsed, NBC reports. Gandolfini was 51 when he died while traveling in Rome as he was scheduled to take part in the Taromina Film Fest in Sicily. "He was a genius," Sopranos creator David Chase said at the time of his death. "Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that. He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great dal of that genius resided in those sad eyes." | |
|
||
| 05-11-16 05:48pm - 3147 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Denis Reed, adult film star, dies in motorcycle accident. He was in straight and gay films. You've probably seen him, even if you don't recognize the name. http://www.towleroad.com/2016/05/denis-reed/ Adult Film Star Denis Reed Dies in Motorcycle Accident by Andy Towle May 9, 2016 | 7:15am Denis Reed Denis Reed, a Czech adult film star also known as Jan Velička, Pavel Matous, Honza XL, and Jan Vector, who appeared in many gay films from William Higgins, Staxus, and CzechBoys, died over the weekend in a motorcycle accident. He was one of the men behind Czech Hunter as well. Reed was one of the most well known adult stars in straight and gay films in Eastern Europe with a career lasting 12 years and encompassing hundreds of films. The death was reported on Reed’s Facebook site. His rep wrote: “In a sharp right-hand bend on the horizon mishandled his machine, the motorcycle fell to the ground and flew straight into a tree. During transport to hospital succumbed to serious injuries. We see the moto pictures but we will not publish them.” According to Czech media, his wife hated his motorcycle and discouraged him from using it: The short article has a picture of him. Good-looking guy. Young. RIP. Edited on May 11, 2016, 05:52pm | |
|
||
| 03-20-16 12:22pm - 3199 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
When I first heard about this movie, I couldn't understand how Batman and Superman would be enemies. Aren't both of them heroes, on the side of good versus evil? Also, how can Superman, the most powerful mortal in the world of DC Comics, fight Batman, and lose? Batman is a powerful man, who has trained to become one of the world's best fighters. And he has all kinds of secret weapons he can use. But how can Batman stand up against Superman, who can bend steel in his bare hands, who has X-ray vision, who can jump and fly and have bullets bounce off his chest? But now I have grown up. I have seen all kinds of superheroes, who can do impossible feats. So, yes, Batman can fight Superman, and possibly win. Especially if he has the help of Lex Luthor, who is a twisted super-genius with a grudge against Superman. I don't know if I will see this movie in a theater, or wait for the DVD. DVDs seem to come out in 3-4 months or so, so that would be the cheaper route. Anyone at PU planning to see the new Batman v Superman movie? I think it's been a couple of years since I last went to a theater, since it's really hard to choose which movies will appeal to me. Spending $10 for a ticket, and $10 for popcorn and a drink, seems kind of expensive. And I don't really care for most superhero movies any more. Transformers, Iron Man, whoever, are not that great, or good, in my opinion. And if I watch those films, I'd rather do it in the comfort of my own home, where I can have popcorn and a soda for $2.00 or less. PS: There used to be a thread dedicated to movies. It's been inactive for quite a while. I did a search for the thread, and I couldn't find it listed. So maybe it has gone to PU software heaven? Edited on Mar 20, 2016, 12:28pm | |
|
||
| 03-12-16 05:26am - 3207 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
For those PU members who think breast implants are a good idea, this might be the next big thing! (But I am a little cautious about trying this out--until I see all my neighbors going under the knife first. Or maybe they use a needle to do the injecting?) ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/...7536936#rlabs=4%20rt$sitewide%20p$10 Man with 10 lb PENIS says life 'feels great' and says silicone boost has left him 'ready to play' 10:23, 11 Mar 2016 Updated 11:09, 12 Mar 2016 By Kirstie McCrum Micha Stuntz has been having silicone injections into his member to make it bigger, but he says he's actually quite a shy person underneath A man who lives with a 10 lb PENIS has shared all about living with an enormous member - and he says "it's great". Micha Stuntz, as he is known, lives in Berlin, where he says his big package has helped him free himself from established roles and ideas about sex - and left him "ready to play". The 45-year-old has revealed that his penis is 9in long and 5.5in wide. Thanks to silicone injections, it weighs roughly 9.5lb, or the weight of an average-sized cat. Although he says being big in the underwear department can stop you doing some things in the bedroom , it does make you "more creative" about you can do. Micha says that he became hooked on the feeling of bring 'pumped up' 20 years go His interest in enlargement started 20 years ago when he was given a penis pump. "I was way too curious not to try it out. First, I tried it secretly for myself," he told Vice . "And I found that when I went out pumped up, it felt great. I had the feeling that I wasn't trapped in the body I was born with, but that I had the possibility to shape it myself." Having had four procedures so far, he says that day-to-day life is as normal as it is for anyone else, except perhaps when it comes to buying trousers and underwear. "I'm actually a pretty shy person," he added at the Folsom Street Fair in Berlin, a gay fetish event where he wore black PVC garb. "You can offer up who you are and show yourself the way you want without having to think about what other people will think of you." He's compared his additional bulk to a breast enlargement for women, which he says no one bats an eyelid at. "I hope that changes soon because the difference really isn't that big." | |
|
||
| 02-19-16 11:44pm - 3228 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
It seems like it's been a few months since he last dropped by. Wishing him well. Always interesting to see his take on things--porn or otherwise. | |
|
||
| 02-19-16 10:34pm - 3228 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I think this tip by PU member standard is worth noting. So I am posting his tip on switching to a more trusted payment processor. EPOCH and CCBILL are trusted processors, and I've always found they give excellent service. Especially on cancelling a membership to a paysite. The tip is as follows: "standard (25) Thanks for giving everyone a heads up. I try to do the BangBros trick someone mentioned in their review/complaint with EVERY website that doesn't use Epoch these days: If Epoch isn't the primary biller, enter everything correctly except for your credit card's expiration date. Make it a year in the future, and the system will reject it. Repeat the year-in-the-future wrong date when it tells you there was an error and prompts you to re-enter your info. On the third time (possibly fourth?), and assuming Epoch is a secondary biller, it should give you a different error message and say something like "please wait while you're redirected." The Epoch page should appear next." | |
|
||
| 05-31-15 04:15am - 3493 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
A couple of years ago, there were some posts by the staff of Porn Users that there would be one or more sites that would replace the Porn Users site. Have there been any recent developments on this? Are the new sites (or site) still under development, or has the project been delayed or dropped? If still under development, is there a test site that we can look at to see how the project looks currently? I'm not a member of Twitter or Facebook, so I probably missed out on most of the news of the Porn Users replacement site, if that's where the updates are posted. But I have looked at https://www.myporn.com/, which seems to be the gateway to the PU replacement site. | |
|
||
| 10-07-14 08:43am - 3729 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Oct 3, 2014 Japan Japan Zoo Discovers How Not to Breed Hyenas Zookeepers in Japan have learned that–without a female–one plus one is always two, never three or more. Staff at Maruyama Zoo in the northern city of Sapporo spent years trying to get two spotted hyenas to reproduce with zero success only to find that both animals were male. Hyenas Kami and Kamutori arrived as “a couple” at the zoo from South Korea in October 2010 and were put in the same cage for breeding in 2012. The zoo said in a statement that the two animals never showed any breeding behavior and were very often fighting. “They remained confrontational, leaving bite marks on each other,” one of the zookeepers told Japan Real Time. Eventually the zoo decided to verify the sex of the hyenas when Kami, which was believed to be the female, failed to show any signs it had reached reproductive age. According to the zoo, it is extremely difficult to determine the sex of a hyena from its external genitalia. It was only able to reach a conclusion after Hokkaido University conducted ultrasound examinations and hormone checks. The zoo said that while it was surprised by the results, it had never ruled out the possibility that both hyenas were male given that the two animals never really got along. Kami and Kamutori are now housed in separate cages. The zoo said it is considering getting a female spotted hyena and relaunching its breeding efforts. According to the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, there are seven zoos with spotted hyenas in Japan. Of the 16 spotted hyenas at the zoos, 10 are male. Kami and Kamutori are the only ones at the Sapporo Maruyama Zoo. | |
|
||
| 07-31-14 07:23am - 3797 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I just noticed that JustTeens site has died. Or maybe I noticed it earlier, but am at an age where I tend to forget things. Anyway, the site had a lot of nice photosets of very attractive models. Are those photosets now lost to us if we haven't download them to our hard drives? If so, seems like a waste of assets that should have value. I mean, some of the photos were worth looking at.  Just my thoughts. But I'm assuming that porn is still have a hard time recovering from the financial downturn that started several years ago. Maybe the tube sites are partially to blame. Or other factors. Whatever. I am a porn user, not in the industry, so have a very limited access to details about the porn industry. Maybe PU could retain a thread on some of our favorite sites that have died. | |
|
||
| 09-13-13 11:08am - 4118 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I tried to look over RiginStudios.com preview page, and the site doesn't come up. Is this another site that has disappeared? The downturn in porn seems to be taking down some sites with good or excellent photo archives. If those archives disappear, it seems a waste of assets that have real value. | |
|
||
| 09-05-13 12:16pm - 4126 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I stopped reading comics when I was still in my teens, many years (decades) ago. But now I find I have almost no clue as what is happening to characters I grew up with, like Batman and Superman. And there are many new characters I never even heard of. Batwoman? I knew there was a Catwoman. But never knew that Batman had a cousin (or some non-related person that took on part of the Batman name). And now I read that Batwoman will not be allowed to marry her girlfriend. Batwoman, a lesbian? Does that mean that Batman is a closet gay? And what was Batman's real relationship to Robin, anyway? I thought Robin was cute. Did Batman also think Robin was cute, or was there a deeper meaning to their relationship, that was hidden from public view back in the 1960s, that might now be exposed? ============= ============= Thu, Sep 5, 2013, 3:02 PM EDT - U.S. Markets close in 58 mins. 'Batwoman' Creative Team Quits After DC Comics Nixes Lesbian Marriage Story Line Business InsiderBy Melia Robinson | Business Insider 47 minutes ago "Batwoman" comic writers say DC Comics prohibited a wedding between the female superhero and her girlfriend. The co-writers of "Batwoman" are leaving DC Comics at the altar. In a blog post late Tuesday, artist JH Williams III and writer W. Haden Blackman announced their split from DC alleging that it prohibited their female, openly gay superhero from getting married. "In recent months, DC has asked us to alter or completely discard many long-standing storylines in ways that we feel compromise the character and the series," Williams and Blackman wrote. They cited a number of "eleventh-hour" changes that included, "most crushingly," instructions to never show Batwoman tying the knot with fianc Maggie Sawyer. "Batwoman" relaunched in 2011 as a five-part series telling a new origin story for the female Caped Crusader. The comic follows army brat Kate Kane who is expelled from West Point after rumors surface saying she is a lesbian. She briefly meets Batman and embarks on a mission to protect Gotham City from a growing contingent of supernatural criminals. batwoman maggie DC Comics/J.H. Williams, III Batwoman's fianc, Maggie Sawyer, is a policewoman in Gotham City. Since its start, the comic has served as a pillar of LGBT advocacy. In the ground-breaking Issue 17, Batwoman proposed to girlfriend and policewoman Maggie Sawyer. It marked the first lesbian marriage proposal in mainstream comics history, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She isn't the first gay character. DC's Green Lantern came out of the closet last summer, and Marvel's Canadian superhero Northstar and his boyfriend got hitched in a 2012 issue of "The Astonishing X-Men." According to Comics Alliance, Batwoman's origin was inspired by the U.S.'s "controversial real-life policies concerning homosexuals serving in the armed forces." a brief encounter with Batman inspired Kate to embark on a crime-fighting mission to clean up the streets using gear stolen from the military - See more at: http://www.dccomics.com/characters/batwo...sthash.W3Cm4Vpn.dpuf a brief encounter with Batman inspired Kate to embark on a crime-fighting mission to clean up the streets using gear stolen from the military - See more at: http://www.dccomics.com/characters/batwo...sthash.W3Cm4Vpn.dpuf a brief encounter with Batman inspired Kate to embark on a crime-fighting mission to clean up the streets using gear stolen from the military - See more at: http://www.dccomics.com/characters/batwo...sthash.W3Cm4Vpn.dpuf The character ultimately belongs to DC Comics, so when Williams and Blackman felt cornered, they walked. "We felt that the series and characters should always be moving forward, to keep changing and evolving," the co-writers said in their blog. "Were both heartbroken over leaving, but we feel strongly that you all deserve stories that push the character and the series forward." Williams responded to an outpouring of support from fans on Twitter, and addressed the marriage refusal on DC's part. @andykhouri Not wanting to be inflammatory, only factual- We fought to get them engaged, but were told emphatically no marriage can result. J.H. Williams III (@JHWilliamsIII) September 5, 2013 He clarified that DC is not "anti-gay marriage," but anti-wedding. @andykhouri But must clarify- was never put to us as being anti-gay marriage. J.H. Williams III (@JHWilliamsIII) September 5, 2013 Gail Simone, a fellow DC writer, made her best guess as to why DC would keep Batwoman and Maggie apart, tweeting: @GailSimone @theJohnChihak Gail is right, but it still should not be a story to be avoided, but embraced fully. J.H. Williams III (@JHWilliamsIII) September 5, 2013 The pair seemed to be referencing DC's recent editorial moves to sever relationships between super-couples, including Superman and Lois Lane, the Flash and Iris West, and Green Arrow and Black Canary, according to Comics Alliance. Other "Batwoman" changes DC allegedly ordered: ditch plans for Killer Croc's origins, alter the original ending of the current story arc, and abandon long-standing plot lines that "compromised the character and the series." Williams and Blackman's last issue, #26, hits shelves in December. | |
|
||
| 08-29-13 03:17am - 4133 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Kim Jong-un's Ex-Girlfriend 'Shot by Firing Squad' Kim Jong-un's ex-girlfriend was among a dozen well-known North Korean performers who were executed by firing squad on Aug. 20, reports said Wednesday. Sources in China said singer Hyon Song-wol as well as Mun Kyong-jin, head of the Unhasu Orchestra, were arrested on Aug. 17 for violating North Korean laws against pornography and were executed in public three days later. The victims of the atrocity were members of the Unhasu Orchestra as well as singers, musicians and dancers with the Wangjaesan Light Music Band. They were accused of videotaping themselves having sex and selling the videos. The tapes have apparently gone on sale in China as well. A source said some allegedly had Bibles in their possession, and all were treated as political dissidents. Left: This screen capture from North Korean Central TV shows North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un clapping during a concert in Pyongyang on Aug. 8.; Right: Hyun Song-wol sings during a concert in Pyongyang on Aug. 8. Left: This screen capture from North Korean Central TV shows North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un clapping during a concert in Pyongyang on Aug. 8.; Right: Hyun Song-wol sings during a concert in Pyongyang on Aug. 8. Kim met Hyon about a decade ago, before either of them was married. But he was later ordered to break off the relationship by his father Kim Jong-il and she married a soldier. Since then there have been rumors that the two were having an affair. Kim's wife Ri Sol-ju was also a member of the Unhasu Orchestra before she married him. Whether she had any hand in the executions is unclear. The Unhasu Orchestra and Wangjaesan Light Music Band have apparently been disbanded due to the latest scandal. "They were executed with machine guns while the key members of the Unhasu Orchestra, Wangjaesan Light Band and Moranbong Band as well as the families of the victims looked on," the source said. The source added that all of the families of the executed appear to have been sent to prison camps under North Korea's barbaric principle of guilt by association. Hyon was a singer with the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble, which is famous for revolutionary and propaganda songs and one of North Korea's most popular bands. Mun won first place in an international competition in Hungary in 2005 and was decorated by the North Korean state. Kim Jong-un was last year seen at a performance that featured Disney characters and versions of Western songs, stoking hopes that the young leader is more open to ideas from overseas, but that was apparently a misreading. A source said, "Kim Jong-un has been viciously eliminating anyone who he deems a challenge to his authority." The executions "show that he is fixated on consolidating his leadership." Read this article in Korean englishnews@chosun.com / Aug. 29, 2013 11 | |
|
||
| 08-24-13 10:52pm - 4137 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
It appears the last updates were back in May 2013. A nice site, a lot of lovely models, nice photography. Softcore teen/early-twenties models in the style of Metart. Maybe Metart Network could take them over, because the site has a backlog of photosets that are worth saving. | |
|
||
| 08-02-13 04:48pm - 4160 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I just realized that it's been a while since I received the PU Newsletter. I know that Rick said a few months back that there would be some changes. Was stopping the PU Newsletter one of those changes? I used to drop by the PU site at least once a day, to read reviews, comments, threads, whatever. When PU announced they would stop the raffle, I wrote that it probably wouldn't make much difference, because most people would still visit the site and still contribute. Well, I was wrong. In a few short months, PU has either gone to sleep, or possibly died. If TBP site is still generating adequate revenue, that's great. There's no way any of us PU members have a clue how the TBP site is doing financially. But judging from the posted activity at the PU site, it seems obvious that this site has declined. If the staff doesn't make some changes, and soon, then PU will become that ghost town that Rick joked about. That would be a shame. It used to be an interesting place to visit. | |
|
||
| 07-14-13 09:56am - 4179 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/...e&lite=obnetwork Australia crime puzzle solved: Culprit was 19-foot python CAIRNS, Australia Police were mystified by a chaotic crime scene including a hole in the ceiling and a smelly pool of vomit-like liquid until they found the culprit was a 19-foot python. The massive snake, weighing in at 37 pounds, was captured a day after a suspected break-in was reported at a charity store in Queensland in northeastern Australia. "Its head was the size of a small dog," Police Sgt. Don Auld said Wednesday. Before they found the python, investigators' working theory was that a human burglar with an appetite for destruction and a serious illness had gone on a rampage inside the St. Vincent de Paul store in the small town of Ingham. "We thought a person had fallen through the ceiling because the roof panel was cut in half," Auld said. "When they've hit the floor, they've vomited and then staggered and fallen over. That's what we thought anyway." Police now suspect the python entered the store through the roof, which was damaged in a cyclone two years ago. The animal then plummeted through the ceiling, knocking over dishes, clothes and other items, before relieving itself on the floor. It somehow managed to hide from officials until staff spotted it lying alongside a wall the next day. The Associated Press | |
|
||
| 07-03-13 01:07am - 4190 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
California woman sentenced to life in prison for cutting off ex-husband's penis and tossing it into the garbage disposal. The article does not say if she turned on the garbage disposal, and flushed the remains down the drain. Or was the ex-husband able to get the severed penis back? Inquiring minds want to know! >>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>> updated 6/28/2013 9:33:56 PM ET (Reuters) - A judge sentenced a Southern California woman who cut off her estranged husband's penis and tossed it in the garbage disposal to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Catherine Kieu, 50, was convicted by an Orange County jury in April of aggravated mayhem and torture following the July 2011 assault on her ex-husband. Kieu drugged her former spouse before tying him up and severing his penis with a knife. She then threw it into the garbage disposal unit. An attorney for Vietnam-born Kieu argued at trial that she had suffered sexual abuse as a child which left her with post-traumatic stress. She was remorseful about the attack, he said. After the sentencing hearing, the victim - identified only as "Glen" - said he wished Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey could have given Kieu more time behind bars, City News Service reported. "Deep down inside I was hoping for a stronger sentence, but given the restraints of the law this is what he had to do," he said. "There may be a situation where I can be happy, but whole? Never ... I've got a long ways to go." (Reporting by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix; Editing by Eric Walsh) (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp | |
|
||
| 06-22-13 08:19pm - 4201 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I just happened to notice that Secret Virgin is dead/gone. The site hadn't updated in years, but it still had lots of photosets of really cute girls. I wonder how many other sites have died in the last few years, since the downturn in porn? | |
|
||
| 06-22-13 04:26pm - 4201 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I've never dreamed of owning a Porsche. Thought they were too expensive. But this article shows I might be able to afford a BMW. Or even a Mercedes. But further research is needed, because I am probably over the weight limit (and the height limit) for these cars. Also, I live in California, and these cars are probably not legal on the freeways. ============= ============= http://www.marketwatch.com/story/porsche...r-for-900-2013-06-22 June 22, 2013, 1:41 p.m. EDT Porsches new entry level: toy car for $900 By Jonathan Welsh Sports car maker Porsche is rolling out a new model it hopes will attract younger drivers much younger. The companys Go-Kart pedal car is designed for children starting at age 5 and can accommodate kids who are as much as 5 feet tall and 110 pounds. The car weighs in at a svelte 55 pounds, the car maker said, because of its unique chassis structure that includes composite parts and a drivetrain setup borrowed from high-end bicycles. Porsche's pedal car for kids has a suggested price of $900. Car enthusiasts will probably rate the kart above garden-variety pedal cars because it has a tubular steel frame, sports-car-style low-profile inflatable tires, sport seat, and hand- and foot-operated brakes. Porsche DE:PAH3 -3.11% said the car also reflects the Intelligent Performance theme of efficiency it uses in the development of full-size road cars. With a base price of $900, the kart is inexpensive compared with grown-up Porsches but pricey for a pedal car. Even among German luxury brands, the Porsche toys cost is steep. BMW DE:BMW -2.53% sells a pedal car for about $225 and Mercedes DE:DAI -2.58% has one that sells for $315. | |
|
||
| 06-16-13 08:23am - 4207 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
http://www.youtube.com/user/rofllzone?v=9W8rnwo3M6g This must be a European commercial. In the US, they say that sex sells. But most commercials from major brands (except for Victoria's Secret) don't show a lot of skin. But this commercial, for Burger King, while not showing much skin, seems to push the boundaries, in a fun way. Any comments from our European friends? Have you seen this commercial, or ones like it? Or do they reserve commercials like this one to cable channels? | |
|
||
| 05-24-13 11:18am - 4230 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
You buy a video game. That gives you the right to play it. But now it appears that if you sell the video game, Microsoft and Sony are sticking their fingers into your wallet, and will demand a cut of the sale price. Or if you lend that video game to a friend, that friend may not be able to play that game, without paying Microsoft or Sony a fee. Welcome to the world of Cloud computing, where your video games are no longer your sole property, but the shared property of you and your financial partner, Sony or Microsoft. ========= ========= Stocks To Watch News and commentary about the stocks you need to know about today May 24, 2013, 12:35 P.M. ET GameStops Terrible Week, Down 17% By Sam Mamudi Videogame retailer GameStop (GME) wins this weeks Standard & Poors 500 wooden spoon as the biggest decliner on the index. The stock has fallen 7.8% today, and is off about 17% this week, in the wake of first-quarter earnings and news that Microsofts (MSFT) forthcoming Xbox One console may charge users to play pre-owned games (or even games theyve borrowed from friends). Its fair to say GameStops latest earnings werent great, with sales down, and the current quarter heading for as much as a 16% drop in same-store sales. The Grapevine, Texas, company has attributed recent sales weakness to a dearth of new game titles. In response, it has been focusing on new initiatives, such as offering digital download codes to customers, refurbishing Apple (AAPL) mobile devices and selling tablets that run on Google (GOOG) Android software. As countless companies have shown (most recently Sears Holdings (SHLD)), its a tough time to be a bricks-and-mortar retailer. But GameStop is likely also suffering because of the actions of a core part of its industry namely, the efforts by Microsoft and Sony (SNE) to address the second-hand games market. The sale and resale of preowned games is multibillion dollar business as the Journals story notes, and a big part of GameStops revenues. But of course it also means fewer new game sales and revenue for Microsoft and Sony. It was widely expected the two would take measures to address preowned games for their new consoles which will go on sale later this year. And thus, Microsofts Xbox One launch earlier this week was overshadowed by the controversy over what it plans to do about preowned games. The latest suggestion comes today from a speculative piece on the GameSpot website: The system will reportedly work as such: consumers can trade in physical Xbox One game discs only at retailers that have agreed to Microsofts terms and conditions and have integrated the companys cloud-enabled Azure preowned technology into their own. The traded in title is then registered on Microsofts systems as having been re-sold and the data files will be cleared from their Xbox One account. Such a system would explain Microsofts position that the Xbox One must check in with its servers once every 24 hours. Retailers are then able to re-sell the used game at whatever price point they see fit. As part of this initiative, the publisher of the game will automatically receive a cut of the sale, along with Microsoft. The rest is revenue for the retailer. While such a system may keep the second-hand games market alive and may not cause as much outrage among gamers as some people expect, its still likely to hurt GameStops margins. All of which helps explain this weeks drop. It should also be remembered that the retailers stock is even after this 17% decline up 32% in 2013 and 73% in the past year. And Wall Street analysts still like the company it has an average rating of Overweight according to FactSet, and a mean price target of $41.25, a 24% premium from todays trading price. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter yesterday reiterated his Buy rating and $49 target price for GameStop, writing: We do not expect either next gen console to block used gaming. We believe the HW manufacturers would be foolish to block used gaming on the next gen consoles because it would negatively impact trade-in credits used for purchases of next gen consoles and games. GameStop management disclosed it generates over $1 billion in trade-in credits every year, with 70% used for new games. Credits fund 17% of the total spending on new games and digital content at GameStop. In a note published this morning, Needham analyst Sean McGowan wrote: GME also believes pre-owned sales will benefit from new console introductions as the install base expands and consumers trade in old systems and software when upgrading. Regarding what impact the new consoles would have on the used game market, GME deferred to manufacturers for details, but confidently predicted it would be an active player in the used market for the new consoles. We have modestly raised our 2013 and 2014 EPS estimates, and maintain our Hold rating. In other words, the consensus seems to be that if you have faith in Microsoft and Sony not shooting themselves in the foot over the preowned games issue, GameStop is a good bet. | |
|
||
| 04-19-13 03:37am - 4265 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/p...e.html?tid=obnetwork Prosecutor: S. Calif. woman yelled You deserve it! before severing estranged husbands penis By Associated Press, Published: April 17 SANTA ANA, Calif. A Southern California prosecutor says a jealous wife yelled You deserve it before severing her estranged husbands penis with a 10-inch kitchen knife and throwing it in a garbage disposal. The Orange County Register reports (http://bit.ly/10hqAby ) a jury heard opening statements Wednesday in the case of 50-year-old Catherine Kieu, who is accused of drugging her husbands tofu with sleeping pills and tying him to a bed before the attack. Deputy District Attorney John Christl says audio of the July 11, 2011, incident was captured by a voice-activated recorder Kieu had hidden in the bedroom. Deputy Public Defender Frank Bittar says Kieus severely traumatic childhood in war-torn Vietnam, including rape by her older brother, caused mental illness that bars her from a mayhem or torture conviction. ___ Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | |
|
||
| 03-22-13 08:52am - 4293 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I used to be able to play Amazon movies on my PC using Firefox browser. Then, for the last few months, I got an error message if I wanted to play an Amazon movie, saying I probably needed to update my flash player. I could not play an Amazon movie using Firefox. I tried to update my flash player (from Adobe), but that didn't help. But I discovered that I could still play an Amazon movie using Microsoft IE. Today, for some reason, I tried to play a movie from Amazon with Firefox. And it worked. I can now play movies from Amazon with Firefox. Am I happy? No. Why not? Because I now hold a grudge against Firefox, Amazon, and my PC, for all the times I tried to play an Amazon movie, and couldn't. Fuck them all! | |
|
||
| 03-12-13 01:31pm - 4303 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/...ph-in-a-65-zone?lite 'You've got to be kidding me': Maryland woman gets a ticket for driving 63 mph in a 65 zone A Maryland woman was shocked after she received a traffic ticket on Interstate 95 because it wasn't for speeding. In fact, she was driving 2 mph under the speed limit. The driver, who didnt want her name used, told NBC Washington she was driving in the left lane of I-95 in Laurel last Friday when she was pulled over and cited for failing to move right. According to the citation, she had been driving 63 mph in a 65 mph zone. [I was] really shocked, she said. I thought, Oh, my God, youve got to be kidding me. This was the first time she had gotten a ticket. She said there was heavy wind and she had slowed down to be safe. Sometimes when its dangerous, you have to do what you can to stay safe, she said. NBC Washington meteorologist Doug Kammerer said that winds were gusting at about 40 mph that day. The reason [the ticket] is silly is because it's sending the wrong message, said John Townsend of AAA Mid-Atlantic. And that is, We will tolerate you driving at more than the speed limit, but it you drive below the speed limit, then youre penalized for that. The driver has filed a complaint with Maryland State Police and plans to fight the ticket. While police said they cant comment on this specific ticket, they said that driving too slowly can impede traffic, and that anyone who wants to fight a citation can do so in court. | |
|
||
| 03-12-13 01:16pm - 4303 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Real life crime as scary as a horror movie. What can I say? At least we can depend on our cops to keep us safe. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/...-cook-eat-women?lite By NBCNewYork.com An NYPD officer accused in a gruesome plot to kidnap women, cook them and dine on their "girl meat" has been convicted on all charges. Officer Gilberto Valle, a 28-year-old father of one, was found guilty Tuesday on a charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and a charge of illegally using a federal computer database that prosecutors had said he accessed to gain personal information about women he was targeting. The grisly case included online transcripts of his plans; at one point he told an alleged co-conspirator that his oven was "big enough to fit one of these girls if I folded their legs." "I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus ... cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible," he was accused of saying. Defense attorney Julia Gatto had argued that Valle's chats on fetish websites "are no more real than an alien invasion." Prosecutors countered that an analysis of Valle's computer found he was taking concrete steps to abduct his wife and at least five other women he knew. They said he looked up potential targets on a restricted law enforcement database, searched the Internet for how to knock someone out with chloroform, and showed up on the block of one woman. Valle "left the world of fantasy and entered the world of reality," prosecutor Hadassa Waxman said during closing arguments. She said the officer's arrest last year interrupted a ghoulish plan to "kidnap, torture, rape and commit other horrific acts on young women." The jury heard Valle's potential victims testify that they were trading innocent-sounding emails and texts with him, unaware he was supposedly scheming to make meals out of them. The government also sought to drive home the point that Valle was more of a threat because he was a police officer. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement after the verdict was read that "the Internet is a forum for the free exchange of ideas, but it does not confer immunity for plotting crimes and taking steps to carry out those crimes." This story was originally published on Tue Mar 12, 2013 11:30 AM EDT More from nbcnewyork.com: | |
|
||
| 03-11-13 03:50pm - 4304 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/12/...?cmpid=tp-ad-nrelate Health 'Smart-Tattoos': How They Could End Up Saving Your Life The latest iteration of stick-on smart tattoos can detect medical problems before they surface. By Andri Antoniades December 22, 2012 Comment smart tattoos Temporary smart tattoos the size of this one are the latest frontier in medical science. (Photo: Robert Manella/Getty Images) So theyre not exactly cute, but if you came of age during the 90s, chances are you have at least regrettable tattoo anyway. (Raise your hand if that same tattoo is in the shape of a butterfly!) But the latest temporary smart tattoos do much more than serve as a symbol of misspent youth; they can read a bodys internal processes and alert the user of potential dangers like a dip in blood sugar or a drop in kidney function− all without having to draw any blood. A recent collaboration between researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Toronto created a lightweight and stick-on smart tattoo. Embedded in its fibers are a set of ion-selective electrodes which is a cooler way of saying sensors that detect the pH or salt levels of the skin, as well minerals like potassium, and even blood oxidation." In other words, it can monitor athletic performance at a granular level, but without any of the bulk or wiring of older sensors. It also means that for the first time, detailed athletic response testing would no longer be limited to the walls of a sports clinic, but could be done daily by the athlete herself. And because the stick-ons are both quick and cheap to produce, it seems a natural fit with a mass market roll-out. Researchers are hoping theyve designed the next big thing in sports training and expect it to hit shelves within the next twelve months. But this athletic testing sensor is only the latest iteration of a variety of body-reading smart tattoos set to hit the market in the coming year. Sano Intelligence is in the testing phase of a smart tattoo that reads a wearers blood markers. The application would be particularly useful for diabetics, who need to keep strict control over their blood sugar levels and often have to resort to finger-prick tests to determine if those levels are within normal range. The Sano patch would not only allow them to forgo the pain of finger-pricks, but the constant hassle of dragging around testing devices and interrupting daily activities to draw their own blood. And Boston-based MC10 announced earlier this year that it would soon release its own stretchable electronics patch, that can be applied internally to human organs, or externally to human skin, or clothing, depending on what needed to be monitored. The stick-ons ability to remain flexible while reading vital signs means that it could effectively gauge the function of specific organs, track brain processes, and monitor more mainstream functions like heart rate, blood oxidation and body hydration. What's going to make the biggest difference in our daily lives as a result of this technology isn't even the technology itself- it's that for the first time, we as patients will be able to maintain our mobility and independence as we're being monitored. This presumably could mean it would be easier to catch oncoming deficiencies before they manifest any symptoms, and the distance between the patient and her specialist would no longer be a hinderance to treatment. Do you think this kind of technology would be useful in your own life, or do you think that a sensor monitoring your vital signs is just too "sci-fi" for your taste? Sign Up for TakePart Emails Get a compilation of all the most important stories and actions covered on TakePart. Terms & Conditions TakePart is the digital division of Participant Media 2008-2013 TakePart, LLC | |
|
||
| 03-01-13 05:01am - 4314 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Before Google took over YouTube, there were few or no ads on YouTube. Now that YouTube is owned by Google, you have to listen to ads that you can't turn off. The audio part of the ads run while you are watching a YouTube video, so the competing audio tracks are really annoying. And I don't know how you can turn off the freaking ads, or mute them if you want to listen to the audio portion of a YouTube video. Any suggestions? | |
|
||
| 01-31-13 08:43am - 4343 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
School today is far different from when I was a kid. I didn't have to make any science project until I was in high school, when I was maybe 16 or 17 years old. Today's kids are doing science projects in grammar school. Today, I am in my 60s. But if I entered a similar project in a science fair, I would probably be arrested. Here's a 10-year-old girl, who used 3 drug-sniffing dogs and 1 ounce of cocaine, supplied by her father, who is a cop, as her entry in a science fair. Note that John Schuster, a spokesman for the school district, issued a statement saying that cocaine is not a specifically banned substance. Also note that the mother of the girl stated that her husband (a cop) is "always very meticulous about how he handles drugs.� I would have thought the article was a spoof, except that it's apparently a real news report. --------------- --------------- Fourth-grader wins science fair with drug-sniffing dogs, ounce of cocaine By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Sideshow � 2 hrs 15 mins ago A detective provided his daughter with drug-sniffing dogs, like the one pictured here. (Getty Images) In an early bid for Father of the Year, a Miami police detective allowed his 10-year-old daughter to use three drug-sniffing dogs and an ounce of cocaine for a science fair project, according to the Miami Herald. Douglas Bartelt, a detective with the Miami-Dade Police Narcotics Bureau, provided his daughter, Emma, with three detector canines and 28 grams of cocaine (street value: approximately $1,300) for her entry into Coral Gables Preparatory Academy's annual science fair. Not surprisingly, she won. The first-place honor gave Emma an automatic entry into the Miami -Dade Elementary Schools Science Fair, where her drug-sniffing project earned an honorable mention. �The purpose for this scientific investigation was to find which dog would find the cocaine fastest using it�s [sic] sense of smell,� the fourth-grader wrote in the abstract for her project, titled "Drug Sniffing Dogs." Bartelt, according to the Miami Herald, fellow detective William Pedraja and Sgt. Samantha Machado provided the dogs (a springer spaniel named Roger; Levi, a golden retriever; and Franky, a retired chocolate labrador) and the cocaine. (Franky showed he's still got the touch, locating the illegal substance in 43 seconds.) Emma's mother, Michelle Bartelt, said the experiment was her daughter's idea and that Emma was under constant supervision and "did not touch the cocaine." �[Doug] handled the drugs,� she said. �He�s always very meticulous about how he handles drugs.� John Schuster, a spokesman for the school district, issued a statement saying the project, while unusual, did not violate any of the science fair's rules�and that cocaine is not a specifically banned substance. �The student�s science project involved a very unusual set of circumstances, including having a parent who is a well-respected police detective with experience in training dogs that sniff for illegal substances," Schuster's statement read. "From our understanding, the parent was the only person involved in working directly with the dogs and the hidden substances, which took place at a police training facility.� Edited on Jan 31, 2013, 08:54am | |
|
||
| 01-26-13 07:19pm - 4348 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
1 guy, 39 wives, 94 kids From POST WIRE SERVICES Last Updated: 4:57 AM, January 20, 2013 Posted: 11:19 PM, January 19, 2013 The worlds largest family is set to expand again next month with the arrival of three babies at the clans four-story mansion in Mizoram, northeast India. Pu Ziona, the 69-year-old leader of the 35,000-strong Chana Pawl Christian sect, has 39 wives ranging in age from 32 to 73. The family itself has lost track of precisely how big it is. According to the World Record Academy, the Zionas became the worlds largest family in 2011 with 181 members, including 94 children and 33 grandchildren. | |
|
||
| 01-24-13 05:32am - 4350 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
If I were a heavy drinker, I might consider moving to Ireland. Unfortunately, I drink very little, or not at all most of the time. So I will have to find some other place to move to. ======================= Irish County Lets Some Drive Drunker? By Daniel Clark | ABC News 19 hrs ago The County Kerry Council in southwest Ireland passed a measure on Monday that allows rural drivers to legally drive while under the influence of alcohol. The council voted 5-3 - with 12 absent and seven abstaining - to issue special permits to individuals who live in rural areas and wish to drive home on remote countryside roads after consuming two to three alcoholic beverages. The council will have to rely on Justice Minister Alan Shatter to implement the changes to current drinking and driving laws by issuing special permits. Councilor and County Kerry pub owner Danny Healy-Rae introduced the bill, arguing that citizens driving while intoxicated in rural areas have never killed anyone. He defended the measure by asserting that it would prevent loneliness and reduce the risk of suicides among those who live in Ireland's backcountry. "A lot of these people are living in isolated rural areas where there's no public transport of any kind, and they end up at home looking at the four walls, night in and night out, because they don't want to take the risk of losing their license," Healy-Rae told TheJournal.ie. Tougher drunk driving laws have been credited with reducing the number of people killed on Irish roads. The overall number of road deaths has fallen by 56 percent in the last five years and in 2012, 161 people were killed, the lowest since records were kept, according to the Road Safety Authority. In addition to lowering the legal limit from 80 mg per 100 ml of blood (.08 percent in U.S. terms) to 50 mg, Irish authorities have also increased the volume of mandatory alcohol checkpoints. The Irish Department of Transport, Alcohol Action Ireland and the Road Safety Authority have all voiced opposition to the proposal, citing the overwhelming evidence linking alcohol consumption with impaired driving. "Unfortunately, rural areas are among the most dangerous roads in Ireland. We need to be looking at how to make our roads safer, particularly in rural areas, instead of trying to reverse existing measures, which are clearly working," an Irish Department of Transport spokesman told Sky News. | |
|
||
| 01-10-13 07:52am - 4364 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
McClain arrested for signature Oakland Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain, was arrested for a signature he wrote on a ticket after being pulled over by police. Police say McClain was pulled over in Decatur, Ala. because they suspected the tint on his car was too dark. After they gave the citation to him to sign, he wrote on it, F*** y'all, USA Today reported on Jan. 9. He was then taken into custody for giving a false name to police. Police officials said if he would have just simply signed his real name, he wouldn't have been arrested. After McClain wrote F*** y'all on the ticket, police gave him a chance to sign the ticket again using his actual name. However, McClain gave them the following response, "That is my name." McClain told police he was allowed to have the illegal tint due to photosentivity issues, and showed a letter from a doctor. Police said it wasn't valid because the prescription form didn't back up his claims. Lt. John Crouch said McClain, 23, was arrested and taken into custody at the Decatur City Jail on the misdemeanor and the window tint violation. He posted a $1,000 cash bail and was released shortly after. He later told Decatur Daily, Im falsely accused of everything. Its corrupt. Its terrible. | |
|
||
| 11-30-12 09:09am - 4405 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
This is only alleged, not proven. But if true, it shows stupidity and careless disregard for the lives of others. If true, they should give this guy a lethal injection and end his suffering. The guy is sick with hepatitis C. This is what is alleged: He is a medical technician working at different hospitals. So he steals syringes filled with Fentanyl, an anti-pain medicine for cancer, and injects himself with the drug. Which means the syringes are now possibly tainted with hepatitis C. To cover the theft, he then filled the syringes with saline and replaced them for hospital use on patients. He is stealing an anti-pain medication for himself, and substituting salt water to be given to cancer patients for their pain? And risking the spread of his infectious disease to these same patients as well? What is true: More than 30 patients at a New Hampshire hospital are now infected with hepatitis C. Thousands of other patients are being tested in Arizona, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other states, because he has carried the disease since at least June 2010, and he held hospital jobs from Arizona to New England. ---------------- ---------------- Ex-medical technician indicted in hepatitis C outbreak Federal grand jury charges David M. Kwiatkowski, who is accused of stealing hospital syringes, using them on himself and placing them out for use on patients. By Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau November 29, 2012, 9:18 p.m. WASHINGTON A nomadic medical technician who held hospital jobs from Arizona to New England has been indicted in connection with a hepatitis C outbreak that infected more than 30 patients at a New Hampshire hospital and exposed thousands of others in Pennsylvania, Maryland and other states. David M. Kwiatkowski, a 33-year-old former radiology technician, was charged Wednesday by a federal grand jury with seven counts of tampering with a consumer product and seven counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, the Justice Department said Thursday. Infected with the life-threatening virus, he is accused of stealing hospital syringes, using them on himself and placing them out for use on hospital patients. Kwiatkowski has carried the disease since at least June 2010. When he was found in a Holiday Inn room in Boxborough, Mass., this summer, officials say, officers discovered six bottles of medication and loose pills. Kwiatkowski was drunk, disheveled and confused, and had left a suicide note to a friend, according to police reports. "Please call [her] and let her know I passed away," he is quoted as saying in the note. "Tell her I couldn't handle this stress anymore." He was taken to a hospital in Worcester, Mass., and was arraigned in his bed next to FBI agents, lawyers and a federal judge from Boston. His defense attorney, James G. Reardon Jr., said, "He was quite sick." Kwiatkowski faces up to 98 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. A hospital in Pittsburgh has sent letters to 2,000 patients warning that Kwiatkowski might have infected them, and four hospitals in Maryland are testing 1,700 patients. More than 30 tested positive for hepatitis C at Exeter Hospital in Exeter, N.H. "This has been a difficult time for our patients and the community," the 100-bed hospital said on its website. Marcie DiFede, an FBI special agent in Portsmouth, N.H., said in a court affidavit that Kwiatkowski was raised in Michigan and in 2007 began traveling the country as a contract lab technician in six states, including Arizona, Kansas and Georgia. Some stints lasted just 13 weeks. DiFede said Kwiatkowski "often told stories about himself," claiming he played college baseball in Michigan, that his fiancee died "under tragic circumstances" and that he was fighting cancer. At Exeter Hospital, co-workers said he was "sweating" with "bloodshot eyes" and appeared to be "on something," DiFede said. Or that he came to work with a "red face, red eyes and white foam around his mouth." His arms carried "fresh track marks, " DiFede said. She said Kwiatkowski injected himself with syringes filled with Fentanyl, an anti-pain medicine for cancer, which tainted the needles with hepatitis C. He then filled the syringes with saline for hospital use, she said. DiFede said Kwiatkowski had denied tampering with drugs but also told authorities, "I'm more concerned about myself, my own well-being. That's all I'm really concerned about." richard.serrano@latimes.com Copyright 2012, Los Angeles Times | |
|
||
| 11-29-12 10:05am - 4406 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I just saw a new site called FUBiLOVdotCOM. That's a phrase I can use in every day greetings to people I like, because I can tell them it's shorthand for fubby-love, which means some kind of affectionate greeting. But the online site says FUBiLOV stands for Fuck You Bitch, I Leaked Our Video. The site is supposed to be leaked videos of ex-girlfriends. Saying FUBiLOV makes me feel smart and sophisticated and wicked and part of the in-crowd. I always wanted to be part of the in-crowd, and here's my chance. Maybe I should post this in the "Comment" section, so we can start a trend of PU members who use this phrase. But remember, I saw it first! Edited on Nov 29, 2012, 10:10am | |
|
||
| 10-21-12 02:40pm - 4445 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Important message: Need help picking up my $2.5 million USD ATM Master Card that is being sent to me by the FedEx Company of Nigeria. Unfortunately, I am desperately trying to update my porn collection at the moment, and don't have time to run out to Nigeria to pick up my $2.5 million ATM Master Card. Will any of my fellow PU members help me out in this, by dropping by their local Nigerian FedEx office and picking up my $2.5 million ATM Master Card for me? I would be willing to pay, let's say, $10.00 US, for the inconvenience, possibly, once I have cashed my $2.5 million card and verified the funds are good. In God we trust. lk2fireone ===================== ===================== FedEx Nigeria Head Office FROM: FedEx Nigeria Head Office Sunday, October 21, 2012 7:25 AM FedEx Nigeria Head Office 70 International Airport Road Mafoluku, Lagos. Tel: +234-8024500491 Customers Service Hours--Monday to Saturday: Office Hours Monday to Sunday: This is FedEx Company of Nigeria, the management of this company, Wishes to inform you that, we received a parcel containing an ATM Master Card Valued $2.5million USD with some vital documents attached on it, for safety delivery to Your residential address in your country This parcel was brought to us this morning by the ATM Card payment office Nigeria, with the below informations, please reconfirm the below information, to avoid Delivery your ATM Master Card to wrong hand Full names............ Parcel owner address...... Tel........... We will register your package and send you the tracking numbers before we proceed for safety delivery of your package as soon as you reconfirm the required informations for safety delivery. FedEx is one of the world's great success stories, the start-up that Revolutionized the delivery of packages and information, In the past 30 years, we've grown up and grown into a diverse family of companies as FedEx that's bigger, stronger, better than ever. Waiting to read your e-mail (deliveryfedexdispatch@yahoo.dk) Yours affectionately Mr.Mike Okoh.Dispatch Manager FedEx Courier For the Ikeja branch manager FedEx express services Lagos -Nigeria | |
|
||
| 10-18-12 03:46am - 4448 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Royal wedding gives Luxembourg turn in spotlight By DON MELVIN | Associated Press 2 hrs 6 mins ago LUXEMBOURG (AP) The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg doesn't get a lot of turns in the spotlight. It's an independent country tinier than Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state, and it would fit inside Germany, its neighbor to the east, 138 times with room to spare. It won no medals at the 2012 London Olympics in fact it hasn't won a medal at the summer Games since 1952. But this week is Luxembourg's turn to shine. Prince Guillaume, the heir to the throne the grand duke-to-be will marry Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy. It will be a two-day affair, including fireworks, concerts, a gala dinner at the grand ducal palace, and two marriages between the betrothed a civil wedding Friday afternoon and a religious ceremony Saturday morning. A glittering array of European royalty has been invited. The guest list for the religious ceremony includes kings, queens, princes and princesses from European countries including, among others, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Lichtenstein, Denmark, the Netherlands, Romania and Britain, which is sending Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth's youngest child, and his wife, Sophie. Non-European royalty plan to attend, as well, from Morocco, Japan and Jordan and elsewhere. With all those royals coming to Luxembourg, can international attention be far behind? "It's good for Luxembourg," said Nadine Chenet, a 46-year-old street cleaner who was picking up cigarette butts with pincers in front of the grand ducal palace. "Many people will come now." Besides, she just plain likes the royal family, she said: They give a good impression of the country. That's a sentiment common in Luxembourg. To all appearances, the bride and groom are a lovely couple. He is 30, with dark hair and an immaculate beard. She is 28, blonde and smiling. In public appearances, including at the London Olympics, they have appeared besotted with each other. According to biographies distributed by the royal court, each has an array of interests befitting those who are to the manner born. Guillaume speaks four languages, has studied international politics, is a lieutenant colonel in the Luxembourg army (a force of 900 soldiers), and has been engaged in humanitarian work in other countries, including Nepal. The duchess-to-be has studied the influence of German romanticism on Russian romanticism, plays piano and violin, swims, skis, and says she reads three books at a time. In the language department, she already speaks French and German two of Luxembourg's three official languages and, perhaps more importantly, is studying the third, which is called Luxembourgish. She plans to renounce her Belgian citizenship in order to become, eventually, Luxembourg's grand duchess. Luxembourg is a linguistically complicated country, a reflection of its complicated past. It began as a Roman fortress. It has, at one time or another, fallen under the control of Spain, France and Austria. In 1839, it gained its independence from the Netherlands, but lost more than half its territory to Belgium, which now has a province of the same name. In the 20th century, Germany swept through Luxembourg twice despite its protestations of neutrality. Luxembourgish is related to German, but it is primarily a spoken language. In the country's schools, elementary students take all their classes in German. When students reach their teens, gradually all classes are converted to French. And English is studied the entire time. But the language dearest to their hearts is Luxembourgish. As 71-year-old retired engineer Rene Ries a typical Luxembourger, with a French first name and a German last name said, Luxembourgish is generally spoken in the home. When there is a complaint, the police file their reports in German. Then the lawyers litigate the case in French. Asked in which language he felt most comfortable, Ries replied without hesitation that it was Luxembourgish. But he admitted he had trouble writing it. Under duress, he could write his daughter a postcard, he said, but the language is most commonly spoken, not written. Luxembourg, an important financial center and home to the world's largest steel manufacturer, continues to prosper despite Europe's economic trouble. The country has the second-highest gross domestic product per capita in the world, more than $80,000 though its population of about 510,000 people is still smarting from having lost the No. 1 spot to Qatar. The capital city has 80,000 inhabitants and 120,000 jobs. For that reason, more than 43 percent of the people in Luxembourg are foreign nationals, compared to a European Union average of 6.4 percent. When he greets people in the public square, Ries speaks not German, not French, not English, but Luxembourgish. It is not to shame the others. It is to show he is a genuine Luxembourger. Natives of the Grand Duchy, heavily influenced by Catholicism, are very proper and can be dour. "When we say, 'It's not too bad,'" Ries said, "we mean it's good." But above all, they are proud. Proud of their multilingualism. Proud of their grand duchy. And proud of their royal family. The current grand duke, Henri, who is 57, is popular. People can greet him on the street without bowing down before him. His 31-year marriage to Grand Duchess Charlotte appears to be very happy. Showcasing the royal family, as the country will do this week, allows Luxembourg to put its best foot forward. For, as Ries emphasized more than once, the Luxembourgish royals in contrast to some others do not sunbathe topless. And for him, that is a source of pride, one he is happy to share with the rest of the world. "It is a good family," he said. ___ Don Melvin can be reached at http://twitter.com/Don_Melvin. | |
|
||
| 10-08-12 11:31am - 4458 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
If you are not a multi-millionaire, then who is supposed to be representing you in Congress? At the very minimum, you need to be making an annual salary of $174,000, plus benefits. ================== ================== Wealth Gap Between Congress and Average Americans Widens By Bernice Napach | Daily Ticker � 1 hour 35 minutes ago According to a new report in The Washington Post, the median net worth of the current Congress rose 5% during the recession while it fell 39% for the average American. The wealthiest one-third of lawmakers saw their net worth rise 14%. The Washington Post disclosed these statistics in a recent story on the wealth gap between Congressional members and the American public. "These are supposed to be our representatives," says The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task. "If they're not living the same lives or understanding the lives that the average American is living, how can they really represent our interests?" The Post analyzed the financial disclosure forms and public records for all Congressional members from 2004 to 2010. Some key findings of the report are: By 2010, the median estimated wealth for members of the House of Representatives was $746,000; for senators it was $2.6 million. There was virtually no difference between the wealth of Republicans and Democrats in 2010. Just six years earlier, the net worth of Republicans was 44% higher than the net worth of Democrats. 28% of Congress, or 150 members, reported earning more income from outside jobs and investments than from their Congressional salary of $174,000. 27% of Congressional members saw a decline in their net worth between 2004 and 2010. Lawmakers acquired their wealth in a variety of ways but real estate, institutional funds and the wealth of their spouses were the top three sources. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi increased her wealth by an estimated $60 million between 2004 and 2010. The gains primarily came from the commercial real estate holdings of her husband, according to The Post. Representative Darrell Issa made his reported $448 million in commercial real estate as well as other financial investments. "We have this huge disparity that's only getting worse in terms of inequality in this country," says The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget. "If it continues, the country will begin to break apart and get more and more antagonistic class warfare. It's something we have got to solve not only in Congress but in the American public at large." Is Congress pursuing policies that benefit middle and lower income Americans? The Washington Post found that 73 lawmakers sponsored or co-sponsored legislation that could benefit businesses or industries that involved those Congressional members or their families. "It's just outrageous that our legislators could be profiting directly from the legislation that they're making," says Aaron Task. Top 10 Wealthiest Members of Congress (by household assets, 2010) according to The Washington Post: Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) $448.1M Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) $380.4M Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) $231.7M Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) $143.2M Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) $136.2M House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) $101.1M Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. VA) $99.1M Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) $85.6M Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) $73.2M Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) $69.0M | |
|
||
| 07-12-12 12:54am - 4546 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
I saw the debut episode yesterday, and it was really interesting. I hope the succeeding episodes are just as enjoyable, and that the series does well in the ratings. The series star is Chlo Sevigny, and the series is set in the UK. | |
|
||
| 06-26-12 08:36am - 4562 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
What are they going to re-name Big Ben? Big Liz? The people of London (and the rest of the United Kingdom) should riot in the streets, and the castles, over this outrage. Big Ben is a man, with a man's bell-like voice. Will they also change the bell inside to produce a feminine squeak? Shame on Parliament. And shame on the Queen. --------------------- --------------------- London's Big Ben clock tower to be renamed Elizabeth Tower ReutersReuters 1 hr 6 mins ago LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's landmark Big Ben clock tower adjoining the Houses of Parliament will be renamed "Elizabeth Tower" to mark Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne, a parliamentary official said on Tuesday. The announcement follows four days of celebrations earlier this month to mark the 86-year-old queen's Diamond Jubilee, only the second to be celebrated by a British monarch. "The House of Commons (parliament) commission welcomed the proposal to rename the clock tower Elizabeth Tower in recognition of Her Majesty the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and will arrange for this decision to be implemented in an appropriate manner in due course," a House of Commons spokesman said. The ornate, 96-metre high neo-Gothic tower features four gilded clockfaces, and was completed in 1859. The tower took its name Big Ben from the giant bell inside, which chimes the famous bongs heard around London's Whitehall government district. "I think it is a fitting tribute to the Queen and the service she has given to our country in this jubilee year," Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman quoted the prime minister as saying. (Reporting by Mohammed Abbas; Editing by Steve Addison) | |
|
||
| 06-08-12 05:16pm - 4580 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
The Windows 8 operating system, expected to be released late 2012, will not play DVDs. You will need to upgrade the operating system, or install additional software, if you want to play DVDs on Windows 8 computers. Microsoft is doing this to save money. But I imagine a lot of people will be surprised their new Windows 8 PCs won't play DVDs. | |
|
||
| 05-25-12 01:39pm - 4594 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Former president Bill Clinton has a new cheer squad. During a photo op at a gala in Monaco, Clinton was snapped with Brooklyn Lee and Tasha Reign. You might recognize them from a porn film near you. That's right. They are porn stars. | |
|
||
| 05-16-12 07:26am - 4603 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Maybe the state of Texas can issue an apology to the man it killed by mistake. Or maybe not. Do states ever admit they are wrong? ------------------- ------------------- Wrong man was executed in Texas, probe says Chantal Valery AFP Tue, May 15, 2012 File photo of the "death chamber" at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas. A report released Tuesday has found that the wrong man was executed in Texas in 1989 for a crime committed by another person with the same first name who looked very similar. (AFP Photo/Paul Buck) Columbia School of Law professor James Liebman and five students studied the case of Carlos DeLuna, who was executed in Texas in 1989 for the murder of Wanda Lopez. The execution of DeLuna despite evidence he did not commit the crime is "emblematic" of legal system failure, their probe has found. (AFP Photo/Ronald Martinez) He was the spitting image of the killer, had the same first name and was near the scene of the crime at the fateful hour: Carlos DeLuna paid the ultimate price and was executed in place of someone else in Texas in 1989, a report out Tuesday found. Even "all the relatives of both Carloses mistook them," and DeLuna was sentenced to death and executed based only on eyewitness accounts despite a range of signs he was not a guilty man, said law professor James Liebman. Liebman and five of his students at Columbia School of Law spent almost five years poring over details of a case that he says is "emblematic" of legal system failure. DeLuna, 27, was put to death after "a very incomplete investigation. No question that the investigation is a failure," Liebman said. The report's authors found "numerous missteps, missed clues and missed opportunities that let authorities prosecute Carlos DeLuna for the crime of murder, despite evidence not only that he did not commit the crime but that another individual, Carlos Hernandez, did," the 780-page investigation found. The report, entitled "Los Tocayos Carlos: Anatomy of a Wrongful Execution," traces the facts surrounding the February 1983 murder of Wanda Lopez, a single mother who was stabbed in the gas station where she worked in a quiet corner of the Texas coastal city of Corpus Christi. "Everything went wrong in this case," Liebman said. That night Lopez called police for help twice to protect her from an individual with a switchblade. "They could have saved her, they said 'we made this arrest immediately' to overcome the embarrassment," Liebman said. Forty minutes after the crime Carlos DeLuna was arrested not far from the gas station. He was identified by only one eyewitness who saw a Hispanic male running from the gas station. But DeLuna had just shaved and was wearing a white dress shirt -- unlike the killer, who an eyewitness said had a mustache and was wearing a grey flannel shirt. Even though witnesses accounts were contradictory -- the killer was seen fleeing towards the north, while DeLuna was caught in the east -- DeLuna was arrested. "I didn't do it, but I know who did," DeLuna said at the time, saying that he saw Carlos Hernandez entering the service station. DeLuna said he ran from police because he was on parole and had been drinking. Hernandez, known for using a blade in his attacks, was later jailed for murdering a woman with the same knife. But in the trial, the lead prosecutor told the jury that Hernandez was nothing but a "phantom" of DeLuna's imagination. DeLuna's budget attorney even said that it was probable that Carlos Hernandez never existed. However in 1986 a local newspaper published a photograph of Hernandez in an article on the DeLuna case, Liebman said. Following hasty trial DeLuna was executed by lethal injection in 1989. Up to the day he died in prison of cirrhosis of the liver, Hernandez repeatedly admitted to murdering Wanda Lopez, Liebman said. "Unfortunately, the flaws in the system that wrongfully convicted and executed DeLuna -- faulty eyewitness testimony, shoddy legal representation and prosecutorial misconduct -- continue to send innocent men to their death today," read a statement that accompanies the report. | |
|
||
| 05-03-12 05:26am - 4616 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Edvard Munch's "The Scream" is auctioned at Sotheby's Wednesday, May 2, 2012, in New York. The image is one of four versions created by the Norwegian expressionist painter. Three are in Norwegian museums. The one at the Sotheby's auction is the only one left in private hands and is being sold by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and patron of the artist. The hammer price was $107 Million with the buyers premium is $119,922,500. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) NEW YORK (AP) It's a scream that's still reverberating around the world. One of the most iconic images in art history Edvard Munch's "The Scream" has become the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. During an intense 12 minutes, the 1895 artwork a modern symbol of human anxiety was sold at Sotheby's in New York City on Wednesday for a record $119,922,500 (91,327,774). Neither the buyer's name nor any details about the buyer was released. The previous record for an artwork sold at auction was $106.5 million (81.11 million) for Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust," sold by Christie's in 2010. Munch's image of a man holding his head and screaming under a streaked, blood-red sky is one of four versions by the Norwegian expressionist painter. The auctioned piece at Sotheby's is the only one left in private hands. The image has become part of pop culture, "used by everyone from Warhol to Hollywood to cartoons to teacups and T-shirts," said Michael Frahm of the London-based art advisory service firm Frahm Ltd. "Together with the Mona Lisa, it's the most famous and recognized image in art history." "As popular culture, it provides an analogy for both individual and collective experiences of, variously, loss, pain, grief, modernity, nature gone awry, the body out of control, and Existential struggle," said Patricia Berman, chair of the art department at Wellesley College and a director of the Edvard Munch Research Institute in Oslo. A buzz swept through the room when the artwork was presented for auction as two guards stood watch on either side. Bidding started at $40 million (30.46 million) with seven buyers jumping into the competition early. The battle eventually boiled down to two phone bidders as the historic hammer price was finally achieved after more than 12 minutes. The record price includes the auction house's fee. Sotheby's said the pastel-on-board version of "The Scream" is the most colorful and vibrant of the four and the only version whose frame was hand-painted by the artist to include his poem, detailing the work's inspiration. In the poem, Munch described himself "shivering with anxiety" and said he felt "the great scream in nature." Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was a friend and patron of the artist, said he sold the piece through Sotheby's because he felt "the moment has come to offer the rest of the world the chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work." "I have lived with this work all my life, and its power and energy have only increased with time," Olsen said. Proceeds from the sale will go toward the establishment of a new museum, art center and hotel in Hvitsten, Norway, where Olsen's father and Munch were neighbors. A total of nine works now have sold for $80 million (60 million) or more at auction, according to Sotheby's. Besides "The Scream" and Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust," only two other works have sold for more than $100 million (76 million) at auction. Those are Picasso's "Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice)" for $104.1 million (79.28 million) in 2004 and Alberto Giacometti's "Walking Man I" for $104.3 (79.43) million in 2010. ___ | |
|
||
| 04-10-12 10:27am - 4639 days | Original Post - #1 | |
|
lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
The wages of sin. Always part on friendly terms with your ex, whether it's a girlfriend or a wife. Not sure what the guy did. Would like to hear more details. ----------------- ----------------- http://news.yahoo.com/angry-ex-girlfrien...f-man-192805232.html Angry ex-girlfriend goes ballistic, rips off mans scrotum The Daily Caller By Taylor Bigler Fri, Apr 6, 2012 Talk about a ball buster. An Indiana man was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after his scrotum was the victim of a vicious attack by an ex-girlfriend, The Smoking Gun reports. The victim told police that his former girlfriend, Christina Reber, stormed into his apartment as he was innocently sitting at his computer. Reber, who he had severed ties with a few days earlier, first struck him on the head and then grabbed his scrotum and began squeezing as hard as she could. Naturally, he told officers that he was in incredible pain when [she] grabbed his scrotum and began digging in her fingers. The police report indicates that the scrotum area was completely torn loose from his body. Reber reportedly refused to let go of his scrotum, but that the victim was finally able to remove his balls from her vice-like grip. As if the story isnt already good enough, the victim, who has not been identified, was taken to BALL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. As far as we know, the hospital is not only for scrotum-specific injuries. In an interview two days after the incident, the man told police that after his ex was done breaking his balls, his family jewels are so swollen that he is unable to work, and he isnt sure if there will be permanent damage. Reber was charged with two felonies: aggravated battery and illegally entering the victims home. She was also charged with a misdemeanor domestic battery. | |
|
||
| 151-200 of 237 Posts | < Previous Page | 1 | 2 | 3 | Page 4 | 5 | Next Page > |
|
