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Bad
Newz Kennels codefendant pleads guilty in Vick dogfighting
case  Thursday, October 25th, 2007 Um, "Bad Newz Kennels?" If that's not self-explanatory, what is? Oscar Allen, 67, pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal dogfighting charge stemming from selling a champion pit bull to suspended NFL quarterback Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels operation. Allen's plea is for conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce to aid in illegal gambling, and sponsoring a dog in animal fighting. These are the same charges that Vick and his three other codefendants are facing; Vick will be sentenced in December, Allen in January. He sold a female pit bull named Jane to Bad Newz Kennels in 2001, traveled with Vick's associate's to Jane's fights, and advised Vick and the others on managing and caring for the fighting dogs. He even admitted to helping Vick pit the dogs against each other to narrow down which pit bulls were good fighters. He did not, he told prosecutors, assist in the killing of any of the dogs that failed to perform well. He's facing a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000, and three years of supervised release. Although U.S. Attorney Michael Gill recommended to the court that Allen receive no prison time in compliance with the plea agreement, U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson will not be bound by the recommendation, and can still rule for time behind bars for the new codefendant. Other co-defendants are Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips, and Tony Taylor. |
| The
media gets mean about Dumbledore, JK Rowling Thursday, October 25th, 2007 Tolerance. It doesn't go over so well for everyone, does it? I'm sure you all know by now about JK Rowling's announcement last week that Albus Dumbledore, a fictional character from the Harry Potter series, is gay. At a reading for 1,000 fans at Carnegie Hall in New York, one child asked Rowling if Dumbledore has ever fallen in love himself, with all of his talk of the prevailing power of love. "I always thought of Dumbledore as gay," Rowling answered. After an intial gasp from the crowd, Rowling received a standing ovation for the comment. "If I'd known this would make you this happy, I would have announced it years ago," she continued. "The Potter books in general are a prolonged argument for tolerance, a prolonged plea for an end to bigotry, and I think it's one of the reasons some people don't like the books." It became a media blitz that followed Rowling up to Canada, at Toronto's Elgin Theatre, the only Canadian stop on her tour of North America. "It certainly has never been news to me that a brave and brilliant man could love other men," she later said. "He is my character. He is what he is and I have the right to say what I say about him." She said she did not make mention of her opinion on Dumbledore's sexuality prior to last week because she was never directly asked. But why, oh why, does the press have to be so vicious? Making front page news, some newspapers headlines unfairly target J.K. Rowling for her opinion on her own character: "J.K. Rowling's Big Fat Mouth," the Sun Sentinel said. "Harry Potter and the author who wouldn't shut up," the Dallas Morning News wrote. But of course, the critics maintain that they're fine with homosexuality, they just don't agree with the announcement after the book instead of in it. |
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Animal
Lovers Corner: Penguins as far as the eye can
see
Ah, nature, she is amazing, no? Here are more than 10,000 King penguins, standing together and preparing for breeding time at St. Andrew's bay on the island of South Georgia, a British overseas territory near the South Sandwich Islands. King penguins breed on seven sub-Antarctic island groups in large populations at this time of year, and then lay their eggs in November. They are also there to moult, changing their little 3-foot tuxedos while they're hanging out. Here's a teeny video clip of it. These are the second largest penguins in the world, if you're wondering why they look like little men in costumes!
There are about 2 million of these guys, and they exist on a diet of fish and squid. So...as beautiful as this footage is, I think I'd rather be seeing the photo - could you imagine what the smell would be like for miles? Just guessing... |
| Kid
Rock finds his waffle house brawl funny Thursday, October 25th, 2007
After an appearance in Atlanta last week, Kid Rock showed up at the IHOP for some waffles and a few punches. He then took off in his tour bus with members of his entourage, but was arrested a mile from the restaurant. He was arrested on Sunday for a misdemeanor of simple battery. But he thinks it's all funny. Kid Rock went on Ellen Degeneres' chat show today, and gave her an IHOP t-shirt from the waffle house. It said "Eat my Grits." He proudly showed off his injured knuckles to Ellen. "We were celebrating, we had a great show that night. We were hungry, it was late at night, we had been doing some drinking. I know people work hard at the Waffle House," Kid said. "So I tipped people behind the counter, I gave them $300 to split up, bought everyone breakfast there." "We were having a good time and this one kid just started...and then one thing led to another and windows were broken, you know, cussin' and fussin' in the mud, the blood and the beer." He said the other guy was looking for a fight so that he could sue, to which Rock replies, "take a number," adding that it would be like going after the Secretary of State. Uh...that would be nothing like that. I don't think they serve beer at the International House of friggin' Pancakes. Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, had better hope he's got more than $300 to pass around to fix them windows. |
| Spice
Girls filming documentary during their U.K.
tour Thursday, October 25th, 2007
Yet more Spice Girls news: the girls have announced on their website that they will be filming a documentary during their tour. Talk about working overtime!
Hotness! There'd better be a version available in the U.S. But they may want to edit Posh out, because she doesn't do so well on reality TV here. I want to see some crazy Mel B antics! I love that girl! |
| News
Roundup: Other News You Don't Want to
Miss Thursday, October 25th, 2007 Crime: Man wrongfully jailed for 22 years Source: CNN Entertainment: Saw IV launches 2007 blood drive with the American Red Cross Source: Yahoo! U.S. News: Housing Analysts Pessimistic About U.S. Housing Market Outlook Source: VOA News U.S. News: Condoleezza Rice acknowledged U.S. "mishandled" torture case Source: MSNBC U.S. News: California Wildfires ease Source: Reuters Political Opinion: CA Lt. Governor on Bush: Administration's record on disasters is disastrous Source: Crooks and Liars |
| Bo
Derek, Jackie Chan reach half of China with shark fin
message Thursday, October 25th, 2007
Bo Derek being sworn in last year (Aug. 2006)
at the State Department by Asst. Secretary of State for the Bureau
of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific
Affairs After a recent trip to the Galapagos Islands
Marine Reserve, actress and activist Bo Derek was touched by the
plight of sea mammals, as shark "finners" use animals such as sea
lions for bait, hunt sharks, and slaughter them for their fins to
make shark fin soup. "It made me realize that even the most remote
wilderness is now touched by the global economy - in this case, the
demand for products derived from protected wildlife," Derek wrote in
to Larry King Live. "That is why I have been working with the
State Department and the San Francisco-based conservation
organization, WildAid, to help in their effort to stop wildlife
traffickers." "The illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be
worth $10 billion to $20 billion a year...and it traffics in all
wild things from shark fins to elephant ivory, from rare orchids to
valuable timer. It leaves behind a catalog of species on the
brink of extinction and millions of animals suffering either a
brutal death or inhuman transportation," she wrote. Chan is also working with the Active Conservation Awareness Program to influence consumer attitudes toward wildlife. After seeing a video of tiger killings, he vowed to help, and has assisted WildAid with educating the Chinese public about the effect wildlife trafficking has on the species involved. As we told you earlier this month, Jackie Chan is amongst the top 10 stars considered the most inspirational and charitable.
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| The
battle on birth control, sex education Thursday, October 25th, 2007
The debate is always raging: how much should schools be allowed to teach kids about sexuality? From private schools that say nothing at all, to middle schools offering birth control pills to students, there are extremes, and there should be a middle ground. |
| Elephants snuck in, got drunk off rice beer, and
uprooted utility poles Thursday, October 25th, 2007
These are beautiful views of the village of Shillong. Aren't they scrumptious? So much GREEN! Unfortunately for villagers, though, the closeness of nature to mankind leads to some very odd clashes.
This is one of the strangest things I think I've ever come across, and I have no idea what to make of it. I'm dumbfounded. In northeast India, six wild Asiatic elephants snuck into a village looking for food. They found rice beer, which is fermented an kept in plastic and tin drums in some farmers' huts. Sunil Kumar, a state official, told the AP that the elephants got drunk, and uprooted a utility pole that supplies power to the village of Shillong, in Meghalaya. In doing so, they electrocuted themselves. The Asian elephant though, also has positive outcomes with mankind: they've been tamed and worked with for people for over 4,000 years. That blog we posted last month in Animal Lovers Corner about elephant art - those pics were painted by Asian elephants! In the state of Meghalaya, there are Subtropical Forests containing more than 110 known mammal species. These include the tiger, clouded leopard, wild dog, Malayan sun bear, sloth bear, smooth-coated otter, and of course, the Asian elephant. Could you imagine waking up to one of those wild thangs wandering into your neighborhood? |
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Elizabeth Hasselbeck leaves The View, Jessica
Simpson to fill in
Not that I ever watch it anymore other than YouTube clips, Elizabeth Hasselbeck left The View on Tuesday for a long maternity leave, leaving the seat open for perfectly type-cast blonde, tanned, Republican replacements in her absence. Jessica Simpson will be sitting in with the ladies for two days as a host while Elizabeth is off birthing perfect little offspring. On November 15th and 16th, Simpson will return to The View set as a cohost. Regular hosts, of course, are Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, and Sherri Shepard. Hasselbeck had planned to work right up until her due date, and leave the show November 8th. But on Tuesday morning, she told Barbara and producer Bill Geddie that her husband - football player Tim Hassebeck - signed a contract with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. She began her maternity leave a little early. Tim was cut by the New York Giants in September, and has been working as a broadcaster for FOX. Oh my gosh, they fit so neatly in that little box, don't they? "I have to take early maternity leave so that I can get there and actually introduce the doctor to my parts, before she pulls a child out of me," she said. "But I'll be back, after the hiatus." She's scheduled to return January 6th.
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| Seriously...stop telling me Wal-Mart openings are
NEWS! Thursday, October 25th, 2007
News stories like this are exactly why I cannot watch the news on television, and have to look it all up on the internet so that I can choose what I do and do not have to learn about. The last sentence in that article should have been the headline: [Wal-Mart] will employe 350 people; the store received 6,000 applications. Therefore, when I happened to see five minutes of my local ABC News channel, there they were giving a preview of "Top Stories," one of them being "Wal-Mart Supercenter Opens in Cleveland." That is not news! That is an advertisement. If that were going to be on the main page of our local news site, as it is, it should say: "Here, little Clevelanders. I know your city is poor and the economy is rough right now - here, have a Wal-Mart, and go save some money by taking it away from other people's health care benefits. Here are some lead-ridden products from China, low low prices, come on. SAM's Club is right around the corner, since you can't afford your prescription co-payments." Here's some REAL Wal-Mart news. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has offered about $875 million U.S. dollars to purchase the remaining stake in its Japanese subsidiary. The bid is a doubling down in the Japanese market by Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott, Jr. Wal-Mart will be focusing more on foreign growth. Lee Scott told investors this week that his focus is on looking abroad for growth, and wants to add Russia to the list, though most of their growth will be in China, Canada, and Mexico. Wal-Mart profits more from adjusting its sales to meet the statistics of people's shopping habits while living paycheck-to-paycheck. Those 1 million China-made cribs that were recalled last month? Oh yeah, those were stocked at Wal-Mart. Check out just a few of the stories on WalmartWatch.com. Check out a few of the stories on discrimination, schools getting short-changed, women's rights, fair labor practices, health care, community impact. Where is that, amidst the swirling worldwide "news" stories and stock reports about Wal-Mart? We may be saving a buck or two short-term, but to what consequence? Is Wal-Mart good for us? |
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Shocking footage of a 9-year old pleading with Howard
K. Stern This is very, very, very disturbing. In my humble opinion, I've always felt Anna Nicole's tragic ending and that of her son was a product of the media, society, and her "celebrity" status after The Anna Nicole Show. She couldn't handle it, nor could those around her. Here is some very shocking footage of Anna Nicole, wearing clown makeup and truly thinking that a toy doll is her baby, obviously drunk or stoned out of her mind while about 8 months pregnant. Before Daniel-Lyn was born, before Daniel died. Before they had any idea of the tragedies about to befall them.
A friend of the family had their 9-year old child over visiting. Anna, walking around with her breast falling out of her sarong, in full-on clown makeup, fights with the young girl about whether or not the toy doll is real. At one point, the little girl starts tapping Anna lightly on the side of the head and asks, "Are you asleep?" "Somebody stole, and released it to the media in order to make her look bad," Howard K. Stern says. Actually, it doesn't make Anna look bad: it makes you feel very, very sorry for her. She's taken to speaking completely in her baby voice throughout the footage, and appears to be in serious need of psychological help. And it makes Stern look bad. The one who handled her finances, her inheritance battle, and was supposed to be her companion. Instead, Stern says on tape "this footage is worth money," and films on, despite the scenes of a pregnant Anna stumbling by the pool, and the young witness begging Howard to stop filming and get Anna help. The child finally turns to the camera, and says, "Howard, help. Howard, seriously help." And then again later, she grabs Howard's arm while he's taping, and says, "I think we need the hospital. Howard, seriously, please help." The girl's father took Stern's video footage and gave it to FOX News to air, refusing any money for it and just requesting that the "lies stop." He said that his daughter has been greatly emotionally affected by this. FOX aired it on Geraldo at Large. Poor little girl. I feel sorry for her on two counts: that she had to witness this, and that her father watches FOX News.
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Speaking of shocking: Laura Bush in the Middle
East
When I first saw this picture, I thought it was photoshopped. I don't know why. Well, it's real, and it's Laura Bush, sitting up so straight she could be a stone statue, meeting with breast cancer survivors in the United Arab Emirates this week. She was at the Sheikh Khalifa Medical Center in Abu Dhabi. Do you see how much space is between her and the other women? Maybe that's why I thought it was photoshopped. Anyhow, this is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
In hopes of getting out the house, I would think, Laura met with these women in the western seaport of Jiddah. She apparently was wearing a head scarf in public, but stripped down for the photos, I guess. Although visiting female dignitaries are exempt from the strict Islamic dress codes in Saudi Arabia. This was on Wednesday, the same day she visited Kuwait. She seriously looks so much like George now, I'm wondering if he has replaced her with a duplicate of himself, like that time Agent 99 was swapped out in Get Smart.
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A web
ban on Ron Paul supporters
I get so ticked when the blogosphere limits free speech, because blogs are the best way to broadcast news and opinion without limits on what one can or cannot say. Alas, RedState.com has taken a controversial approach on limiting what political supporters can talk about on their forum. It brings up an interesting point, though: when contributers to internet blogs and forums are cheerleading for different candidates rather than bringing up discussion points, does it become spam-ish? Continued > > |
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ConnieTalk.com
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Proud
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Here we go. Proliferating is the Bush administration's
new favorite word, by the way, after Bush was so proud of himself for
pronouncing it correctly 
Don't they sound like those cow-in-a-box noisemakers
when you've used it too many times?
Sometimes, what you don't know can't hurt you.
And sometimes, if you are a teenager experiencing high levels of hormones
and are told nothing about them, a lack of knowledge can hurt
you.
