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Balanced News Blog |
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Oil
Spill Kills 400 Birds in San Francisco
Bay
Last Wednesday, the ship MV Cosco Busan crashed, resulting in an oil spill that killed about 400 birds in San Francisco Bay, California. Yesterday, the U.S. attorney in San Francisco announced that a federal criminal investigation has been opened to determine whether or not the captain and crew violated federal maritime laws. "Human error factors" he said, were likely involved. The Cosco Busan was leaving Oakland, CA during a storm, headed for South Korea, when it collided with a tower that supports the western portion of the Bay Bridge. The ship suffered a break over 200 feet long, causing 58,000 gallons of heavy-duty bunker oil to pour out into the ocean. Certain lawmakers have criticized the Coast Guard's response, as the Guard initially reported that just 140 gallons were spilled. Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard said yesterday that despite the initial miscommunication, it did not affect their response. "You had a completely manned ship with a pilot, all the navigation and sensors," he said. "There were probably some human error factors, but we need to determine the facts, because there's no reason a ship like that should have collided with a bridge." "Response was set into play within an hour of the event itself." He added that heavy fog and damage to the ship's tanks were a factor in the misreporting of how much oil had actually been leaked. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency to obtain funds to clean up the spill. There was no structural damage to the bridge.
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News
Roundup: Other News You Don't Want to Miss
Art: This guy says he found another Da Vinci code: a hidden symphony in The Last Supper Source: Boston Globe Environment: Patriots' green energy plan to power Gillette Stadium Source: Boston Globe Charity: Britney Spears donates to UNICEF...am I dreaming? Source: dListed Politics: Bill Clinton says 'the boys' are tough on Hillary Source: New York Times Media: Howard Kurtz accuses MSNBC of 'moving left' for offering Rosie O'Donnell a job. Screw you, Kurtz! Leave our Rosie alone! Source: Crooks & Liars U.S. News: Japan PM to visit the White House Friday Source: VOA News Technology: AT&T freedom-haters reminiscent of 1984 Source: ABC via MichaelMoore.com World News: Blaze breaks out at the site of 2012 Olympics Source: Balanced News Blog World News: Pakistan faces suspension threat Source: BBC News |
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Animal
Lovers Corner: Bathtime
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Kanye
West's Mother Dies After Plastic
Surgery
Kanye West's mother, Donda West, only 58 years old, died late on Saturday of as yet undisclosed causes. She was brought to the Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center in Marina Del Rey by paramedics before 9 p.m. that day, according to hospital spokeswoman Cyndee Woelfle. Woelfle said that West had had cosmetic surgery, and her "problems were a result of the surgery, but it was not done at this hospital." The Associated Press reported that according to a coroner's official, the death may have been caused by complications related to a plastic surgery procedure performed at a Southern California Hospital. An autopsy will be conducted by Wednesday. In his song "Hey Mama," a tribute to his mother, Kanye raps: "Forrest Gump's mama said 'life is like a box of chocolates' My mama told me go to school, get your doctorate Something to fall back on, you could profit with But still supported me when I did the opposite." Kanye's publicist released the following statement: "Kanye West, his family and friends would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of support and kind words that have come in from accross the country since the death of his mother, Dr. Donda West. "After working in higher education for 31 years, Dr. Donda West and Kanye West co-founded the Kanye West Foundation with the mission of helping to combat the severe dropout problem in high schools across the country. The first and signature initiative of the Kanye West Foundation is Loop Dreams. Designed to capitalize on students' existing interest in hip-hop, Loop Dreams challenges students to lear more about what's behind hip-hop culture in order to help them develop skills, express themselves creatively and be empowered. "In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Dr. West's name to the Kanye West Foundation/Loop Dreams Teacher Training Institute. Those donations can be made by visiting the Foundation's web site, www.KanyeWestFoundation.org or by mail at Kanye West Foundation, 8560 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069." What a tragedy...hopefully the photogs will give Kanye the peace and privacy he deserves in this time of grief.
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Rumor: Mayrin Villanueva Cast as the New Bond
Girl?
Although she's no stranger to the camera (she's starred in a variety of TV series en espanol), Villanueva hasn't starred in any American television or films - yet. Mayrin, who turned 32 this year, is married to Jorge Poza, a Mexican actor, and has two children, Romina and Sebastian. I'm surprised Mayrin doesn't have a wikipedia entry yet. Get on it, people! The NY Post is saying that Brazilian soap star Cleo Pires is the true frontrunner being considered for the role, and that she beat out fellow Brazilians Guilhermina Guinle, Rita Guedes, Juliana Paes, and Israli model Maron Atias. Whatever, I don't even like the James Bond movies, but apparently people are interested in this. Comments > > |
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I'm
Celebrating Veteran's Day All Week, Baby
Comments > > |
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Intelligence Deputy is Telling Us to 'Rethink
Privacy?'
"Those two generations younger than we are have a very different idea of what is essential privacy, what they would wish to protect about their lives and affairs. And so, it's not for us to inflict one size fits all," Kerr said. "Protecting anonymity isn't a fight that can be won. Anyone that's typed in their name on Google understands that." (That reminds me of a hilarious Marge Simpson quote...some episode where Homer had a garage-cleaning accident and Marge decided he should get life insurance and he buys an RV instead. She told him, "Oh, please! From what I hear, you waltz in here at ten-thirty, take a nap on the toilet, then sit around Googling your own name until lunch!" I know, I need to stop watching reruns.) Anyways, Kerr said, "Our job now is to engage in a productive debate, which focuses on privacy as a component of appropriate levels of security and public safety. I think all of us have to really take stock of what we already are willing to give up, in terms of anonymity, but [also] what safeguards we want in place to be sure that giving that doesn't empty our bank account or do something equally bad elsewhere." "There is something fundamentally different from the government having information about yout han private parties. We shouldn't have to give people the choice between taking advantage of modern communication tolls and sacrificing their privacy...It's just another, 'trust us, we're the government.'" Yeah, those two words don't belong in the same sentence right now. His stance is that privacy can no longer mean anonymity, and that it should mean instead that the government and businesses properly safeguard people's private communications and financial information. WRONG! Privacy and anonymity are not always one and the same, but in matters that are not related to international security, such as the phone conversations and chat logs of innocent civilians, anonymity should be allowed and provided.
2. Use the link to the left to contact the FCC regarding both Net Neutrality (saving free public access to the internet) and our rights to privacy in our personal communications and internet activity. There's also some really good info here if you're interested in reading more about the subject. |
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Beyonce offends Sin City
Residents
A billboard for Las Vegas' Z93.7 radio station features Beyonce in a white two-piece bikini, with her hair down and her arms in the air. The board says, "The most Beyonce." And some residents of Sin City are actually petitioning to have the advertisement taken down. "It's obscene," said resident Pamela Keeney. I have my two little grandkids coming over here, and they don't need to be seeing that. You can change the channel on the TV but you can't change that." Dude: it's a bathing suit. And if it wasn't for the fact that it was Beyonce, would people even be talking about it? There was a quite racy beer billboard in Cleveland last year, and no one around here said a peep. And this is Ohio - I daresay we are a much redder state than Nevada. The manager of Z93.7, Scott Seidenstricker, said, "The billboards were taken from publicity shots and this is the way those people perform. So to show them in a jogging suit probably wouldn't be the right thing. It complies with all the locational criteria that are set out in our code." Comments > > |
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US
Veterans Arrested on Veteran's Day, at Veteran's Day
Parade
Eighteen people total were arrested in Boston yesterday after holding a peaceful protest during the Boston Veterans Day Parade, sponsored by the American Legion. After being told they could not carry antiwar signs, members of the group Veterans for Peace added gags around their mouths, and clenched tightly to their signs that oppose the Iraq War. The gags were to symbolize the violation of their right to free speech, they said. "We were exercising our First Amendment rights," one protestor stated. "The First Amendment protects free speech, even when you don't agree with what's being said." When some demonstrators refused to move from the frong of the podium, they were placed in plastic handcuffs and led away, during the Boston Firemen's Band's Marine Hymn. "Our free speech and civil rights are being abridged here," said a Vietnam veteran who was taken into custody. "We are veterans, too, and we should be allowed to express our opposition to this war." Police charged all of them - 15 men and 3 women - with Disturbing a Lawful Assembly of People. The Veterans of Peace are notorious for their nonviolence, and the arrests have sparked anger on the day that we were meant to honor our veterans. Notoriously violence-free, their site contains 198 ideas for non-violent action, as well as a full pageful of ways to contact lawmakers and participate in meetings and events peacefully.
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Brangelina at the Beowulf
Premiere
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie went to the premiere of the new 3-D flick Beowulf. Jolie played Grendel's mother in the movie, who plots to destroy Beowulf, the Viking warrior who rescues a Danish kingdom from the beast Grendel. "I was excited to get a call saying that I was going to be working with Bob Zemeckis. And then I was told I was going to be a lizard," Angelina said. "He showed me this picture of a woman half-painted in gold, then a lizard. I have kids so I thought, 'That's great.' It's so bizarre. I'm going to be this crazy reptilian creature."
She expected the transformation to be different enough from her real self that her children wouldn't get scared of her after watching the film. But it turned out to be realer than she'd expected, and she called home to warn the fam.
The film ended up getting a 12A rating in England due to the level of violence in some scenes. There are also scenes of the digitally enhanced Jolie appearing nude. "I think it's remarkable that it has the ratings it has," Jolie told reporters at the British premiere in London last night. "It's quite an extraordinary film and some of it shocked me." She added that the techniques used to blend real scenes with animation were "amazing and very creative." Hundreds of fans crowded London't Leicester Square before the premier to catch a glimpse of Brangelina. "It's so, so nice to see all these fans here, it always is," Jolie told reporters. "I haven't been here for a bit. I lived here for a few years, and I do plan to come back more often." Brad stayed quiet, trying to divert attention back to Jolie throughout the night. "I'm off-duty tonight," he said, when questioned by reporters. Although he was there to rescue Jolie from a possible wardrobe malfuncton: he noticed that the seam in the back of her leather pants had started to split, and stepped in with a hand to hide the rip from photographers. What a gentleman. Could they be any hotter? We're excited to see the 3-dimensional film, too, which also stars Anthony Hopkins. Mixing technology with a classic tale - awesome! Beowulf is in theatres November 16th. You can view the trailer and see images here.
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John
Mayer Charity Concert in December
On December 8th, 2007, John Mayer will be hosting a Holiday Charity Revue, playing a special acoustic performance, then performing with the John Mayer Trio, and then John's Continuum full-band. There was a lot of John Mayer in that sentence. The concert is to raise funds for local non-profit organizations in Los Angeles, including Toys for Tots, Inner City Arts, and the LA Mission. The performance will be at the Nokia Live Theatre in Los Angeles, California, and general ticket sales begin Friday at noon at Ticketmaster. |
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Hallmark responds to Paris Hilton's
Lawsuit
We told you a while back about how Paris Hilton sued Hallmark for using her image on greeting cards. Well, Hallmark has responded in court - and their motion to dismiss states: "Hilton has become a household name, based in large part on her efforts to draw attention to herself. Having done so, she has subjected herself to public scrutiny and the parodist's pen. The First Amendment does not allow her to respond by welcoming the fawning and flattering, but silencing the critical and comical." TMZ has the actual court papers, filed in the U.S. District Court's Central District of Californis, which state, "Hallmark's speech and the speech that forms the basis of each of Hilton's claims for relief is fully protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and under Article I, Section 2 of the California Constitution." And, "The use of the words 'that's hot' in the greeting card was artistically relevant to a work of protected expression and thus the First Amendment bars the claim as a matter of law." Come on, Paris. People sell merchandise that makes fun of you all over the internet. You're only suing Hallmark because they have the most money. Stop wasting the court's time! |
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ConnieTalk.com
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blogger member of: |
Word on the blogs is that Mayrin Villanueva has been
cast as the next Bond girl in the 22nd James Bond flick, which is in
pre-production.
Yesterday, new Principal Deputy Director of National
Intelligence for the U.S., Donald Kerr, said that it is time we change our
definition of privacy.
Photos of Beyonce Knowles on the front pages of
magazines and the front row of fashion shows wearing the fur of chichillas
electrocuted in China don't offend us, but when she wears a bikini on a
billboard in Las Vegas, people get ruffled feathers. What is the
matter with us?
MTV UK 
"I got a little shy. I was really surprised
that I felt that exposed. I didn't expect ourselves to come out as
much. I didn't expect it to feel as real, and so because of
especially the type of character I play, it was kind of funny at
first...There are certain moments where I felt actually shy - and called
home, just to explain that the fun movie that I had done that was digital
animation was, in fact, a little different than we expected."
