Surprise, surprise. A study shows that Americans like their music sexy. The study analyzed the top-selling country, pop and R&B songs in 2009, for lyrics that had “reproductive messages” — otherwise known as references to sex and its consequences. And, perhaps unsurprisingly to Katy Perry and LMFAO fans, the vast majority of those best-selling songs
Continue reading …Who is in this picture? A) Rihanna B) Wax figure of Rihanna C) Chaka Khan in a funhouse mirror D) Janet Jackson recreating her Velvet Rope look E) None of the above Answer: B, but extra points if you thought it was C because you know way too much about Chaka Khan’s hairstyles
Continue reading …Swiss authorities have blocked off hiking trails near the Giesen glacier in the Bernese Alps and sent a crisis team to monitor it, for fear that it’s about to shed a slab of ice the size of 12 football fields. A huge crevasse has been discovered in the glacier, and…
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[Video Link] A new video from Badlipreading.com always brightens my day. “I went from being two banana plants up to a thrill-seeking shark who sold pictures of different toys I wanted.” (Via Dangerous Minds) Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Offworld Discovery Date : 04/10/2011 06:22 Number of articles : 4
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[Video Link] A new video from Badlipreading.com always brightens my day. “I went from being two banana plants up to a thrill-seeking shark who sold pictures of different toys I wanted.” (Via Dangerous Minds) Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Offworld Discovery Date : 04/10/2011 06:22 Number of articles : 4
Continue reading …At least one dead after a Bell 206 helicopter crashed into the river after taking off from a launch pad on the riverbank At least one passenger has died after a helicopter which was believed to be carrying a group of British tourists crashed into New York’s East River after taking off from a launch pad on the riverbank. Three of the tourists and the pilot were taken to hospital after they were pulled out of the river, according to the authorities, who said that two of the injured, both women, were in a critical condition. Police and fire department divers pulled victims of the crash out of the Bell 407 after it was submerged in murky waters near 34th Street in midtown Manhattan. Detective Martin Speechley of the New York Police Department told Sky News that the recovery operation would have “been done by touch” because that part of the river was so murky. Dan Sweeney, manager at the nearby Water Club restaurant, told the NBC New York news outlet that the helicopter appeared to be in the process of landing when it crashed. “It went down pretty fast, you could see the splash, you could see the top of it and it just disappeared,” he said. “It looked like it was trying to land at the heliport and missed the landing.” Joy Garnett and her husband were on the dock waiting to take the East River ferry to Brooklyn when they heard the blades of a helicopter and saw it start to take off from the nearby helipad. She told the Associated Press that she saw it do “a funny curlicue.” “I thought, ‘Is that some daredevil move?’” she said. “But it was obviously out of control. The body spun around at least two or three times, and then it went down.” She said the chopper had lifted about 25 feet (7.6 meters) off the ground before it dropped into the water without much of a splash. It flipped over, and the blades were sticking up out of the river. She said people on the dock started throwing in life jackets and buoys. Two people came up out of the waves. “It didn’t make much noise,” she said. “It was just a splash and sunk.” The weather was clear but a little windy at the time of the incident, with winds gusting up to 20 mph (32 kph) and visibility of 10 miles (16 kilometers), according to the weather station at LaGuardia airport. There were a few clouds at 3,500 feet (1,066 meters) above sea level, well above the typical flying altitude for helicopters. Carlos Acevedo, of Puerto Rico, was with his wife at a nearby park area when they saw the helicopter go down. “It sank fast,” he said. “In seconds. Like the water was sucking it in.” Lau Kamg was leaving a dentist’s office and was walking nearby when he saw the chopper go down, and he said it appeared to be in distress. “The sound got my attention,” he said. I saw it splash.” In August 2009, a small plane collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River, on the other side of Manhattan, killing nine people, including five Italian tourists. A government safety panel found that an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call had contributed to the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules for aircraft flying over New York City’s rivers after that collision. Pilots must call out their positions on the radio and obey a 161 mph speed limit. Before the changes, such radio calls were optional. Earlier that year, an Airbus 320 airliner landed in the Hudson after hitting birds and losing both engines shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. The flight, US Airways Flight 1549, became known as the Miracle on the Hudson plane. The river has been closed to commercial boating traffic, the US Coast Guard said. United States New York Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …At least one dead after a Bell 206 helicopter crashed into the river after taking off from a launch pad on the riverbank At least one passenger has died after a helicopter which was believed to be carrying a group of British tourists crashed into New York’s East River after taking off from a launch pad on the riverbank. Three of the tourists and the pilot were taken to hospital after they were pulled out of the river, according to the authorities, who said that two of the injured, both women, were in a critical condition. Police and fire department divers pulled victims of the crash out of the Bell 407 after it was submerged in murky waters near 34th Street in midtown Manhattan. Detective Martin Speechley of the New York Police Department told Sky News that the recovery operation would have “been done by touch” because that part of the river was so murky. Dan Sweeney, manager at the nearby Water Club restaurant, told the NBC New York news outlet that the helicopter appeared to be in the process of landing when it crashed. “It went down pretty fast, you could see the splash, you could see the top of it and it just disappeared,” he said. “It looked like it was trying to land at the heliport and missed the landing.” Joy Garnett and her husband were on the dock waiting to take the East River ferry to Brooklyn when they heard the blades of a helicopter and saw it start to take off from the nearby helipad. She told the Associated Press that she saw it do “a funny curlicue.” “I thought, ‘Is that some daredevil move?’” she said. “But it was obviously out of control. The body spun around at least two or three times, and then it went down.” She said the chopper had lifted about 25 feet (7.6 meters) off the ground before it dropped into the water without much of a splash. It flipped over, and the blades were sticking up out of the river. She said people on the dock started throwing in life jackets and buoys. Two people came up out of the waves. “It didn’t make much noise,” she said. “It was just a splash and sunk.” The weather was clear but a little windy at the time of the incident, with winds gusting up to 20 mph (32 kph) and visibility of 10 miles (16 kilometers), according to the weather station at LaGuardia airport. There were a few clouds at 3,500 feet (1,066 meters) above sea level, well above the typical flying altitude for helicopters. Carlos Acevedo, of Puerto Rico, was with his wife at a nearby park area when they saw the helicopter go down. “It sank fast,” he said. “In seconds. Like the water was sucking it in.” Lau Kamg was leaving a dentist’s office and was walking nearby when he saw the chopper go down, and he said it appeared to be in distress. “The sound got my attention,” he said. I saw it splash.” In August 2009, a small plane collided with a helicopter over the Hudson River, on the other side of Manhattan, killing nine people, including five Italian tourists. A government safety panel found that an air traffic controller who was on a personal phone call had contributed to the accident. The Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules for aircraft flying over New York City’s rivers after that collision. Pilots must call out their positions on the radio and obey a 161 mph speed limit. Before the changes, such radio calls were optional. Earlier that year, an Airbus 320 airliner landed in the Hudson after hitting birds and losing both engines shortly after taking off from LaGuardia Airport. The flight, US Airways Flight 1549, became known as the Miracle on the Hudson plane. The river has been closed to commercial boating traffic, the US Coast Guard said. United States New York Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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Justice secretary disputes home secretary’s tale of deportation halted over ownership of pet cat Downing Street rallied to the defence of Theresa May after the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, mocked her for suggesting that an illegal immigrant had resisted deportation on the grounds that he owned a pet cat. Friends of the justice secretary insisted he was standing firm after No 10 sources indicated that a humbled Clarke should show contrition by taking May, the home secretary, out for a “nice slap-up meal”. One of the quietest conference seasons in years came alive on its penultimate day when Clarke took issue with the announcement in May’s conference speech – that illegal immigrants are abusing the Human Rights Act to fight deportation from Britain. The home secretary illustrated her case by citing the example of a Bolivian national who resisted deportation on the grounds he owned a cat, Maya. May, who wants to abolish the Human Rights Act, said : “The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – I am not making this up – he had a pet cat.” Speaking an hour later at a fringe meeting, hosted by the Daily Telegraph, Clarke ridiculed May’s remarks. Clarke, a strong defender of the European convention on human rights, which provided the basis for the HRA, said: “I’ve never had a conversation on the subject with Theresa, so I’d have to find out about these strange cases she is throwing out. They are British cases and British judges she is complaining about. I cannot believe anybody has ever had deportation refused on the basis of owning a cat. I’ll have a small bet with her that nobody has ever been refused deportation on the grounds of the ownership of a cat.” The remarks by the justice secretary triggered a string of jokes on Twitter about a catfight involving Clarke, May and a cat whose name is one letter longer than the home secretary’s surname. Stefan Stern, a professor at the Cass Business School, even managed to link the spat to the phone-hacking scandal. “Neither the cat nor Coulson were properly vetted,” he tweeted at #kittygate. But as the jokes – and the proverbial fur – flew on Twitter, a classic briefing war erupted in Manchester between the cabinet ministers’ camps. Home Office sources said Clarke was wrong because the immigration judge had cited the case of Maya the cat when he ruled against deportation. This was dismissed on appeal. A Home Office source said: “This shows why we need clarification. There is a complete lack of clarity here.” But sources in the Clarke camp cited a statement by the judicial communications office, which represents senior judges, insisting the tale was not true and said it had told May’s department as much. A spokeswoman for the judicial communications office said: “This was a case in which the Home Office conceded that they had mistakenly failed to apply their own policy – applying at that time to that appellant – for dealing with unmarried partners of people settled in the UK.’ A friend of Clarke said: “That statement is really serious. That is the authentic voice of the judiciary. We have a situation where the home secretary – the home secretary – has made a mistake on a basic point. The Home Office are going bananas because they know Theresa made a mistake.” But Downing Street sources defended May and turned its humour on Clarke as it said that Clarke should hand her a fiver after losing his bet. One source said: “David Cameron really likes the policy announced by Theresa May. Ken wanted reassurance that a cat was not involved. He has had that.” In a final flourish of humour, the source said: I am sure he will want to pause for thought. Get it?” May used the example of the cat to illustrate the need to amend immigration rules to restrict the ability of illegal immigrants and foreign criminals to resist deportation by invoking the right to a family life under article eight of the Human Rights Act. This incorporates rights enshrined in the European convention on human rights (ECHR). May’s speech was not shown to Clarke. In common with conference speeches by all cabinet minsters, it was cleared with the “quad” committee of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander. Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said: “The energy and time this government is spending on arguments about the HRA shows how completely out of touch it is with the British people who are not interested in catfights between ministers but how the safety of their communities will be protected after cuts in police budgets which go too far and too fast.” Conservative conference 2011 Conservative conference Kenneth Clarke Theresa May Human rights Human Rights Act Nicholas Watt Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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Justice secretary disputes home secretary’s tale of deportation halted over ownership of pet cat Downing Street rallied to the defence of Theresa May after the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, mocked her for suggesting that an illegal immigrant had resisted deportation on the grounds that he owned a pet cat. Friends of the justice secretary insisted he was standing firm after No 10 sources indicated that a humbled Clarke should show contrition by taking May, the home secretary, out for a “nice slap-up meal”. One of the quietest conference seasons in years came alive on its penultimate day when Clarke took issue with the announcement in May’s conference speech – that illegal immigrants are abusing the Human Rights Act to fight deportation from Britain. The home secretary illustrated her case by citing the example of a Bolivian national who resisted deportation on the grounds he owned a cat, Maya. May, who wants to abolish the Human Rights Act, said : “The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – I am not making this up – he had a pet cat.” Speaking an hour later at a fringe meeting, hosted by the Daily Telegraph, Clarke ridiculed May’s remarks. Clarke, a strong defender of the European convention on human rights, which provided the basis for the HRA, said: “I’ve never had a conversation on the subject with Theresa, so I’d have to find out about these strange cases she is throwing out. They are British cases and British judges she is complaining about. I cannot believe anybody has ever had deportation refused on the basis of owning a cat. I’ll have a small bet with her that nobody has ever been refused deportation on the grounds of the ownership of a cat.” The remarks by the justice secretary triggered a string of jokes on Twitter about a catfight involving Clarke, May and a cat whose name is one letter longer than the home secretary’s surname. Stefan Stern, a professor at the Cass Business School, even managed to link the spat to the phone-hacking scandal. “Neither the cat nor Coulson were properly vetted,” he tweeted at #kittygate. But as the jokes – and the proverbial fur – flew on Twitter, a classic briefing war erupted in Manchester between the cabinet ministers’ camps. Home Office sources said Clarke was wrong because the immigration judge had cited the case of Maya the cat when he ruled against deportation. This was dismissed on appeal. A Home Office source said: “This shows why we need clarification. There is a complete lack of clarity here.” But sources in the Clarke camp cited a statement by the judicial communications office, which represents senior judges, insisting the tale was not true and said it had told May’s department as much. A spokeswoman for the judicial communications office said: “This was a case in which the Home Office conceded that they had mistakenly failed to apply their own policy – applying at that time to that appellant – for dealing with unmarried partners of people settled in the UK.’ A friend of Clarke said: “That statement is really serious. That is the authentic voice of the judiciary. We have a situation where the home secretary – the home secretary – has made a mistake on a basic point. The Home Office are going bananas because they know Theresa made a mistake.” But Downing Street sources defended May and turned its humour on Clarke as it said that Clarke should hand her a fiver after losing his bet. One source said: “David Cameron really likes the policy announced by Theresa May. Ken wanted reassurance that a cat was not involved. He has had that.” In a final flourish of humour, the source said: I am sure he will want to pause for thought. Get it?” May used the example of the cat to illustrate the need to amend immigration rules to restrict the ability of illegal immigrants and foreign criminals to resist deportation by invoking the right to a family life under article eight of the Human Rights Act. This incorporates rights enshrined in the European convention on human rights (ECHR). May’s speech was not shown to Clarke. In common with conference speeches by all cabinet minsters, it was cleared with the “quad” committee of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander. Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said: “The energy and time this government is spending on arguments about the HRA shows how completely out of touch it is with the British people who are not interested in catfights between ministers but how the safety of their communities will be protected after cuts in police budgets which go too far and too fast.” Conservative conference 2011 Conservative conference Kenneth Clarke Theresa May Human rights Human Rights Act Nicholas Watt Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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A woman who was speaking on the phone with the doctor charged in Michael Jackson’s death the day the singer died says the call was interrupted and the physician was no longer paying attention to her. (Oct. 4)
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