(YouTube link) This extremely elaborate three-minute Japanese ad for a cell phone is way more entertaining than it should be. A wooden ball plays Bach’s Cantata 147 in a forest just by rolling down a track designed by Kenjiro Matsuo. No splicing or video magic -this is the actual music played by a contraption that Rube Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Neatorama Discovery Date : 02/04/2011 05:03 Number of articles : 3
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Charlie Sheen’s remaining credibility was blown out of the water as fans booed him off-stage on the first night of his 20-date tour In pictures: Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option Some came out of solidarity, some came for the spectacle. Most came for both and saw no contradiction in that. On Saturday night Charlie Sheen kicked off his tour, Sheenishly titled “Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option,” in Detroit. But that latter statement proved to be over-optimistic, and what torpedoed were the remnants of Sheen’s once-impressive career. Sheen’s image has always been that of a bad boy, both on and off the screen. His misdemeanours over the years – shooting a fiancée in the arm, drug overdoses – were seen by his fans as proof of Sheen’s adorable naughtiness. His hugely successful TV show, Two and a Half Men, for which he was paid almost $2m an episode, mined this reputation with his character, the wittily hedonistic, Charlie Harper. Since his very public falling out with the producers of the show earlier this year, Sheen, a once-skilled comic and character actor, has thrown his energies into giving rambling interviews, full of talk of “winning” and “tiger blood”. His father, Martin Sheen, interviewed on Radio 4′s Desert Island Discs on Sunday, said his addict son needs “help and sympathy”. Both were in short supply at the opening night of his show. It was both poignant and appropriate for the former A-list Hollywood star to begin his sell-out tour in Detroit. Now less of a city and more a symbol of the death of American industry, this former hub of car manufacturing is dying. Last week, the US census report revealed that Detroit’s population had dropped by a quarter in the past decade and the city’s mayor was reduced to begging for a recount in the hope of bringing it up enough to qualify the city for increased state and federal aid. Whether Sheen’s appeal now lies in what some see as his aspirational lifestyle or simply voyeuristic rubbernecking is something of a fuzzy issue. Jason Proventher, and Jack Green, both 23 and from Michigan, were quick to pinpoint why they had come: “I’m here to see him fall apart,” said Green. His friend added, “He’s living the American dream!” Is falling apart the American dream? “No,” said Proventher. “It’s the ride up to it that’s the dream, the fun part.” “He’s awesome!” cried Jeff Strasche, 36, from Detroit. Were the rambling webcam videos Sheen recently put up on the internet awesome? “No, those were kind of weird. But this is going to be awesome!” Inside Detroit’s sold-out 5,100 seat Fox Theater, the concession stand was doing a healthy business selling unhealthy items, including $35 T-shirts proclaiming “Bangin’ 7gs”, referring to Sheen’s professed former drug intake, and a $25 hat that informed onlookers “I’m not bipolar”. When Sheen appeared on stage, 45 minutes late, he had the smile of a Halloween pumpkin, his mouth full of shadows where teeth had once been. Things started well for him. His sneers at his former show, Two and a Half Men prompting cheers from the audience. But when he spoke, it was a mix of incoherencies and vitriol: “I used my power against them and stuffed their arms down their gaping throats. No time to take their stinking toupees because this warlock was on the move!” he bellowed. “Smoke some more crack, Charlie!” someone shouted. The underrated Joaquin Phoenix 2010 mockumentary, I’m Still Here – about a Hollywood star who suffers a mental breakdown and is bullied by the public – suddenly looked shockingly prescient. Heartbreakingly, clips of Sheen from Platoon and Wall Street played on screen while Sheen himself stumbled about on stage. He tried to show a film he made in the 1980s with Johnny Depp, but the boos prompted an early end to that. “Maybe it’s more appropriate for me to tell some crack stories,” he said. The audience cheered. “What do you want me to talk about?” he asked a member of the audience. “I want to hear about the porn stars!” “Why do you want to hear about that?” he asked, disappointed. It was a classic misunderstanding: he thought they loved him for his fearless honesty; they did, but only in regards to his intake of crack and porn. “OK, OK, I’ll do some crack stories,” he relented, desperately. But it was too late, and even Sheen, through the fog of his own self-delusion, could see that. He promised to come back after the video of Snoop Dogg’s video for his new song, titled Winning. But instead, the lights came up and the show was prematurely over. Boos filled the auditorium. In his baggy suit and creaky reading glasses, Sheen had looked like a man bemused. Here was an audience that had always encouraged him to be the onscreen bad boy, but liked him a lot less when he revealed the reality of what being a bad boy for several decades meant. But if Sheen was confused, the audience was even more so. Afterwards, Jason Provencher and Jack Green looked stunned. “I thought he’d be funnier,” said Green. But Sheen didn’t write the scripts for Two and a Half Men. Someone else wrote those jokes for him. “I know. But I thought the show was supposed to overlap with his real life.” Paul Hare, also from Detroit, echoed the sentiment. “It sucked!” What had he expected to see? “A trainwreck.” So shouldn’t he be satisfied? “He should have been funnier! Why wasn’t he funnier?” Charlie Sheen United States Hadley Freeman guardian.co.uk
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Richard Goldstone writes that Israeli military investigations have revealed that civilians were not targeted as a matter of policy The judge who chaired the controversial UN inquiry into Israel’s attack on Gaza from December 2008 has expressed regret that his report may have been inaccurate. Richard Goldstone, who led the committee that produced the Goldstone report, said in a newspaper article that “if I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone report would have been a very different document”. The judge’s article was welcomed by Israeli leaders. Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, told ministers on Sunday: “There are very few incidents in which false accusations are taken back, and this is the case with the Goldstone report.” He said that Israel would now try to get the report retracted by the UN. The Gaza War, which the Israeli army called Operation Cast Lead, began in December 2008 and lasted for three weeks. By the end, more than 1,400 Palestinians were dead, at least half of whom were civilians, and 13 Israelis, three of whom were civilians. Goldstone was asked to head a fact-finding committee into allegations of war crimes by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Israel refused to co-operate with the mission and would not allow Goldstone’s committee to travel to the Gaza Strip via Israel. The report accused both Hamas and Israel of war crimes and deliberately targeting civilians. It urged that both sides should investigate their own actions or risk being investigated by the international criminal court. Goldstone was vilified after the publication of the report by supporters of Israel who accused him of a “blood libel”, a false accusation that had been used to demonise Jews in the past. However, in a new article in the Washington Post , Goldstone appeared to backtrack from some of his findings. He wrote that subsequent Israeli military investigations had confirmed some of the report’s findings but also indicated that, “civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy” by Israel. He cited the killing of 29 members of the al-Simouni family as evidence that Israel had not deliberately targeted civilians. “The shelling of the home was apparently the consequence of an Israeli commander’s erroneous interpretation of a drone image, and an Israeli officer is under investigation for having ordered the attack.” Goldstone said that his committee made recommendations based on the evidence before them, but because Israel refused to submit evidence, its views could not be taken into account. “As I indicated right from the beginning, I would have welcomed Israel’s co-operation,” he said. He also noted that the Israeli army had begun 400 investigations into allegations against Israeli soldiers but regretted that more than two years later, few had been finished and none had been held in public. Captain Aryeh Shalikar, a spokesman for the Israeli army, said that Goldstone’s article proved that Israeli forces had never intentionally targeted Gazan civilians, while the strategy of Hamas was to target Israeli civilians. “We have also demonstrated that we are ready and willing to investigate ourselves,” he said. Israeli officials admit that the Gaza war, because of the high Palestinian death toll and subsequent furore, has caused the country diplomatic and public relations problems. Israeli media responded to Goldstone’s article with jubilation. The columnists of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper offered a conciliatory tone to the judge for having the courage to question his initial findings, while Ma’ariv writers were unforgiving. One wrote: “He is undeserving of either forgiveness or mercy” and had perpetrated “a despicable and shameful act”. Gaza Israel Middle East Palestinian territories United Nations Binyamin Netanyahu Judaism Hamas International criminal court Conal Urquhart guardian.co.uk
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Time lapse photography shows the transformation of the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the Women’s Final Four. Photos by Darron Cummings, Produced by Amy Sancetta. (April 3)
Continue reading …Fox Yappers on Cashin’ In Love the Idea of Replacing Union Workers With Welfare Recipients
April 3, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media If there’s anything you can count on from the yappers on some of the Fox Business Channel shows that they air on Fox News on Saturdays, it’s that if there’s a way to trash unions or to paint anyone who receives any sort of government assistance as lazy, good-for-nothing loafers who just want to suck off of the government teet, they’re going to do it. With this story, they got a two-fer. What could possibly be wrong with getting rid of union MTA workers only to have them replaced with welfare recipients? It’s nothing but a big race to the bottom where the Wall Street bankers in New York get their tax breaks and after saying the layoffs are necessary because the city’s broke, union workers get replaced by those with no protections in place working for minimum wage. And if these welfare recipients are single mothers, just who is supposed to be paying for their daycare while they’re out there cleaning the subways in New York City? And just what type of meaningful job training are you giving anyone by teaching them how to push a broom? Looks like none to me. I’m all for programs that help those on welfare gain some skills so they can get back into the workforce and earn a decent living instead of having to be dependent on the government and where they’re allowed to work without being cut off of their benefits if that job training is going to lead to them being independent and able to earn a living wage where they can take care of themselves and their families. I don’t see how this is one of them. I agree with the one outnumbered “liberal” on the panel who they actually allowed some air time. When host Cheryl Casone asked Christian Dorsey about whether this might help any of those workers get a full time job, we got one of the few moments of truth out of this segment. DORSEY: Look, I’m all for making sure that people who have been left out of the workforce and who are on welfare receiving public assistance get the skills to be self sufficient, but remember, welfare is now administered by the states. It’s not an overall federal program. It’s block granted. And what’s happening in New York is cause for alarm, not praise Cheryl. They’re laying off transit workers and replacing them with lower cost transient workers, so this is in essence getting rid of decent jobs for people, adding to unemployment and then saving money by putting welfare recipients in those jobs that used to be held by non-welfare recipients. It’s not improving the overall job situation in New York or in the country. This is bad policy. And one of the worst parts of this segment was Fox hack Jonathan Hoenig letting everyone know what conservatives think about anyone receiving welfare at all. HOENIG: What about just getting rid of welfare? Let me just throw that one out there Cheryl as a real alternative idea. I mean, point to me somewhere in the Constitution where it says anything about charity. It does not. Now were the founders such (?) were they such jerks that they didn’t want to put that? No. Of course because charity is something that should be privately motivated. And I’m sorry Cheryl, working for money. That’s called a job, not another government assistance program, another government handout program. And of course in Hoenig’s mind, anyone on welfare is just some lazy person who wants to destroy our economy, unlike those poor businesses that might be forced to pay more taxes so women and children aren’t left to starve on the streets while they outsource the jobs they’d probably love to have to China and India, where the workers there can work for slave wages instead. When this country relied on the good will of the rich to provide for the welfare of the least among us instead of asking all of us to take care of each other, things didn’t work out so well . People like this tool Hoenig are more than happy to perpetuate a system that’s taking us right back there, along with his buddies at Fox News and Fox Business Channel. Here’s more from FindLaw on the legal predicament the city may have put themselves in as well — MTA Wants to Put NYC Welfare Recipients to Work : One of the foremost problems with the nation’s welfare system is that it often fails to provide recipients with the skills necessary to find and maintain employment. New York City’s Work Experience Program is designed to do just that–place welfare recipients in “unpaid” city jobs to build employable skills. The news on the street is that WEP will be getting an influx of new positions, as the money-challenged Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has plans of hiring welfare recipients to clean the city’s subways and buses. Last year, budget cuts required the MTA to cut 3,500 jobs, 173 of which the Daily News reports were cleaning positions. Because the MTA has previously and successfully participated in the WEP, it is looking to fill those positions with welfare recipients who wish to acquire on-the-job skills. This may sound like a great idea for all parties involved, but it might present some legal problems for both the MTA and New York City. The Constitution restricts government agencies’ ability to discriminate between different groups of citizens. This includes in the area of employment. An argument can be made that the city and the MTA are discriminating in favor of welfare recipients in terms of who it employs in city jobs. In effect, it’s rehiring employees to fill cleaning positions, and is requiring that any applicants be currently receiving some form of welfare. Chances are city attorneys and the MTA have already analyzed this possibility and found that it passes constitutional scrutiny. But if they haven’t, they should get on it quick before an ex-MTA employee decides to file suit.
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“We call it a very nice phone and you can get it on a 12 month contract.” Oh, really, Tesco? Nifty! So, how much is that bag of day-old doughnuts… with and without a contract? Don : “Knowing my luck, if I buy this now they’ll have an iPhone 4 with a Bold keyboard on sale next week.” Darren : “Do you guys sell a vegan model?” Michael : “At Tesco, we’ve got raspberries, strawberries, and… ThunderBerries?” Tim : “With Android, are you supposed to squeeze it or shake it to tell if it’s ripe?” Chris : “You can find it in the toothpaste aisle of your local grocery store.” Myriam : “Behold the Desire Torch, a new AndroBerry phone from HTRIM… now available in the cheese aisle.” Richard Lai: “By popular demand we have extended our Tesco Mobile Rewards offer to our shanzhai range.” Sean Hollister: “And Tesco embraced fragmentation, the only way it knew how.” Vlad: “Hey, if RIM’s gonna use our apps on its tablet, then we’re gonna use its buttons on our phones. Fair’s fair.” [Thanks, Matt O.] Caption contest: this is why grocery stores shouldn’t sell smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 03 Apr 2011 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Transocean Best Safety Year Ever 2010! APRIL FOOLS…? Deepwater Horizon Explosion Investigation Hearings Highlights #1 Drilling for Profits with Oil Services Stocks Transocean Execs Get Fat Bonuses – The Daily Beast This seems a little backward: Despite the explosion of Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 people and leaked 200 million gallons of. Transocean Cites Safety in Bonuses – Democratic Underground Transocean Ltd. had its “best year in safety performance” despite the explosion of its Deepwater Horizon rig that left 11 dead and oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the world’s largest offshore-rig company said in a securities filing … Transocean Awards Big Bonuses, Citing “Safety Record”. WTF? – Fangaroo Transocean Ltd. had its “best year in safety performance” despite the explosion of its Deepwater Horizon rig that left 11 dead and oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, the world’s largest offshore-rig company said in a securities filing … Transocean Awards Big Bonuses, Citing “Safety Record”. WTF … You keep using that word…I do not think it means what you think it means: Transocean Ltd. had its best year in safety performance despite the explosion. Transocean executives get bonuses « UK4NET News “Start Quote. We available a best year in reserve opening in a company’s history”. End Quote Transocean annual news. Despite that, Transocean handed out outrageous bonuses to a executives citing a company’s best year for reserve ever. … environsecnews says: c.f. #Environment : Transocean executives get bonuses – BBC News: Transocean executives get bon… http://bit.ly/eFCzX8 [rss / automatic]
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Elizabeth Hurley files for divorce – Pop2it – Zap2it Hurley and soon-to-be-ex Arun Nayar separated months ago after Hurley was snapped smooching an Australian cricket player. Elizabeth Hurley Files For Divorce From Arun Nayar Elizabeth Hurley Files For Divorce From Arun Nayar. Elizabeth Hurley Files for Divorce | Volterra | iVolturi.com Elizabeth Hurley Files for Divorce . Getting Divorced | Elizabeth Hurley Files For Divorce Elizabeth Hurley and Arun Nayar are strictly getting divorced. The singer filed on Monday after being distant from Arun for months.Divorce credentials were file. Elizabeth Hurley files for divorce » Elizabeth Hurley files for divorce . Posted by HC-Team on April 3, 2011 View Comments. Months after English model Elizabeth Hurley separated from Indian businessman Arun Nayar, she officially filed for divorce from her husband of four … WorldNews_Daily says: Elizabeth Hurley Files For Divorce http://dlvr.it/MJdPS
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Savannah Cat Fail F1 Savannah Cat Talking The Svannah Cat Shoppe F1 Savannah Cat + Dog Kissing Savannah Cat Breeder You are searching for a Savannah cat breeder? Search no more. There in one that is head and shoulders above all others and that includes all cat breeders. Savannah Cat | PCWC.org The altogether demeanour of an particular Savannah depends severely upon generation, with higher-percentage Savannah cats mostly carrying a. Savannah Cat | News When It Matters the Most Looking to a Savannah cat stock breeder? Appear no boost. There, in that it’s brain and shoulders of everybody additional and that lets in all cat breeders… Savannah Cat | Breaking News Today A cross between a wild African Serval and a domestic cat, the Savannah is a fairly new breed of cats. The Savannah was spotted for the first time by Judy. Savannah Cat Breaking News Today|www.5E8.net savannah cat . A cross between a wild African Serval and a domestic cat, the Savannah is a fairly new breed of cats. The Savannah was spotted for the first time by Judy. The Savannah was spotted for the first time by Judy Frank in 1986 … danielle_klein says: Savannah Cat Complete Breed Profile, Pictures and Video http://bit.ly/hrvaBd
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Sam Harris vs Deepak Chopra 40 & 41 Deepak Chopra The Ultimate Happiness Perscription Track 38 & 39 Deepak Chopra The Ultimate Happiness Perscription Track Deepak Chopra Brings the Many Healing Benefits of Meditation to … About the Chopra CenterThe Chopra Center for Wellbeing was founded by Deepak Chopra , M.D. and David Simon, M.D. in 1996. Located in Carlsbad, California, the Center offers a wide variety of programs, retreats, and teacher training … Deepak Chopra Healing: Perfect Health–Revised and Updated: The … A decade ago, Deepak Chopra , M.D., wrote Perfect Health, the first practical guide to harnessing the healing power of the mind, which became a national bestseller. The book described how breakthroughs in physics and medicine were … Deepak Chopra : Weekly Health Tip: Its Hard to See Through the … deepak chopra . We all know that smoking causes cancer, cardiovascular disease, and multiple respiratory illnesses. Does anyone really need another reason to quit? Okay, here’s one: To save your vision. … Dr. Deepak Chopra Eastern Medicine Practitioner at “1 A minute … Maximo Tv www.maximotv.com http Dr. Deepak Chopra arrives with son Gotham Chopra and joins on the red carpet Maria Conchita Alonso, Olivia Newton-John and Melissa Etheridge at the premiere of at “one AMinute LIVE” Supporting Susan G. … [WATCH]: Lady Gaga calls upon her god Deepak Chopra the New Age … Deepak Chopra teaches all the occult doctrines and is close friends with the rest of the leading occultists of today. If you read this full article it will put in perspective their ultimate goals for a one world order and religion, … Rose_Garza says: Paltalk Launches Deepak Chopra “Soul of Leadership” Series Airing Live … http://bit.ly/eXhDf6
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