The remains of a Washington State man were exhumed Monday from a potter’s field in Harrisburg. Liz Adams said her brother was struggling with schizophrenia when he disappeared in 1993. (March 30)
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David Schwimmer of ‘Friends’ fame, directs his latest film ‘Trust,’ a story about internet predators and teenage rape. The soon-to-be dad says the best way for parents to protect their children is to ‘communicate’ with them. (March 30)
Continue reading …David Gregory: Aren’t Republican Opponents of Obama’s Libya Policy Feckless and Inconsistent?
March 30, 2011 No Comment
When Democrats opposed war in Iraq, they were often presented by the networks as principled statesmen. But on Meet the Press Sunday, NBC host David Gregory asked Ted Koppel to suggest Republican opponents of Obama's Libya actions are
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Once again, in the case of Delroy Grant, the public seems unable to accept the idea that rape has nothing to do with desirability As the bafflingly tenacious power of religion proves, humans like stories that help them make sense of the world, even if the stories themselves make not a jot of sense. The belief that life is part of a divine plan in which one’s fate will be what one deserves will always hold more allure than the idea that life is just a series of random incidents with no guarantee of a happy ending, no matter how good a person you are. This inability of humankind to bear very much reality explains how one clearly ridiculous story still has a purchase on the public imagination: that rape has something to do with desirability. The terrible story of Delroy Grant, the serial sex attacker who was given life imprisonment last week after terrorising at least 203 elderly people, offered much jaw-dropping horror for newspapers to chew over: the police blunders that let Grant continue his attacks; the unimaginable trauma he inflicted on his victims; the fact that many of them died before Grant was brought to justice. But these facts weren’t enough for some papers and they focused on something else, something that seemed to confirm to them Grant’s depravity at least as much as his actions: that he chose to rape the elderly. London’s Evening Standard, for one, felt that this was so extraordinary that it merited its own little article in the middle of its double-spread report of the case, expressing “bafflement” at a “family man’s sexual attraction to the elderly”. Now, one might think that Grant’s victims had suffered enough without the British press gasping that it’s a marvel anyone would want to have sex with them, even a rapist, and especially a seemingly normal “family man”. But this response is borne out of the still all-too prevalent belief – sometimes subconscious, sometimes less so – that sexual attacks are the expression of untrammelled desire and, ergo, the victim in some way has to be desirable, which brings us back to ye olde hoary chestnut of the victim being in some way at fault. One doesn’t need to look too far for examples of this attitude. In fact, one could look to New Delhi where, according to a survey conducted last year, almost a third of women have been physically harassed by men. This, according to Ranjana Kumari, a leading women’s rights advocate, speaking to the New York Times, is because of the “tension between the people who are traditional in their mindset and the city that is changing rapidly”. Confirming Kumari’s diagnosis, the mother of one man recently accused of gang-raping a young woman told the same newspaper, “If these girls will roam around like this, then the boys will make mistakes.” The New York Times itself fell into this trap earlier this month when reporting the story about 18 men who were charged with gang-raping an 11-year-old girl in an abandoned trailer home. The little girl, the paper noted, “dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground . . .” HANGING OUT with boys?! Well, the little slut was asking for it. It’s easy to dismiss this mentality as being limited to those whose view of women tends to the prehistoric end of the gender-relations spectrum. I did, until a few weeks ago when I had what I would describe as a minor stalker issue – minor, although by the third day, the increasingly weird hourly texts and late-night doorbell ringing really had begun to lose their charm. I told as many people as possible about it, particularly people who see me most days, just to be safe. I told them the full story of how I’d met this person, his phone number and how many times he had emailed to tell me he’d made another painting of my face. Everyone was very sympathetic, but five times out of 10, their first question was, “So did you sleep with him?” Now, I could take it as a compliment that 50% of the seemingly sensible people who know me think that my sexual skills are such that I could cause a man to become mentally ill. But this would require extra-strength blinkers to stop me from seeing the obvious truth that this non-compliment contains within the hard nugget of misogyny – namely, that women who are sexually harassed have brought it on themselves, either through their looks or behaviour. It seems extraordinary in a week when another woman, Eman al-Obeidi, told journalists in Libya that she had been raped and beaten by members of Gaddafi’s militia that one needs to say that sexual attacks have nothing to do with desire, but are about the abuse of power, sadism and mental illness. They have nothing to do with the looks of the victim, contrary to what Hollywood movies suggest, in which rape victims are always attractive and usually blond. (Al-Obeidi told journalists, before Gaddafi’s forces dragged her away screaming, that she had been raped by 15 men “and they defecated and urinated on me”. I’m guessing she did not feel flattered.) This is why Delroy Grant’s targeting of the elderly was, while shockingly cruel, not perverted in the way some papers seemed to think: old people are vulnerable, therefore irresistible to someone who gets off on torturing the helpless. Rape and sexual harassment are not compliments doled out only to the beautiful and alluring. They are an extreme form of bullying, and they can, tragically, happen to anyone. Rape Hadley Freeman guardian.co.uk
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Being a mystery diner comes pretty close to disproving the old adage about a free lunch. Might you enjoy mixing business and pleasure, or is there a better way of dining for free? Word of Mouth is nothing if not opinionated . Daily, this blog is riven by dining disagreement , stove-based strife and cookery kerfuffle . There is one subject, however, which – surely – unites us all, and that is a collective love of free food . But where to get such gratis grub on a regular basis? It is one thing to munch your way around a food festival, methodically trying every free sample on site. It is even better if, as a trusted regular, your local restaurant starts road-testing its dishes on you. The holy grail, however, is finding someone who is willing to regularly pick up your restaurant bill. Which is why life as an undercover “mystery diner” sounds so appealing. Whether individual restaurants or third-party consultancies , there are a surprising number of people out there willing to give you free food and drink (and occasionally even a fee ) in return for your feedback on their food and service. Leicester’s Entropy runs a scheme which rewards selected “mystery guests” with vouchers in return for their answering a detailed questionnaire (about the volume of background music, and whether or not branded beer glasses were served badge-facing, etc). Similarly, Pizza Express club members , can claim a £10 voucher each quarter after sharing their feedback online. For smaller businesses , such as these London gastropubs , giving away the odd meal is a cost-effective way of keeping staff on their toes and generating valuable customer insight. There are also several agencies – some are general “mystery shopper” outfits, others specialist hospitality consultancies – who use ordinary members of the public to generate feedback for their clients. It is a job which the best mystery diners take pretty seriously, too. As the rise of the food blog has illustrated, there are a lot of enthusiastic people out there, keen to share their opinions about how restaurants are run. Such people are natural mystery diners . “Motivations vary,” says Steven Pike, MD of the Mystery Dining Company (MDC), whose clients include Ask, Zizzi, Wagamama, Prezzo and Le Bistrot Pierre . “It enables people to go out and have that paid for. It’s a way of extending your lifestyle. But it does attract a certain type of person, one who has opinions, wants to make a difference and who is happy to commit their experiences to an online form. Which is important for us. Those people who just think it’s a free meal, and that’s it – the people who don’t care – won’t get very far.” MDC currently has 2,000 assessors on its books. Some do a couple of reports each year, others over 10 a month. Every assessor completes a lifestyle profile when they first sign up so they can be offered suitable opportunities, depending on the client restaurant’s requirements (they might want visits from families, retirees, young professionals etc). Assessors are free to pick and choose from a regularly updated list of suitable tasks in their area, the idea being that visits should fit into their schedule. Inducements and / or travel expenses may be offered, usually if MDC is looking for reports from a remote location, but generally no payment is made. “If people are doing it to earn money,” argues Pike, “you start to skew the responses. They’re doing it for the wrong reasons.” All food and drink expenses are covered, however, to pre-agreed limits. Visits are sometimes scripted (for instance, assessors might have to test the staff’s product knowledge or the complaints procedure) and the subsequent reports take about an hour to complete. These can take several forms, from a detailed multiple-choice questionnaire (typical of a large chain which is testing its standardisation procedures) to more subjective questions that might require several paragraphs in answer. Often staff bonuses and incentive schemes – not to mention occasional disciplinary proceedings – are closely tied into the data produced by mystery diners for the client restaurants. That might all sound like reasonably hard work, an onerous responsibility even, but MDC, which rarely advertises, and then only in online forums, already rejects around half the people who apply and is massively oversubscribed in certain areas, especially in the south east. Assessors, says Pike, have to be observant, comfortable in restaurant environments, willing to absorb constructive feedback on their own reports and have good written English. But they must also work to the brief: “We’re not looking for amateur critics who can write flowery prose. We’re looking for people who can express basic facts and perceptions clearly.” That requirement explains MDC’s strict rule that you can’t get drunk on the job. Assessors are allowed two glasses of wine. Drink more and the report will be rejected and you won’t be reimbursed. On rare occasions, determined drinkers have opened a separate tab for their booze, only to be found out when, after submitting their receipt, the client restaurant has checked that bill with the spend at that specific table, on the night of the assessor’s visit. Which must be pretty humiliating. Parsimonious alcohol intake aside, does life as a mystery diner appeal? Have you worked as one ? Did it involve doing things which made you feel uncomfortable ? Or is there a better way of dining for free? Food & drink Work & careers Tony Naylor guardian.co.uk
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Car-maker to sue BBC for libel and malicious falsehood as faked race continues to be shown uncorrected on repeats and DVD Electric sports car maker Tesla Motors is sueing the BBC’s Top Gear TV programme for allegedly faking a scene showing the company’s Roadster car running out of electricity and slowing to a halt in a race. The legal move is the culmination of a row that has rumbled on between the show and Telsa since the episode was first broadcast in 2008. Specialist libel law firm Carter-Ruck issued the writ on behalf of the firm on Tuesday at the high court because the scene was still being shown onworldwide repeats and was available on DVD, and the BBC had failed to correct it. The firm expects to recover not more than £100,000 in damages. In the race with a petrol-powered Lotus Elise, the £87,000 electric car was shown having to stop for a recharge. But the car never ran out of electricity. Tesla said after the race aired that neither of the two Roadsters that it loaned Jeremy Clarkson’s team had gone below 20% of charge. Earlier in the same episode, Clarkson had praised the Tesla: “I cannot believe this – that’s biblically quick. This car is electric, literally. The top speed may only be 125mph but there’s so much torque it does 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. Not bad from a motor the size of a watermelon and which has only one moving part.” Tesla is sueing the show for libel and malicious falsehood, and says the show misrepresented the car’s true range – claiming 55 miles rather than 211 – and that claims a second Roadster on loan had broken brakes was untrue. In a statement , the California-based company, whose first cars were based on British-made Lotuses, said: “Tesla simply wants Top Gear to stop rebroadcasting this malicious episode and to correct the record, but they’ve repeatedly ignored Tesla’s requests.” A Top Gear spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we have received notification that Tesla have issued proceedings against the BBC. The BBC stands by the programme and will be vigorously defending this claim” On Monday Tesla, which plans to introduce a cheaper “Model S” car next year, said the 1,500 Roadsters it had sold since 2008 had collectively saved over 2,404 tonnes of CO 2 emissions. Top Gear magazine, which is separate from the TV show, has also been critical of previous electric cars, and in 2007 released shocking images of a G-Wiz crash-tested at 40mph . But analysts have predicted 2011 will be a “breakthrough” year for the vehicles , which became eligible a £5,000 government grant in January. Last week, the first few hundred Nissan Leafs, the UK’s first mass-produced electric car, were delivered to customers . Unlike the Tesla Roadster, the Leaf is limited to around 110 miles and 90mph. A new generation of around 10 different electric and plug-in hybrid cars are expected in the UK by the end of 2012. Separately on Wednesday, green group WWF released a report warning that the UK will needs millions of electric vehiclesto meet its carbon targets. Around 1.7m will be needed by 2020 and 6.4m by 2030, it said, in an echo of calls by government watchdog the Committee on Climate Change for a similar number to meet the target of cutting greenhouse gases emissions 80% by 2050. Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars Top Gear Carbon emissions Travel and transport Ethical and green living Motoring Television Factual TV Jeremy Clarkson BBC Adam Vaughan guardian.co.uk
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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad is to address the nation Wednesday for the first time since unprecedented protests erupted in this tightly controlled Arab country, a speech seen as a crucial test for his leadership and one that may determine Syria’s future. Assad is expected to announce constitutional amendments and sweeping reforms, including an end to nearly 50 years of widely despised state of emergency laws that give the regime a free hand to arrest people without charges. On Tuesday, Assad fired his Cabinet in another move designed to pacify the…
Continue reading …Microsoft keeps gunning after Apple’s ‘generic’ App Store trademark, brings in a linguistics expert
March 30, 2011 No Comment
We’d say this was getting silly but that would imply that it wasn’t already. Microsoft and Apple are still at each other’s throat over the latter’s trademark application for the term ” App Store ,” with Microsoft now bringing in a Dr. Ronald Butters, Professor Emeritus at Duke University and a man with a taste for hardcore semantics. He says the compound noun “app store” is perfectly generic in that it “does not merely describe the thing named, it is the thing named.” In a wildly geeky turn, he references the potential for someone discovering a use for masers and trying to trademark the term “maser store” in response, which would seem immediately and logically absurd. An app store, says the good doctor, is no more capable of being trademarked than a grocery store or a stationery store or a computer store. Of course, as with most trademark disputes, what’s truly at stake here isn’t linguistics, but a big fat wad of consumer goodwill. Having previously been quite uncomfortable with the idea of buying additional software for his mobile phone, Joe Consumer has nowadays grown quite accustomed to dropping little chunks of change on smartphone apps and the terminology that sets his mind at ease most readily is indeed “app store.” Preventing others from using that well established moniker would clearly be a significant competitive advantage for Apple and it’s pretty hard to argue with its contention that it’s responsible for generating the goodwill that sits behind it. Then again, we reckon Android’s Market, webOS’ admittedly small App Catalog , and other moves by the likes of RIM, Nokia and Microsoft itself with WP7, haven’t done the app store cause any harm either, so in purely ethical terms it still seems a little rich for Apple to be claiming the app store crown all to itself. As to the legal battle itself, it’s descending into quite amusing minutiae, but its outcome will be of great interest to most of the aforementioned mobile ecosystem purveyors. Microsoft keeps gunning after Apple’s ‘generic’ App Store trademark, brings in a linguistics expert originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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South Park – Randy Finally Gets Some Computer Time (1080p HD) Seth Macfarlane roast donald trump on comedy central roast Snoop Dogg roasts Donald Trump at comedy central roast Time Names Stephen Colbert and John Hodgman Among Twitter's Finest … Time has a new list out featuring Sarah Palin, Apolo Ohno and Lord Voldemort. No, it’s not a rundown of people polling better than Mitt Romney for the GOP. Comedy Central bringing “Futurama” back for 2 more years : Comedy Central and Twentieth Century Fox Television are bringing back “Futurama.” The Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff Extended and … The Comedy Central Roast of David Hasselhoff Extended and Uncensored (2010) – Warez Nova. What You're Saying About Tosh.0 | Tosh.0 Blog Featuring some of the latest Twitter and Facebook comments about Tosh.0. You’re welcome, Tim. Thank you for being so polite. I think, in fact, this might. Hoisted on Leonard Pierce's PetardCast | Indecision Forever … Warning. Some blogs or websites linked from this site may contain objectionable or uncensored content. Comedy Central is not affiliated with these websites and makes no representations or warranties as to their content. … Katinahnmzx says: comedy central http://bit.ly/geKtL4 Whats the name of the female comedian a red dress on Comedy Central Presents?
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R&B singer ends long-term management arrangement with father Mathew Knowles Beyoncé has split with her long-time manager – who just happens to be her father. In a mutual decision, the singer announced that she and Mathew Knowles have severed their management relationship, giving him more time to focus on his gospel label. “Business is business and family is family,” her father said. “It should come as no surprise that at 29 years old, almost 30, she wants to have more control of her business.” “He is my father for life and I love my dad dearly,” Beyoncé said. “I grew up watching both he and my mother manage and own their own businesses … and I will continue to follow in their footsteps.” Though Beyoncé has not announced a new manager, it is speculated that she will join husband Jay-Z’s Roc Nation roster. She is a “very, very smart businesswoman”, Knowles told the Associated Press. Beyoncé’s father has overseen her career since she first auditioned for gigs as a teenager. While the singer’s mother, Tina, was her stylist, Mathew managed his daughter through her solo years, as a member of R&B group Destiny’s Child, and during the past decade . Until recently, Knowles also managed the solo careers of Beyoncé’s former bandmates, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. He is still understood to represent Beyoncé’s sister, Solange . Mathew insisted this was just a business decision, and unrelated to the recent Knowles family drama. Mathew and Tina Knowles divorced in 2009, after 29 years of marriage; Mathew was alleged to have had an affair, and a baby, while still married to his wife. “We mutually agreed to part ways in terms of me managing Beyoncé, as my focus is in the investment of Music World Entertainment’s growing gospel and inspirational music division,” Knowles told Us Weekly, referring to his record label. “Because of the success of these artists, my focus has to be on gospel now.” Mathew Knowles remains manager for Destiny’s Child, who split up in 2006. But the group could still reunite, he told Us Weekly, “one day”. “Beyoncé, I feel, is the number one artist in the world right now,” he added. “That’s a great feeling, as a father and manager.” Beyoncé R&B Urban music Pop and rock Solange Knowles Sean Michaels guardian.co.uk
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