Israel retaliated over terror attacks earlier today by launching airstrikes into Gaza that claimed the lives of six people, CNN reports . Palestinian authorities say the strikes, just west of Rafah near Egypt’s border, killed five members of Popular Resistance Committees and the son of one member. Israeli defense forces say…
Continue reading …Recession worries home and abroad made for a miserable day on Wall Street, reports MarketWatch . At one point, the Dow was down nearly 530 points, though it recovered some. The grim numbers: Dow: Fell 419 (3.7%) to 10,991 Nasdaq: Down 131 (5.2%) to 2,380 S&P 500:…
Continue reading …“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…” But would the infamous replicant leader in Blade Runner believe that director Ridley Scott is making a new version of the 1982 sci-fi classic? Sequel or prequel, nobody seems to know—and Harrison Ford’s participation is a question mark (he reportedly hated Scott)—…
Continue reading …IBM has created a prototype chip that mimics the workings of the human brain, simulating synapses, neurons, and axons in the hopes of creating a computer that can learn and think, the company announced today. So far these “cognitive computing chips” have only been put to simple tasks like navigation…
Continue reading …Heroin, cocaine, and Mary Jane are all treated the same by child welfare authorities in New York City: even a legal amount of marijuana at home means your children can be taken away, even permanently, the New York Times reports. Several hundred of the city’s casual dope smokers have been…
Continue reading …Today’s exercise in whether a politician’s joke goes too far, courtesy of Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn: “It’s just a good thing I can’t pack a gun on the Senate floor,” said the Republican, after describing his colleagues as “cowards” and a “bunch of elitists.” The Tulsa World reported the comments…
Continue reading …The suicide of Real Housewives hubby Russell Armstrong ought to make us think twice about reality TV, which has become “the soft-bellied, 21st century American TV version of a gladiatorial contest,” writes Matt Zoller Seitz on Salon . “As your parents may have warned you, it’s all fun and games until…
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What keeps the Red Hot Chili Peppers from retiring to the beach to sit and eat burritos? Rob Fitzpatrick asks the LA rock aristocrats how they keep things chaotic after all this time Half of the Red Hot Chili Peppers are sitting opposite me on a pair of sumptuously plump sofas in a corner suite at the top of a beachfront hotel in Santa Monica, California. Outside the window to my left is the Pacific, while outside the one to my right are the fleshpots and fairgrounds of Venice Beach. It’s 2pm and the sun thumps down in thick, exhausting waves. Even the guy lying flat on his back by the pool, the one with his legs artfully spread so his inner thighs don’t miss out, yanks his towel up in submission and retreats to the tented shade by the bar. On the beach, huge bulldozers roll back and forth endlessly shifting sand, their reverse gear beeps punctuating our every sentence. Bass player Michael “Flea” Balzary – incredibly, this advert for perpetual adolescence is now 48 – is explaining something about how his love of surfing informs his love of songwriting, and I’m trying to keep up, but his outfit and demeanour aren’t helping me concentrate.
Continue reading …What keeps the Red Hot Chili Peppers from retiring to the beach to sit and eat burritos? Rob Fitzpatrick asks the LA rock aristocrats how they keep things chaotic after all this time Half of the Red Hot Chili Peppers are sitting opposite me on a pair of sumptuously plump sofas in a corner suite at the top of a beachfront hotel in Santa Monica, California. Outside the window to my left is the Pacific, while outside the one to my right are the fleshpots and fairgrounds of Venice Beach. It’s 2pm and the sun thumps down in thick, exhausting waves. Even the guy lying flat on his back by the pool, the one with his legs artfully spread so his inner thighs don’t miss out, yanks his towel up in submission and retreats to the tented shade by the bar. On the beach, huge bulldozers roll back and forth endlessly shifting sand, their reverse gear beeps punctuating our every sentence. Bass player Michael “Flea” Balzary – incredibly, this advert for perpetual adolescence is now 48 – is explaining something about how his love of surfing informs his love of songwriting, and I’m trying to keep up, but his outfit and demeanour aren’t helping me concentrate.
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What keeps the Red Hot Chili Peppers from retiring to the beach to sit and eat burritos? Rob Fitzpatrick asks the LA rock aristocrats how they keep things chaotic after all this time Half of the Red Hot Chili Peppers are sitting opposite me on a pair of sumptuously plump sofas in a corner suite at the top of a beachfront hotel in Santa Monica, California. Outside the window to my left is the Pacific, while outside the one to my right are the fleshpots and fairgrounds of Venice Beach. It’s 2pm and the sun thumps down in thick, exhausting waves. Even the guy lying flat on his back by the pool, the one with his legs artfully spread so his inner thighs don’t miss out, yanks his towel up in submission and retreats to the tented shade by the bar. On the beach, huge bulldozers roll back and forth endlessly shifting sand, their reverse gear beeps punctuating our every sentence. Bass player Michael “Flea” Balzary – incredibly, this advert for perpetual adolescence is now 48 – is explaining something about how his love of surfing informs his love of songwriting, and I’m trying to keep up, but his outfit and demeanour aren’t helping me concentrate.
Continue reading …