News

Tweed got off lightly says cabbie

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 04:07:00 -0700

Tweed, 21, from Buckhurst Hill, Essex, was locked up on Tuesday for assaulting Stephen Wilkins following a night out in nearby Epping last May.

Mr Wilkins, 54, told the Daily Mirror: "If he had been Joe Bloggs he would have got what he deserved - it's because of who he is and who he married he got off lightly."

Mother-of-two Goody, who married Tweed in February, died last month following a battle with cancer. Her husband was convicted last month for assaulting Mr Wilkins following a trial in Epping.

He picked up Tweed, another man and two women in Epping in the early hours of May 5.

Mr Wilkins said Tweed became aggressive after being asked to pay the fare in advance, grabbing him from behind in a headlock and threatening to stab him.
Source:uk.news.yahoo.com

Monster Crocodile' Bites Girl's Head Off

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:23:00 -0700

A crocodile has bitten off a 10-year-old girl's head after knocking over the canoe she was travelling in.
She was on her way to a floating school on the Agusan Marsh in the Philippines when the huge reptile capsized the boat, the provincial government said.

The girl fell into the water during the attack on Saturday, but her headless body was not discovered until two days later.

A classmate who was with her was rescued by a man who had been escorting the pair in another boat, said Ruel Hipulan, head of the private group which runs the school.

"It's a monster crocodile," he said. Witnesses said the crocodile was about 30ft (nine metres) long.

The floating school has been temporarily closed while a search for the crocodile is under way.

Around 100 members of the Manobo tribe have been forced to leave their houses, which sit on the lake on stilts, amid fears of another attack.

Source

NYPD Officer Arrested In Brutal Bat Attack

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:30:00 -0700

CBS reports "An off-duty NYPD officer was among four men arrested in a brutal baseball attack on Long Island
"They Called Me A N*gger & Told Me To Go Back TO Africa"

Indian boy weds dog

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:45:00 -0800

A toddler has reportedly been married off to a dog in eastern India in a bid to prevent his predicted death by a tiger.
The ceremony, at a Hindu temple in Orissa state's Jajpur district,was conducted with all the rituals observed at traditional weddings.

It included a dowry for the bride - the village bitch.

The dog sported two silver rings and a silver chain, the UNI news agency reported.

Parents of the groom, 18-month-old Sangula, were advised to arrange the marriage when they noticed a tooth growing from their infant son's upper gum.

The growth was considered to be a bad omen in the boy's tribal community.

Village elders believed it would lead to him being killed in a tiger attack - a fate preventable, according to tribal tradition, by marrying a dog.
Source

8 People Charged in Michael Phelps 'Bong' Incident

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:19:00 -0800

Michael Phelps says it's going to take him two or three months to decide if he's going to compete at the 2012 Summer Games in London, The Baltimore Sun reported.

"It will take a few months," Phelps said in a post-practice interview Monday outside the pool where he trains, the newspaper reported. "I'll give it 30 or 60 days. I think it will be better. I'm already happier now than I was, just having some part of my life back to normal, being able to swim again, having fun, joking around."

Eight people have been arrested since a photo of Phelps with a marijuana pipe was published in a British tabloid earlier this month, a Columbia, S.C., television station reported Tuesday. Seven people have been charged with drug possession and one person with distribution, WIS-TV reported.

The television station also reported that police confiscated the bong Phelps allegedly used after tracking it down when its owner, who is one of the eight people charged in the case, attempted to sell it on eBay for $100,000.

Phelps apologized for a lapse in judgment, lost a sponsor in Kellogg Co. and was suspended for three months by USA Swimming. But he's no longer waking up to people shouting outside his apartment, and the paparazzi aren't dogging him with the same vigor, according to the report.

"I'm not feeling too good physically," Phelps said, according to the report. "But I'm actually able to sleep now. I had a real hard time sleeping over the last two weeks or so. Just swimming and thinking about everything going on. Everything is back to what I call normal, I guess."

Phelps, the winner of a record-breaking eight gold medals at Beijing last summer, said he called every one of his sponsors to apologize and spoke to everyone except Kellogg, according to the report.
Source

Man Killed By "Exploding Mobile Phone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 4 Feb 2009 02:52:00 -0800

A man has died after his mobile phone exploded, severing a major artery in his neck, according to reports.

The man, thought to be a shop assistant in his twenties at a computer shop in Guangzhou, China, died after he put a new battery in his phone. It was believed that he may have just finished charging the battery and had put the phone in his breast pocket when it exploded.
According to the local Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News, the accident happened on January 30. An employee at the shop told Chinese media that she heard a loud bang and saw her colleague lying on the floor of the shop in a pool of blood. The employee said the victim had recently changed the battery in his mobile phone.

Chinese authorities have yet to determine the make and model of the phone and its battery. Police were investigating whether the phone and battery were counterfeit.

Local reports said that this was the ninth recorded cellphone explosion in China since 2002. In the most high profile recent incident, in June 2007, a 22-year-old welder, Xiao Jinpeng, died from chest wounds when his mobile phone exploded while he was at work at an iron mill in Gansu province.

Lithium batteries are widely used in mobile phones - but if they are overcharged or exposed to heat, the inflammable liquid inside can explode.

Source

Goat detained over armed robbery

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:59:00 -0800

LAGOS (Reuters) – Police in Nigeria are holding a goat on suspicion of attempted armed robbery.

Vigilantes took the black and white beast to the police saying it was an armed robber who had used black magic to transform himself into a goat to escape arrest after trying to steal a Mazda 323.

"The group of vigilante men came to report that while they were on patrol they saw some hoodlums attempting to rob a car. They pursued them. However one of them escaped while the other turned into a goat," Kwara state police spokesman Tunde Mohammed told Reuters by telephone.

"We cannot confirm the story, but the goat is in our custody. We cannot base our information on something mystical. It is something that has to be proved scientifically, that a human being turned into a goat," he said.

Belief in witchcraft is widespread in parts of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Residents came to the police station to see the goat, photographed in one national newspaper on its knees next to a pile of straw.

Source

Skoda Crashes Through Church Roof

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:47:00 -0800

A 23-year-old man is in hospital with serious injuries after his car crashed through a church roof.
The unnamed motorist was driving his Skoda Octavia at high speeds through villages in Saxony, eastern Germany, when he lost control at a bend.

A police officer watched in horror as the vehicle crashed through a railing and careered up an embankment in the town of Limbach-Oberfrohna.

The car then sailed 100ft through the air and smashed through a church roof.

Firefighters removed the driver from the wreckage, and he was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

They later used a crane to remove the car from the church roof.

Police said the driver was breathalysed but have yet to release his name.

The 10,000 euro Skoda was written off in the incident, and the cost of repairing the church roof is not yet known.

Source

2 YEAR OLD BOY Just Released From Jail in Zimbabwe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 06:25:00 -0800

HARARE, Zimbabwe - A 2-year-old boy has been released from jail after being held for weeks with his parents in what the Zimbabwean opposition calls a crackdown on dissent.

Nigel Mutemagau was released to other relatives Tuesday after the judge said there was no reason to hold him, defense lawyer Charles Kwaramba said.

The boy's parents, oppositionparty members Collen Mutemagau and Violet Mupfuranhehwe, are accused of plotting to overthrow

President Robert Mugabe. At a court hearing Wednesday, at which Mutemagau and Mupfuranhehwe appeared without Nigel in their arms for the first time since they were detained, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausika ordered that all the defendants be taken to a hospital to investigate charges they were tortured.

Similar orders have been ignored.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said Wednesday the charges against the boy's parents and six other defendants are "trumped up." The party said those detained - even Nigel - were abused by security agents.

Kwaramba said Nigel was hit as he and his parents were taken from their home, and that fact would be included in a dossier of evidence showing that detainees were beaten and tortured.

Police and prosecutors have denied such mistreatment.

Nigel and his parents were among a detained group that included prominent peace activist Jestina Mukoko, whose whereabouts had been unknown for weeks. Police denied they were being held.

The activists were finally brought to court Dec. 24, the same day state media reported they were accused in a plot widely dismissed as a fabrication. They have yet to be formally charged.

The defendants are accused of attempting to recruit anti-government fighters to train in neighboring Botswana.

Zimbabwean officials have repeatedly made such accusations, which Botswana and the opposition party have denied. South African President Kgalema Motlanthe dismissed the Zimbabwean allegations, saying the Southern African Development Community, the main regional bloc, opened an investigation when Mugabe's government first raised them, but "we never believed" them.

Activists fear the Mugabe government could use the charges as an excuse to declare a state of emergency and withdraw from powersharing talks.

A power-sharing deal signed in September calls for Mugabe to remain president and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to take the new post of prime minister. The agreement has stalled over a dispute about who would control key Cabinet posts - and over charges Mugabe has stepped up harassment of dissidents.

Cholera, meanwhile, continued to spread because of Zimbabwe's crumbling health-care system and water supply infrastructure. The death toll from cholera in Zimbabwe has risen to 2,106, with more than 40,448 people infected since the outbreak began in August.

The United Nations and others caution the official figures may be far lower than actual cases because many Zimbabweans are dying before they can reach medical help.

Source

US Plane Crashes Into NY River

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:09:00 -0800

The plane had just left the city's La Guardia airport when it is thought to have hit a flock of birds, which disabled two engines, said authorities.

The Airbus A320, with 148 passengers and at least five crew, was destined for Charlotte airport in North Carolina when the accident happened.

There are reports of some injuries - but everyone is believed to have survived.

Passengers said the captain told them to brace for impact and then they heard an explosion, which is thought to be the moment the plane crashed.

Emergency services then tried to get the passengers off the aircraft as quickly as possible.

TV footage showed dozens of them on the wings of the plane as it floated on the freezing cold river.

They were later all rescued. One passenger said he thought the plane had dropped about 100ft and he had stood in about 5ft of water after the crash.

The jet took off at 3:26pm local time (8:26pm UK time) and was in the air for just three minutes.

Witnesses on the ground reportedly saw a bird strike.

The FBI said it had no information that the New York crash was an act of terrorism.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner said: "There is no information at this time to indicate that this is a security-related incident.

"We continue to closely monitor the situation, which at present is focused on search and rescue."

One witness Barbara Sambriski said: "I just thought, 'Why is it so low?' And, splash, it hit the water."

Emergency services reportedly had stretchers waiting at the riverbank to take people to hospital.

Source

mafia Godfather who escaped police by fleeing along a sewer has been arrested

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:11:00 -0800

Giuseppe Setola, 38, who claims to be blind, suffered cuts and bruises after running for more than a mile through the sewer with his two bodyguards, who fired several shots at chasing police.

He had got into the sewer through an escape tunnel in his house.

Setola is among Italy's 10 Most Wanted and is said to be in charge of a vast criminal empire that controls drug running, prostitution, extortion and arms and is wanted for 17 murders.

Police named him as the prime suspect in the gunning down of six Africans four months ago in what was described as one of the largest and bloodiest "group massacres" in clan wars in recent years.

This week he fled through an escape tunnel into the sewer network from his hideout at a house in Trentola Ducenta near Naples after police raided the lair after a tip-off.

But he was tracked down to a private medical clinic at Mignano Montelungo, 50 miles to the north, where he had gone to be treated for his injuries under an assumed name.

Staff recognised him from his photofit and tipped off police, who stormed the premises and arrested him - just hours after detectives had seized more than £10m in mafia assets around Naples.

The area is the home of the local version of the mafia known as the Camorra. Setola was well known as a ruthless Godfather who struck fear into locals.

Naples anti-mafia prosecutor Franco Roberti said: "This is a great moment for the Italian state.

"We were certain Setola was in a situation of great difficulty. We promised all the citizens that he would be caught. We have kept that promise.

"I feel immense joy and a great sense of pride because the State has succeeded, the anti-mafia apparatus has worked."

Source

BART Police Officer Arrested on Murder Warrant For NYE Shooting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:31:00 -0800

Johannes Mehserle, the San Francisco BART police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man at point blank range on an Oakland subway platform early on New Year's Day, has been arrested on a fugitive murder warrant.
Mehserle's actions, in which he pulled out his gun and shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant in the back while he lay prone and subdued on the platform. were recorded on several phone video cameras and posted to YouTube. The senseless killing sparked riots in Oakland.

AP: "The 27-year-old Mehserle surrendered without incident, authorities said...Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets calling for the prosecution of Mehserle, with one rally last Wednesday spiraling into violence and resulting in more than 100 arrests and dozens of businesses damaged. John Burris, the attorney for Grant's family, said he talked to Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson, on Tuesday night and she was delighted with the news of the arrest."
Source

Angry Teacher Rips Student’s Cheek Off

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:08:00 -0800

On December 18th, 2008, a 10 year-old 5th grader named Chao Qun Zheng went to his elementary school in HeNan, China.
When his teacher, Guo, found out that young Zheng had not completed his homework, she flipped out.

“She was very angry at the time,” he said. “She ripped and twisted my cheeks with both her hands and then she lifted me off the ground.”

The teacher held the boy up until one of his cheeks actually ripped off and the boy was bleeding profusely.

Without hesitation the teacher reached down and picked up Zheng’s cheek skin, put it on his face, and instructed the boy go home immediately.

When the parents saw Zheng, they immediately took him to the hospital where it took 52 stitches to have his cheek sewn back on.

Zheng’s father has reported the case to the police and is expected to press for damages.

Source

X Factor winner kicked off top spot

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:22:00 -0800

She has been labelled the New Madonna - and now Lady GaGa is celebrating being Britain's new Number One.
The 22-year-old New Yorker hit the top of the charts with her debut single, Just Dance, which outsold the number two record by more than three-quarters.

She knocked X Factor winner Alexandra Burke off the top spot, where she spent three weeks with her version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah - the fastest-selling single ever by a female artist.

James Morrison and Nelly Furtado's Broken Strings climbed three places to number two.

Lady GaGa said: "It's been a long running dream to have a big hit in the UK - my fans there are so sexy and the people are so innovative and free in how they think about pop culture and music.

"I was in my apartment in Los Angeles getting ready to go to dance rehearsal when they called and told me, and I just cried."

Her album The Fame is released next week.

The winner of X Factor 2006 Leona Lewis dropped from two to four with her cover of Snow Patrol's Run, while Tennessee rockers Kings of Leon climbed a single place to number five.
Source:Yahoo News

British Climbers Die In Avalanche

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 03:29:00 -0800

Two British climbers have been killed by an avalanche in the French Alps
Their next of kin have been informed.

One of the climbers has been named as Rob Gauntlett, who became the youngest British man ever to climb Mount Everest in 2006.

He scaled the world's highest peak just after his 19th birthday in May 2006.

Speaking from Mr Gauntlett's family home in Petworth, West Sussex, his mother Nicola Gauntlett said they were "devastated".

She said he and an unnamed best friend had been ice-climbing in Chamonix when there was a "big fall".

Mrs Gauntlett said: "At the moment we don't know exactly what happened but there was obviously a big fall and they both died. We've only just been told the news."

She said they arrived in the region on January 2 and were due back in the UK on Wednesday.

Mrs Gauntlett added that she and her husband, David, would be travelling to France tomorrow.

She went on: "We are all just devastated. He's far too young to die. We had spoken about something like this happening only recently.

"We can only take consolation that he died doing something that he loved."

The identity of the other climber has not been disclosed.
Source:Yahoo News

Surgeon of Rapper Kanye West's Mom Sentenced

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 8 Jan 2009 00:47:00 -0800

The plastic surgeon who operated on Kanye West's mother the day before she died has been sentenced to a year in jail for drunken driving, according to the Associated Press.

Dr. Jan Adams pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor DUI last June.
Authorities say his Jaguar was spotted traveling the wrong way on Interstate 680 near Cordelia, California. The surgeon's blood alcohol level was .20 percent.
Solano County Court Commissioner Ray Wieser sentenced Adams, 54, on Monday. His jail time will likely begin on Feb. 6, as he still needs time to address a probation violation case in L.A.

Adams performed a breast reduction, tummy tuck and liposuction on Donda West a day before she died in 2007. The Associated Press reports that an autopsy blamed heart disease coupled with complications from the surgery.
Source:www.livecelebritygossip.com

Man Ordered To Pay Child Support Kills Son

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 15:35:00 -0800

A man who initially told police gunmen kidnapped his 2 1/2-year-old son was arrested Saturday, accused of committing an "extremely hideous" murder because he was ordered to pay child support, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said.

Danny Platt confessed, told police where to find the child's body and will be booked on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Ja' Shawn Powell, Riley said at a news conference.

"He had said he would kill either his wife or his child before he paid child support," which he recently had been ordered to do, Riley said.

Riley said he did not know the amount of child support and would not describe how the boy was killed, saying the coroner would do that after the autopsy was complete. The coroner's spokesman did not immediately return a call.

"The mother is in a safe place," Riley said.

Although he had visiting rights, Platt, 22, of New Orleans, had never visited the boy until he picked him up Friday, Riley said.

Police put out a notice Saturday asking people to look for the boy and saying his father had told them three men with dreadlocks and AK-47 rifles had piled out of an SUV and kidnapped Ja' Shawn shortly before midnight Friday.

"His story never really added up," Riley said. "He was a suspect from the very beginning."

Riley said Platt eventually confessed and told officers where to find the body.

Police spokesman officer Janssen Valencia said he did not know if Platt has an attorney.

Platt had only a couple of "very minor" previous arrests, Riley said.

"How does an individual — because he's ordered to pay child support to take care of a kid ... believe that this is so much pressure that he would face — he would do this hideous act to his own child, or to any child, and think that is a remedy to paying child support?" Riley said. "I mean there are some sick individuals in this society, and this gentleman is clearly one."

Top baby names of 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:59:00 -0800

Olivia and Jack are the most popular names for babies born in Britain in 2008, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

Olivia took the top spot from Grace, made famous by Hollywood screen star Grace Kelly, which slipped back to third place, the poll by Internet parenting group Bounty showed.

Ruby, the name given to the daughter of singer Charlotte Church, was the second most popular name for girls, the survey of 380,000 new parents found.

Jack has remained the top name for boys for 14 years despite stiff competition from Oliver and Harry which ranked second and third.

Faye Mingo from Bounty said parents appeared increasingly influenced by celebrities and sporting personalities when choosing names for their babies.

"Parents are more likely to name girls after a well known movie star or celebrity," Mingo said.

"Parents are also more likely to copy celebrities' own choices of baby girls' names, perhaps as a way of reflecting the aspirations that they have for their children," she said.

"Boys' names have witnessed the biggest changes over the last decade as parents are increasingly influenced by American culture and celebrity trends relating to films and sports personalities."

Amy slipped three places to 23, perhaps as a result of singer Amy Winehouse's troubled year.

Theo jumped 12 places up the boy's list to 58, probably inspired by England and Arsenal teenage football hero Theo Walcott.

Hollie, Tegan, Patrick, Dominic and Gabriel disappeared from the top 100 altogether this year.

The ten most popular names for girls were: Olivia, Ruby, Grace, Emily, Jessica, Sophie, Chloe, Lily, Mia and Lucy.

For boys, the favourites were: Jack, Oliver, Harry, Alfie, Charlie, Thomas, Joshua, Daniel, James

The $50 BILLION Dollar Con' PLEADS That He's MENTAL!!!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:18:00 -0800

If you thought Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion investment scheme was audacious, get ready for his alibi. Lawyers for the accused scammer are exploring an insanity defense, we hear.

“Bernie’s family and his attorneys may argue that, somewhere along the line, he had a mental break,” says a Madoff acquaintance. “They may even say he has a multiple personality disorder.”

Madoff’s grip on reality does show signs of slipping. The 70-year-old financier, now a prisoner of his East Side penthouse, wore a weird smile when he was photographed shortly after his Dec. 12 arrest. He’s also said to be taking a heavy dose of anti-anxiety medication.

“He seems really out of it,” says a source, who believes Madoff’s family fears he’ll follow the example of Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, the Madoff client who slit his wrists last week. “He has a very low affect. Bernie barely speaks. His wife, Ruth, and his sons, Andrew and Mark, do most of the talking for him.”

Madoff’s lead attorney, Ira Lee Sorkin, told us: “I have no comment on Mr. Madoff’s defense or mental health.”

“He might try to argue that Madoff suffered from dementia or a bipolar disorder,” says the psychiatrist, who has served as an expert witness in high-profile criminal cases. “

He could argue that Madoff committed the fraud during manic, euphoric periods and that he never found the equilibrium to correct his crime. Or that he was so delusional that he convinced himself the investment returns were real. You might also plead that he was incapacitated by some character disorder, like a malignant narcissism stemming from an early-life trauma.

“Insanity defenses rarely work,” Ablow notes. “But if you can influence just one juror, he may stand a chance.”

No doubt people will call him crazy like a fox and recall mobster Vincent (Chin) Gigante, who tried to escape jail by mumbling and stumbling around the streets in his bathrobe.

Top criminal attorney Edward Hayes doesn’t think it will fly: “Madoff admitted to his sons that he knew
it was a Ponzi scheme. His best defense is making himself essential to discovering where the money is and getting it to the victims.”

Still, just to be safe, the grinning Madoff might want to find himself a really tatty bathrobe

Maradona to feature in comedy show

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 02:37:00 -0800

Football legend Diego Maradona is to make a debut of a different kind - when he features on the TV comedy show Only An Excuse. Skip related content

The former Argentina player, famous for his "hand of God" goal, is one of the many characters lampooned by funnyman Jonathan Watson in the popular show.

Maradona made his debut appearance as the Argentine team's national coach in Scotland in November.

And following that he is to be featured in Only An Excuse for the first time, when the show is broadcast on BBC One Scotland on New Year's Eve.

Other famous faces to be lampooned by Watson and the rest of the team include Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood, as well as sports reporter Raman Bhardwaj and weatherman Sean Batty - who both feature on STV Scotland Today.

BBC bosses revealed details of the show, which will form part of their Hogmanay line-up.

Jackie Bird and Hardeep Singh Kohli will host Hogmanay Live 2008 from the Great Hall of Edinburgh Castle.

And they will be joined by singer Sharleen Spiteri, performing tracks from her new album, and last year's X Factor winner Leon Jackson.

MEET One Of The RICHEST Con Artists In U.S. HISTORY Bernard Madoff.... Who Scammed $50 BILLION

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 11:13:00 -0800

Bernie “Big Money” Madoff takes a stroll down Lexington Avenue last week....

This guy 70-year old Bernard Madoff whose name wasn’t even known by many in the financial industry until recently is accused of scamming investors worldwide of over $50 Billion dollars. His scheme is so big that it’s said to make Enron and Worldcom scandals look like a “bump in the road”. Since 1960 through his Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities company in NYC Bernie has been robbing investors through a “Ponzi” (aka pyramid) scheme where he basically used the money new investors would invest to pay unusually high returns to those who had already invested. Over the years investors got paid even when the market was bad and more and more people eventually came into the fold…

As the financial markets tanked a lot of investors needed their cash back - $7 Billion dollars worth of it - so a couple of weeks ago Bernard admitted to his sons and senior company employees that all this money they’ve been investing over the years is gone and he only had $300,000 dollars to his name. Although he told them he planned to give the last $300,000 out as company bonus’, his sons turned him in to the FBI the next day and now he’s free, but under penthouse arrest after posting a $10 million dollar bond. “There is no innocent explanation,” Bernie allegedly told authorities before they took his and his wife’s passports and confined him to his Park Avenue apartment - a building so exclusive you need to have at LEAST $100 Million in liquid assests to move into!

Investigators are hard at work trying to find out where the money is because Bernie is claiming he’s broke and even with all his apartments, airplanes and diamonds they can’t account for a $50 Billion scheme. Bernie faces a maximum of 20 years if found guilty. To make matters worse, yesterday Thierry Magon de La Villehuchet, a fund manager who invested $1.3 Billion of rich French people’s money with Bernie slit his wrists in his midtown New York office.

Do you think his sons knew and are part of this scheme???

Was is worth it for $50 Billion???

A rubbish life for LA marathon recycler

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:57:00 -0800

Dave Chameides has spent almost an entire year living a life full of utter garbage, and hoping he can inspire other Americans to do the same.

The Los Angeles-based cameraman has lived in his comfortable Hollywood home without throwing away a single piece of trash, from wine bottles to chewing gum and pizza boxes.

Instead the 39-year-old Chameides -- nicknamed "Sustainable Dave" -- recycles his garbage or else stores it in his basement. He says he wants to show that it is possible to dramatically reduce his family's consumption habits.

And he can show astounding results. Rather than the 1,600 pounds of trash the average American family produces each year, Chameides, his wife and two daughters have amassed only 32 pounds over the last 12 months.

"If I were the average American, this entire basement would be filled with plastic water bottles," said Chameides, who chronicles his campaign with an Internet blog (http://365daysoftrash.blogspot.com).

Chameides has shunned bottled water in favor of filtered tap water -- except when on holiday in Mexico, but even those water bottles were brought back to his home, compacted and stored with other trash.

His war on packaging also extends to the family groceries. Rice and pulses are bought by the kilo and placed in containers, while fresh fruit and vegetables are purchased at a weekly neighborhood farmers' market.

In fact, groceries was one of the easiest areas to eliminate packaging, Chameides said.

"The food is not so bad, but with DVDs, kids toys and so on, it's packaging you don't want, and it's frustrating," he told AFP. "What you don't realize is that you're paying for it, and pay for it again to dispose of it."

"So I buy rice and beans in bulk, there's no packaging. I pay less, it just makes sense. People need to wake up and say, this is not OK."

Ironically, even Chameides's rubbish will not go to waste. In January, his refuse will be sent to the Trash Museum of Connecticut to be exhibited.

Meanwhile, organic waste, such as banana skins and egg shells, is minced up by worms and used as compost. "Any kind of organic food and paper, except meat and fish. It's a really amazingly efficient system," Chameides enthuses.

His southern California home is fitted with solar panels while his car runs on used cooking oil. However, he insists that even if you don't follow his example to the letter, "sustainable living" can be achieved without huge sacrifices to your quality of life.

"I'm eating fresher food, I'm saving money, helping the local economy, supporting farmers instead of corporations. For me that's worth it. It's just thinking about doing the right thing," he says.

"It's just little steps. I'm not living in a cave. People think that the US quality of life should be living in a house with lights on all the time. We live a pretty decent life, by many people's standards we live a phenomenal life."

Even wrapping paper for Christmas gifts presents an opportunity to recycle.

"If we wrap something, it would be either in comics or something useful, reusable," he says

MEET Michael Jackson's Babymother

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:54:00 -0800

"Extra" has obtained legal documents from a woman who claims to be the mother of Michael Jackson's son, Prince Michael Jackson II aka Blanket.

Billie Jean Jackson says in a suit filed in Los Angeles on Wednesday that she wants joint legal and physical custody of the child. She also wants to participate in Blanket's education plus visits on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Oh, and she's asking for a whopping $1 billion bucks in support! Is this for real?

Blanket was born in 2002 and Jackson would not say the mother's identity, but has said the child was the result of artificial insemination from a surrogate mother and his sperm.

Passengers escape burning jet in Denver; 38 hurt

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 06:16:00 -0800

DENVER (AP) — Firefighters said it was like something out of a movie — passengers emerging from a smoke-filled ravine where the remains of a Boeing 737 lay in flames, its landing gear and left engine shorn off.

Denver Fire Department Division Chief Patrick Hynes called it "surreal." The fire burned the entire right side of the plane, and melted plastic from overhead compartments dripped onto the seats below.

Thirty-eight people suffered injuries including broken bones, and two were in critical condition with fractures after the Saturday evening accident, officials said.

Emily Pellegrini, a 21-year-old student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, was on her way to Houston to see her parents. She left her cell phone and all her personal items behind in the rush to get off the plane.

"There was a fire after the crash, and I just went with the flow off the plane," she told The Denver Post. "That seemed like the thing to do."

The 107 passengers and five crew members made it out through slides, and firefighters put out blaze quickly, said airport spokesman Jeff Green.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. The weather in Denver was cold but not snowy when Continental Flight 1404 took off from Denver International Airport for Houston around 6:20 p.m.

The plane veered off course about 2,000 feet from the end of the runway and did not appear to be airborne, Day said. Debris was left scattered on the runway, with the plane about 200 yards away.

Denver International Airport manager of aviation Kim Day said travelers should expect delays Sunday, a busy travel day.

National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration inspectors were on the scene.

Burglar hits Paris Hilton's home, takes $2 million in jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:30:00 -0800

LOS ANGELES (L.A. Times) - An estimated $2 million worth of jewelry and other belongings was stolen from the home of Paris Hilton, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The incident occurred at 5 a.m. at Hilton's Hollywood Hills home on Clarendon Street. The burglar, or burglars, got into the house through an unlocked door, according to LAPD sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.

According to detectives, a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and gloves forced entry through the front door, ransacked Hilton's bedroom, took unknown property and fled, said Officer April Harding.

LAPD sources said they do not believe at this time that the incident is connected to infamous burglaries that have beset the Westside and Hollywood Hills and cost many celebrities hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry and other valuables.

In those cases, the two –- and possibly three –- men, clad in black and wearing ski masks and gloves, hit more than 70 homes in areas such as Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills and the hills above Encino, usually at night and often on weekends. The victims in those burglaries included former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing and her Oscar-winning director husband, William Friedkin, Clippers basketball star Cuttino Mobley, Duran Duran guitarist John Taylor and his wife, Juicy Couture President Gela Nash-Taylor, and country music stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

Detectives from the LAPD's Van Nuys division were at the Hilton home this morning conducting interviews. The sources told The Times that Hilton was not home at the time of the burglary and that the house is equipped with security video equipment.

Harding said a security guard reported a forced entry at 5 a.m. at the Sherman Oaks home. The guard described the burglar as a man in a hooded sweatshirt and gloves.

Hilton recently told Esquire magazine: "The best thing I've ever bought with money is my house. Having a nightclub in your house really helps for having a party."