Breaking News Thread

[Flynbyu]

freakin badass!

http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-beards22-pictures,0,3383025.photogallery?index=1

The fourth member of ZZ Top!

~Brian

[Flynbyu]

Aiken's Lambert Rant: Claymate Turns To Clayhate
Posted Fri May 22, 2009 11:03am PDT by Lyndsey Parker in Reality Rocks

Clay Aiken and Adam Lambert's names have been linked quite a bit in the media lately--not just because of rumors (reported in the Chicago Sun-Times last week) that Clay actually wanted to record a duet with Adam, but because after Adam's shocking second-place finish on American Idol this week, many Lambert supporters have predicted that Adam will follow in Clay's footsteps and ultimately be more successful than the singer who actually won this year, Kris Allen.

Now that it's all over, and for the record.... I couldn't be happier about the way AI ended this year. I only turn the show on once a season, and only to see what the set looks like each year. This year, I happened to turn it during the minute that Adam Lambert was singing 'Ring of Fire' and, at that moment, thought my ears would bleed. Contrived, awful, and slightly frightening! I wasn't really a fan and found myself surprised whenever folks told me that they liked him. Granted, I never saw another performance (and many folks who I trust said that he was great) but I can't imagine I would have enjoyed it. Just not my cup of tea at all. To each his own. I never saw Kris sing on the show, but whether he was good or not is really relative. It's usually a matter of taste, right? But Idol is not always a matter of musical taste only. It's about the person you like. From what little I saw, Kris seemed likable. (That's not to say that Adam isn't just as likable as anyone.. maybe more so... I don't know) When Ruben and I were standing next to each other every night (many years ago) you had two equally talented, equally unlikely, equally unpolished contestants.... so it really was a matter of taste as to who was voted for. While some may argue that one of us was hyped more than the other, I don't feel that was the case. However, this year, there was an obvious bias. Not even having watched the show, I can tell you that I was WELL aware of the bias from the judges as to who should win. In my opinion, that is awfully unattractive. I don't think I am alone."

ow! And...MEOW!

Surely some will jump to the conclusion that Clay's bitter post was spurned by his un-amicable split with BMG and 19 Entertainment, or by 19's rumored attempts to prevent Clay from collaborating with Adam. And it does seem that if there's any "feud" going on here, it's between Clay and the Idol machine, not Clay and Adam himself.

The blog continues:

"In my opinion, it all often comes down to that last night of voting. Until the finale, folks are voting for the contestant that they want to see continue. But, I believe that on that last night, the dynamic changes. No longer forced to choose one person that they want to see win, the audience can effectively vote AGAINST the person that they don't want to see win. In the case of season two this might have happened. There may have been some folks who voted for myself or Ruben because they didn't like the other of us. I was the nerdy little girly boy who some didn't want to see win, so they may have voted for Ruben. I don't know. .. But again, I feel that Ruben and I were fairly matched. We both had our detractors and negatives, but I feel we were both very worthy of being on that stage in that moment, and either of us would have been worthy of winning. The show was different then, and folks made it in seasons 1-3 because they were 'real' people who happened to sing/entertain well. But, somewhere along the way, AI stopped being about real people.

In a battle between David and Goliath, my money is on David!

I think many voters got sick of being 'told who to vote for'. I think many were turned off by the blatant favoritism shown towards one contestant. Therefore, on that last night, they used their votes against a contestant that they were tired of hearing about and for the contestant who had been written off. And, at the same time, I think they voted AGAINST an American Idol that has, for four years now, been more about the slick productions and polished contestants than it has been about finding the raw talent that it did in its first three seasons.

Those votes for Kris were also votes to return the show to its roots of finding 'real' contestants with undiscovered talent and giving them the chance to grow and shine. They were votes that said 'we're tired of seeing contestants who already seem to know it all'.

Will American Idol choose to listen to the resounding and clarion call that those voters gave them?.... 'Enough with the pretention. More Rubens, more Clays, more Fantasias and Tamyras and Kellys please.' My faith has always been in the voters. I think they have gotten it right every year (mine included). It's now up to American Idol to decide if it will finally REALLY listen to the folks that keep it on the air."

Hmmm...but you know, maybe Clay's motives aren't so sinister after all. Maybe (despite his claim that he never saw Kris perform on the show, which seems odd) he just prefers Kris Allen's music--which, like Clay's, is pretty safe, sweet, and mellow. However, if Clay WAS trying to record a duet with Adam, this blog sure isn't going to help his chances. Maybe he should try to collaborate with Kris instead?





Gee, I wonder why? Lambert may be moving in on the diva........They're both queer as can be.

~Brian

[Hefe]

who is queer?
the singer(s)

or people who watch that crap?

took me halfway thru the article to figure out who these people were, and what AI means?

[Flynbyu]

My wife loves the show.

I watch the first couple of weeks to see all of the bad apples......The ones that can't sing that THINK they can sing. That stuff is hilarious!!!

I just thought the article was funny since Clay Aiken (homo) didn't like this Lambert kid (which is FLAMING!!!!!).

~Brian

[Peelz]

flamer vs flamer. I see a new reality show.

[Flynbyu]

flamer vs flamer. I see a new reality show.

Coming soon to LOGO!



~Brian

[Peelz]

flamer vs flamer. I see a new reality show.

Coming soon to LOGO!



~Brian

Krandall's Tivo already programmed. 

LOL I watched the show with my wife sometimes. That Lambert kid got to sing live with KISS in full make up. Pretty f**king killer. But still....totally flaming.

[Flynbyu]

Yeah I watched it too.

Gene Simmons is a bad ass.

~Brian

[disco]

 

http://perens.com/works/articles/Burglar/


Stupid Burglar Nabbed by Backup Program

The following article was included in the email newsletter distributed to constituents by Berkeley City Council Member Susan Wengraf. It's signed by a Berkeley Police officer - Bruce

As you may already know, some auto burglars who prowl Northeast Berkeley are prolific; one auto burglar may burglarize several cars in one night. Apprehending one of these prolific individuals can obviously have an impact in reducing the number of auto burglaries in an area affected by property crime, like Northeast Berkeley. With that in mind, I thought you might be interested in hearing about an arrest our Property Crimes Detective Division made recently.

On May 5th, at about 6:00 p.m., one of our fellow community members parked his car near the corner of Hearst Avenue and Euclid Avenue. Unknowingly, he left his laptop bag on the back seat of his car. Sometime before 8:00 p.m., someone smashed the car window and stole the laptop from the rear seat. The victim reported the auto burglary but there were no significant investigative leads in the case. This is where the story gets really interesting. The victim had a back-up program installed on his laptop. The burglar proceeded to take photographs of himself with the computer's built-in camera; those photographs were eventually up-loaded to the internet based storage location. The victim discovered the photographs of the suspect and passed them along to Detective Sergeant Ed Spiller and Detective Earl Emelson. The Detectives recognized the suspect, named Vega, who had just been released from jail at the start of the year.

The Detectives closely examined the photographs and noticed that Vega appeared to be sitting in a motel room when he snapped the pictures with the computer's camera. Sgt. Spiller, theorizing that the victim's computer had accessed the internet thorough the motel's wireless internet system, began work to identify the I.P. address utilized by the victim's computer in hopes that it would lead them to the motel where Vega was staying. Not content to wait for the I.P. address information to become available, Sgt. Spiller's Detectives decided to expand their search to Oakland motels. While checking motels on MacArthur Blvd., Det. Emelson spotted Vega getting into a car in a motel parking lot. The Detectives stopped Vega and arrested him for possession of the stolen laptop. During the investigation, the Detectives located additional stolen property (from other auto burglaries) inside Vega's car and in his motel room. Vega's girlfriend, Maria Reynoso of Berkeley, was also arrested during the investigation at the motel.

Officer Casimiro Pierantoni #96
Area Coordinator-Area 1
Community Services Bureau
Berkeley Police Department

[Krandall]

awesome!!!!

[Flynbyu]

OKLAHOMA CITY – Confronted by two holdup men, pharmacist Jerome Ersland pulled a gun, shot one of them in the head and chased the other away. Then, in a scene recorded by the drugstore's security camera, he went behind the counter, got another gun, and pumped five more bullets into the wounded teenager as he lay on the floor.

Now Ersland has been charged with first-degree murder in a case that has stirred a furious debate over vigilante justice and self-defense and turned the pharmacist into something of a folk hero.

Ersland, 57, is free on $100,000 bail thanks to an anonymous donor. He has won praise from the pharmacy's owner, received an outpouring of cards, letters and checks from supporters and become the darling of conservative talk radio.

"His adrenaline was going. You're just thinking of survival," said John Paul Hernandez, 60, a retired Defense Department employee who grew up in the neighborhood. "All it was is defending your employee, business and livelihood. If I was in that position and that was me, I probably would have done the same thing."

District Attorney David Prater said Ersland was justified in shooting 16-year-old Antwun Parker once in the head, but not in firing the additional shots into his belly. The prosecutor said the teenager was unconscious, unarmed, lying on his back and posing no threat when Ersland fired what the medical examiner said were the fatal shots.

But many of those who have seen the video of the May 19 robbery attempt at Reliable Discount Pharmacy have concluded the teenager in the ski mask got what he deserved.

Mark Shannon, who runs a conservative talk show on Oklahoma City's KTOK, said callers have jammed his lines this week in support of Ersland, who wears a back brace on the job and told reporters that he is a disabled veteran of the Gulf War.

"There is no gray area," Shannon said. One caller "said he should have put all the shots in the head."

Don Spencer, a 49-year-old National Rifle Association member who lives in the small town of Meridian, 40 miles north of Oklahoma City, said the pharmacist did the right thing: "You shoot more than enough to make sure the threat has been removed."

Barbara Bergman, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law, likened the public reaction to that of the case of Bernard Goetz, the New Yorker who shot four teenagers he said were trying to rob him when they asked for $5 on a subway in 1984.

Goetz was cleared of attempted murder and assault but convicted of illegal gun possession and served 8 1/2 months in jail.

Bergman said those who claim they used deadly force in self-defense have to show they were "in reasonable fear of serious bodily injury."

The pharmacy is in a crime-ridden section of south Oklahoma City and had been robbed before.

The video shows two men bursting in, one of them pointing a gun at Ersland and two women working with the druggist behind the counter. Ersland fires a pistol, driving the gunman from the store and hitting Parker in the head as he puts on a ski mask.

Ersland chases the second man outside, then goes back inside, walks behind the counter with his back to Parker, gets a second handgun and opens fire.

Irven Box, Ersland's attorney, noted the outpouring of support for the pharmacist, including $2,000 in donations, and said: "I feel very good 12 people would not determine he committed murder in the first degree."

Under Oklahoma's "Make My Day Law" — passed in the late 1980s and named for one of Clint Eastwood's most famous movie lines — people can use deadly force when they feel threatened by an intruder inside their homes. In 2006, Oklahoma's "Stand Your Ground Law" extended that to anywhere a citizen has the right to be, such as a car or office.

"It's a 'Make-My-Day' case," Box said. "This guy came in, your money or your life. Mr. Ersland said, `You're not taking my life.'" The gunman "forfeited his life."

Box said that another person might have reacted differently, but he asked: "When do you turn off that adrenaline switch? When do you think you're safe? I think that's going to be the ultimate issue."

If convicted, Ersland could be sentenced to life in prison with or without parole, or receive the death penalty.

The second suspect in the holdup, a 14-year-old boy, was arrested Thursday and faces attempted armed robbery charges.

Ersland is white and the two suspects were black. Anthony Douglas, president of the Oklahoma chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called a news conference to praise the district attorney for bringing the murder charge. But he said the organization has taken no position on Ersland's guilt or innocence.

"We want the system to do its job," Douglas said.

Parker's parents also expressed relief that Ersland faces a criminal charge.

"He didn't have to shoot my baby like that," Parker's mother, Cleta Jennings, told TV station KOCO.


Well your "baby" was a man standing before another man threatening his life. Your "baby" got what he deserved!!!!

~Brian

[Peelz]

Love that he got bail from an anonymous donor. i think once somebody threatens your life, for the most part, they lose a few human rights. I am a pretty mellow guy, but I might be inclined to pump him full of lead, especially if thoughts of my children having no father pop into my head at the moment. Not sure what i would do. I side with the pharmacist. (surprised?) Gotta love yo' dealer. 

Same debate as those cops that beat the $hit out of the idiot who ran an officer over then wrecked and got thrown from the car. Kick his ass seabass! 

[Krandall]

http://www.food2.com/blog/2009/06/02/coldstone-breakthrough-ice-cream-that-transforms-into-pudding


(really have to go to the site to see the pics )
Coldstone Breakthrough: Ice Cream That Transforms Into Pudding

Wow -- is this the frozen confectionary breakthrough of the year?  The decade?  Coldstone is about to release ice cream that doesn't melt.  No, this sweet wonder simply transforms into JELL-O pudding...


Pictured:  Butterscotch Velvet Cone

Coldstone Tastemaster (how do we apply for this job?), Ray Karam, has been working with JELL-O pudding in rigorous taste tests to create a sweet frozen treat that "...has a mouth feel much like a velvety mousse."

When your bowl of freshly-scooped Coldstone sits at room temperature for a while, an amazing transformation occurs.  The ice cream skips melting and turns into pudding instead (or so the legend goes).

Coldstone is releasing four flavors that will only be available for a limited time -- in locations from June 3rd until July 28th (SO DON'T DROP THE BALL -- get over there!).  Find your closest location here.

Pictured:  Chocolate-y Goodness Cone

To compliment the cutting-edge ice cream, Coldstone also has two new creations to showcase the flavors:

Butterscotch Velvet -- Butterscotch JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream mixed with Butterfinger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and Caramel.

Chocolatel-y Goodness -- Chocolate JELL-O Pudding Ice Cream mixed with Peanut Butter, Caramel and Fudge.

[Krandall]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i4JOyK2cvOGaIGLssoUpOWHmF2IQD98HL4QO0

Canada's 'Prince of Pot' at war with US drug war

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Psychedelic rock booms through The Vapour Lounge. In the store, young and some not-so-young people smoke pot through a variety of devices. And owner Marc Emery stands in the middle of it all, proclaiming his goal of defeating the U.S. war on drugs.

Known as the Prince of Pot, Emery has sold millions of marijuana seeds around the world by mail over the past decade. In doing so, he has drawn the attention of U.S. drug officials, who want him extradited to Seattle. Emery has agreed to plead guilty in Seattle to one count of marijuana distribution in exchange for dismissal of all other counts, and the U.S. District Attorney is pressing for a sentence of five to eight years in a U.S. prison.

The case is the latest twist in Emery's two-decade-long fight against the prohibition of marijuana in North America. To his supporters, he is a brave crusader for the use and sale of a drug with both recreational and medicinal value. To drug officials, he is a criminal and the biggest purveyor of marijuana from Canada into the United States.

Emery sits "right smack in the middle" of the North American debate over marijuana prohibition, said Allen St. Pierre of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Washington, D.C. St. Pierre predicted that Emery's trial would "kick-start it all again."

But drug officials say they are simply going after one of the world's top 50 drug traffickers. U.S. authorities claim Emery's seeds have grown $2.2 billion worth of pot.

"We've been very clear it had nothing to do with Mr. Emery's political stand," said Emily Langlie of the U.S. District Attorney's Office in Seattle.

Emery himself, a two-time candidate for mayor of Vancouver who has never shied away from publicity, seems almost gleeful about the legal saga. He calls it the greatest platform he could have in his crusade, and his Facebook page notes that these days he hums the chorus from Canadian musician Baron Longfellow's "I'm Going to Need a Miracle Tonight". He predicted he will be in a U.S. jail by August, and will then ask supporters to push for his transfer to a Canadian jail.

"I do have millions of supporters in the U.S. and Canada," he said, unburdened by false modesty. "It's my job as leader of the cannabis culture to thwart the United States government."

___

Emery, 51, was a teen when he started selling banned pro-marijuana literature in Vancouver. He did the same in London, Ontario, including on the steps of a police station, hoping to be arrested and have his day in court. Returning to Vancouver in 1994, he set out to start a "hemp revolution business," and opened a store called Hemp B.C. in the firebombed shell of a Communist bookshop in what is now known as Pot Block.

He sold marijuana seeds and used the money to fund his campaign against pot prohibition.

"It rapidly expedited cash flow. No one else in North America was doing it," he said.

Emery took in up to $2.6 million in seed sales per year. He claims to have sold more than four million seeds, three-quarters of those to customers in the U.S.

He says he has been arrested 21 times and jailed 17 times. In 2004, he was convicted in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for passing a joint, and spent three months behind bars.

In Vancouver, however, he says police have for years chosen to ignore his business. He claims federal Canadian officials have even suggested people contact him to buy seeds for medical marijuana. Furthermore, Emery says, he has paid almost $500,000 in Canadian income tax since 1999. He says his seed sales funded half the activities of the pro-marijuana movement in Canada between 1995 and 2005, and up to 10 percent of the U.S. movement.

The marijuana debate is still wending its way through communities and courts in the United States. Federal law prohibits the possession of marijuana, even for medicinal purposes. However, the states have different laws and penalties.

In Canada, cultivation is illegal except for medical use, and a campaign to legalize it is under way nationwide.

However, Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes a tough stance and wants mandatory minimum jail sentences for dealers and growers. And Emery is having trouble getting the City of Vancouver to re-licence his stores, which include The Vapour Lounge, a cafe, a convenience store and the studios for Pot TV. Vancouver is suffering a string of killings over cocaine from Mexico, sometimes bartered for homegrown marijuana.

___

Emery's latest brush with the law began on July 29, 2005, when Canadian and American drug enforcement officers nabbed him along with two employees of Emery Seeds — Michelle Rainey and Gregory Keith Williams.

Emery was arrested in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, and was returned to Canada's West Coast by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Police raided Emery's Vancouver store, which doubles as the headquarters for the British Columbia Marijuana Party he leads.

It was the culmination of an 18-month investigation by American authorities. The DEA said at the time that Emery's business and his Cannabis Culture magazine generated $5 million a year to bolster his trafficking efforts.

"He's a drug trafficker, plain and simple," said the DEA's Rodney Benson in 2006. "Marc Emery is a significant threat to the United States."

The two employees have since pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, law enforcement officials say. They have entered into a plea agreement and will be sentenced on July 17. They faced 10 years to life in prison, but prosecutors agreed to recommend two years' probation, Emery said.

According to a DEA statement, Rainey said in her plea that she sent seeds and growing instructions to customers at Emery's instruction. She said 75 percent of the customers were in the U.S.

Williams said he handled the phone orders and the wire transfer information, and also sold seeds directly to store customers. On numerous occasions in 2004, Williams sold seeds to an undercover agent, the DEA release said.

Jason Gratl of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association said Rainey and Williams were arrested to leverage Emery into surrender, and the charges against him could have disguised an ulterior motive.

"It appears the proceedings were initiated to quell certain quarters of the marijuana movement on both sides of the border," Gratl said.

Emery said he was willing to die in a U.S. jail for his cause.

"Dying as a victim of the state's cruelty would really help a person like me. The way you die is very important," he said. "Martin Luther King was killed and that's very important to his legacy."

His wife, Jodie, a former provincial Green Party candidate, snorted at this.

"I hate when he talks like that," she interjected. "I think it would be better if he continued the work he does."

Emery smiled, unrepentant.

"I had a very good reason for selling those seeds," he said. "I wanted to defeat the U.S. war on drugs."

[Peelz]

David Carradine from "KungFu" was found dead in Thailand today. Apparently, he hung himself.

Bad grasshopper. 

No details, it was on public radio a second ago.