Jon Stewart Mocks Sarah Palin's Tweets

America's Tweetheartwww.thedailyshow.com

Test results on found Aruba bone to be released Tuesday

Oranjestad, Aruba (CNN) -- Aruban prosecutors plan to release Tuesday the results of tests conducted on a jawbone found on an island beach and disclose whether it belongs to missing teenager Natalee Holloway, officials said.

The tests, conducted at the Netherlands Forensic Institute in The Hague, Netherlands, were to first determine whether the bone is that of a human or that of an animal. If the bone is human, authorities said, they would attempt to determine through DNA testing whether it belonged to Holloway. The Alabama 18-year-old was last seen on the island in 2005.

Happy 70th Birthday, John Lennon

Go for it! You'll be Happy That You Made a Difference.

U.S. Poverty on Track to Post Record Gain Under Obama's Watch

The number of people in the U.S. who are in poverty is on track for a record increase on President Obama's watch, with the ranks of working-age poor approaching 1960s levels that led to the national war on poverty.

Census figures for 2009 — the recession-ravaged first year of the Democrat's presidency — are to be released in the coming week, and demographers expect grim findings.

It's unfortunate timing for Obama and his party just seven weeks before important elections when control of Congress is at stake. The anticipated poverty rate increase — from 13.2 percent to about 15 percent — would be another blow to Democrats struggling to persuade voters to keep them in power.

Interviews with six demographers who closely track poverty trends found wide consensus that 2009 figures are likely to show a significant rate increase to the range of 14.7 percent to 15 percent.

Planned Quran-burning Could Endanger Troops, Petraeus Warns

(CNN) -- The U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Monday criticized a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning the demonstration "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," Gen. David Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the anniversary of al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by burning copies of the Muslim holy book. The church insists the event is "neither an act of love nor of hate," but a warning against what it calls the threats posed by Islam.

Colbert: Glenn Beck's Rally Has Nothing To Do With Dr. King

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Glenn-Livid
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Burning Bridges

Good riddance to former phony, two-faced "friends". "Friends" who are snobs. Cowardly "friends" who have nothing better to do than to gossip about me, rather than say things to my face. (Thanks for that, S.L.) "Friends" who have ulterior motives for "friending" me on Facebook. "Friends" who have lost their sense of humor due to supposed maturity. Male "friends" who are hen-pecked and listen to whatever their wives decree, forgetting what my "shtick" used to be, and still is. If certain individuals can influence you that much, regardless of how well you SHOULD know me, and THEY don't, then you essentially don't exist as far as I am concerned. "Friends" who have to bring their wives/husbands/girlfriends/boyfriends with them wherever they go. Here's a tip...if she/he/it is not specifically invited, DON'T bring her/him/it. That sure would save a hell of a lot of trouble.

I don't need your shit. You have no idea what a relief it is to be free of you if that's the way you have become, or always were, unbeknowst to me.

Believe you me, when the realization of how you were, or have become, took shape, there was not even a feeling of loss for you sad and sorry individuals.

BTW: Notice that no names were mentioned here, but if the shoe fits...

Wyclef Jean Fighting to Get Name on Haiti Presidential Ballot

(CNN) -- Hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean said Sunday he will contest a pronouncement from Haitian election officials ruling him ineligible to run for president of Haiti.

"After careful consideration and much soul-searching, I have made the decision to contest Haiti's board of elections' pronouncement stating that I am ineligible to run for the presidency of the country," Jean said in a statement. "I will be seeking a solution through legal channels, and I urge my countrymen to be patient through this process."

Jean's name was not on the list of 19 approved candidates released Friday night by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council. At the time, Jean said, "I respectfully accept the committee's final decision, and I urge my supporters to do the same."

Hey Rich...

Did you find whatever you were looking for? You seemed to like that Rhode Island posting, among other interesting things that you looked at. Gee, if I didn't know better...ah, never mind.

If you're looking for dirt, just ask. I'll be glad to let you know anything that you desire.

Iran's First Nuclear Plant Begins Fueling

(CNN) -- Iran began fueling its first nuclear energy plant in the southern city of Bushehr on Saturday, the nation's state media reported.

The effort will help the country create nuclear-generated electricity, Press TV said.

The transfer of nuclear fuel was being watched by the International Atomic Energy Agency and senior officials from Iran and Russia, Press TV said.

Some Western nations have questioned whether the nuclear fuel will be used solely for electricity or would Iran eventually try to enrich uranium on its own, providing material for nuclear weapons.

Obama's Support for Ground Zero Mosque Draws Fire

President Obama is under fire after jumping into the middle of a cultural clash Friday night in favor of building a mosque near ground zero, a stance that has elevated the contentious issue to the presidential level ahead of a difficult election season for Democrats.

Some victims' advocates and Republicans have strongly condemned Obama's support for the mosque, which would be part of a $100 million Islamic community center two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people perished when hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

"Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America's heart was broken nine years ago, and where her true values were on display for all to see," said Debra Burlingame, a spokeswoman for some Sept. 11 victims' families and the sister of one of the pilots killed in the attacks.

Building the mosque at ground zero, she said, "is a deliberately provocative act that will precipitate more bloodshed in the name of Allah."

Sally Regenhard, whose firefighter son was killed at the World Trade Center, said the president had failed to understand the issue. "As an Obama supporter, I really feel that he's lost sight of the germane issue, which is not about freedom of religion," she said. "It's about a gross lack of sensitivity to the 9/11 families and to the people who were lost."

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said the president is "wrong."

"It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero," he said in a written statement.

"While the Muslim community has the right to build the mosque, they are abusing that right by needlessly offending so many people who have suffered so much," he said. "The right and moral thing for President Obama to have done was to urge Muslim leaders to respect the families of those who died and move their mosque away from ground zero. Unfortunately, the president caved into political correctness."

Wyclef Jean to Run for President of Haiti

(CNN) -- Hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean says he has submitted the necessary paperwork to run for president of Haiti, a country he left when he was a child.


Whoever steps in will also oversee the billions of dollars in international aid promised to the country since the quake.


Jean's announcement quickly became a top topic on the internet, with many debating whether the music star best known for rapping, playing the guitar and dancing, could actually lead a country.


One outspoken critic was actor Sean Penn, who has lived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, for months to help manage 50,000 displaced Haitians living in a camp.

Penn said he questioned Jean's motives.

"What the Haitian people need now is a leader who is genuinely willing to sacrifice," Penn said. "I haven't seen or heard anything of him in these last six months that I've been in Haiti. I think he's an important voice. I hope he doesn't sacrifice that voice by taking the eye off the very devastating realities on the ground."

Penn mentioned past allegations that Jean mishandled funds from his nonprofit organization Yele Haiti and used some of the money donated for Haitians.

"He claims he didn't do it. That has to be looked into it," Penn said. "I've been there. I know what $400,000 could do for these people's lives."

Cemetery Tells Father of Fallen Soldier to Take Down Flags

It's 55 percent and wrapped in roadkill, is this the world's most 'shocking' beer?

You'd expect a lot from a bottle of beer costing $765. What you get is 55 percent alcohol — and served in a squirrel.

According to Scottish firm BrewDog, "The End of History" is the "strongest, most expensive and most shocking beer in the world."

Just 12 bottles were made and the company has already sold out. They will be shipped out to buyers in the United States, Canada, Italy, Denmark, Scotland and England next week.

The dead animals which were used to create the beers' unusual appearance were four squirrels, seven weasels and a hare.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Beer: now available in a squirrel carcass (inquisitr.com)

My Back Pages

Inmate Set to Die by Firing Squad Asks High Court to Stay Execution

Washington (CNN) -- A Utah death row inmate who would become only the third person to die by firing squad in the United States in 33 years appealed to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking a last-minute stay of execution.

Ronnie Lee Gardner's lawyers filed the first of what are expected to be several appeals to the justices. He is scheduled to be put to death early Friday for the shooting death of attorney Michael Burdell during a botched escape attempt from custody in 1985 at a Salt Lake City, Utah, courthouse.

Among the claims the 49-year-old prisoner raises in his appeals is that he has been a death row inmate too long.

"He asserts that executing him now, after nearly 25 years on death row in Utah, so lacks retributive or deterrent value that it violates the Eighth Amendment," Andrew Parnes, Gardner's lawyer, told the high court. He did not return phone calls from CNN seeking comment.

Custody Battle Keeps Arizona Mom and Daughter Stuck in Bahrain

Yazmin Maribel Bautista wants desperately to get out of Bahrain, but she says she won't return home to the U.S. without her 5-year-old daughter -- and that's something her ex-husband says will never happen.

Bautista, 43, of Phoenix, is locked in a bitter child custody dispute with her 28-year-old ex-husband, Sadiq Jaffar Al-Saffar, over their daughter Fatima, who was born in 2004 when her parents lived in Arizona.

Fatima wasn't even 2 years old when her father left her mother and went home to his native Bahrain, where he got engaged to a much younger woman. But despite having been abandoned, Bautista traveled to visit with her ex-husband in Bahrain last year, lured by the promise of a new job and a chance for her daughter to spend time with her father -- an information technology worker -- in his native country.

But now that his ex-wife and daughter are in Bahrain, Al-Saffar has filed for custody of the little girl -- and a judge in the small Mideast country has ruled that the little girl, a native-born American, cannot go home with her mom.

Webby Awards Red Carpet

Webby Awards Red Carpet

Van der Sloot Confesses to Peru Killing

Dutchman Joran van der Sloot, long the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of a U.S. teen in Aruba, has confessed to killing a young Peruvian woman in his Lima hotel room last week, a police spokesman said.

Peru's chief police spokesman, Col. Abel Gamarra, told The Associated Press that Van der Sloot admitted under police questioning Monday that he killed 21-year-old Stephany Flores on May 30.

According to La Republica newspaper, Van der Sloot told officials he broke Flores' neck in a rage after he discovered she had used his notebook computer without permission and learned he was involved in the disappearance of Holloway.

"I did not want to do it," La Republica quoted him as saying. "The girl intruded into my private life."

Carl Sagan discusses nuclear self-destruction

No mosque at Ground Zero

Stacy Peterson Search Suspended As Authorities Need 'More Sophisticated Equipment'

Following up on a "credible lead," police spent the day Saturday digging at a farm near Peoria, Illinois, looking for the remains of the missing Stacy Peterson.

After a full day's search turned up nothing, authorities said they would return later in the week with "more sophisticated equipment."

The development comes as Drew Peterson, Stacy's husband and a former Bolingbrook police officer, prepares to stand trial for the murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Savio was found drowned in a bathtub in 2004, a death that was initially ruled an accident. But when Stacy Peterson went missing, the Savio investigation was re-opened and ruled a murder.

Prosecutors have long alleged that Peterson murdered Stacy because of what she knew about his previous wife's death. But without a body, the ex-cop can't be charged in that case.

This latest flurry of activity in the search for Stacy Peterson comes just a month before the Savio trial is set to begin, a fact which angers the defense. From the Chicago Tribune:
"They're trying to dirty up the defendant with an irrelevant search," attorney Joel Brodsky said. "It's a despicable tactic."

Brodsky, who spoke to Peterson on Saturday, described his client as "upbeat, confident and looking forward to trial."

But police say the lead they're pursuing is credible. TMZ.com reported that Peterson told a fellow inmate where he buried Stacy's body, but both the authorities and the Peterson defense team deny that story, pointing out that Peterson has been held in isolation.

Van der Sloot Remains Jailed as Murder Investigation Continues

Lima, Peru (CNN) -- A judge has extended the investigation into murder suspect Joran van der Sloot, accused of killing a Peruvian woman, for another week, a spokeswoman for Peru's Interior Ministry said Sunday.

Van der Sloot, a Dutch citizen, will remain jailed in Lima, Peru, during that time, spokeswoman Rut Cardenas told CNN.

Cardenas said a judge has given investigators another week to gather information about van der Sloot's alleged involvement in the death of a young Peruvian woman last week.

Carlos Neyra, an official with the Peruvian National Police criminal investigation division, said van der Sloot, the sole suspect named in the case, has not been formally charged. Neyra added that van der Sloot now has a lawyer, assigned by the Dutch Embassy.

The Dutch Consulate has told Peruvian authorities that it is not comfortable with the way van der Sloot has been presented to the media, Neyra said. The Peruvian interior minister is asking authorities not to talk about the case without his authorization.

Holloway suspect detained in Peru killing

SANTIAGO, Chile - A Dutch man long suspected in the disappearance of an Alabama teen in Aruba was detained Thursday in Chile in the murder of a young woman in Peru.

Stephany Flores, 21, was killed in a Lima hotel on Sunday, five years to the day after Holloway disappeared.

The suspect, Joran van der Sloot, was in a taxi apparently headed to Vina del Mar, a coastal city in central Chile, when he was taken into custody, the El Comercio newspaper in Peru reported. He was brought back to Santiago, the newspaper said.

Websites to Avoid - MVPMODS Forums

IF you are just looking to download mods and things of that sort, by all means try http://www.mvpmods.com/.

I would advise avoiding the forums though, UNLESS you are willing to suck up to the various moderators, admins and modders. They are the most ultra-sensitive, childish, bunch of losers that you will ever run across.

It doesn't matter how honest you are about the various bugs, errors, or omissions from the various mods that are presented. Criticism will NOT be tolerated. It seems to them that everything released is absolutely perfect in every way. Untouchable! Don't DARE criticize a mod, whether it is justified, or not.

Then there is the lovely habit all of the admins and moderators have of ganging up on a new member for the SLIGHTEST infraction. It's almost as if they just wait to pounce on anyone unfortunate enough to not post in the way that they anally-retentive approve of. And that goes for seasoned members also. Criticize a mod, get ganged up on.

Of course, most of the blame has to go to it's owner, "Trues" who seems oblivious to everything that goes on there, or just doesn't care who he chooses, or what their qualifications are, to be a mod or admin.

"SEAN O" was ridiculously made an admin sometime back. Talk about a shithead with a hair trigger! Make even ONE remark about one of his created stadiums and see where it gets you. It doesn't matter whether the remark was justified. And believe me, he is THE WORST stadium modder that there is. There is something wrong with EVERY SINGLE STADIUM THAT HE HAS EVER MADE! Sure, he tries to make excuses by blaming it on EA, but give me a break! YOU SUCK at making stadiums! GIVE IT UP!

"Yankees4Life," another admin, is some piece of work. This guy is not only on MVPMODS CONSTANTLY, but also other websites. And this clown claims to be married. I doubt that he is, only because if he REALLY is, his wife is glad to be rid of him for all the time he spends on baseball sites, or has some interests of her own that make his absence tolerable. Know what I mean?

"Tebjr," another major asshole, doesn't even deserve additional comment. That's how much I think of you, piece of shit.

Good old "JIM825?" A friggin snake, of the worst kind. And you know what I mean, don't you, asswipe?

Here's a post that I left in one of the threads:

Just admit it. This project will probably never get done. End of story. You heard it here first.

I'm sure that people can read between the lines:

Yeah, this has been put on long term hold

I must admit, after getting The Show 10, I have not even turned MVP on once, or even had the desire to do so. Plus, with the Cubs ruining the game of baseball for me at this point, I am not even all that excited to play The Show.

I think I bit off more than I wanted to chew when I started creating 100+ new player audio files. I was already getting pretty burnt out on that after about 5 guys

====================

Here's the response I received back:

emath2432 said:
======================================================================
You're an *** hole, but I bet you already know that. I think a perfect thing to do would be to finish it, but only let the people I want to have it, have it, and you can **** off.

I have already put more hours into doing what I have done then you probably ever would, considering it is for free, and the last thing I need is a piece of **** like you telling me anything. In fact, it's the 2 or 3 jerks that have commented on how long it is taking me that make me not want to ever make it public, even if I do finish it.

Have a nice day :)
======================================================================

Nice, huh? Just an example of the over-reaction one can expect for the slightest criticism.

Mexican Standoff 04/03/06

I don’t know how everybody else feels about it, but to me I think Hispanic people in this country, legally or illegally, made a huge public relations mistake with their recent demonstrations.

I don’t blame anybody in the world for wanting to come to the United States of America, as it is a truly wonderful place. But when the first thing you do when you set foot on American soil is illegal it is flat out wrong and I don’t care how many lala land left heads come out of the woodwork and start trying to give me sensitivity lessons.

I don’t need sensitivity lessons, in fact I don’t have anything against Mexicans, I just have something against criminals and anybody who comes into this country illegally is a criminal and if you don’t believe it try coming into America from a foreign country without a passport and see how far you get.

What disturbs me about the demonstrations is that it’s tantamount to saying, “I am going to come into your country even if it means breaking your laws and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

It’s an “in your face” action and speaking just for me I don’t like it one little bit and if there were a half dozen pairs of gonads in Washington bigger than English peas it wouldn’t be happening.

Where are you, you bunch of lilly livered, pantywaist, forked tongued, sorry excuses for defenders of The Constitution? Have you been drinking the water out of the Potomac again?

And even if you pass a bill on immigration it will probably be so pork laden and watered down that it won’t mean anything anyway. Besides, what good is another law going to do when you won’t enforce the ones on the books now?

And what ever happened to the polls guys? I thought you folks were the quintessential finger wetters. Well you sure ain’t paying any attention to the polls this time because somewhere around eighty percent of Americans want something done about this mess, and mess it is and getting bigger everyday.

This is no longer a problem, it is a dilemma and headed for being a tragedy. Do you honestly think that what happened in France with the Muslims can’t happen here when the businesses who hire these people finally run out of jobs and a few million disillusioned Hispanics take to the streets?

If you, Mr. President, Congressmen and Senators, knuckle under on this and refuse to do something meaningful it means that you care nothing for the kind of country your children and grandchildren will inherit.

But I guess that doesn’t matter as long as you get re-elected.

Shame on you.

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels

©Copyright The Charlie Daniels Band

7-year-old girl killed in Detroit police raid

A 7-year-old girl was shot and killed when an officer's gun went off during a struggle with a woman in a house where Detroit police were searching for a suspect in the slaying of a teenager, MyFoxDetroit.com reported.

Assistant Chief Ralph Godbee said at a news conference Sunday that Aiyana Jones was hit in the neck by a single bullet and died at a hospital.

"This is any parent's worst nightmare. It also is any police officer's worst nightmare," Godbee said.

Godbee reportedly said officers with the department's Special Response Team set off a flash grenade as they entered the home about 12:40 a.m. Sunday with a warrant to look for a suspect in the Friday slaying of a 17-year-old boy.

The lead officer encountered a 46-year-old woman immediately inside the front room of the house and "some level of physical contact" ensued during which the officer's gun went off, according to the station. The officers had reportedly identified themselves as police.

National Day of Reason :: 2010 Events

National Day of Reason :: 2010 Events

Posted using ShareThis

Pat Condell Pulls No Punches

Noah's Ark Hoax Claim Doesn't Deter Believers

Earlier this week a group of Chinese Christians held a news conference to announce they were 99.9 percent sure they had found Noah's Ark — the boat the Bible says was built by God's most righteous man before a "sinful" human race drowned in the Great Flood.

Maybe the find on Mount Ararat in Turkey really is Noah's Ark. More likely, it isn't. But if it isn't, that won't stop Ark enthusiasts from believing it is out there somewhere.

Immediately in the wake of the news flash, experts weighed in to shoot it down. "The wood in the photos is not old enough" ... "There are no location pictures to verify the site" ... "No independent experts have looked at the data" ... "There's never been evidence of a great flood."

And the people voicing the loudest caution are biblical archeologists who believe the ark is real and that it can be found.

Dr. Randall Price, head of Judaic Studies at Liberty University, had been a cohort of the Noah's Ark International team until two years ago. He pulled out of the project, sensing they were being taken advantage of by Kurdish guides, who've turned Ark searching into a cottage industry.

"I think we can't rule out the possibility that this is a hoax, because a lot of the things that happen in that region of the world, and especially with the Kurdish guides that are involved, are designed to try to extract money from gullible people," Price said.

Dr. John Morris, lead archeologist at the Institute for Creation Research, says "I'm leaning towards that the Chinese people have been deceived."

Morris has led 13 expeditions to Mount Ararat looking for the ark. He knows the area well and says of the recent find, "At best, it is an elaborate deception."

Professor Porcher Taylor at the University of Richmond says he, too, believes it is not Noah's Ark, because "they're digging in the wrong place on Mt. Ararat."

A fundamental question separating scientific inquiry into Noah's Ark is: Is the account of the great flood in the Bible true, or is it a mythical legend?

Dr. Paul Zimansky, professor of archeology and ancient history at State University of New York at Stony Brook, says, "I think it has all the earmarks of a story, but in any case it isn't anything we can investigate as an archaeologist."

A catastrophic flood on Earth is spoken of in many ancient cultures: in Sumerian, Babylonian, Greek, Hindu, Gallic, Scandinavian and Chinese legends. Some even predate the Old Testament.

The odd thing, Zimansky says, is that even though there are written accounts of the flood in all these cultures, archaeologists have yet to find evidence of it.

If you take the Bible literally, Zimansky says, "this ark is going to be deposited in an archaeological context which would be a flood stratum. And it's not going to be a little flood stratum. It's going to cover the entire Earth. Well, no such flood stratum exists."

Many experts have concluded from examining the photos that the images are of rock formations that strongly resemble the boat described in Genesis.

Natalee Holloway's Remains? Aruba Divers to Examine Area

Oh PLEASE! That's just a bunch of rocks.

Can you say "paredolia?"

My Favorite Duets - Part 1

Rabid Otter Mauls Venice Walker, 96

SARASOTA COUNTY - A 96-year-old man was attacked by a three-foot rabid otter Friday as he took his daily pre-dawn stroll in the Venice East neighborhood.

Two good Samaritans tried for nearly six minutes to get the otter off the man, Morrell Denton, kicking and yelling at the animal while a 911 operator listened and tried to assist.

A Sarasota County sheriff's deputy finally shot the otter dead.

Denton suffered numerous cuts and bruises. One of his rescuers, Christopher Janssen, was also bitten by the otter.

"I kept trying to get him off me," Denton said of the rabid animal. "It's like nothing I've heard of."

Denton was just past the halfway mark of his walk, circling back in the dark along a wooded stretch of Venice East Boulevard near a lake, when he saw something dark emerge from the woods.

"I thought it was someone's pet," Denton said.

The otter "grabbed me by the foot and pulled on my leg and I went down," he said.

Denton was writhing on the ground and bleeding while trying to pull at the otter's ears and head to get him off, but the animal continued to bite.

Raymond Duval, 53, was driving past in his white truck when he saw Denton on the ground and called 911.

The 11-minute 911 recording chronicles Duval kicking the otter and swearing at it and Janssen stopping to help.

"There's a man on the ground with an otter on him," Duval told the emergency operator about 4:30 a.m. "He's lost a lot of blood."

"This otter is nonstop," Duval told the operator. "Please hurry."

One of the rescuers finally struck the otter with a shovel.

SeaWorld Stands by Killer Whale

Two days after a killer whale grabbed the pony tail of his trainer and dragged her into the tank, causing her to drown, SeaWorld officials affirmed the giant orca would not be punished, but that all trainers would be kept out of the tanks until a review can be completed.

The killer whale that drowned a veteran trainer was just curious about her ponytail and dragged her into the water to investigate a new toy, the former head of animal training at SeaWorld Orlando said Friday.

Tilikum is the only killer whale in the SeaWorld chain that the park has special handling rules for, Atchison said. The 22-foot, 12,000-pound male was involved in two earlier deaths at SeaWorld and a park in British Columbia.

Help! Saving Abbey Road Studios

LONDON – It’s been a hard day’s night for lovers of the iconic Abbey Road Studios, where The Beatles recorded all but one of their albums.

A magnet for music lovers from all over the world, every year thousands of fans visit the place in north London where some the biggest albums of the last 50 years were made.

Tourists stop traffic, snapping each other giggling and stepping along the pedestrian crossing as they recreate the cover from the Beatles’ 1969 album Abbey Road.

But it now seems one of Britain’s most treasured musical landmarks has fallen on hard times. Recording company EMI owns the studios and is trying to sell the building, valued at just over $45 million.

Public outcry has followed rumors that the site could be sold for apartments.

ANDY RAIN / EPA

Richard Porter, a Beatles tour guide, holds his copy of the Beatles' Abbey Road album at Abbey Road in London. The iconic album was recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios.

Help could be at hand. Sir Paul McCartney has pledged his support to save the recording studio, and Andrew Lloyd Webber has said he’s very interested in buying it.

The theater impresario has recorded most of his musicals there, including his new production out in March, “Love Never Dies.”

“It’s vital that the studios are saved for the future of the music industry in the UK,” he told msnbc.com. “Abbey Road has such great facilities.”

Social network campaign
After being lobbied by fans on Facebook and Twitter, The National Trust, a body that protects England’s historical landmarks, is pushing for the studios to be given Grade II listed status.

That would protect the site from any commercial development. The trust already owns the childhood homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney in Liverpool.

But listing the building would not prevent part of it from being turned into a museum, another idea you can hear being mooted in pubs and café’s as well as in columns in the British press.

OLI SCARFF / Getty Images

Graffiti graces a wall at the entrance to the Abbey Road recording studios, which have been put up for sale by their owner, EMI.

Bill Harry went to art college with John Lennon before going on to produce “Mersey Beat,” a magazine about Liverpool’s music scene in the early ‘60s.

He said he’s horrified that the studios might shut down. “It’s a magical place where some of the world’s biggest artists have recorded, such as Pink Floyd, Duran Duran and many others,” he said.

“In many ways the rock landscape that I was brought up in seems to be changing,” Harry said. “The art college where I went to school with John Lennon has been sold and will be turned into flats, and the original Cavern (the Liverpool club where the Beatles got their start) was knocked down to make an air vent for the railway.

“These are important icons, and Abbey Road in particular is one of the main tourist attractions in London."

Abbey Road Studios is still a fully functioning recording mill bursting with state of the art equipment. And it still churns out great music. Albums made there have this year won Grammys or been nominated for awards by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Fingers are crossed for the studio – let it be.

George Carlin on Food

Then & Now - Hayley Mills

Matthews: Palin has ‘nothing going on mentally’ | Raw Story

Matthews: Palin has ‘nothing going on mentally’ | Raw Story

Then & Now - Linda Grey and Charlene Tilton

Palin says 2012 presidential bid a possibility

(CNN) -- Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she would consider a run for president in 2012 if the situation was right for her family and the nation.

Palin's Tea Party Crib Notes

Closer inspection of a photo of Sarah Palin, during a speech in which she mocked President Obama for his use of a teleprompter, reveals several notes written on her left hand. The words "Energy", "Tax" and "Lift American Spirits" are clearly visible. There's also what appears to read as "Budget cuts" with the word Budget crossed out.

Just to be clear: The notes most likely weren't for her speech, for which she used prepared remarks, but for the Q&A session that followed, during which she glanced at the hand in question.

But in my opinion that's even worse.

There were no specifics on there, just general concepts and things she supports.
The takeaway is that this presidential contender apparently can't remember her supposed core principles and needs a cheat-sheet when simply asked about her beliefs.
To quote Charlie Brown:

Good grief.

'Blame Bush' Strategy Wears Thin as Obama Enters Second Year

One year into his administration, President Obama might want to consider dropping the "blame Bush" page from his playbook.

Whether it's the economy, national security or America's reputation abroad, the president and his top advisers have been pinning the blame on the prior administration, directly or obliquely, ever since Obama's inauguration a full year ago. They've done so, in fact, at least seven times since last Tuesday's stunning upset in the Massachusetts Senate election.

Bush

White House adviser: Obama has brought 'enormous change'

Washington (CNN) -- The White House rejected criticism Sunday that President Obama has not delivered on his promise of "change" during his first year in office.

White House delusional adviser Valerie Jarrett said the president has brought about "enormous change."

Obviously speaking under the influence of massive sedatives, she opined, "I think what we've seen is a dramatic difference in terms of how the United States is perceived around the world," Jarrett told NBC's "Meet the Press," on the final Sunday before the president's State of the Union address.

Without mentioning the Christmas day terror attempt, she idiotically claimed that Obama's travels have established relationships with world leaders that "lay a foundation for keeping America safe and making us a partner around the world," she added.

Without a word about the thousands of people who are out of work, Jarrett also nonsensically credited the president with having "pulled back the economy from the brink of disaster" even though he has nothing of the sort and may possibly have even made thing worse.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a person who still has some semblance of sanity,  on the same program, countered that "if you look at the first year of this administration, we haven't made much progress." He complained about the deficit in the president's budget and the health care reform package that Republicans oppose

New York Woman Says Hundreds of Kin Missing in Haiti

(CNN) -- The list of relatives Widline Germain has not heard from since Haiti's earthquake seems like a town population in itself.
"When you count our extended family -- the dozens of cousins and aunts and uncles -- there's several hundred of us in Haiti, and we don't know where most of them are," she said from her home in Binghamton, New York.

Kate McGarrigle, Singer and Songwriter, Has Died

Kate McGarrigle, a Canadian singer and songwriter who, with her sister Anna, had a repertory of intimate songs about love and family in good times and bad, died of liver cancer on Monday. She was 63 and died at her home in Montreal, her brother-in-law, Dane Lanken, told The Associated Press.

The McGarrigle Sisters were praised by critics for the warmth of their harmonies and for their approach to folk music, which was neither academic nor commercial. Born in Montreal and raised in St.-Saveur-des-Monts, a village about 50 miles to the north, the sisters learned music from nuns and from their family’s regular singalongs at home, which drew from wide sources in folk and traditional pop. The eldest McGarrigle sister, Jane, was a church organist.

Kate McGarrigle, who was once married to the singer Loudon Wainwright III, and her survivors include her sisters and two children who have become well-known singers, Rufus and Martha.

Mystery Visitor Fails to Show Up at Edgar Allan Poe Grave

BALTIMORE —  Is this tradition "nevermore"?
A mysterious visitor who left roses and cognac at the grave of Edgar Allan Poe each year on the writer's birthday failed to show early Tuesday, breaking with a ritual that began more than 60 years ago.
"I'm confused, befuddled," said Jeff Jerome, curator of the Poe House and Museum. "I don't know what's going on."

The tradition dates back to at least 1949, according to newspaper accounts from the era, Jerome said. Since then, an unidentified person has come every Jan. 19 to leave three roses and a half-bottle of cognac at Poe's grave in a church cemetery in downtown Baltimore.

The event has become a pilgrimage for die-hard Poe fans, some of whom travel hundreds of miles. About three dozen stood huddled in blankets during the overnight cold Tuesday, peering through the churchyard's iron gates hoping to catch a glimpse of the figure known only as the "Poe toaster."

At 5:30 a.m., Jerome emerged from inside the church, where he and a select group of Poe enthusiasts keep watch over the graveyard, and announced to the crowd that the visitor never arrived. He allowed an Associated Press reporter inside the gates to view both of Poe's grave sites, the original one and a newer site where the body was moved in 1875. There was no sign of roses or cognac at either tombstone.

Jerome said the Poe toaster has always arrived before 5:30 a.m. There was still a chance the visit could occur later in the day, but Jerome said he doubted the person would risk a public unveiling by performing the task in daylight, when other visitors could be there.

"I'm very disappointed, to the point where I want to cry," said Cynthia Pelayo, 29, who had stood riveted to her prime viewing spot at the gate for about six hours. "I flew in from Chicago to see him. I'm just really sad. I hope that he's OK."

Pelayo and Poe fans from as far as Texas and Massachusetts had passed the overnight hours reading aloud from Poe's works, including the poem "The Raven," with its haunting repetition of the word "nevermore." Soon they were speculating, along with Jerome, about what might have caused the visitor not to appear.
"You've got so many possibilities," said Jerome, who has attended the ritual every year since 1977. "The guy had the flu, accident, too many people."

Tuesday marked the 201st anniversary of Poe's birth, and Jerome speculated that perhaps the visitor considered last year's bicentennial an appropriate stopping point.
"People will be asking me, 'Why do you think he stopped?'" Jerome said. "Or did he stop? We don't know if he stopped. He just didn't come this year."

There have also been recent controversies over which city should be regarded as Poe's rightful home, with some making the case that the remains perhaps should be moved to Richmond, Va., Philadelphia or Boston, cities with their own Poe legacies.

Jerome said he thinks it's unlikely the dispute is connected to the Poe toaster's no-show. If anything, Jerome felt the visitor might have weighed in on the controversy by leaving a note with the roses and cognac, as has been done in some previous years.

One such note was left in 1993, when the visitor wrote: "The torch will be passed." Years later, another note indicated the man had died in 1998 and had handed the tradition to his two sons.
Sam Porpora, a former historian at Westminster Presbyterian Church, where Poe is buried, claimed in 2007 that he was the original Poe toaster and that he had came up with the idea in the 1970s as a publicity stunt. Jerome disputed Porpora's claims by citing a 1950 article in The (Baltimore) Evening Sun that referred to the annual tribute.

Poe was the American literary master of the macabre, noted for poems and short stories including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." He is also credited with writing the first modern detective story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," which appeared in 1841.
He died Oct. 7, 1849, in Baltimore at the age of 40 after collapsing in a tavern.

As for the fate of his annual visitor? That's a new mystery.

Jerome said he will continue the vigil for at least the next two or three years, in case the visits resume.
"So, for me," he said, "it's not over with."

And Speaking of the Ridiculous "N word" Phrase

Publisher Renames Joseph Conrad Classic 'The N-word of the Narcissus'

A classic turn-of-the-century English novelist whose works have been read by countless millions of people is having his work sanitized for a new generation of readers.

Joseph Conrad, whose "Heart of Darkness" and "Lord Jim" have been scrutinized by English students on multiple continents for decades, wrote a lesser known novel in 1897 called "The Nigger of the Narcissus."

Now, in what critics are calling a blatant act of politically correct censorship, a Netherlands-based publisher has reprinted the novel under a new name: "The N-word of the Narcissus."

The new version is the first installment of WordBridge Publishing's classic texts series, featuring "texts with a message for moderns, made accessible to moderns."

But some critics say updating a Conrad novel by replacing all mentions of the offensive term "nigger" with "n-word" is just as offensive as the word itself.

"It's outrageous," said Niger Innis, spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality, a New York-based civil rights organization. "Are they going to go to Mark Twain as well and take out all of those references?

"It's censorship, and to blacken over a word does not mean that you can blacken over the history."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,582491,00.html

 

John Lennon on Dick Cavett

When Will Nitwits Learn About Open Mics?

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