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Monique Houston, Whitney Houston’s former sister-in-law, speaks out for the first time since the singer’s death

Lisa.Felice
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Monique Houston, Whitney Houston’s former sister-in-law, speaks out for the first time since the singer’s death

Monique Houston, Whitney Houston’s former sister-in-law and ex-wife of Gary Houston, speaks out for the first time in an exclusive interview with Ebony.com about being shut out of the family and why the singer’s death was not a surprise for her.

Monique Houston said she is aware of the consequences and she made the mistake of speaking out years ago about what she said was a pattern of enabling within the Houston family. The result? She was cut off. Monique Houston was married to Gary Houston and the two share a son and daughter. But this time, Monique Houston says she will not be silent.

Like most people who’ve ever been affiliated with Whitney Houston and who have spoken out since the singer’s death, she says she wasn’t surprised at how her story played out. But the culprit, Monique Houston says, is that for years there’s been a pattern of enabling, and she hopes that by speaking out now, she’ll help save the next generation of the Houston clan.

EBONY: Why do you want to talk now?

Monique Houston: If it’s not now, when? I just really had to speak out about the cycle that has gone on for a number of years. Now is the time for me really to take this situation and speak about it. So that’s where I’m at now. I’ve really tried to shield my children. They’ve dealt with a lot over the years and I really try to shield them from a lot of negativity that would come their way, but now that they are adults and they’re as healthy as they can be under the circumstances, I think they’re prepared for what’s ahead and some of the realities.

EBONY: It sounds like you really weren’t all that shocked at how things unfortunately ended for your former sister-in-law, is that correct?

MH: No, I wasn’t shocked. I was caught off guard. You know, we all prayed that she would recover and …recovery with a drug addict is an ongoing process. But she just was so healthy and beautiful from the press that came out of Sparkle, that it just totally caught me off guard. I really was sitting back and looking forward to the movie actually coming out and what would happen for her with that. So I was really caught off guard, but unfortunately, I wasn’t surprised.

EBONY: When was the last time you’d actually spoken with her?

MH: Many years ago. I left right after her wedding to Bobby Brown. I left my husband around that time, and then I think I had Thanksgiving with her and Bobby and Mrs. [Cissy] Houston about a year or two after that. So that was one of the last times I had actual contact with her.

EBONY: What do you think the real issue was? You kind of say that the burden of being Whitney Houston is what ultimately killed your former sister-in-law. What do you mean about that, specifically?

MH: Well, it was a large image to live up to. I mean, the image they created for her was a part of who she was, but it wasn’t the whole person. And I feel that trying to live up to that perfect type of pop diva type of image they created for her was a lot of weight. Trying to live up to what everybody in her family wanted or needed from her was a huge responsibility for her also. And then the media just picked at her constantly and always questioned her lifestyle … I just feel like that was an awful lot of pressure.

Monique Houston, Whitney’s former sister-in-law and ex-wife of Gary, speaks out for the first time since the singer’s death
Monique Houston, Whitney’s former sister-in-law and ex-wife of Gary, speaks out for the first time since the singer’s death

EBONY: Did you ever talk with her about that pressure back when you all still had a relationship and were talking more frequently?

MH: We never talked about the pressure, per se, but anytime that she did have down time, you could really get a general sense that she cherished it. It was an awful lot to get out there and work. The road was very demanding and tiring and Whitney was really a homebody. I believe she did love to sing, but my opinion is the performance end of it and the rigors of that really took a toll on her as well.

EBONY: How about your children? I know that they’re older, but how are they handling it? And what have you said to them about it?

MH: It was really devastating. The first thing they did was basically to come home and withdraw a little bit. My son didn’t want to go to school—he’s finishing up at Morehouse. The conversation I have had with them has been the truth over the years. My ex-husband was arrested for drugs in North Carolina (when they were kids). So here I am as a parent trying to shield them and not have them watch TV and they go to school and somebody in the first grade says, ‘Your father was arrested for drugs; he’s a drug dealer.’ You know? Or they would come at them, ‘Oh, your aunt’s this or your aunt’s that.’ Over the years, I

had to always reassure them, and educate them, and be honest with them. I’ve always been honest with them about their father’s addiction. I had to also prepare them for the reality of what would be coming out in the press, as far as their aunt was concerned.

EBONY: Are you concerned about any backlash from the Houston family, talking about some of those issues now?

MH: Not really, because I’ve been through so much with them. I basically raised my kids on my own. I’ve had a lot of different issues with my ex-husband and his wife over the years. Mrs. Houston doesn’t speak to me after I did speak out publicly about six years ago about some of the issues that I was having. I also made comments on the “Being Bobby Brown” reality show. So the relationship between my kids and the Houstons has not been a straight line. Whatever relationship they choose to have with their family in the future … I don’t feel that I could negatively affect something that hasn’t been fluid to start with. I told my kids that they have had a lifetime to get to know my children and the door was always open for access. This information I’m revealing is kind of like ‘don’t kill the messenger.’ It’s hard to hear, and a lot of people don’t want to hear it, but it’s the truth. And sometimes the truth is painful.

EBONY: What are you hoping happens after this interview?

MH: Well my hope is for the next generation in the Houston family. I can’t really hold a lot of hope for the adults. I think a lot of the adults in the family have had a responsibility to have healthier relationships within the family and they haven’t. So I really would hope my kids and their cousins would be able to take some of the information and apply it to their lives and move forward. I hope Bobbi Kris can find a healthier lifestyle in the future. I don’t’ know what environment she is in, but that’s one reason why I came forward. I just felt like some of the denial and some of the covering, which is part of enabling, it has to stop now—not only for my children’s benefit but for her wellbeing going forward.

EBONY: You’ve expressed concern for Bobbi Kristina. Are you thinking she’s jumping into the business too soon?

MH: If this is what she wants, I believe in educating yourself or framing or studying your craft if that’s what she wants to do. I think that she does need some type of focus as far as something to do with her life and direction and I was really pleased that somebody like Tyler Perry did reach out to her. He would be an excellent mentor for her as far as some of the things he’s been through, how he’s come through and how he’s flourished. I think she could learn a lot from his story, as far as survival and recovery—that may help her. I just felt that the Oprah interview was just a little too soon, as far as timing.

EBONY: Do you have a relationship with Bobbi Kristina?

MH: No, I don’t. When I walked away, I walked away. I didn’t expect to have any continuing relationships, necessarily. I did have one with Mrs. Houston, but that fell apart. And the only thing I’ve wanted was that my children have those healthy relationships—which sometimes did not happen.

EBONY: Are they close with your ex-husband?

MH: Not at all. Not at all. That’s really, right now—in my opinion—a toxic relationship.

EBONY: What’s something you would love for the world to know about your former sister-in-law? What’s something that maybe wasn’t as obvious to the rest of us as was to you?

MH: She just had a great sense of humor and she loved to laugh. And you know, that’s the thing that I think about the most —when she was relaxed at home it was all a bunch of laughter and jokes and being silly—especially with her brothers, and her brother Michael. So that’s the biggest thing. She loved her nieces and her nephews. She loved having children around. When she would be backstage—either coming off stage or going on—when the kids were little, she liked to sit them on her lap, and I think that calmed her down a lot. So just the fun-loving person that she was. And one thing that I wish that she could have done was continue acting, and even have been in a comedy cause she just had that wit that a lot of people didn’t get to see.

 

Anders Breivik Trial Day 4: he originally planned three car bombs in Oslo

Diane A. Wade
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Anders Breivik Trial Day 4: he originally planned three car bombs in Oslo

The fourth day of Norway’s trial of the century begins with Anders Behring Breivik telling the court he originally planned to detonate three car bombs.

The sole car bomb Anders Breivik did set off killed eight people in Oslo. The mass killer said he decided against multiple bombs because building them was “more difficult than [he] had thought”.

Anders Breivik disputed a psychiatrist’s report describing him as insane.

Earlier, he told the court he took a year off to play World of Warcraft.

Anders Breivik described using computer games to rehearse scenarios before setting off the car bomb outside a government building in the Norwegian capital on 22 July 2011.

He said his initial targets for the three bombs were government headquarters, Labour Party offices and the royal castle, but not the royal family itself.

The fourth day of Norway’s trial of the century begins with Anders Behring Breivik telling the court he originally planned to detonate three car bombs
The fourth day of Norway’s trial of the century begins with Anders Behring Breivik telling the court he originally planned to detonate three car bombs

Anders Breivik followed his car bomb attack with a mass shooting at a Labour Party summer camp on Utoeya island, killing 69 people, many of them teenagers.

He told prosecutors he came up with idea of targeting Utoeya when it became clear that it was impossible to make more than one bomb.

Anders Breivik said he decided to choose one target for a bomb and one “based on a firing operation”.

He also considered a congress of journalists and the Labour Party summer conference.

Anders Breivik described how he joined a gun club in 2010 as part of his preparations.

He told the court he had begun planning a “suicide action” as far back as 2006.

He had expected he would have to fight his way out of the scene of the bombing and estimated his chance of survival at 5%, he said.

However, the prosecution asserted Anders Breivik began preparing his attacks no earlier than 2009.

Arriving in court, Anders Breivik made no far-right salute, unlike previous days. His lawyers had asked him not to salute.

He is behaving differently from his irritable performance on Wednesday: he is answering most of the questions put to him and seems calm.

Anders Breivik has admitted the killings but denies criminal responsibility, saying he acted to protect Norway and Europe from multiculturalism.

“Militant nationalists in Europe are divided,” Anders Breivik told the court on Thursday.

“Half of them think we should attack Muslims and minorities, the other half that we should attack elites, those responsible, and hold them accountable.”

In other points so far, Anders Breivik said:

• he was 15 when he became skeptical of Muslim immigration, and 18 or 19 when he first thought about committing violence

• he named his manifesto 2083 to represent the 400th anniversary of the Battle of Vienna, when the Ottoman Turks were defeated

• he named the guns he used in the Utoeya shootings after characters in Norse mythology

• he joined the Masons as soon as he was old enough because they were a “Christian organization that protects its members”

• he took a year’s “sabbatical” from business activities in 2006 because he was planning the “suicide action”

• he spent the year playing the online role-play game, World of Warcraft, for up to 16 hours a day

The court heard that Anders Breivik formed a company in the Bahamas that he used as a front for money-laundering. The funds were intended for nationalist activities.

The court is seeking to determine whether Anders Breivik is sane. If so, he will be jailed for at least 21 years, although that sentence can be extended by the courts.

If he is deemed insane, he will be committed to a psychiatric institution.

Survivor Bjorn Ihler, who was on Utoeya island when Anders Breivik went on his shooting spree, said it was getting “easier and easier” to see him in the dock.

“All the things he did and said disarms him in so many ways… he gets less and less dangerous in my mind,” Bjorn Ihler said.

Anders Breivik’s evidence is scheduled to last five days, concluding on Monday.

 

Greg Ham, Men At Work flautist, found dead at his home in Melbourne

Lisa.Felice
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Greg Ham, Men At Work flautist, found dead at his home in Melbourne

Greg Ham, the flautist of Men At Work band, has been found dead at his Melbourne home, Australian media reported.

Greg Ham, 58, will be remembered for playing the famous flute riff from the band’s biggest hit, Down Under.

Two friends found Greg Ham’s body. They became concerned about Greg Ham’s well-being having not heard from him for some time.

Local authorities have not confirmed the man’s identity. A crime scene has been established and the cause of death is being investigated.

“Because of the early stages of our investigation, we’re not prepared to go into the exact details of what has occurred,” Detective Senior Sergeant Shane O’Connell told reporters.

Greg Ham, the flautist of Men At Work band, has been found dead at his Melbourne home
Greg Ham, the flautist of Men At Work band, has been found dead at his Melbourne home

Police added that relatives of the deceased still had to be notified.

Greg Ham joined Men At Work in 1979 playing flute, harmonica, saxophone and keyboards.

The band achieved international fame in the 1980s with the 1983 hit Down Under, while their album, Business As Usual, topped the Australian, US and British charts.

However, their fame was overshadowed in recent years by a copyright dispute over the Down Under flute riff.

Men At Work won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1983 before disbanding in 1985
Men At Work won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1983 before disbanding in 1985

In 2010 Australia’s Federal Court ruled band members partly copied the children’s folk tune Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree, penned more than 75 years ago.

Last year, EMI lost an appeal against the ruling and, along with songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, were ordered to pay 5% of the song’s royalties since 2002 – as well as future earnings – to the folk song’s copyright owners.

Greg Ham said at the time that he was shattered by the ruling, telling Fairfax Media: “It will be the way the song is remembered and I hate that.

“I’m terribly disappointed that that’s the way I’m going to be remembered – for copying something.”

Men At Work won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1983 before disbanding in 1985.

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Cosmic rays mystery grows deeper

James J. Williams
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Cosmic rays mystery grows deeper

The mystery surrounding the source of cosmic rays,  the highest-energy particles known in the Universe, has grown deeper.

The cosmic rays can show up with energies a million times higher than the biggest particle accelerators on Earth can produce.

Astrophysicists believed that only two sources could make them: supermassive black holes in active galaxies, or so-called gamma ray bursts.

A study in Nature has now all but ruled out gamma ray bursts as the cause.

Gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are the brightest events we know of, though their sources remain a matter of some debate. They can release in hours more energy than our Sun will ever produce.

Computer models predict that GRBs could be the source of cosmic rays – mostly subatomic particles called protons, accelerated to incredibly high speeds.

But they were also predicted to produce a stream of neutrinos, the slippery subatomic particles recently brought to fame in claims of faster-than-light travel.

The mystery surrounding the source of cosmic rays, the highest-energy particles known in the Universe, has grown deeper
The mystery surrounding the source of cosmic rays, the highest-energy particles known in the Universe, has grown deeper

So researchers at the IceCube neutrino telescope went looking for evidence of neutrino arrival that coincided with measurements of gamma ray bursts detected by the Fermi and Swift space telescopes.

But it found none – suggesting that active galactic nuclei, where supermassive black holes reside, are likely to be the source.

Given that neutrinos have such a low probability of interacting with matter as we know it, IceCube is a neutrino detector of immense proportions.

Situated at the South Pole, it consists of more than 5,000 optical sensors buried across a cubic kilometre of glacial ice, each looking for the brief blue flash of light produced when a neutrino happens to bump into atomic nuclei in the ice.

Over the course of measurements taken between mid-2008 and mid-2010, some 300 GRBs were recorded – but IceCube scientists detected none of the eight or so neutrinos that they predicted would be associated with those events.

The models that lead to such predictions are making guesses about the most violent, highest-energy processes of which physics can conceive.

Because those models include a few educated guesses, GRBs are not completely out of the running as the source of the highest energy cosmic rays we see; perhaps neutrinos are not produced in the numbers that physicists expect.

 

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie take their children to Galapagos Islands to celebrate engagement

Lisa.Felice
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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie take their children to Galapagos Islands to celebrate engagement

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their six children are enjoying a break in the Galápagos Islands to celebrate the famous couple engagement.

A source in the mayor’s office of Santa Cruz told People magazine: “We were informed that they arrived at the airport in Baltra yesterday, then they made their way over to a villa in the Galápagos Islands.”

The website also reports Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and their kids traveled by private jet and luxury yacht to get to the exclusive Royal Palm Hotel resort where they are said to be staying.

Locals posted pictures onto Twitter of the brood arriving at their holiday destination.

Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their six children are enjoying a break in the Galápagos Islands to celebrate the famous couple engagement
Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and their six children are enjoying a break in the Galápagos Islands to celebrate the famous couple engagement

Meanwhile it has been reported that Angelina Jolie, 36, cried when Brad Pitt presented her with the ring.

Brad Pitt spent a year designing the perfect engagement ring for his partner and when he gathered the rest of their family – children Maddox, 10, Pax, 8, Zahara, 7, Shiloh, 5, and three-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox – to present it, Angelina Jolie was overwhelmed by the gesture.

A source told Us Weekly magazine: “Angelina cried and smiled.”

The engagement ring was made with jeweller Robert Procop and the tablet-shaped diamond piece is estimated to be worth $500,000.

The children were also overjoyed with Brad Pitt’s proposal, after seven years together, with the source adding: “Everyone hugged once she put the ring on. She went around and showed it to each of the kids. Angie considers herself bonded to Brad for life.”

Brad Pitt, 48, has previously said the couple were being put under pressure to marry by their children.

The actor said in May last year: “The kids ask about marriage. It’s meaning more and more to them. So it’s something we’ve got to look at.”

It is believed Brad Pitt’s proposal was made at Christmas time, but he and Angelina Jolie have kept it quiet until now so the news would not overshadow her promoting directorial debut film In the Land of Blood and Honey.

A source said: “She was very busy with the movie and her Oscar campaign. She also worried that the engagement would take over press on her film and detract from that.”

No date or location for the wedding has been revealed.

 

Casoria Contemporary Art Museum in Naples burns artworks in protest at budget cuts

Sonia Pantiss
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Casoria Contemporary Art Museum in Naples burns artworks in protest at budget cuts

Casoria Contemporary Art Museum in Naples, Italy, has started burning its artworks in protest at budget cuts which it says have left cultural institutions out of pocket.

Museum director Antonio Manfredi set fire to the first painting on Tuesday.

“Our 1,000 artworks are headed for destruction anyway because of the government’s indifference,” Antonio Manfredi said.

The work was by French artist Severine Bourguignon, who was in favor of the protest and watched it online.

Antonio Manfredi plans to burn three paintings a week from now on, in a protest he has dubbed “Art War”.

Artists from across Europe have lent their support, including Welsh sculptor John Brown, who torched one of his works, Manifesto, on Monday.

John Brown said his organization, the Documented Art Space in Harlech, North Wales, had exhibited at the Casoria museum in the past.

He said the loss of his artwork had not been particularly upsetting.

“We work in a fairly contemporary manner so the process of making art, and the interaction with people, is more important than keeping it as a precious object.”

John Brown called the burning “a symbolic act” to “protest against the way the economic crisis is being dealt with”.

“These cuts reach beyond the confines of the visual arts and affect the cohesive well-being of millions of people all over the world.”

 

Casoria Contemporary Art Museum director Antonio Manfredi sets fire to a Severine Bourguignon painting
Casoria Contemporary Art Museum director Antonio Manfredi sets fire to a Severine Bourguignon painting

Italy’s debt crisis led to the resignation of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi last year. Since his departure, the government has passed a tough package of austerity measures and other reforms.

Art institutions say they have been particularly affected by the country’s economic woes, with state subsidies and charitable donations drying up.

One of Italy’s leading galleries, the Maxxi Museum of Contemporary Art, said its funding had been cut by 43% in 2011.

When its board of directors failed to approve the 2012 budget last week, the Culture Ministry took steps to replace them with a government-appointed administrator.

International concern was also raised last year over the neglect of Pompeii, one of the world’s most precious archaeological sites.

A number of structures in the ancient city have fully or partially collapsed, including the “House of Gladiators” which fell down 18 months ago.

However, Prime Minister Mario Monti announced a 105 million Euros project to reconstruct the ruins earlier this month.

Antonio Manfredi is known as an outspoken and radical museum director.

He opened the Casoria gallery in his hometown, just outside Naples, in 2005 and several of his exhibitions have drawn the ire of the local mafia.

In 2009, a life-size effigy of an African figure was left impaled over the museum gates following an exhibition of art that dealt with prostitution – a trade occupied locally almost entirely by African immigrants and controlled by organized criminals.

Antonio Manfredi has also blamed the theft of security cameras and several attempted break-ins on the mafia.

His attempts to focus attention on his museum’s funding crisis have been crafted with a keen eye for publicity.

Last year, Antonio Manfredi announced he had written a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel asking for asylum, saying he was fed up with the government’s failure to protect Italy’s rich cultural heritage.

He said he would take his entire museum with him if the asylum was granted, but never received a reply.

Antonio Manfredi said the latest protest will continue unless the funding situation improves.

A statement from the museum described the first burning as “political, necessary, and compelling in the face of these adverse circumstances”.

 

Dickens and Tolkien descendants join for two new fantasy books for children

Sonia Pantiss
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Dickens and Tolkien descendants join for two new fantasy books for children

Poet Michael Tolkien, the eldest grandson of JRR Tolkien, and Gerald Dickens, the great-great grandson of Charles Dickens, are to collaborate on two new fantasy books for children.

Michael Tolkien will write two novels based on stories his grandfather read to him as a child.

Gerald Dickens will narrate the audiobook versions.

Both works are due to be released later this year.

Publisher Thames River Press said the first book, Wish, was inspired by Florence Bone’s 1923 story, The Rose-Coloured Wish.

It tells the story of two children who set out to use an evil enchanter’s wishing chain of stones to save their alpine valley, only to fall into trouble.

JRR Tolkien and Charles Dickens descendants are to collaborate on two new fantasy books for children
JRR Tolkien and Charles Dickens descendants are to collaborate on two new fantasy books for children

Michael Tolkien was introduced to the tales in the 1940s and 1950s as a child, and he later read them to his own children.

He said he decided to pay tribute to the now-neglected tale and to “recreate the spirit of the original in new dress”.

The second book, Rainbow, is based on Bone’s 1910 novel, The Other Side of the Rainbow.

Gerald Dickens said: “Wish is a timeless story which children will enjoy for years to come. Michael Tolkien has brought it to life in narrative verse.”

 

CISPA The New US Law That Restricts Our Online Rights

Ricky Robinson
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CISPA The New US Law That Restricts Our Online Rights

Stop Cispa Privacy Online Act

Right now, the US is poised to pass a new law that would permit US agents to spy on almost everything we do online. But we can stop them before the final vote.

Companies that we trust with our personal information, like Microsoft and Facebook, are key supporters of this bill that lets corporations share all user activity and content with US government agents without needing a warrant in the name of cyber-security — nullifying privacy guarantees for almost everyone around the world, no matter where we live and surf online.

If enough of us speak out, we can stop companies that profit from our business from supporting cyber-spying. Sign the petition to these key net corporations now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_cispa_corporate_global/

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) would allow companies doing business in the US to collect exact records of all of our online activities and hand them over to the US government, without ever notifying us that we are being watched. No warrant, no legal cause and no due process required. To make matters worse, the bill provides the government and corporations with blanket immunity to protect them from being sued for violation of privacy and other illegal actions.

The bill’s supporters claim that consumer information will be protected, but the reality is that huge loopholes would make everything we do online fair game — and nowadays, from banking to shopping, our private information is all stored on the Internet.

CISPA is being moved forward in Congress and will be voted upon in days. Let’s raise a massive outcry to stop corporations from giving the US a blank check to monitor our every move. Click below to take action:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_cispa_corporate_global/

This year, we helped stop SOPA, PIPA and ACTA — all dire threats to the Internet. Now, let’s block CISPA and end the US government attack on our Internet.

WIth hope and determination,

Dalia, Allison, Emma, Ricken, Rewan, Andrew, Wen-Hua, and the rest of the Avaaz team

More information:

CISPA: The internet finds a new enemy (Global Post)
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-grid/cispa-the-internet-finds-new-enemy-sopa

CISPA protests begin amid key changes to legislation (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-cispa-protests-begin-amid-key-changes-to-legislation-20120416,0,5314596.story

Cybersecurity Bill FAQ: The Disturbing Privacy Dangers in CISPA and How To Stop It (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/04/cybersecurity-bill-faq-disturbing-privacy-dangers-cispa-and-how-you-stop-it  

New CISPA Draft Narrows Cybersecurity Language as Protests Loom (Mashable)
http://news.yahoo.com/cispa-draft-narrows-cybersecurity-language-protests-loom-134202431.html

“For Dummies” books publisher John Wiley & Sons files copyright lawsuit

Nancy Clayson
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“For Dummies” books publisher John Wiley & Sons files copyright lawsuit

John Wiley & Sons, the US publisher of For Dummies guide, is demanding a trial by jury of people accused of copying its books.

Papers filed in New York and revealed by the Torrent Freak news site said four defendants were involved.

The publisher’s lawyer said that he believed this would be the first trial of its kind based on the use of Bittorrent.

The peer-to-peer communications protocol allows users to upload and download files to each others’ computers.

John Wiley & Sons had previously filed 15 lawsuits to obtain the identities of about 200 people believed to have infringed the copyright of its titles.

It said in papers filed last October that users had “engaged in the illegal copying and distribution of Wiley’s For Dummies books through the peer-to-peer file sharing software known as Bittorrent”.

Although it said that it was unable to give a precise figure for the amount of revenue lost, it described the sum as “enormous”.

Photoshop CS5 All-In-One For Dummies had been downloaded 74,000 times over 16 months
Photoshop CS5 All-In-One For Dummies had been downloaded 74,000 times over 16 months

It noted that one title – Photoshop CS5 All-In-One For Dummies – had been downloaded 74,000 times over a 16-month period. The title is sold for $45.

The firm signaled that it had tried to settle the cases and that its main intention was to stop the activity and publicize the fact that sharing books illegally denied authors their rightful compensation.

The publisher’s lawyer, William Dunnegan, said: “We are asking people who are identified by their ISPs as being copyright infringers to pay the minimum amount due under the Copyright Act as statutory damages. That sum is $750.

“For the most part people are owning up and complying with the law. However, the named defendants have not.”

The US Copyright Act allows a penalty of up to $150,000 to be imposed per infringement if the accused loses the case.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have shied away from trying to sue individual file sharers and have instead focused on forcing ISPs to police the activity.

Ernesto Van Dersar, editor of Torrent Freak, said that if Wiley’s claim made it to trial it would be the first time that evidence against Bittorrent users would have been tested in a US court.

“The problem they have is that their evidence will be based on an IP address which is tied to an internet connection,” he said.

“They also need to prove the accused was the person who committed the act using that connection – which is very hard to do.”

 

The iPhone 5 could to be shifting from Glass to Liquidmetal

Ricky Robinson
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The iPhone 5 could to be shifting from Glass to Liquidmetal

According to Korea’s Electric Times Internet, “the next flagship phones of the companies are expected to adopt unprecedented materials for their main bodies, that is, ceramic for the Galaxy S3 and liquidmetal for the iPhone5, both being thin, light and highly resistant to external impacts.”

The iPhone is to debut in June during Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference, while the new Galaxy S3, also known as “Milky Way,” is scheduled to be unveiled in London on May 3, 2012.

Citing unnamed industry sources, Korean news site ETnews says Apple will use Liquidmetal technology for the next iPhone, which the outlet boldly claims will be unveiled at Apple’s annual worldwide developers conference.

Apple purchased an exclusive commercial license to Liquidmetal in late 2010. The technology, which Apple has used only for the SIM ejector tool it includes with some iPhone and iPad models, is billed as a metallic glass.

ETnews adds that Apple will not be alone in using a new material for its flagship handset. Citing the same sources, it says Apple rival Samsung plans to use ceramics for its Galaxy S3 smartphone, which is expected to be unveiled next month.

 

A Revolutionary Class of Materials

 

Liquidmetal alloys are a revolutionary class of materials that redefine performance, process, and design paradigms. Liquidmetal alloys represent the first enabling materials technology since the creation of thermoplastics and possess characteristics that make them superior in many ways to other popular high performance materials. First, they have an “amorphous” atomic structure, which is unprecedented for bulk structural metals. Second, they include a multi-component chemical compositions, which are optimized for various properties and processes. Finally, our metal alloys are the first commericially available metals with process technologies similar to plastics.

 

The technology of Liquidmetal alloys provides for the optimization of properties for specific applications by tailoring the combination of process, chemistry and atomic structure. The technology of Liquidmetal alloys is proprietary and covered by numerous existing or pending patents.

 

Liquidmetal videos

 

Learn how Liquidmetal redefines the performance and design pardigms institutionalized by traditional materials

[youtube -P7DgFw6AyI]

 

See the performance difference between Liquidmetal, stainless steel and titanium

[youtube RAQIioLteuM]

About Liquidmetal Technologies

Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. (OTC:LQMT) shares are trading sharply on Wednesday on rumors that Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) for its iPhone 5 is planning to shift its smartphone designs from glass to liquidmetal.

Patentlyapple.com citing Korea’s Electric Times Internet reported, “the next flagship phones of the companies are expected to adopt unprecedented materials for their main bodies, that is, ceramic for the Galaxy S3 and liquidmetal for the iPhone5, both being thin, light and highly resistant to external impacts.”

The company reported d total revenue of $246,000 for the latest year, compared with $4.74 million reported in 2010. LQMT’s product revenue for 2011 was $227,000, up from $40,000 reported in the previous year. Revenue from licensing and royalties totaled $19,000 in 2011.

Gross profit for 2011 totaled $87,000. The company’s net income for 2011 was $10.61 million, compared with $52,000 reported for 2010.

Shares of the company slumped in early April after disappointing results. The stock was down over 50% after reporting earnings and made a new 52-week low of $0.12. The stock is up over 41% so far this year and plunged 62% over the past one year.

The stock is now trading higher by 30% to $0.195 on over 6.24 million shares, compared to its average volume of 2.37 million shares.

Liquidmetal Technologies, Inc. is engaged in the business of developing, manufacturing, and marketing products made from amorphous alloys. The Company’s Liquidmetal family of alloys consists of a variety of coatings, powders, bulk alloys, and composites that utilize the advantages offered by amorphous alloy technology. Liquidmetal Technologies markets and sells Liquidmetal alloy industrial coatings and also manufactures, markets and sells products and components from bulk Liquidmetal alloys that can be incorporated into the finished goods of its customers across a variety of industries.

Via  Patently Apple

Anthony Hopkins transformed into Alfred Hitchcock for the upcoming film

Lisa.Felice
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0
Anthony Hopkins transformed into Alfred Hitchcock for the upcoming film

Sir Anthony Hopkins has been transformed into legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock for the upcoming film Hitchcock.

In fact it’s amazing just how much Anthony Hopkins face has been transformed with the help of a prosthetic or two.

Filming for the flick began in Los Angeles on Friday April 13 and will tell the story of Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma.

The film will be set at the time the famous director was making his classic 1960 film Psycho.

Anthony Hopkins has been transformed into legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock for the upcoming film Hitchcock
Anthony Hopkins has been transformed into legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock for the upcoming film Hitchcock
The new film will tell the story of Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma
The new film will tell the story of Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma

Academy Award winner Dame Helen Mirren stars at the director’s wife Alma.

The film also stars the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel and James D’Arcy.

Scarlett Johansson takes on the leading lady role playing Psycho star Janet Leigh.

Jessica Biel portrays Vera Miles while James D’Arcy is leading man Anthony Perkins, who played Norman Bates.

Alfred Hitchcock won two Golden Globes, eight Laurel Awards and five lifetime achievement awards.

Despite being nominated six times for an Academy Award as Best Director – he never won.

Alfred Hitchcock died in 1980.

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Legendary TV host Dick Clark dies at 82 after suffering a massive heart attack

Diane A. Wade
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0
Legendary TV host Dick Clark dies at 82 after suffering a massive heart attack

Beloved television icon Dick Clark, who brought American Bandstand and his trademark New Year’s countdown to living rooms for decades, has died at 82.

Spokesman Paul Shefrin said Dick Clark suffered a massive heart attack Wednesday morning at Saint John’s hospital in Santa Monica, a day after he was admitted for an outpatient procedure.

Dick Clark had continued performing even after he suffered a stroke in 2004 that affected his ability to speak and walk.

He thrived as the founder of Dick Clark Productions, supplying movies, game and music shows, beauty contests and more to TV.

As news of Dick Clark’s death spread, a number of TV, screen and stage stars took to Twitter to express their sorrow.

Among them was Ryan Seacrest, who has named Dick Clark as a huge influence on his own career.

He said: “I am deeply saddened by the loss of my dear friend Dick Clark. He has truly been one of the greatest influences in my life.”

Not everyone was so reverential. Comedian and actor Dennis Leary referred to Dick Clark as one of the last “leather faced syrup voiced lizard people”.

Among his credits: The $25,000 Pyramid, TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes and the American Music Awards.

For a time in the 1980s, Dick Clark had shows on all three networks and was listed among the Forbes 400 of wealthiest Americans.

Dick Clark also was part of radio as partner in the United Stations Radio Network, which provided programs – including Clark’s – to thousands of stations.

“There’s hardly any segment of the population that doesn’t see what I do,” Dick Clark told The Associated Press in a 1985 interview.

“It can be embarrassing. People come up to me and say, <<I love your show>>, and I have no idea which one they’re talking about.”

Dick Clark, who brought American Bandstand and his trademark New Year’s countdown to living rooms for decades, has died at 82
Dick Clark, who brought American Bandstand and his trademark New Year’s countdown to living rooms for decades, has died at 82

Dick Clark was dubbed “America’s oldest teenager” because of his fresh-faced appearance that was seemingly unchanged for years.

But the stroke in December 2004 changed that, severely damaging Dick Clark’s mobility and leaving him unable to appear on the New Year’s Eve telecast that year.

When he returned to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in 2005, he appeared noticeably gaunt and frail.

Dick Clark was born Richard Wagstaff Clark in Mount Vernon, N.Y., in 1929.

His father, Richard Augustus Clark, was a sales manager who worked in radio.

Dick Clark idolized his athletic older brother, Bradley, who was killed in World War II.

He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1994 and served as spokesman for the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

Dick Clark, twice divorced, had a son, Richard Augustus II, with first wife Barbara Mallery and two children, Duane and Cindy, with second wife Loretta Martin. He married Kari Wigton in 1977.

In his 1976 autobiography, Rock, Roll & Remember, Dick Clark recalled how radio helped ease his loneliness and turned him into a fan of Steve Allen, Arthur Godfrey and other popular hosts.

From Arthur Godfrey, he said, he learned that “a radio announcer does not talk to <<those of you out there in radio land>>; a radio announcer talks to me as an individual”.

Dick Clark began his career in the mailroom of a Utica, N.Y., radio station in 1945.

By age 26, Dick Clark was a broadcasting veteran, with nine years’ experience on radio and TV stations in Syracuse and Utica, N.Y., and Philadelphia.

He held a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University.

While in Philadelphia, Dick Clark befriended McMahon, who later credited Clark for introducing him to his future Tonight Show boss, Johnny Carson.

The original American Bandstand was one of network TV’s longest-running series as part of ABC’s daytime line-up from 1957 to 1987.

Dick Clark joined Bandstand in 1956 after Bob Horn, who’d been the host since its 1952 debut, was fired. Under his guidance, it went from a local Philadelphia show to a national phenomenon.

“I played records, the kids danced, and America watched,” was how Dick Clark once described the series’ simplicity. In his 1958 hit Sweet Little Sixteen, Chuck Berry sang that “they’ll be rocking on Bandstand, Philadelphia, P-A”.

As a host, Dick Clark had the smooth delivery of a seasoned radio announcer. As a producer, he had an ear for a hit record.

He also knew how to make wary adults welcome this odd new breed of music in their homes.

Dick Clark endured accusations that he was in with the squares, with critic Lester Bangs defining Bandstand as “a leggily acceptable euphemism of the teenage experience”.

In a 1985 interview, Dick Clark acknowledged the complaints.

“But I knew at the time that if we didn’t make the presentation to the older generation palatable, it could kill it.

“So along with Little Richard and Chuck Berry and the Platters and the Crows and the Jayhawks … the boys wore coats and ties and the girls combed their hair and they all looked like sweet little kids into a high school dance.”

Dick Clark defended pop artists and artistic freedom, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said in an online biography of the 1993 inductee.

He helped give black artists their due by playing original R&B recordings instead of cover versions by white performers, and he condemned censorship.

Over the years, it introduced stars ranging from Buddy Holly to Michael Jackson to Bon Jovi to Madonna.

In 2004, Dick Clark announced plans for a revamped version of American Bandstand. The show, produced with American Idol creator Simon Fuller, was to feature a host other than Dick Clark.

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India successfully launched long-range missile Agni-V

Roy Siemens
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0
India successfully launched long-range missile Agni-V

India has successfully launched Agni-V, a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead, officials say.

The locally-developed Agni-V missile was originally scheduled to launch on Wednesday in the eastern state of Orissa.

Officials had delayed the launch because of heavy lightning in the area.

The missile has a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), within range of targets in China.

Analysts say the Agni (meaning “fire” in Hindi and Sanskrit) missile family is to be the cornerstone of India’s missile-based nuclear deterrent.

The missiles are among the country’s most sophisticated weapons.

India has successfully launched Agni-V, a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead
India has successfully launched Agni-V, a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead

In 2010, India successfully test-fired Agni-II, an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of more than 2,000km (1,250 miles).

The Agni-V missile was launched from Orissa’s Wheeler Island at 08:05 local time on Thursday.

“It was a perfect launch. It met all the test parameters and hit its pre-determined target,” said SP Das, director of the test range.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated the scientists for the “successful launch” of the missile.

“Today’s launch represents another milestone in our quest for our security, preparedness and to explore the frontiers of science,” he said.

The missile took about 20 minutes to hit its target somewhere near Indonesia in the Indian Ocean.

Defense analyst Rahul Bedi says a successful test flight of the Agni-V missile, which is capable of delivering a single 1.5-ton warhead deep inside nuclear rival China’s territory, would strengthen India’s nuclear deterrence once it comes into service by 2014-15.

It is 17.5 m tall, solid-fuelled, has three stages and a launch weight of 50 tons. It has cost more than 2.5 billion rupees ($480 million) to develop.

Only China, Russia, France, the US and UK have such long-range missiles. Israel is thought to possess them.

“Agni-V is to meet our present-day threat perceptions, which are determined by our defense forces and other agencies,” DRDO Ravi Gupta spokesman told AFP news agency ahead of the launch.

“This is a deterrent to avoid wars and it is not country-specific,” he said.

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Barack Obama Sr. categorized as “anti-American and anti-white” when he moved to US in 1959

Diane A. Wade
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0
Barack Obama Sr. categorized as “anti-American and anti-white” when he moved to US in 1959

As President Barack Obama has been dogged by claims he is not patriotic enough it now emerges that similar fears were expressed about his father, who was categorized with others as “anti-American and anti-white” when he moved to the United States in 1959.

Last year President Barack Obama even had to publish his birth certificate to silence doubters who suggested he was not born an American.

Barack Obama Sr. had grown up in Kenya under British rule and aroused the fears of both colonial officers and American officials when he won a chance to study in Hawaii. The officials felt Kenyan students were “academically inferior” with a “bad reputation” for turning anti-American.

A memo from a British diplomat in Washington to Whitehall – released yesterday by the National Archives in West London – sets out their concerns about the young Kenyans.

Dated September 1, 1959, the document says: “I have discussed with the State Department. They are as disturbed about these developments as we are. They point out that Kenya students have a bad reputation over here for falling into the wrong hands and for becoming both anti-American and anti-white.”

In one of the Foreign Office files, future president Barack Obama’s father appears on a list of Kenyan students as “OBAMA, Barack H” – they shared the same name.

Barack Obama and his father in 1971
Barack Obama and his father in 1971

At the age of 23, Barack Obama Sr. enrolled at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu to study economics with classmates including Ann Dunham, a 17-year-old white American from Kansas. The couple had a short marriage that led to the birth in 1961 of the future president, Barack Obama II.

Barack Obama Sr. was among 100 or so Kenyan students brought to America by the African American Students Foundation.

U.S. and British officials were deeply suspicious of this outfit, observing that the AASF – though backed by singer Harry Belafonte and actor Sidney Poitier – had links to a Kenyan nationalist leader.

“The motives behind this enterprise, therefore, seem more political than educational,” warned a letter from the British Embassy in Washington.

It added: “The arrival here of these students, many of them of indifferent academic calibre and ill-prepared for the venture, is likely to give rise to difficult problems.”

Barack Obama Sr., who died in 1982, is not singled out for concern in any of the documents.

After leaving Hawaii he took a PhD in economics at Harvard and later became a senior economist with the Kenyan government.

 

Clashes near Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix exhibit in Manama

Roy Siemens
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0
Clashes near Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix exhibit in Manama

Stun grenades have been fired by Bahraini security forces as protesters gathered outside a cultural exhibition in Manama ahead of Sunday’s Formula 1 Grand Prix.

A local journalist reported the demonstrators in Old Manama were shouting “Down, down, F1” and demanding the release of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.

The activist has been on hunger strike in prison for more than two months.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s lawyer earlier said his client had removed the intravenous drip keeping him alive.

The 52-year-old told his wife on Tuesday afternoon that he was also now refusing anything but water, Mohammed al-Jishi said.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja believed nothing was being done to resolve his continued detention, and this was the only way to force the issue, he added.

He was convicted by a military court in June of plotting against the state, but human rights groups have said that his trial was “grossly unfair”.

Bahraini security forces clashed with protesters gathered outside Formula 1 Grand Prix exhibit in Manama
Bahraini security forces clashed with protesters gathered outside Formula 1 Grand Prix exhibit in Manama

They said his conviction was based on a confession he made under duress, and that no evidence was presented showing he had used or advocated violence during protests against King Hamad Al Khalifa.

Bahrain’s highest court is due to rule on Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s appeal against his conviction on Monday – a day after the Grand Prix.

Last year’s race was cancelled after at least 35 people, including five police, were killed during a crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA, only decided to go ahead with this weekend’s race at the last minute.

On Wednesday, opposition supporters held a protest demanding Sunday’s Grand Prix also be called off, and calling for the immediate release of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja in Old Manama.

A Bahraini journalist, who asked not to be named for fear of arrest, said there were chaotic scenes outside Bab al-Bahrain, which marks the entrance to the main souq.

Veteran activist Nabeel Rajab reportedly stood near Bab al-Bahrain chanting anti-government slogans, while others carried signs reading: “Your silence is killing al-Khawaja.”

The journalist warned: “If he dies the streets will explode.”

Riot police at first demanded the protesters leave. When they refused, officers fired deafening “sound bombs” into the crowd, sending protesters and bystanders running.

Stun grenades and rubber bullets were also used to disperse the protesters, while helicopters circled overhead and interior ministry officers filmed the clashes, the journalist said.

The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights meanwhile told AFP news agency the authorities had arrested about 80 pro-democracy activists from villages outside the capital ahead of the Grand Prix.

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Drinking water may improve students grades

Diane A. Wade
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0
Drinking water may improve students grades

Students who drink water inside the examination hall may improve their grades, a British study of 447 people found.

Controlling for ability from previous coursework results, researchers found those with water scored an average of 5% higher than those without.

The study, from the universities of East London and Westminster, also noted that older students were more likely to bring in water to exam halls.

It says the findings have implications for exam policies on access to drinks.

The researchers observed 447 psychology students at the University of East London – 71 were in their foundation year, 225 were first-years and 151 were in their second year.

Just 25% of the 447 students entered the exam hall with a bottle of water.

Of these, the more mature students (those in their second year of degree study) were more likely to bring in water – 31% did so compared with 21% of foundation year and first-year students.

 

Students who drink water inside the examination hall may improve their grades
Students who drink water inside the examination hall may improve their grades

After taking students’ academic ability into account, by examining coursework grades, the researchers found foundation students who drank water could expect to see grades improved by up to 10%.

This improvement was 5% for first-year students and 2% for second years.

Across the cohort, the improvement in marks was 4.8% for water-drinking exam candidates.

The research paper said information about the importance of staying hydrated during exams should be targeted at younger students in particular.

Dr. Chris Pawson, from the University of East London, said consuming water may have a physiological effect on thinking functions that lead to improved exam performance.

Water consumption may also alleviate anxiety, which is known to have a negative effect on exam performance, said Dr. Chris Pawson.

“Future research is needed to tease apart these explanations, but whatever the explanation it is clear that students should endeavour to stay hydrated with water during exams,” he said.

Dr. Mark Gardner, from the University of Westminster, said: “We find the results exciting in that they translate findings from the laboratory to real world settings like this.

“Also, supplementing with water is a really cheap way students and educators can help get better results.

“There are also implications for policy makers in terms of the availability of water on campuses.”

 

Anders Breivik trial: he wants acquittal or death penalty

Diane A. Wade
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0
Anders Breivik trial: he wants acquittal or death penalty

Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik has told his trial in Oslo he believes there can be only two “just” outcomes to his trial – acquittal or the death penalty.

Anders Breivik, 33, who killed 77 people last July, said he considered a lengthy jail sentence “a pathetic punishment”. Norway does not have the death penalty.

He also said he had been “very surprised” to have survived the day of the attacks.

Prosecutors have been quizzing him on his links with militant nationalists.

On the third day of the trial they have been trying to disprove Anders Breivik’s claim of the existence of a far-right European network.

Under cross-examination, Anders Breivik said: “There are only two just and fair outcomes of this trial – acquittal or capital punishment. I consider 21 years of prison as a pathetic punishment.”

Asked if he wanted the court to give him the death penalty, Anders Breivik replied: “No, but I would have respected it. I would not recognize 21 years of prison, it’s ridiculous.”

Anders Breivik killed 69 people at a Labour Party youth camp on Utoeya island, having first set off a bomb outside a government building in Oslo that killed eight people.

He has said he carried out the attacks to defend “ethnic Norwegians” from rising multiculturalism.

“I was very surprised that I survived that day,” Anders Breivik told the court on Wednesday.

“I had no other plans for what to do. I considered the chance less than 5% that I would survive the bombing. But not only that, I survived Utoeya.”

Anders Breivik has told his trial in Oslo he believes there can be only two "just" outcomes to his trial, acquittal or the death penalty
Anders Breivik has told his trial in Oslo he believes there can be only two "just" outcomes to his trial, acquittal or the death penalty

Anders Breivik was also questioned about his religious beliefs by a lawyer for the victims.

“Well, I am a militant Christian; to prevent the de-Christianisation of Europe is very important,” he said.

“But this does not mean we want to introduce a Christian theocracy. We are not Christian fundamentalists. I believe in God and I believe in a life after death.”

Answering questions from a judge he described himself as an “anti-Nazi”.

“A National Socialist would say, <<Norway for the Norwegians>>. I am more liberal, I would accept 2% perhaps [of the population not being ethnically Norwegian].”

The court is seeking to establish whether Anders Breivik is sane and can be jailed.

Earlier, Anders Breivik said the far-right network, which he named as the Knights Templar, met in London to decide on its platform.

He said the group was “not an organization in a conventional sense” but consisted of “independent cells”.

Prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh told him the purpose of her questioning was to shed doubt on the network’s existence.

In other parts of his testimony on Wednesday, Anders Breivik told the court:

• the “big problem” for militant nationalists in Europe was that they had had very few role models since World War II

• he and other militant nationalists were “selling dreams” to inspire others

• he met a Serb nationalist in Liberia in 2001 who was one of the founding members of the Knights Templar

• he met his English “mentor”, whose codename he gave as Richard the Lionheart, in London

• his own codename was Sigurd, after a 12th Century Norwegian king

The prosecution showed the court an excerpt from Anders Breivik’s 1,500-page manifesto.

He wrote that he underwent a “complete screening and background check” for the Knights Templar to ensure that he was of “the desired calibre”.

He claimed the group was considering “several hundred” individuals throughout Europe for a training course.

Anders Breivik has begun each court appearance with a right-wing clenched-fist salute.

His lawyers, addressing reporters after the day’s hearing was adjourned, said they had asked him to stop making the gesture.

Anders Breivik’s testimony, and that of his witnesses, is not being broadcast. His testimony is expected to last for a total of five days.

The leader of a support group for survivors of the 22 July attacks and victims’ families says Anders Breivik will be judged as a mass murderer, not as a man with a political agenda.

“The focus from our point of view is that he is not tried for his political views; he is on trial because he killed people, killed youngsters on Utoeya and my colleagues in the government quarters and that is the main focus for us,” said Trond Blattmann.

A contradictory picture of Anders Breivik is emerging – a man who hates Muslims, but admired Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda.

Anders Breivik sees himself as a great Crusader, when in fact he was a high school drop out, a failed businessman and an addict of computer war games.

Earlier, Anders Breivik’s lawyers warned that many Norwegians would find his comments upsetting.

If Anders Breivik is judged sane and found guilty of murder, he faces a maximum of 21 years in jail, although that can be extended if he is deemed a threat to the public.

If he is judged to be insane, Anders Breivik will be committed to a psychiatric institution.

Prosecution plans for Anders Breivik questioning:

• Wednesday: Anders Breivik’s thinking and life from 2001

• Thursday: Bombing of government offices in Oslo

• Friday: Shootings on Utoeya island

• Monday: Events after the bombing and shootings

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King Juan Carlos apologizes to the Spanish people for going on a hunting trip in Botswana

Diane A. Wade
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0
King Juan Carlos apologizes to the Spanish people for going on a hunting trip in Botswana

King Juan Carlos of Spain has apologized to his people for going on a hunting trip in Botswana while his country was in the midst of an economic crisis.

The king’s trip to Botswana, which was widely criticized, emerged after he was flown home for treatment for a fractured hip.

“I’m very sorry, I made a mistake. It won’t happen again,” King Juan Carlos said, as he left San Jose hospital in Madrid.

It was widely reported that the king had been hunting elephants, which the royal house has neither confirmed nor denied.

King Juan Carlos, 74, broke his hip falling on a step and was flown home by private jet. He underwent hip replacement surgery on Saturday.

 

After news of his visit to Botswana was revealed, many Spanish newspapers published an earlier photo of the king on safari, in which he is seen standing with a gun beside a dead elephant.

King Juan Carlos of Spain has given a rare television interview on the eve of his 75th birthday

is honorary president of the Spanish branch of conservation group WWF and an online petition calling for his resignation had accumulated almost 85,000 signatures by the time he made his public apology.

Spain is the fourth biggest economy in the eurozone but has seen its debt crisis worsen and its borrowing costs increase. It currently has a 23% unemployment rate and there are fears it could return to recession.

The king had faced a public outcry for going to Africa and quite probably hunting elephants when a lot of people were facing the harsh reality of an economic crisis.

Although the leaders of the ruling Popular Party and Socialists had declined to comment on the controversy, the Socialists’ leader in Madrid Tomas Gomez suggested the king should choose between his “public responsibilities, or an abdication”.

El Pais newspaper reported that the royal house had considered its response carefully and that the king had decided to speak publicly before the television cameras rather than leave the matter to a palace statement.

King Juan Carlos is generally popular in Spain but the royal family has recently been beset by a series of embarrassing news stories.

His son-in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, has been questioned about a corruption scandal that involves claims that he used public funds to organize sports events. He has been suspended from taking part in royal engagements.

Only last week, the king’s grandson, 13-year-old Felipe Juan Froilan, was himself taken to hospital after an incident involving a gun. He shot himself in the foot during target practice outside the family home.

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Six in ten articles on Wikipedia contain inaccuracies

Nancy Clayson
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0
Six in ten articles on Wikipedia contain inaccuracies

A new research has found that up to six in ten articles on Wikipedia contain inaccuracies.

The number of factual errors shows just how unreliable it can be to use the online resource as a sole means of digging up information.

Yet millions base everything from school homework to corporate presentations using facts and figures they have gleaned from the site.

A study into, specifically, company information on the massively popular website discovered 60% of articles had factual errors.

Wikipedia pages are edited by the public and this leads to both human error in factual information as well as, occasionally, those who want to sabotage entries.

But Wikipedia’s administrators themselves add to the problem by being too slow to react to those who complain about the errors, it said.

The research was conducted by the scholarly Public Relations Journal who quizzed 1,284 members about their clients’ Wikipedia entries.

One in four of those questioned had not previously checked what Wikipedia said about their clients, lead researcher Professor Marcia DiStaso of Penn State University, said.

The research was conducted by the scholarly Public Relations Journal who quizzed 1,284 members about their clients' Wikipedia entries
The research was conducted by the scholarly Public Relations Journal who quizzed 1,284 members about their clients' Wikipedia entries

Once a mistake had been spotted, getting it sorted posed further difficulties – one in four complaints to Wikipedia never received any type of response.

Others said it took “weeks” to get an answer although Wikipedia itself claims all requests for corrections are dealt with between two and five days.

Prof. Marcia DiStaso said: “It does not surprise me that so many Wikipedia entries contain factual errors.

“What is surprising, however, is that 25% of survey respondents indicated they are not familiar with the Wikipedia articles for their company or clients.

“At some point most, if not all, companies will determine they need to change something in their Wikipedia entries.”

Although Wikipedia is not an official record of fact for a company, it could be vital to get it right for those who use it to gather information about a corporation.

Prof. Marcia DiStaso added: “The status quo can’t continue. A high amount of factual errors doesn’t work for anyone, especially the public, which relies on Wikipedia for accurate, balanced information.”

 

Ford Focus Electric: the first electric car to pace a NASCAR race

James J. Williams
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0
Ford Focus Electric: the first electric car to pace a NASCAR race

Ford Focus Electric, an all-electric car, is set to pace the NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Richmond 400 at Richmond International Raceway in Virginia, on April 28.

It will be the first time in the motorsport history when an all-electric car will lead the field of high-power, finely-tuned models out onto the 400-lap race.

Around thirty-five percent of new car “intenders” in the U.S. are motorsports fans and seventy-five percent of them support NASCAR and the persons who root for Ford NASCAR teams are sixty-seven percent more likely to consider Ford products than other consumers, the company said.

“Ford research shows the majority of Americans would consider buying an electrified vehicle but do not yet understand the different technologies. Highlighting the Focus Electric as a pace car is a fun way to educate consumers about the kinds of benefits our electrified vehicles deliver and show people our commitment to provide Ford customers the power of choice for leading fuel economy in the vehicle that best meets their needs,” said Mark Fields, president of Ford’s Americas division.

 

Ford Focus Electric will be the first all-electric car to pace a race in the motorsport history.
Ford Focus Electric will be the first all-electric car to pace a race in the motorsport history.

 

Powered by LG Chem lithium-ion battery, Ford Focus Electric will have an important task to complete as a pace car.

Pace cars have to drive at relatively high speed, sometimes for long distances. They have to be well adapted to wet or slippery conditions, to keep the tires on the competing vehicles warm and to stop engines overheating. They have an important role when is poor weather, or if an accident happens, they lead competitors at a uniform speed until the track can be cleared up.

Running too slowly behind a pace car may lead to low tire pressure, and this was discussed as a contributing factor to the Formula One crash that killed Ayrton Senna in 1994.

On a Formula One circuit the speeds are much higher. The current Formula One Safety Car is the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, driven by professional driver Bernd Mayländer.

Ford Fusion Hybrid led the field at Homestead in 2008, making Ford also the first to use a hybrid vehicle as pace car. In January the company unveiled the Fusion Hybrid as its 2013 car to be used in NASCAR race.

On April 25Ford Focus Electric will be presented to the public at the Virginia State Capitol.

 

Coronal Mass Ejection: Massive Solar Explosion

James J. Williams
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0
Coronal Mass Ejection: Massive Solar Explosion

The Sun had a massive solar explosion on April 16th.

A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a massive burst of solar wind, other light isotope plasma, and magnetic fields rising above the solar corona or being released into space.

Coronal mass ejections are often associated with other forms of solar activity, most notably solar flares, but a causal relationship has not been established. Most ejections originate from active regions on Sun’s surface, such as groupings of sunspots associated with frequent flares. Near solar maxima the Sun produces about three CMEs every day, whereas near solar minima there is about one CME every five days.

A beautiful prominence eruption shot off the east limb (left side) of the sun on Monday, April 16, 2012. Such eruptions are often associated with solar flares, and in this case an M1 class (medium-sized) flare did occur at the same time, though it was not aimed toward Earth. This event was seen by NASA’s SDO satellite.

Solar Explosion

 

“A large CME can contain a billion tons of matter that can be accelerated to several million miles per hour in a spectacular explosion. Solar material streams out through the interplanetary medium, impacting any planet or spacecraft in its path,” explains NASA, who told us that this particular blast reached to the far end of our solar system.

 NASA’s Karen Fox said the “height” of the CME (from our perspective) was “25 earth radii high”—198,000 miles.

HD Video of the solar explosion:

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Find out more photos from NASA by clicking here

Record number of Americans renounced their US citizenship in 2011 to avoid paying taxes

Diane A. Wade
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Record number of Americans renounced their US citizenship in 2011 to avoid paying taxes

In 2011, almost 1,800 people renounced their U.S. citizenship or handed in their Green Cards and many of them said it was because of tax reasons.

That’s a record number since the Internal Revenue Service began publishing a list of those who renounced in 1998. It’s also almost eight times more than the number of citizens who renounced in 2008, and more than the total for 2007, 2008 and 2009 combined.

The United States is one of the only countries to tax its citizens on income earned while they’re living abroad. And just as Americans stateside must file tax returns each April – this year, the deadline was yesterday, April 17 – an estimated 6.3 million U.S. citizens living abroad brace for what they describe as an even tougher process of reporting their income and foreign accounts to the IRS. For them, the deadline is June.

The National Taxpayer Advocate’s Office, part of the IRS, released a report in December that details the difficulties of filing taxes from overseas. It cites heavy paperwork, a lack of online filing options and a dearth of local and foreign-language resources.

For those wishing to legally escape the filing requirements, the only way is to formally renounce their U.S. citizenship.

In 2011, IRS records show that at least 1,788 people did, and that’s likely an underestimate. The IRS publishes in the Federal Register the names of those who give up their citizenship, and some who renounced say they haven’t seen their name on the list yet.

In fact, Superman declared plans to renounce his U.S. citizenship a year ago, in Action Comics.

“Truth, justice, and the American way – it’s not enough anymore,” the comic book superhero said, after both the Iranian and American governments criticized him for joining a peaceful anti-government protest in Tehran.

In 2011, almost 1,800 people renounced their U.S. citizenship or handed in their Green Cards and many of them said it was because of tax reasons
In 2011, almost 1,800 people renounced their U.S. citizenship or handed in their Green Cards and many of them said it was because of tax reasons

The State Department said records it keeps differ from those published by the IRS. They indicate that renunciations have remained steady, at about 1,100 each year, said an official.

The decision by the IRS to publish the names is referred to by lawyers as “name and shame”. That’s because those who renounce are seen as willing to give up their citizenship primarily for financial reasons.

There’s also an “exit tax” for the very rich who choose to leave. During the last 25 years, a number of millionaires and billionaires have renounced their citizenship. Among them: Ted Arison, the late founder of Carnival Cruises, and Michael Dingman, a former Ford Motor Co. director.

But those of more modest means renounce, too. They say leaving America is about more than money, it’s about privacy and red tape.

Two filing requirements affect Americans abroad: the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts – which has been around since 1970 but now carries penalties for noncompliance – and the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, passed in 2010 with the aim of reducing offshore tax evasion.

The first regulation requires all Americans, including those living abroad, with at least $10,000 in overseas bank accounts, to file a supplementary form disclosing all of their foreign accounts.

That includes any accounts in which the U.S. citizen has a financial interest. That could include a joint account with a spouse or child, accounts for corporations in which the American owns more than 50% of the value of shares of stock, or any trust or estate that benefits the U.S. citizen.

The tax compliance act – the newer law – asks foreign financial institutions such as banks, hedge funds, and private equity funds to provide the IRS with information on U.S. clients.

The United States and five European Union countries recently announced their intent to allow institutions to report the information through their own governments, rather than directly to the IRS.

Institutions that do not comply will be subject to a 30% withholding tax on certain U.S. – sourced payments and proceeds of property sales beginning in the 2013 tax year – for instance, dividends on investments in U.S. companies.

Some expatriates say they were unaware of the first regulation for years and even decades. In 2008, the IRS received only 218,840 such filings. American nationality law grants citizenship to almost everyone born in the United States or born abroad to American parents, regardless of how much time they’ve spent in the United States. Many may not even know the extent of their U.S. ties.

In 2004, the stakes for noncompliance rose. Failure to file meant potential fines and criminal charges. Americans abroad can be punished for noncompliance even if they owed no income tax – and IRS data show that most of them don’t owe money.

Income up to $95,100 isn’t taxed under a rule called the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. In 2009, the income cap was $91,400, and 88% of all taxpayers claiming the foreign earned income exclusion owed nothing.

Since 2008, the IRS has offered several voluntary-disclosure grace periods during which expatriates can file back taxes without facing criminal charges – but with the possibility of incurring penalties.

Marylouise Serrato, head of American Citizens Abroad, a non-profit organization based in Geneva, says that many members feel scared about reporting requirements they did not know existed. Their disenchantment, she says, is pushing some to renounce.

“Americans abroad are terrified. We’ve had people pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines. We’ve had people … pay huge amounts of back taxes,” Marylouise Serrato says.

“Up to this point, we never heard of anyone renouncing, or if they did, they didn’t talk about it,” says Marylouise Serrato, who says her group does not advocate renunciation.

“Now, we’re seeing a lot of people speak openly about it and come to us for information.”

Congress is taking note. “While I fully support measures that reduce fraud and address offshore havens, the U.S. should not have policies that place undue burdens on legitimate Americans abroad,” says Representative Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, and the chair of the Congressional Americans Abroad Caucus.

Carolyn Maloney says she has taken the matter to the Department of the Treasury, which oversees the IRS.

The IRS did not respond to requests for comment.

Lawyers report that banking is a big reason why people renounce.

“I hear about banking problems again and again and again,” says Phil Hodgen, an attorney who has been helping Americans expatriate since 2008.

The new reporting rules, he says, pose “a huge administrative burden. It’s made Americans too expensive to keep”.

 

Sweden’s culture minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth triggered race row after cutting cake designed like an African woman

Diane A. Wade
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Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Sweden’s culture minister, faces furious calls to resign after she was pictured cutting a “racist” black cake designed like a native African woman.

Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth had appeared at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm when she was invited to cut the cake which was designed like a naked African woman.

The Swedish minister cut pieces from the black cake, which had blood-red sponge and was designed to highlight the issue of female genital mutilation.

Despite the intentions of the bizarre cake, however, critics described it as a “racist spectacle”, and demanded Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth resigned for participating in the “tasteless” event.

The Association for African Swedes said the cake was a crude racist caricature which “makes a mockery of racism”.

Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth had appeared at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm when she was invited to cut the cake which was designed like a naked African woman
Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth had appeared at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm when she was invited to cut the cake which was designed like a naked African woman

Kitimbwa Sabuni, a spokesperson for the group, told Swedish news agency TT: “To say that you did this for a good cause only makes the mockery of people who are victims of racism and of circumcision worse.”

He told a Swedish newspaper Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth’s participation in a dubious event with cannibalistic overtones showed her “incompetence and lack of judgment”.

Makode Linde, the artist who came up with the cake, had placed his own head at the top of the cake and said it had been misunderstood.

The black cake, part of an exhibition on World Art Day, was intended as part of the artist’s project illustrating degrading stereotypes of black people through history.

Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, whose photograph cutting a piece of the cake was widely shown in Swedish media, said she understood why people would be offended by the incident.

She said in a statement: “I was invited to speak at World Art Day about the freedom of art and its right to provoke.

“And then they wanted me to cut into the cake. I don’t review art, but I can very well understand that this whole situation was misunderstood.”

 [youtube tCAqGigSudM]

Trans Fats: Good vs. Bad

Kathryn R. Bown
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Trans Fats: Good vs. Bad

Fat burning tips

Artificial trans fats are one of the most prevalent poisons in our food supply;  but most don’t know that healthy natural trans fats DO exist.

by Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer
Author – The Truth about Six Pack Abs

 

I’m going to talk about something today that most of you have probably never heard… that there is a distinction between good trans fats and bad trans fats. There is some evidence that the good trans fats can help you with fat loss, muscle building, and even cancer prevention, while the bad trans fats have been shown to cause heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and the general “blubbering” of your body.

I’m sure most of you have heard all of the ruckus in the news over the last few years about just how bad man-made trans fats are for your health. If you’ve been a reader of my newsletter and my Truth about Six Pack Abs e-book program, then you definitely know my opinion that these substances are some of the most evil food additives of all and are found in the vast majority of all processed foods and fast foods on the market today.

In my opinion, man-made trans fats are right up there with smoking in terms of their degree of danger to your health. After all, they are one of THE MAIN factors for the explosion of heart disease since approximately the 1950’s.

With all of the talk about trans fats in the news these days, I wanted to clarify some things, particularly regarding bad trans fats vs. good trans fats. If you’ve never heard of good trans fats before, let me explain in a bit.

 

The Bad Trans Fats

First, the bad trans fats I’m referring to are the man-made kind. These are represented by any artificially hydrogenated oils. The main culprits are margarine, shortening, and partially hydrogenated oils that are in most processed foods, junk foods, and deep fried foods.

These hydrogenated oils are highly processed using harsh chemical solvents like hexane (a component of gasoline), high heat, pressure, have a metal catalyst added, and are then deodorized and bleached. A small % of the solvent is allowed to remain in the finished oil. This has now become more of an industrial oil rather than a food oil, but somehow the FDA still allows the food manufacturers to put this crap in our food at huge quantities, even with the well documented health dangers.

These hydrogenated oils cause inflammation inside of your body, which signals the deposition of cholesterol as a healing agent on artery walls. Hence, hydrogenated oil = inflammation = clogged arteries. You can see why heart disease has exploded since this crap has been loaded into our food supply over the last 5 to 6 decades.

As time goes on, and science continues to unveil how deadly these oils really are, I feel that eventually they will be illegal and banned from use. The labeling laws were just the first step. In fact, certain countries around the world have already banned the use of hydrogenated oils in food manufacturing or at least set dates to phase them out for good.

However, keep in mind that as companies are starting to phase out the use of hydrogenated oils in processed foods, they are replacing them, in most instances, with highly refined polyunsaturated oils such as soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, etc, etc. These are still heavily processed oils using high heat, solvents, deodorizers, and bleaching agents. Even refined oils are known to produce inflammation in your body…a far cry from natural sources of healthy fats.

Don’t be fooled by the new onslaught of foods claiming “trans fat free”… if they use heavily refined oils (even if they’re non-hydrogenated), it’s still pure evil for your body, and very inflammatory. 

Once again, for the best results, your best bet is avoiding highly processed foods altogether and choose whole, natural, minimally processed foods. Your body will thank you!

 

The Good Trans Fats

Ok, after having trash talked the man-made trans fats, let me clearly state that there is such a thing as healthy natural trans fats. Natural trans fats are created in the stomachs of ruminant animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, etc. and make their way into the fat stores of the animals.

Therefore, the milk fat and the fat within the meat of these animals can provide natural healthy trans fats (best in grass-fed organic versions only).

Natural trans fats in your diet have been thought to have some potential benefit to aid in both muscle building and fat loss efforts. However, keep in mind that the quantity of healthy trans fats in the meat and dairy of ruminant animals is greatly reduced by mass-production methods of farming and their grain and soy heavy diets. Meat and dairy from grass-fed, free-range animals always have much higher quantities of these beneficial fats.

One such natural trans fat that you may have heard of is called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and has been marketed by many weight loss companies. Keep in mind that these man-made CLA pills you see in the stores may not be the best way to get CLA in your diet. They are artificially made from plant oils in a manner similar to hydrogenation, instead of the natural process that happens in ruminant animals. Once again, man-made just doesn’t compare to the benefits of natural sources.

Now that all of your labels should be listing grams of trans fat, keep in mind that if a quantity of trans fat is listed on a meat or dairy product, it is most likely the natural good trans fats that we’ve discussed here (*I only recommend grass-fed meat or dairy). Otherwise, if the quantity of trans fat is listed on any processed foods, it is most likely the dangerous unhealthy crap from artificially hydrogenated oils, so stay away!  

One more important note about food labels and trans fat listings… keep in mind that food manufacturers are allowed to label a food “trans fat free” if 1 serving size contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat.  So you may see some products with hydrogenated oils as one of their main ingredients, but if they make the serving size small enough so that it contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving, they can label it as trans fat free… now that’s BS!  just another example of our broken system!

 

Here’s some more great reading material about eating a truly natural and healthy diet for you and your family:

Nourishing Traditions – by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig

Eat Fat, Lose Fat – by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig

Also, if you haven’t read it yet, be sure to read this eye-opening article about saturated fat truths by Dr. Mary Enig (one of the best nutrition articles I’ve read)

I hope you’ve enjoyed this interesting look at good trans vs. bad trans fats and use the info to arm yourself with more healthful food choices for a better body.

If you have yet to check out my internationally best-selling program, The Truth about Six Pack Abs, clickety-click on over and see how this program will burn fat off of your entire body, leaving you with abs that your friends will envy!

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