Kristen Stewart posed for Balenciaga’s new perfume Florabotanica advert.
The image is shot in black and white, but Kristen Stewart’s back is covered with colourful flowers on a vine that wraps around her shoulders.
Kristen Stewart has been the face of Balenciaga fragrance since 2012
Kristen Stewart, 23, wears her dark locks swept into an elegant chignon and sports smoky eye make-up and shiny lip gloss.
The actress has been the face of Balenciaga fragrance since early 2012 and became involved with the fashion house due to her friendship with former creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere.
When Nicolas Ghesquiere stepped down in November and Alexander Wang took the reins, it was speculated that Kristen Stewart would be dropped as the face of the fragrance.
In 2012 Kristen Stewart told Women’s Wear Daily she felt “lucky” to be a part of Florabotanica and added: “There is something natural about it. It’s very alive.”
Kristen Stewart is currently in Berlin, filming her latest movie Sils Maria.
Burning Man Festival, the annual art, music and everything-else event, currently taking place in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, is the most popular ever than more people already on-site than attended the entire event last year.
The largest outdoor arts festival in North America is in its 27th year, with as many as 68,000 people expected to part-take in partying, debauchery and excess before it all ends for another year on Labor Day.
Described as an “experimental community”, Burning Man Festival incorporates plenty of partying plus lighting massive fire displays, donning eye-catching costumes and performing passionate dances at sunrise. Organizers stress it’s mostly up to participants to decide what Burning Man is.
Earlier this year the federal government issued a permit for 68,000 people from all over the world to gather at the sold out festival and spend up to a week in the remote desert cut off from much of the outside world.
This year’s Burning Man Festival is already the largest ever, organizers said more than 55,000 people had already arrived at Black Rock City at noon on Tuesday. That is almost as many as were present at last year’s event during its peak.
Traditionally only the hard-core burners arrived when the gates opened Monday and a crush of people often referred to as “Weekend Warriors” would show up sometime between Thursday and Saturday, reports NBC Bay Area.
By morning on Wednesday, there were 15 streets circling the temporary city created by attendees and the forecast remains free of dust storms.
The art theme of this year’s Burning Man Festival is “Cult Cargo” and focuses on a strange being called John Frum
Many have been impressed by the size and look of this year’s Man Base, a structure that houses the iconic “Man” figure burned each year near the event’s close.
Inside a flying saucer under the Man is a multi-level structure with zoetropes, a giant chandelier and views of Black Rock City. Slides serve as exits.
The art theme this year is “Cult Cargo” and focuses on a strange being called John Frum.
“He is known to us by many names, this Visitor from Elsewhere, dispenser of endless abundance and wielder of mysterious technologies: John Frum, Quetzalcoatl, Osiris, <<Bob>>,” reads the website.
“His cargo is splendid, his generosity boundless, his motives beyond our understanding. But across the ages and around the world, the stories all agree: one day he will return, bearing great gifts.
“Our theme this year asks three related questions; who is John Frum, where is he really from, and where, on spaceship Earth, are we all going?”
The biggest tradition comes at the end of the week – on September 2 – when participants will set fire to a giant wooden “man” that gives the event its name. Tickets for the event costs up to $650.
It has become a haven for hippies, artists, musicians and dancers and provides a week for people to explore artistic expression. No money is exchanged at the event; instead the festival-goers swap gifts to attain goods.
The Black Rock Desert is 120 miles north of Reno and the gathering is the largest permitted event on federal land in the US.
After it moved from San Francisco’s Baker Beach, the inaugural Burning Man in Nevada drew some 80 people in 1990. The first 1,000-plus crowd was in 1993, and attendance doubled each of the next three years before reaching 23,000 in 1999.
The crowd was capped at 50,000 under a five-year permit that expired in 2010. The new multi-year permit allows a maximum crowd of 70,000, but organizers applied for a cap of 68,000 this year.
As always, festival goers are expected to obey the ten principles: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation and Immediacy are of the utmost importance to the community.
The British Parliament vote against military strikes in Syria is a tough blow to PM David Cameron’s domestic political fortunes.
Since taking office in 2010, David Cameron has on numerous occasions been undercut not just from opposition parties, but also from rebel elements within both his own Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the junior member of the U.K.’s governing coalition.
The government lost a vote – by a tally of 285 to 272 – that would have supported in principle military intervention in Syria, where Western governments have said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime carried out a deadly chemical-weapons attack on civilians last week. Members of all major parties – including David Cameron’s Tories – opposed the measure.
The British Parliament vote against military strikes in Syria is a tough blow to PM David Cameron’s domestic political fortunes
David Cameron said it is clear that the British Parliament, reflecting the view of the British people, doesn’t want to see the U.K. get involved in military action and “the government will act accordingly”.
The outcome marks a significant moment in British politics – it is highly unusual for a prime minister to be defeated on foreign policy and raises questions about what the U.K.’s role will be the world stage going forward.
It is also a rare setback for U.S.-U.K. relations that will spur questions about the so-called “special relationship” between the two nations. In recent decades, the U.K. has rarely if ever parted ways with the U.S. on such a significant strategic issue.
While the government doesn’t require parliamentary approval to take military action, it would now be politically difficult to do so. A further parliamentary vote had been due to take place early next week on whether the U.K. should be directly involved in that action. A spokesman for the prime minister confirmed that the U.K. now won’t take part in the Syrian action.
The outcome of the U.K. vote could make it more difficult for President Barack Obama and other Western allies – already weary from years of difficult military intervention in the Middle East – to convince their own publics of the need for intervention in Syria.
This week’s episode of Duck Dynasty was all about helping each other out.
“One of the many perks of being in the Robertson clan is that if you need help–all you gotta do is ask for it,” Jase Robertson explained of his brothers, Uncle Si and coworker John Godwin pitching in to assist in building a new fishing dock.
“It’s a great system, but like any other system – there can be people who will abuse it.”
Jase Robertson was not-so-subtly referring to Uncle Si, who preferred to “supervise” the boys from dry land during the dock installation – all while sipping on his ever-present sweet tea.
“What’s the point of having family and friends if you can’t ask them for help every once in a while?” asked Si Robertson, somewhat rhetorically.
“You’re always asking for favors, but you never help out with any favors,” groused Willie Robertson.
“I never ask for no favors,” declared John Godwin.
“Yes, you have,” protested Willie Robertson.
“I absolutely never ask for a favor,” returned John Godwin.
Back at Duck Commander Headquarters, John Godwin made a random announcement: “I’m gonna get me a hot tub.”
“A hot tub,” Jase Robertson said, with obvious disgust.
“No self-respecting man would have a hot tub.”
“I would,” said his brother Willie with a slight smile.
“That’s my point,” returned Jase Robertson.
“The man wants a hot tub, he should get a hot tub,” reasoned Willie Robertson.
Since it was clear that John Godwin had his heart set on a hot tub, Willie Robertson fired up his laptop and started to search for one online.
“There’s some cool ones – about six grand,” Willie Robertson tells John Godwin.
“What’s your budget?”
This week’s episode of Duck Dynasty was all about helping each other out
“All’s I can spend is two hundred bucks,” said John Godwin, flatly.
With such a limited budget, Willie Robertson suggested that John Godwin purchase a used hot tub. John Godwin was fine with that, as long as it had speakers.
One of the Robertson brothers did not approve of John Godwin getting any kind of hot tub – with or without speakers.
“I just want to say something on the record,” said Jase Robertson.
“I am in protest of this. This whole thing is a bad idea. You’re going to get the measles from it. Blisters, skin rashes or hepatitis.”
“When it comes to germs, Jase is a walking contradiction,” noted Willie Robertson.
“He has no problem crawling through swamps and other disgusting, stagnant bodies of water. But just the mention of a manmade place with clean, animal-free water is enough to send him on a rant for a week.”
After much discussion, Si Robertson suggested that only place that might have a hot tub within John Godwin’s budget would be a place called Squirrel’s–yes, Squirrel’s–Junkyard.
“That’s actually not a bad idea, because all he has is crap,” laughed Willie Robertson.
Meanwhile, Phil and Miss Kay Robertson have a few of the grandkids over for the afternoon, who arrive to the Robertson property “fresh from the subdivision.”
Phil Robertson is determined to teach his grandchildren “patience and resourcefulness” by gathering mayhaw berries and turning them into jelly.
“Food,” lectured Phil Robertson.
“What if everything goes south, there are no chicken nuggets, there’s no big, tall Coca-Colas and fries – what then?”
“We would survive like the walking dead,” answered Willie Robertson’s grandson, John Luke.
That did not satisfy Phil Robertson, and he set out to teach the kids the finer points of mayhaw harvesting.
Back at Squirrel’s Junkyard, the boys have found a budget-appropriate – if disgusting – hot tub for John Godwin. They tow it back to John Godwin’s house, where he insisted that it be installed in the front yard so that he can “watch the cars go by.”
“What are you, a dog?” asked Willie Robertson.
John Godwin stands firm, determined that they install the hot tub in the front yard. The boys struggle to unload the hot tub off the truck, and it crashes to the ground with a thud.
“This board broke,” said John Godwin.
“That’s just cosmetic,” reassured Willie Robertson.
“That’s right,” conceded John Godwin.
“I’ll get the wood glue.”
After the “cosmetic” damage is fixed, John Godwin climbs into the hot tub.
“In all the years I’ve known Godwin, I’ve never seen him this happy,” observed Willie Robertson.
“He’s happier than a pig in mud – which is actually a fitting comparison when you consider how disgusting that water probably is.”
At the family dinner, the Robertsons gave thanks, and Willie Robertson noted: “Sometimes doing a favor a friend can be quick and easy, other times it means you’ll be spending all day at a stinkin’ junkyard. The point is, you can’t pick and choose how you help somebody. You just help them because they’ve been there to help you.”
Millions of New Yorkers will line up along Eastern Parkway for the Brooklyn Labor Day parade on Monday, September 2, 2013.
This year, the West Indian American Day Parade & Carnival continues to enjoy the distinction of being New York City’s biggest cultural festivals by far.
As in the past, count on crowds to be waving flags from Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, Haiti, and other Caribbean nations in a joyful expression of ethnic heritage and cultural pride.
Brooklyn Labor Day Parade is a joyful expression of ethnic heritage and cultural pride of Caribbean nations
Everyone’s invited to take part in the spectacle of thousands of marchers in colorful costumes jumping down the parade route to the sounds of reggae and calypso.
A special added-attraction: the aromas of native foods like Jamaican jerk chicken, Bajan fried flying fish, and other soul-satisfying treats at the city’s biggest street festival.
In fact, the entire Labor Day weekend is devoted to special events – with a special Kiddie Carnival on Saturday, a Dimanche Gras (Fat Sunday) celebration, and an early Monday morning (starting around 3 AM) J’Ouvert parade, a celebration of steel pan drums that kicks off the main parade beginning at 11 AM.
This Caribbean celebration, known for having lively music and lots of skin, is never short on costumed stilt dancers, floats blaring soca and calypso music, and plenty of flags from countries such as Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Look for vendors stationed along Eastern Parkway selling island eats like jerk chicken, curry goat and oxtail. Early risers can preparty at J’ouvert (pronounced “joo-VAY”), a predawn festival in which revelers throw powdered paint at each other. Head to Grand Army Plaza around 4 AM when the high jinks really get going.
Eastern Pkwy from Schenectady Ave to Flatbush Ave, Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Subway: 3, 4, 5 to Crown Hts-Utica Ave.
The US economy grew at an annualized pace of 2.5% in Q2 2013, the Commerce Department said in revised figures.
That was more than double the pace recorded in the previous three months, and above estimates of 2.2%.
The rise, helped by an increase in exports, is a further sign that the economy may be getting back on track.
The government had originally estimated that GDP grew at a 1.7% rate in the second quarter.
The US economy grew at an annualized pace of 2.5 percent in Q2 2013
The revised non-annualized quarter on quarter figure was 0.6%, up from an initial 0.4% estimate.
Housing and business investment, two key sectors of the economy, remained strong in the revised figures.
Housing construction grew at an annual rate of 12.9%, the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.
Meanwhile, business investment was revised up to a 16.1% rate.
The government also said data from retailers showed they had restocked their shelves at a faster pace in the April-to-June period than first thought.
The positive news could make US central bank economists more likely to begin reducing monthly bond purchases later this year.
The programme is one of the US’s last stimulus measures.
Economists think growth will stay at the 2.5% rate in the second half of the year, boosted by steady job gains and less drag from federal spending cuts.
Michael Jackson’s civil trial in Los Angeles revealed today that the megastar asked a doctor for propofol 10 years before he died of an overdose of the drug.
Dr. Christine Quinn told how Michael Jackson asked her to give him propofol to help him sleep.
Michael Jackson died of an overdose of the drug given to him by Dr. Conrad Murray.
His mother, Katherine Jackson, is suing promoters AEG Live for $40 billion over her son’s 2009 death. The company has denied any wrongdoing.
Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011 over Jackson’s death. AEG, which was promoting his planned comeback concerts, denies it hired Murray.
Dr. Christine Quinn was giving evidence for the defense.
Michael Jackson asked a doctor for propofol 10 years before he died of an overdose of the drug
She said the request for propofol came after she met Michael Jackson while he was undergoing dental procedures.
Dr. Christine Quinn said she told him it was not appropriate to use the drug as a sleep aid.
She told him the sleep you get with anaesthesia “is not real sleep, not restful sleep”.
But Michael Jackson told her it had given him the best sleep he had ever had.
Nurse practitioner Cherilyn Lee also told the court that Michael Jackson had told her he needed propofol to sleep in April 2009.
She said she had warned him that it was unsafe for home use and he might not wake up.
But Michael Jackson told her that doctors had told him he would be fine as long as he was monitored.
She said “his demeanor was <<I have to have this. I have to have this to sleep. You don’t understand, I have not had a good night’s sleep>>”.
AEG Live has also called a number of Michael Jackson’s former doctors to testify.
Dr. Petros Levounis, who had been hired by AEG, told the court on Tuesday that Michael Jackson showed signs that he was shopping around to try to find a doctor who would give him opioid drugs.
Katherine Jackson’s lawyers have said Michael was not an addict.
US fast-food workers are on strike, union leaders say, in what could be one of the industry’s biggest walkouts.
Workers want to be paid $15 an hour, double the rate for many employees at fast-food chains.
In New York City, about 300 protesters flooded into a McDonald’s near the Empire State Building.
The strike comes amid calls by President Barack Obama and some lawmakers to raise the US minimum wage.
Those members of Congress suggest bringing the current rate up to $9 an hour from $7.25, previously set in 2009.
Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, who is taking a lead role in the Obama administration’s higher minimum wage push, said: “For all too many people working minimum wage jobs, the rungs on the ladder of opportunity are feeling further and further apart.”
In addition to a walkout at fast-food chains in 50 cities, employees at retail firms in some cities were expected to join, say union leaders.
Fast-food workers in dozens of US cities are on strike, in what could be one of the industry’s biggest walkouts
Workers say they cannot live on the minimum wage, which would net $15,000 a year for full-time work.
But many note they are rarely scheduled for full working weeks.
In a statement, McDonald’s and Burger King Worldwide said they do not make pay decisions at the majority of US restaurants that operate as independent franchises.
The firms have argued that raising entry-level wages would mean higher overall costs and higher prices.
A spokesman for the National Restaurant Association, a restaurant lobbying group, told the Associated Press news agency that low wages reflect the fact that most fast-food workers tend to be younger and have little work experience.
But Mary Kay Henry, of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a labor group which is supporting the strike, says many fast-food workers are no longer only teenagers.
“The median wage [for service workers] of $9.08 an hour still falls far below the federal poverty line for a worker lucky enough to get 40 hours a week and never have to take a sick day,” Mary Kay Henry said.
The US fast-food industry has come under increasing scrutiny because part-time work, including retail and food positions, have made up most of the jobs added since the recession.
It is unclear if the strike will close any restaurants for the day, given that organizers announced the action with enough notice for managers to adjust work schedules.
Earlier this summer there was a one-day walkout by about 2,200 fast-food workers.
Former President Ronald Reagan’s family has hit out at the producers of new film The Butler for allegedly portraying him as a racist.
Ronald Reagan is played by British actor Alan Rickman in The Butler, which tells the story of black man Cecil Gaines who served in the White House for 34 years.
However, Ronald Reagan’s son claims that the portrayal implies that the former president was prejudiced against black people, when in fact he helped the cause of African-Americans and showed friendship to the real White House butler.
The Butler, which was released in the U.S. two weeks ago, follows Cecil Gaines, played by Forest Whitaker, as he experiences decades of American history at the side of multiple Presidents.
The film is based on the real-life story of Eugene Allen, who died in 2010 and served every President from Ike Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan.
Alan Rickman, known for his roles in Die Hard and the Harry Potter series, plays Ronald Reagan, while anti-war activist Jane Fonda was controversially cast as his wife Nancy.
In the film – as in real life – Ronald Reagan invites the butler to attend a state dinner as a guest instead of an employee.
But Cecil Gaines is uncomfortable with the experience, and turns against the President over Ronald Reagan’s move to lift sanctions against South Africa over the apartheid regime.
Alan Rickman as Ronald Reagan and Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan in Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Ronald Reagan’s son Michael has launched a blistering attack on his father’s portrayal, writing in Newsmax that the film should be called The Butler from Another Planet because it is so historically inaccurate.
“Portraying Ronald Reagan as a racist because he was in favor of lifting economic sanctions against South Africa is simplistic and dishonest,” Michael Reagan wrote.
“If you knew my father, you’d know he was the last person on Earth you would call a racist.”
He pointed out that the leader had a record of friendship towards black people, having been close to a number of African-Americans during his college days.
When Ronald Reagan was governor of California, his son wrote, he more than doubled the number of black officials who had ever been appointed in the state’s history.
Michael Reagan claimed that his parents “treated Mr. Allen with the utmost respect” – unlike in the film, where Cecil Gaines’s invitation to the state dinner is implied to have been an act of tokenism.
When Eugene Allen was interviewed about his experiences in 2008, his only reminiscence of the evening was to smile as his wife recalled: “Had champagne that night.”
The film culminated with the butler’s resignation as a protest over Ronald Reagan’s opposition to South African sanctions, though there is no evidence that this was the reason for Eugene Allen’s retirement at the age of 67.
“The real story of the White House butler doesn’t imply racism at all,” Michael Reagan wrote.
“It’s simply Hollywood liberals wanting to believe something about my father that was never there.”
He added: “My father’s position on lifting the South African sanctions in the 80s had nothing to do with the narrow issue of race. It had to do with the geopolitics of the Cold War.”
Allen told his interviewer in 2008 that he was “especially fond of the Reagans”, and resolutely refused to criticize any of the Presidents he worked for.
The Butler, directed by Lee Daniels, takes a number of liberties in adapting Eugene Allen’s life story, most notably in inventing an episode in which his mother is raped and father killed by a plantation boss.
Michael Jackson, who died in June 2009, would have been 55 today.
Though the King of Pop died four years ago at the age of 50, Twitter was full of birthday greetings and retrospectives of the late singer.
Michael Jackson, who died in June 2009, would have been 55 today
Also, producer Timbaland (Timothy Zachery Mosley) hinted at a new project that could include Michael Jackson’s vocals. In a teaser initially posted on YouTube’s Revolt TV channel, Timbaland talked about being approached by Epic Records executive L.A. Reid about a project that “would be like two kings working together.” Timbaland never mentions Michael Jackson’s name, but the singer’s image appears throughout the clip, which has appeared in several third-party versions since the original was removed from YouTube.
To celebrate his August 29 birth, Sony Music Entertainment is encouraging fans to share birthday wishes — and ideas for making the world a better place — by uploading an Instagram photo or video with hashtags #MJBDay or #MjWeAreOne.
Birthday.MichaelJackson.com will employ Instagram’s API to plot your submission on an interactive map, which lets users click and see other fans’ photos and videos.
Bryson Foster of Concord, North Carolina, is set to open the 48th annual MDA Show of Strength Telethon this Labor Day weekend, Sunday, September 1, 9/8c, on ABC television stations across the country.
Bryson Foster, 13, will make his second consecutive network television appearance as the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s National Goodwill Ambassador during the two-hour broadcast of the telethon that will air on WSOC, ABC Channel 9, for residents in the Charlotte area.
He will introduce some of the show’s biggest acts, including Grammy Award-winning pop sensation Backstreet Boys and teen pop star Austin Mahone. Bryson Foster makes several additional appearances throughout the show alongside co-announcer Shawn Parr doing segment introductions and national partner recognitions.
“Bryson’s positive attitude and quick-witted personality immediately capture the attention of everyone he meets, and we are honored that he will be a part of the broadcast again this year,” said MDA President and CEO Steven M. Derks. “Bryson’s enthusiasm is contagious, and he understands the importance of his role as National Goodwill Ambassador in spreading MDA’s mission of help and hope to the American public. We’re very lucky to have a shining star like him to represent the individuals and families we serve.”
Bryson Foster is MDA’s 2013 National Goodwill Ambassador, and as part of his role, he travels throughout the country (along with parents, Claire and Phil) speaking to groups about MDA’s research and lifesaving mission. Bryson is affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a disease characterized by muscle weakness in the hips, legs and shoulders. It involves progressive degeneration of voluntary and cardiac muscles; weakened cardiac and respiratory muscles severely limit life span.
Bryson Foster is set to open the 48th annual MDA Show of Strength Telethon this Labor Day weekend
Since becoming MDA’s Goodwill Ambassador in 2012, Bryson Foster has traveled all over the country as the face and voice of MDA. When he’s not busy on MDA’s behalf, Bryson is enthusiastic about his seventh-grade classes, and enjoys playing with his friends and singing karaoke. Bryson Foster is a self-proclaimed sports fanatic, and his ultimate dream is to become a quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, a head coach or sports announcer – in that order.
The 2013 telethon will feature a star-studded celebrity lineup, including: Ryan Seacrest; Backstreet Boys; country stars Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker and Lee Ann Womack; Glee star Matthew Morrison; Enrique Iglesias; Paula Abdul; teenage pop sensation Austin Mahone; hip-hop dance crew Jabbawockeez; American Idol runner-up Jessica Sanchez; Kenny Loggins with the Blue Sky Riders; American blues rock band Vintage Trouble; and Universal recording artist and star from The Voice Chris Mann.
Additional presenters for the 2013 show include: ABC’s Dr. Richard Besser; Dancing with the Stars contestant and Brady Bunch mom Florence Henderson; Emmy award-winning journalist Jann Carl; Olympic gold medal gymnasts Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner; and No Doubt drummer Adrian Young and his son Mason Young.
As in the past, the entertainment event will raise funds and awareness to support MDA’s mission to help children and adults affected by progressive and often fatal muscle diseases.
While the telethon has consistently enjoyed robust support from some of the biggest celebrities in show business, the real stars on the telethon are the individuals and families served by MDA, including six families who will share their stories of survival and hope during the 2013 broadcast.
The MDA telethon is one of America’s longest-standing and beloved fundraising and entertainment events. For 48 years, funds raised by MDA telethons also have contributed to the organization’s worldwide research program. Today, through current clinical trials, there is growing excitement that new lifesaving treatments and discoveries are on the horizon for many of the disorders MDA is dedicated to defeating, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
MDA’s first Labor Day weekend telethon was broadcast in 1966 on a single New York station and has become the most successful fundraising event in the history of television. The show, with Jerry Lewis as its iconic host through 2010, and with help from a legion of top celebrities and entertainers, has raised millions each year to provide life-enhancing support and services for the families MDA serves.
Visit mda.org/muscle to learn more about the 2013 MDA telethon.
The MDA Telethon is must-see TV watching during the Labor Day weekend, an end-of-summer tradition in the U.S. since it first began in New York City in 1954.
For many years, a Labor Day weekend tradition featured the much-loved actor and comedian Jerry Lewis rallying public support in the battle to combat muscular dystrophy, a crippling disease which currently has no known cure.
Then, in a major announcement in 2011 it was revealed that after more than four decades the 85-year-old Jerry Lewis would be stepping down as the major host for the show. The epic 20-hour “all night” money raiser was also cut back to 6 hours, and then in 2012 to only a 2-hour broadcast featuring both taped and live performances.
As Jerry Lewis himself would say, “the show must go on” with 2013 marking the 48th annual Labor Day telethon.
In 2013, a bevy of star appearances and celebrity presenters will be lending their time and talents to the MDA Labor Day Telethon
This year, another MDA tradition comes to an end as the telethon moves from its usual “Love Network” of local stations to a major network in primetime.
The historic contract with the ABC television network means that the MDA telethon will for the first time air on a single network in its entirety nationwide.
In 2013, watch for the MDA Telethon to air on ABC from 9 – 11 PM on Sunday, September 1, 2013.
In 2013, a bevy of star appearances and celebrity presenters will be lending their time and talents to the MDA Labor Day Telethon.
They include Ryan Seacrest, Backstreet Boys, country stars Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker and Lee Ann Womack, Glee star Matthew Morrison, Enrique Iglesias, Paula Abdul, and teenage pop sensation Austin Mahone.
Nationwide, the telethon usually creates an outpouring of support from a big-hearted American public who in 2012 helped raise more than $58 million in pledges & contributions for both service and research programs of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
US researchers have found a clue to why memory deteriorates with age.
Experiments on mice suggested low levels of protein RbAp48 in the brain may be responsible for memory loss.
It is hoped the discovery could lead to treatments to reverse forgetfulness, but it is a big leap from the mouse to a human brain.
The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, said age-related memory loss was a separate condition to Alzheimer’s disease.
Experiments on mice suggested low levels of protein RbAp48 in the brain may be responsible for memory loss
The team at Columbia University Medical Centre started by analyzing the brains of eight dead people, aged between 22 and 88, who had donated their organ for medical research.
They found 17 genes whose activity level differed with age. One contained instructions for making a protein called RbAp48, which became less active with time.
Young mice genetically engineered to have low RbAp48 levels performed as poorly as much older mice in memory tests.
Using a virus to boost RbAp48 in older mice appeared to reverse the decline and boosted their memory.
One of the researchers, Prof. Eric Kandel, said: “The fact that we were able to reverse age-related memory loss in mice is very encouraging.
“At the very least, it shows that this protein is a major factor, and it speaks to the fact that age-related memory loss is due to a functional change in neurons of some sort. Unlike with Alzheimer’s, there is no significant loss of neurons.”
It is still not know what impacted adjusting levels of RbAp48 in the far more complex human brain or even it if is possible to manipulate levels safely.
After the release of Applause, the first single from her upcoming album Artpop, Lady Gaga gave fans a sneak peek of new track Swine.
In a new video tweeted by Lady Gaga, she offered a sneak preview of snippets of brand-new track Swine.
Lady Gaga shows off her multi-tasking ability in the clip as she sings, plays the piano and slams on some electronic drums.
The video also shows off some lyrics from her song: “I know, I know, I know / I know you want me / You’re just a pig in a human’s body.”
And the energy climbs as Lady Gaga hits the next ham-fisted line – “Squealer, squealer, squeal OUT! / You’re so disgusting / You’re just a pig inside… SWINE!”
The song soon transitions into a hard rock breakdown reminiscent of a Trent Reznor B-side, and Lady Gaga looks possessed as she smashes a cymbal to the beat.
Lady Gaga gave fans a sneak peek of new track Swine
In any case, Lady Gaga seems thoroughly proud of her song, even dubbing her performance SwineFest and giving her fans a cheeky dress code.
“I will be providing a list of acceptable attire for #SwineFest throughout the week,” Lady Gaga tweeted on Wednesday.
That list apparently includes seashells, seahorses, starfish and “Botticelli-Punk accessories”, which would optimally be secured on “paint colored dreadlocks”.
She seems to love referencing the Early Renaissance painter Botticelli, even tweeting an image of his seminal painting The Birth Of Venus.
Which is fine, except the image comes with a cringe-worthy tweet: “#SomeOfUsJustLikeToRead Botticelli Punk, Seashell Girl ArtFunk!”
Lady Gaga’s new obsession apparently focuses on all things sea-related, and she even posted an animated GIF of Ariel from Disney’s The Little Mermaid.
But other suggested fashion pieces for her upcoming show strayed from the nautical theme.
Lady Gaga will perform a headlining gig on Sunday at the iTunes Festival, a month-long music fest held in London, England.
“Acceptable attire for #SwineFest CONTINUED: 5: BEDAZZLED PIG NOSE 6: BOWIE MAGICIAN GARB 7: TRASHBAG or ARTCLOTHES (THERE IS A PAINT ZONE),” she wrote.
ARTCLOTHES, Lady Gaga clarified in another tweet, are “clothes you don’t mind getting covered in live art!”.
George Zimmerman’s wife Shellie says their marriage is on the verge of ending and that she is going to have to “think about” whether she will stay with him, as it is revealed he “beat down” her self-esteem.
Shellie Zimmerman, 26, stood by her husband throughout his lengthy murder trial and even admitted to lying to a judge about the couple’s finances – a decision that led to her arrest. On Wednesday, she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation and community service.
She also revealed that the couple hid out in a 20-foot trailer in the woods and lived in fear every night that one of the thousands of people who had threatened George Zimmerman’s life would find them and kill them.
Shellie Zimmerman refused to say whether she and George are still together – but that doesn’t change her opinion on whether he murdered Trayvon Martin. She said she always believed he killed the unarmed teen in self-defense.
Investigative journalist Christi O’Connor spoke with Shellie Zimmerman in her first public interview since her husband’s acquittal on July 14. The interview aired this morning on Good Morning America.
“I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve laid awake at night just thinking I wish to God these circumstances were different,” she said.
Christi O’Connor told ABC News that George Zimmerman has “beaten down” his wife’s self-image.
“When I asked her why she was doing this, Shellie said, <<I want to start my life back>>,” Christi O’Connor said.
“George Zimmerman has beaten down her self-esteem. She has a moment in the spotlight. She wants everyone to know that she changed her life.”
George Zimmerman’s wife Shellie says their marriage is on the verge of ending
When asked whether she was still together with her husband, she refused to answer.
Later, she said wanted to have children. When the interviewer asked her: “With George?” she responded: “That’s something I’m going to have to think about.”
Shellie Zimmerman stood by her husband throughout lengthy criminal that sent them both into hiding when George became a symbol of racial tension. She appeared at every court hearing for him.
And even now, she stands by his actions that night, when the neighborhood watch volunteer confronted a teenager he thought looked suspicious who was walking through his neighborhood.
When asked if she thought George Zimmerman had targeted Trayvon Martin and murdered him in cold blood, she he’s “not capable” that kind of behavior.
“That’s not his way,” she said.
Despite her presence at his court hearings, he was not in court Wednesday when she admitted to perjury when she lied about how much money the couple had raised on a website established for George Zimmerman’s legal defense.
“By lying under oath, I let my God down, I let your Honor and the court down, I let my family and friends down, and, most of all, I let myself down,” she wrote in an apology letter.
Shellie Zimmerman received 100 hours of community service and a year of probation. She said she plans to do the community service at a Christian ministry.
When asked if she wished her husband had been in court with her, she responded: “I always want my husband’s support.”
Tens of thousands protested when he not arrested Trayvon Martin’s death in February 2012.
Hundreds of other people issued death threats against George and Shellie Zimmerman and their families.
The couple were forced to flee their home in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, and go into hiding.
“We have been pretty much Gypsies for they past year and half,” she said.
“We lived in a 20-foot trailer in the woods, scared every night that someone would find us and it would be horrific.”
She also revealed that the couple’s marital problem did not come as a result of her husband’s killing of Trayvon Martin, nor even from the hiding out. They began even before George Zimmerman became a household name.
Shellie Zimmerman revealed that the night George shot Trayvon Martin, she was staying at after her father’s house because she and her husband had had a fight.
She also expressed sadness for Trayvon Martin’s parents, who have been vocal in demanding George Zimmerman be sent to prison.
“I’m so deeply sorry for the loss. I can’t even begin to understand the grief that a parent experiences when they lose a child,” Shellie Zimmerman said.
A new range of “bread beds” is taking Japan by storm.
The latest offering from Japan, which have a predilection for wacky home furnishings, is a quirky collection of bedding inspired by baked goods.
So you can lay your weary head on a square toast pillow, tuck yourself into a croissant sleeping bag, snuggle up inside a doughnut and even wrap yourself in an omelet.
The good-enough-to-eat range of soft furnishings is being sold by Felissimo, and each piece is priced at ¥16,800 ($173).
Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku translated some of the names of the items in the range from Japanese to English.
The sleeping bag that looks like a creme horn or croissant roughly means “flop down in a chocolate nap”.
Croissant duvet, toast pillow and doughnut bun by Felissimo
The original Japanese name merges the words Korone (コロネ), this dessert’s name in Japanese, and the word Gorone (ごろ寝), which means “napping”, reported Kotaku.
The toast set’s name is translated to “thick slices of Japanese cushion bread”.
It comes “served” with a red blanket that is meant to look like jam. The bread and jam set also work as a makeshift bed.
A thick, round, “glazed” sleeping bag is sliced in the middle to resemble a doughnut, and allows the owner to tuck in as its “cream”. The name is, roughly, “cream pocket bread”.
A circular beige sleeping bag which comes with a green blanket is dubbed the “goodnight dessert omelet”.
It rolls around you and fastens, or rolls out flat and circular. The blanket resembles the “green tea cream” accompaniment.
Many users in Japan say they are desperate to get hold of their own sweet-looking bread bed to lounge around in.
President Barack Obama has said he has not yet decided on Syria strike.
However, the president said he had concluded Syrian government forces were behind a recent chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
Speaking on US television, Barack Obama said the use of chemical weapons affected US national interests and that sending a “shot across the bows” could have a positive impact on Syria’s war.
His comments follow a day of behind-the-scenes wrangling at the UN.
Meanwhile the UK had been pushing for permanent members of the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution which would have authorized measures to protect civilians in Syria.
But Syrian ally Russia refused to agree to the resolution and the meeting produced no end to the diplomatic stalemate which has long characterized the UN position on Syria.
The US State Department criticized “Russian intransigence” and said it could not allow diplomatic paralysis to serve as a shield for the Syrian leadership.
Russia is sending an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to the eastern Mediterranean.
The ships are being sent to strengthen the navy’s presence in the area because of the “well-known situation” there, the Russian news agency Interfax has said.
But another news agency, RIA Novosti, quotes a senior naval command spokesman as saying that this is just a planned rotation, unconnected with Syria.
Critics have questioned what purpose a limited strike on Syria could serve, but Barack Obama told the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) it would send the government of Bashar al-Assad “a pretty strong signal that it better not [use chemical weapons] again”.
President Barack Obama has said he has not yet decided on Syria strike
The US has yet to produce the intelligence it says shows Bashar al-Assad’s government is guilty of using chemical weapons, and UN weapons inspectors are still investigating inside Syria.
The team has just begun a third day of on-site investigations, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for it to be “given time to do its job”. He said the inspectors would finish their investigations and be out of the area by Saturday morning.
Syria denies using chemical weapons and blames opposition fighters for the attack near Damascus on August 21, which reportedly killed hundreds of people.
It accused the West of “inventing” excuses to launch a strike.
In a sign of growing fears about an impending attack among Syrians, the Associated Press quoted Lebanese officials as saying at least 6,000 Syrians crossed into Lebanon in a 24-hour period through the main Masnaa crossing – compared to a normal daily tally of between 500 and 1,000 refugees.
In Damascus senior military commanders are reportedly staying away from buildings thought likely to be targeted.
President Barack Obama told PBS that the US had “not yet made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place, and hardly anyone disputes that chemical weapons were used in a large scale in Syria against civilian populations”.
“We’ve looked at all the evidence, and we don’t believe the opposition possessed chemical weapons of that sort,” Barack Obama said.
He added he had concluded that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attack.
“There need to be international consequences, so we are consulting with our allies,” he said.
There was “a prospect that chemical weapons could be directed at us – and we want to make sure that doesn’t happen”.
Opinion polls until now have shown very little interest among the US public in getting involved in the Syrian conflict.
In an open letter to the president, US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner demanded he explain “the intended effect of military strikes”, and how he would prevent the intervention escalating, if he wanted to win public and congressional backing for action.
More than 110 members of Congress have signed a letter formally requesting that Barack Obama seek congressional approval for any action in Syria.
US officials are expected to give senior members of Congress a classified briefing on the evidence that the Syrian government carried out the alleged chemical attack on Thursday.
The US has said it will not take action alone – but one of its primary allies, the UK, has agreed to wait until UN inspectors report back before taking a parliamentary vote on potential action.
Russia rejected a UK push to try to agree a resolution on Syria among permanent UN Security Council members on Wednesday, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov saying the UN could not consider any draft resolution or proposed action in Syria before the UN weapons inspectors reported back.
The use of force without a sanction of the UN Security Council would be a “crude violation” of international law and “lead to the long-term destabilisation of the situation in the country and the region”, Sergei Lavrov has said.
The UK, US and France are continuing their discussions following the meeting of the five permanent members.
More than 100,000 people are estimated to have died since the conflict erupted in Syria in March 2011, and the conflict has produced at least 1.7 million refugees.
New reports claimed that Kris Jenner’s new FOX chat show Kris had been cancelled after its initial six-week trial run.
But the programme’s Twitter page has now responded to claims that Kris Jenner was canned and insist that no decision has been made just yet surrounding the future of her show.
A short message to fans was posted on Twitter, stating that current rumors surrounding Kris Jenner were “false”.
“Rumors flying are false but glad everyone is still buzzing about our 6 week summer run!!!!” a Tweet from the Kris Jenner Show’s official Twitter page read.
A source close to Kris Jenner also told Us Weeklythat FOX actually “likes the show”.
“It’s way too early for that decision to have been made,” the insider said.
“And on top of that, FOX likes the show.”
It had been previously reported that the momager’s daytime series suffered such poor ratings that the network was adamant that “there is no chance” she will be picked up for a second season.
New reports claimed that Kris Jenner’s new FOX chat show Kris had been cancelled after its initial six-week trial run
This after the talk show received a ratings boost from an appearance by Kanye West – where he revealed the first pictures of his daughter North.
A source allegedly told RadarOnline on Wednesday: “There is no chance the talk show is going to get a green light from FOX.
“The ratings were averaging an abysmal 0.8 and advertisers were less than enthusiastic about it.”
Adding: “Kris did get a ratings bump for her last show when Kanye West revealed the first baby pic of daughter, North West, with Kim, but that was a one time shot in the arm and it wouldn’t be indicative of what the ratings trend would be.”
It appeared that the 57-year-old reality star was hoping to ride the wave of her family’s fame to prop up her chat show’s ratings.
But apparently five days a week of the Kardashians may have been a bit of an overload.
The cancellation rumor comes as Queen Latifah and Bethenny Frankel try their hand this fall at hosting their own talk shows in the highly competitive field of daytime.
Just recently Jeff Probst and Ricki Lake saw both of their shows axed after just one season.
A source further explained to Radar: “It’s a very crowded market and Kris didn’t do anything to set herself apart from the field.
“Believe it or not, most of America doesn’t want to hear about the Kardashian’s for an hour everyday.”
It was also claimed that FOX would be replacing Kris Jenner with panel-format talk show title The Real, after it scored high in the key female demographics following its pilot run on July 15.
FOX is expected to make an official announcement surrounding the future of Kris Jenner in a few weeks, but it was also reported on Wednesday that they were delaying any bad news about the show out of respect to the troubles the Kardashian family is currently facing.
Khloe Kardashian is said to be in the midst of a marital crisis as her husband Lamar Odom is alleged to be in the grip of a serious addiction to drugs.
Lamar Odom had been holed up in a hotel after Khloe Kardashian reportedly “threw him out of the marital home”, following a failed intervention last week.
Despite no confirmation surrounding the future of the show, an insider at the network explained that a cancellation “will be announced in a low key fashion, probably on a Friday afternoon so it won’t generate a ton of negative press for Kris”.
James Brown’s life and music career is to be brought to the big screen in a biopic produced by Mick Jagger.
The biopic will be directed by Tate Taylor, known for his Oscar-winning adaptation of The Help in 2011.
James Brown will be played by Chadwick Boseman who portrayed the history-making baseball player Jackie Robinson in the upcoming film 42.
Tate Taylor said of ‘”the Godfather of Soul”: “Those are big shoes to fill.”
James Brown will be played by Chadwick Boseman in new biopic
According to The Wrap, Chadwick Boseman will portray James Brown over a period of several decades, from his impoverished youth in Georgia to becoming one of the founding fathers of funk music and most important figures in 20th Century pop music.
James Brown biopic has been in development for years, with various actors and directors attached. The as-yet titled film is due to begin shooting in the US this year.
The Wrap reported Tate Taylor may reunite Viola Davis, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer and Nelsan Ellis – three of the stars of The Help – on the project.
Mick Jagger will also be portrayed in the film by an actor, along with his bandmate Keith Richards and Little Richard.
A relative newcomer to the Hollywood scene, 31-year-old Chadwick Boseman gained recognition in the US earlier this year for his role in 42 which told the story of Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball in the 1940s.
Vodafone has confirmed it is in talks with Verizon Communications over the sale of its 45% stake in their joint venture, Verizon Wireless.
Reports earlier this year suggested that Verizon was looking to buy Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless for about $100 billion.
However, there has also been speculation that the stake is worth more than this.
Shares in Vodafone jumped 8% following the company’s announcement.
Vodafone is in talks with Verizon Communications over the sale of its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless
Vodafone said in a statement: “Vodafone notes the recent press speculation and confirms that it is in discussions with Verizon Communications Inc. regarding the possible disposal of Vodafone’s US group whose principal asset is its 45% interest in Verizon Wireless.
“There is no certainty that an agreement will be reached.”
Verizon Wireless is the largest and most profitable phone operator in the US, with 100 million customers.
The deal would be one of the largest corporate transactions of all time if it goes through, and would provide a large cash injection for the UK telecoms company, but would leave Vodafone without a highly profitable non-European partnership.
Verizon has been looking to buy out Vodafone’s stake in Verizon Wireless for some years, however, price has been a consistent hurdle.
Panama announces an undeclared Cuban weapons cargo found on a North Korean ship is an “undoubted violation” of the UN’ arms embargo on Pyongyang.
A draft report by UN experts sent to Panama after the seizure of the ship in July confirmed a breach of sanctions, the ministry of public security said.
Two North Korean diplomats are in Panama to assist the ship’s 35 crew.
Cuba said it shipped the arms to North Korea for repair. It did not say why they were hidden under tonnes of sugar.
A source in the public security ministry said authorities had been given a first draft of the report compiled by UN sanctions panel experts, the AFP news agency reports.
The ship, the Chong Chon Gang, was seized on suspicion it was carrying drugs.
The vessel had been navigating the Panama Canal.
North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang was seized in Panama on suspicion it was carrying drugs
Officials found 25 containers of military hardware, including two Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter aircraft, air defense systems, missiles and command and control vehicles.
The statement from the Panamanian public security ministry was released after the North Korean diplomats – from the country’s mission in Havana – visited the crew members at a former military base.
They are being detained on suspicion of arms trafficking; an offence which carries a 12-year prison sentence.
The UN inspectors completed their work two weeks ago but are yet to present their official findings publicly.
The Chong Chon Gang left Russia’s far east on April 12 and travelled across the Pacific Ocean before entering the canal at the start of June, with Cuba as its stated destination.
The ship disappeared from satellite tracking systems after it left the Caribbean side of the canal, resurfacing on July 11.
Experts say this may indicate that the crew switched off the system that automatically communicates details of their location.
It was stopped near Manzanillo on the Atlantic side of the canal on July 15.
Under UN sanctions, North Korea is banned from weapons exports and the import of all but small arms.
A new research presented at the Goldschmidt Meeting in Florence, Italy, say that life may have started on Mars before arriving on Earth.
The research supports an idea that the Red Planet was a better place to kick-start biology billions of years ago than the early Earth was.
The evidence is based on how the first molecules necessary for life were assembled.
Details of the theory were outlined by Prof. Steven Benner at the Goldschmidt Meeting.
Scientists have long wondered how atoms first came together to make up the three crucial molecular components of living organisms: RNA, DNA and proteins.
The molecules that combined to form genetic material are far more complex than the primordial “pre-biotic” soup of organic (carbon-based) chemicals thought to have existed on the Earth more than three billion years ago, and RNA (ribonucleic acid) is thought to have been the first of them to appear.
Simply adding energy such as heat or light to the more basic organic molecules in the “soup” does not generate RNA. Instead, it generates tar.
New research supports an idea that the Red Planet was a better place to kick-start biology billions of years ago than the early Earth was
RNA needs to be coaxed into shape by “templating” atoms at the crystalline surfaces of minerals.
The minerals most effective at templating RNA would have dissolved in the oceans of the early Earth, but would have been more abundant on Mars, according to Prof. Steven Benner.
This could suggest that life started on Mars before being transported to Earth on meteorites, argues Prof. Steven Benner, of the Westheimer Institute of Science and Technology in Gainesville, US.
The idea that life originated on Mars and was then transported to our planet has been mooted before. But Prof. Steven Benner’s ideas add another twist to the theory of a Martian origin for the terrestrial biosphere.
Here in Florence, Prof. Steven Benner presented results that suggest minerals containing the elements boron and molybdenum are key in assembling atoms into life-forming molecules.
The researcher points out that boron minerals help carbohydrate rings to form from pre-biotic chemicals, and then molybdenum takes that intermediate molecule and rearranges it to form ribose, and hence RNA.
This raises problems for how life began on Earth, since the early Earth is thought to have been unsuitable for the formation of the necessary boron and molybdenum minerals.
It is thought that the boron minerals needed to form RNA from pre-biotic soups were not available on early Earth in sufficient quantity, and the molybdenum minerals were not available in the correct chemical form.
Prof. Seven Benner explained: “It’s only when molybdenum becomes highly oxidised that it is able to influence how early life formed.
“This form of molybdenum couldn’t have been available on Earth at the time life first began, because three billion years ago, the surface of the Earth had very little oxygen, but Mars did.
“It’s yet another piece of evidence which makes it more likely life came to Earth on a Martian meteorite, rather than starting on this planet.”
Early Mars is also thought to have had a drier environment, and this is also crucial to its favorable location for life’s origins.
A new Here Comes Honey Boo Boo trailer shows June Shannon downing shots and dancing the night away during her bachelorette party.
Mama June, 33, who tied the knot at her Georgia home in May, explains in the clip that once she gets her “body in motion” there’s “pretty much, like, no stopping”.
Meanwhile her husband-to-be, Sugar Bear is seen celebrating his final days as a bachelor in a less raucous way – talking and reflecting on his relationship with friends around a BBQ.
Sugar Bear sweetly tells pals gathered: “I want to get committed. I mean I want to settle down now. I’ve been a renegade for a while.
“I wanna [sic] have fun but I just want something that when I come home, I’ve got something at home.”
“The way [women] b**** and all I still love ’em [sic]. I’m going to be there. As long as she’s got a heart and loves me for who I am . . . I’m happy.
“She can be big, fat, small, skinny. ‘m still going to love her.”
June Shannon downing shots and dancing the night away during her bachelorette party
June Shannon however doesn’t touch on “love” while partying at Wild Bill’s in Atlanta, Georgia. Instead she is clearly focused on having a good time.
“On the limo ride up here, I got a little buzzed, I feel kinda [sic] good, I’m ready to get the rest of my drink on,” she exclaims as she enters the country music venue.
Once inside the mother-of-four is seen drinking at the bar, bumping and grinding with men on the dance floor and even getting up on stage.
“If it’s a good beat it just . . . overtakes me,” June Shannon later explains.
The footage is only a taste of what the now newlyweds got up to and a full-length episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, set to air tonight, will reveal more.
June Shannon and Mike Sugar Bear Thompson met on an online chat room nine years ago following relationship break-ups.
After hitting it off they got together and their daughter, Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson was born two years later.
Honey Boo Boo shot to fame on the fly-on-the-wall pageant show Toddlers & Tiaras in 2009, which saw her score her own spin-off series last year. Her three stepsisters and parents also star.
Sugar Bear, 41, proposed to Mama June twice previously but got a “no” both times.
However, when he popped the question this year June Shannon decided to accept the offer.
Offering him some words of wisdom for the future, one of his friends Doode said: “I’ve been married four-and-a-half years and the advice I can give Sugar Bear is just to keep Mama happy.”
Another friend added: “The hard part about being married is keeping her happy.”
Former US Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan has been sentenced to die by lethal injection for killing 13 soldiers at Texas Army base Fort Hood, a military jury has decided.
Nidal Hasan, 42, was convicted last week of the 2009 shooting at Fort Hood, in which 32 others were also injured.
The defendant had tried to admit his guilt but military law bans guilty pleas in death penalty cases.
The Virginia-born Muslim said he opened fire to protect Taliban insurgents from troops about to deploy to Afghanistan.
Nidal Hasan’s court-appointed lawyers have previously told the judge they suspect he is seeking execution in a bid for martyrdom.
The jury handed down its sentence after two hours of deliberations on Wednesday.
But it could be years, possibly decades, before Nidal Hasan is executed because of the long appeals process in the military justice system.
Major Nidal Hasan has been sentenced to die by lethal injection for killing 13 soldiers at Fort Hood
His execution must eventually be authorized by the president.
On Wednesday before the sentence was handed down, prosecutor Colonel Mike Mulligan urged jurors to opt for a rare military death penalty.
“He will not now and he will never be a martyr,” Col. Mike Mulligan said of Nidal Hasan.
“He is a criminal. He is a cold-blooded murderer.”
“This is not his gift to God. This is his debt to society. This is the cost of his murderous rampage.”
“He will never be a martyr because he has nothing to give,” Col. Mike Mulligan added.
“He will not be giving his life, we will be taking it.”
Nidal Hasan, who represented himself, declined to speak on his own behalf, saying only: “I have no closing statement.”
The 13-member jury had to come to a unanimous agreement in order to sentence Nidal Hasan to death, otherwise he would have faced life in prison.
The US military has not executed a service member since 1961. There are five inmates on the US military’s death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, all at various stages of the appeals process.
Nidal Hasan opened fire at a medical facility on the Fort Hood base where soldiers were being evaluated before deploying overseas.
The trial heard he had prepared carefully for the attack, during which he fired 146 bullets.
The shooting spree ended when he was shot by a civilian police officer.
Nidal Hasan was paralyzed from the waist down from the wound and now uses a wheelchair.
Michelle Obama has debuted a new haircut with caramel colored highlights.
Michelle Obama showed off her brand new look yesterday while speaking at a film screening in Washington, DC.
The new face-framing hairdo is significantly less drastic and more flattering than the blunt bangs she had cut in January, which she admitted were “irritating” after a while.
Placed mostly around the edges of her face, the highlights are subtle and warm, in a soft honey color.
Michelle Obama showed off her brand new look yesterday while speaking at a film screening in Washington, DC
Reactions to the style have been mostly positive, with People.com comparing it to Olivia Pope’s hairstyle in ABC series Scandal.
And the beauty editor at New York Magazine suggested that the highlights are an indication that Michelle Obama is going grey, because lighter pigments work better than dark dye on greying hair.
The First Lady never fails to make waves with her fashion and hairstyle choices.
After initially debuting her bangs in January, Michelle Obama sent the social media world into a frenzy, even causing one fan to create a Twitter account called MichellesBangs in the hairstyle’s honor.
Today, Michelle Obama is accompanying Presiden Barack Obama to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington.
In a photo from the event, Michelle is escorted by her husband down the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, wearing a stunning black Tracy Reese dress adorned bright red flowers.
