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Anonymous published over 860,000 email addresses and passwords of Stratfor clients

Nancy Clayson
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Anonymous published over 860,000 email addresses and passwords of Stratfor clients

The loose-knit Anonymous movement, who stole thousands of credit card numbers from U.S. security firm Stratfor, has now published the email addresses of more than 860,000 of its clients.

Hackers released the data – which included information on former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger – online.

The lists of emails included scrambled details of their passwords – which experts said could be cracked within a matter of seconds by using software downloaded for free.

People working for big corporations, the U.S. military and major defense contractors were all contained on lists stolen from the intelligence company often dubbed the Shadow CIA.

The Antisec faction of Anonymous said last weekend it had hacked into the firm and promised that the release of the stolen data would cause “mayhem”.

A spokesperson for Anonymous said via Twitter that yet-to-be-published emails from the firm would show Stratfor, which gathers non-classified intelligence on international crises, “is not the <<harmless company>> it tries to paint itself as”.

Antisec has not disclosed when it will release those emails, but security analysts said they could contain information that could be embarrassing for the U.S. government.

The loose-knit Anonymous movement, who stole thousands of credit card numbers from U.S. security firm Stratfor, has now published the email addresses of more than 860,000 of its clients
The loose-knit Anonymous movement, who stole thousands of credit card numbers from U.S. security firm Stratfor, has now published the email addresses of more than 860,000 of its clients

Jeffrey Carr, chief executive of Taia Global Inc, said: “Those emails are going to be dynamite and may provide a lot of useful information to adversaries of the U.S. government.”

Stratfor issued a statement on Friday confirming that the published email addresses had been stolen from the company’s database.

The statement said it was helping law enforcement probe the matter and conducting its own investigation.

It said: “At Stratfor, we try to foster a culture of scrutiny and analysis, and we want to assure our customers and friends that we will apply the same rigorous standards in carrying out our internal review.”

John Bumgarner, chief technology officer of the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit, said: “There are thousands of email addresses here that could be used for very targeted spear phishing attacks that could compromise national security.”

The Pentagon said it saw no threat so far.

In a posting on the data-sharing website pastebin.com, Anonymous said the list included information from about 75,000 customers of Stratfor and about 860,000 people who had registered to use its site.

The hackers also said that the list included some 50,000 email addresses belonging to the U.S. government’s .gov and .mil domains.

The list also included addresses at contractors including BAE Systems Plc, Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp and several U.S. government-funded labs that conduct classified research in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Sandia and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Corporations on the list included Bank of America, Exxon Mobil Corp, Goldman Sachs & Co and Thomson Reuters.

The entries included scrambled versions of passwords. Some of them can be unscrambled using databases known as rainbow tables that are available for download over the Internet, according to John Bumgarner.

He said he randomly picked six people on the list affiliated with U.S. military and intelligence agencies to see if he could crack their passwords.

John Bumgarner said he was able to break four of them, each in about a second, using one rainbow table.

Alzheimer’s disease prevention: vitamins and fish protect the brain from ageing

Kathryn R. Bown
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A new research suggests that a diet rich in vitamins and fish may protect the brain from ageing while junk food has the opposite effect.

Elderly people with high blood levels of vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids had less brain shrinkage and better mental performance, a Neurology study found.

Trans fats found in fast foods were linked to lower scores in tests and more shrinkage typical of Alzheimer’s.

A UK medical charity has called for more work into diet and dementia risk.

The best current advice is to eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, not smoke, take regular exercise and keep blood pressure and cholesterol in check, said Alzheimer’s Research UK.

The research looked at nutrients in blood, rather than relying on questionnaires to assess a person’s diet.

US experts analyzed blood samples from 104 healthy people with an average age of 87 who had few known risk factors for Alzheimer’s.

They found those who had more vitamin B, C, D and E in their blood performed better in tests of memory and thinking skills. People with high levels of omega 3 fatty acids – found mainly in fish – also had high scores. The poorest scores were found in people who had more trans fats in their blood.

Trans fats are common in processed foods, including cakes, biscuits and fried foods.

The researchers, from Oregon Health and Science University, Portland; Portland VA Medical Center; and Oregon State University, Corvallis, then carried out brain scans on 42 of the participants.

They found individuals with high levels of vitamins and omega 3 in their blood were more likely to have a large brain volume; while those with high levels of trans fat had a smaller total brain volume.

Study author Gene Bowman of Oregon Health and Science University said: “These results need to be confirmed, but obviously it is very exciting to think that people could potentially stop their brains from shrinking and keep them sharp by adjusting their diet.”

Co-author Maret Traber of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University said: “The vitamins and nutrients you get from eating a wide range of fruits, vegetables and fish can be measured in blood biomarkers.

“I’m a firm believer these nutrients have strong potential to protect your brain and make it work better.”

Commenting on the study, Dr. Simon Ridley, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“One strength of this research is that it looked at nutrients in people’s blood, rather than relying on answers to a questionnaire.

“It’s important to note that this study looked at a small group of people with few risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease, and did not investigate whether they went on to develop Alzheimer’s at a later stage.

“There is a clear need for conclusive evidence about the effect of diet on our risk of Alzheimer’s, which can only come from large-scale, long-term studies.”

How Madonna declined JFK Jr.’s offer to pose as Jackie Kennedy for George magazine cover

James J. Williams
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How Madonna declined JFK Jr.’s offer to pose as Jackie Kennedy for George magazine cover

George magazine, founded by John F. Kennedy Jr., famously featured on its covers Cindy Crawford as George Washington and Drew Barrymore as Marilyn Monroe.

Now is said that JFK’s late son asked Madonna to pose for the cover of his political lifestyle magazine in 1996, as his conservative mother Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

But, Madonna flirtatiously declined his offer, insisting she could “never do [Jackie O.] justice”.

As the New York Post reports, JFK Jr. told his assistant RoseMarie Terenzio about his idea for a photo shoot that would see Madonna portraying the former First Lady for the September “Women in Politics” issue.

RoseMarie Terenzio recalls in her upcoming book, “Fairy Tale Interrupted”, suggesting instead then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton shoot for the issue.

RoseMarie Terenzio, JFK Jr.’s former assistant, recalls in her upcoming book, “Fairy Tale Interrupted”, how he asked Madonna to pose as Jackie Kennedy for the George magazine cover
RoseMarie Terenzio, JFK Jr.’s former assistant, recalls in her upcoming book, “Fairy Tale Interrupted”, how he asked Madonna to pose as Jackie Kennedy for the George magazine cover

But JFK Jr., who founded George with Michael J. Berman in 1995, had more sensational ideas.

“We’ll have her in a pillbox hat, sitting on a stack of books,” RoseMarie Terenzio recalls her then-boss saying.

RoseMarie Terenzio says she was hesitant to support the idea, warning her then-boss he would create a “media s***storm” putting Madonna on the cover, given the pair’s once-rumored romance.

They drafted a letter to the Madonna anyway, asking the singer to pose as America’s beloved Jackie O.

But the photo shoot never came to fruition. The next day, RoseMarie Terenzio said, they received a handwritten reply from the star via fax declining the offer.

According to a letter published by the Post, addressed with a wink to “Johnny Boy”, Madonna quipped: “My eyebrows aren’t thick enough, for one.

“When you want me to portray Eva Braun or Pamela Harriman, I might say yes!” Madonna wrote, referring to Hitler’s mistress and the British socialite.

Drew Barrymore took Madonna’s slot for that issue, portraying another blonde bombshell – JFK Jr.’s father’s rumored lover, Marilyn Monroe.

“Fairy Tale Interrupted”, which chronicles RoseMarie Terenzio’s five years as JFK Jr’s publicist, is due out later this month.

RoseMarie Terenzio said she worked for him until JFK Jr. died in 1999 at the age of 38.

George magazine closed in 2001.

Nigeria: fury of people and trade unionists as fuel price double after subsidy ended

Diane A. Wade
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Nigeria: fury of people and trade unionists as fuel price double after subsidy ended

Nigerian people and trade unionists have condemned the government for withdrawing a fuel price subsidy which has led petrol prices to more than double in many areas.

Nigerians are angry at the announcement, fearing the price of many other goods will also rise.

The main trade unions have called people to prepare for a strike.

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer, but imports refined petrol.

Years of mismanagement and corruption mean it does not have the capacity to refine oil, turning it into petrol and other fuels.

Analysts say many Nigerians regard cheap fuel as the only benefit they get from the nation’s oil wealth.

Several previous governments have tried to remove the subsidy but have backed down in the face of widespread public protests and reduced it instead.

The IMF has long urged Nigeria’s government to remove the subsidy, which costs a reported $8 billion a year.

Early in the morning, many petrol stations in Nigerian capital Abuja were closed as the owners were not sure what price they should charge, but they have since opened.

Prices have increased from 65 naira ($0.40) per liter to at least 140 naira in filling stations and from 100 naira to at least 200 on the black market, where many Nigerians buy their fuel.

There are reports that petrol prices have tripled in some remote areas, while commuters have complained that motorcycle and minibus taxi fares have already doubled or tripled.

The government finance team led by respected pair central bank governor Lamido Sanusi and Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala have long argued that removing the subsidy would free up money to invest in other sectors and relieve poverty.

In a statement, it urged people not to panic-buy or hoard fuel.

“Consumers are assured of adequate supply of quality products at prices that are competitive and non-exploitative,” the statement said.

The government recently released a list of the biggest beneficiaries of the subsidy, who include some of Nigeria’s richest people – the owners of fuel-importing firms.

Nigerians are heavy users of fuel, not just for cars but to power generators that many households and businesses use to cope with the country's erratic electricity supply
Nigerians are heavy users of fuel, not just for cars but to power generators that many households and businesses use to cope with the country's erratic electricity supply

Nigeria’s two main labor organizations, the Trades Union Congress and the Nigerian Labor Congress, issued a joint statement condemning the move.

“We alert the populace to begin immediate mobilization towards the D-Day for the commencement of strikes, street demonstrations and mass protests across the country,” the statement said.

“This promises to be a long-drawn battle; we know it is beginning, but we do not know its end or when it will end.

“We are confident the Nigerian people will triumph.”

Labor activist John Odah told the BBC’s Network Africa programme that, judging from past experience, he doubted that the government would use the money saved by removing the subsidy to help ordinary people.

John Odah said that the subsidy should have been retained until Nigeria’s refineries had been brought up to scratch.

“As an oil-producing country, we ought not to be importing fuel in the first place,” he said.

John Odah also pointed out that Nigeria does not have many commuter railways, so people have little choice but to use motorcycle and minibus taxis, whose prices are closely linked to the price of petrol.

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer but most of the available 2 million barrels per day are exported in an unrefined state.

The country lacks refineries and infrastructure so has to import refined products such as petrol, which is expensive.

However, with the price of fuel much cheaper in Nigeria than in neighboring countries, the subsidy led to widespread smuggling.

Nigerians are heavy users of fuel, not just for cars but to power generators that many households and businesses use to cope with the country’s erratic electricity supply.

The measures just announced could add to the difficulties faced by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who declared a state of emergency on Saturday in areas hit by Islamist violence.

Men actually prefer brunettes, as being more attractive and inteligent than blondes

Kathryn R. Bown
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While men are more likely to chat up a fair-haired lady on a night out, they actually find brunettes more attractive, a study has shown.

University of Westminster researchers sent a woman to three London nightclubs with her hair dyed brunette, blonde and then red, and watched how many men approached her.

The researchers then returned to the clubs and asked 130 men to rate pictures of her in the three guises.

The woman was chatted up the most as a blonde. But she was rated most highly for attractiveness and intelligence when brunette, the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology reports.

University of Westminster researcher Viren Swami said that his results may reflect a shift in fashion, with brunettes now being idealized in the way that blondes were several decades ago.

Dr. Viren Swami said: “In the Sixties and early Seventies, when Jackie Kennedy was the ideal, brunette hair became the ideal for women generally. Then, in the Seventies and Eighties, blondes became the ideal.

“But more recently, there has been a backlash against blondes and the dumb blonde idea has become dominant.”

As a blonde, the woman was chatted up 60 times in total. This compared with 42 approaches as a brunette and 18 as a red-head.

Speculating on why the woman, or “confederate” in researcher-speak, was rated more attractive when brunette but chatted up more as a blonde, Dr. Viren Swami said: “One possible explanation is that men were more likely to assume sexual intent on the part of our confederate when she was blonde.

“Perceptions of the blonde confederate as being more needy may have reduced men’s fear or rejection or fear or an aggressive response, which increased their likelihood of approaching her as a blonde.”

It is also possible that men link blonde hair with youth and vitality, and so the ability to bear children.

Sarah Harding rushed to hospital after a fight with her boyfriend during their Austrian holiday

Lisa.Felice
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Sarah Harding rushed to hospital after a fight with her boyfriend during their Austrian holiday

Sarah Harding, The Girls Aloud star, was rushed to hospital following a “terrible fight” with her boyfriend Theo, during their skiing holiday in Austria.

Sarah Harding, 30, is said to have made a complaint to police following the altercation with her boyfriend, which took place at the Hotel Schloss Matzen near Innsbruck in Austria.

The British star was said to be so distraught after the row that she was taken to hospital, where she was later seen leaving with her right hand bandaged up and with “swollen lips and puffy eye”’.

A guest at the hotel told The Sun: “There was banging and screaming and a few guests came out in the corridor. It sounded like a terrible fight. By the early hours people had had enough and someone called the police.

“It was obviously a very serious tiff indeed. There was a lot of screaming and shouting.

“Sarah was taken to hospital because she was hysterical after the row. She was crying and screaming and clearly in a lot of distress.”

Sarah Harding, 30, is said to have made a complaint to police following the altercation with her boyfriend, which took place at the Hotel Schloss Matzen near Innsbruck in Austria
Sarah Harding, 30, is said to have made a complaint to police following the altercation with her boyfriend, which took place at the Hotel Schloss Matzen near Innsbruck in Austria

Sarah Harding was last night seen arriving back at her home in Buckinghamshire covering her face beneath a hat after apparently cutting her holiday short by three days.

Asked how she was, Sarah Harding is quoted as telling the newspaper: “I’ve had the week from f*****g hell.”

Her boyfriend, who she has been dating for the past few months, is known only as Theo.

The new relationship came after a difficult year for Sarah Harding, who checked into a rehabilitation centre for help with alcohol dependency and depression last year following her split from fiancé Tom Crane.

Talking of her troubles in a recent interview, Sarah Harding said: “The day I left for rehab, I was in such a mess. I’ve been told by those close to me that was when I hit my worst.

“I was crying hysterically. I felt ashamed, embarrassed, terrified – my emotions were all over the place.”

Kim Kardashian stripped down in front of pal Jonathan Cheban to gauge whether or not he is gay

Lisa.Felice
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Kim Kardashian stripped down in front of pal Jonathan Cheban to gauge whether or not he is gay
Kim Kardashian stripped down in front of pal Jonathan Cheban to gauge whether or not he is gay
Kim Kardashian stripped down in front of pal Jonathan Cheban to gauge whether or not he is gay

 

Kim Kardashian was in the closet to speak, of her New York hotel and decided to carry out the “test” after Kris Humphries gets her thinking about Jonathan Cheban’s sexual orientation.

Kris Humphries is convinced PR guru Jonathan Cheban is homosexual – and tells him as much – but Kim Kardashian is not so sure, saying they have never talked about his private life before.

The results of her little striptease – which aired last night in an episode of Kourtney & Kim Take New York – are inconclusive, however. Jonathan Cheban averts his eyes when she strips to her bra.

Later, Kim Kardashian tells Kris Humphries: “I got changed in front of him to see if he would look but he didn’t.”

However, she concluded, he could have just been being polite and courteous.

 

During their closet encounter, Kim Kardashian quizzes Jonathan Cheban about what he looks for in a partner.

He jokes: “Light skinned, big ass,” to which she jokes back: “What if we are in love with each other.”

Later, in an apparent bid to prove he is straight, Jonathan Cheban goes on date with woman.

Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries meet her at his home before they go out – where Kris again asks Jonathan Cheban about his sexual preference.

While Jonathan Cheban remained rather elusive about his sexual orientation, he apparently wanted to prove conspiracy theorist Kris Humphries wrong, whose suspicions were alerted after accompanying Kim Kardashian and Jonathan Cheban on a trip to a candle shop.

While Kris Humphries sat their looking bored, Jonathan Cheban appeared to enjoy perusing all the scented products on offer, which Kris finds odd.

Whatever the case, Jonathan Cheban was last week spotted in Miami soaking up the sun with a mystery brunette where they put on an affectionate display.

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Mount Rainier National Park closed as police hunt Iraq war veteran who killed a park ranger

Diane A. Wade
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Mount Rainier National Park closed as police hunt Iraq war veteran who killed a park ranger

A manhunt is under way for an Iraq war veteran wanted in connection with the murder of a female ranger at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state.

Mount Rainier National Park was closed after ranger Margaret Anderson, 34, was shot dead after she set up a roadblock to try and stop the suspect’s vehicle.

The suspect, named locally as Benjamin Colton Barnes, 24, is also wanted in connection with an earlier shooting.

Benjamin Colton Barnes is reported to be an Iraq war veteran with survivalist skills.

Police said they had recovered his vehicle, which had weapons and body armour inside.

The shooting happened as hikers and climbers flocked to enjoy the park’s wooded trails and spectacular views of the 14,410 ft (4,392m) Mount Rainier on an unseasonably mild New Year’s holiday.

Benjamin Colton Barnes is reported to be an Iraq war veteran with survivalist skills
Benjamin Colton Barnes is reported to be an Iraq war veteran with survivalist skills

The park was immediately closed after the shooting, and around 85 visitors and 15 park staff were moved into a visitors’ centre to wait for police to give them the all-clear to leave.

Police said Benjamin Colton Barnes was wanted for questioning over an early-morning shooting at a New Year’s party in Skyway, just south of Seattle, which left four people injured.

The King County Sheriff’s Office quoted witnesses as saying multiple people at the party were armed and a shoot-out had erupted following an argument over a weapon.

Margaret Anderson and a fellow ranger set up a roadblock after the suspect failed to stop at a tyre-assessment checkpoint at around 10:20 local time on Sunday, a spokesman for the national park said.

Both rangers were fired on, but only Margaret Anderson – a mother of two young daughters and married to another of the park’s rangers – was hit.

“It’s just a huge tragedy – for the family, the park and the park service,” park superintendent Randy King said.

The park will remain closed on Monday while the search continues through its 368 sq miles of terrain.

Family of six kicked off from US Airways plane for bringing too many kids

Diane A. Wade
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Family of six kicked off from US Airways plane for bringing too many kids

A couple and their four children, who attempted to fly on just three tickets, were kicked off the plane by US Airways flight attendants.

The parents had bought a ticket for their 3year-old son but not for their 20-month-old twins or 8-month-old baby. They planned to seat one infant in the same seat as their three-year-old and each hold a child in their lap.

Kathy and Jason Fickes and their children boarded a U.S Airways flight from Charlotte in North Carolina to Chicago to visit grandparents over Christmas.

The Fickes had purchased three tickets and managed to make their way passed the ticket desk and through security screening with their four children.

A couple and their four children, who attempted to fly on just three tickets, were kicked off the plane by US Airways flight attendants
A couple and their four children, who attempted to fly on just three tickets, were kicked off the plane by US Airways flight attendants

However, once they got on the plane, a flight attendant told them it would not be possible to travel as they had planned because there were not enough oxygen masks to go around.

Kathy Fickes told ABC 7: “I felt we were discriminated against because we had too many children in their eyes.”

Jason Fickes added that they “held up the plane for 40 or 50 minutes” as the family moved seats and tried to accommodate the airline.

The family was finally asked to leave the plane despite one passenger offering to pay for another ticket.

On the U.S Airways website, it is only possible to buy tickets for children over the age of two.

However, in a sidebar it gives the option to add how many younger children will be travelling.

The company is clear that each child under the age of two must be accompanied by an over-18 if they are sharing a seat.

On domestic flights, a child under the age of two is allowed to travel in the lap of a paying adult free of charge.

The Federal Aviation Administration also states that there must be an oxygen mask for each flyer.

Michelle Mohr, a US Airways spokesman told ABC 7: “The safety regulations are such that you have to have one child per one adult.”

U.S. Airways refunded the family’s tickets.

The Fickes family would have been permitted to fly if they had bought a ticket for one of their children under two as long as the child travelled in a car seat.

Apple and Google will introduce touch and facial recognition systems instead of using paswords

Nancy Clayson
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Many people find themselves locked out of their accounts for hours as suffer from what the internet has coined “passworditis” – forgetting a password.

In the future, smartphones and tablets will allow access at the sight of their owners face or a single touch.

The Sunday Times reported that software giants Google and Apple are introducing phones which identify users through sight and touch recognition.

Last week Apple applied to the US patent office to register facial recognition software, so instead of sliding to unlock your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you could simply point it at your face.

The patent entitled “Low Threshold Face Recognition”, was picked up by Apple Insider blog, who said that “using a forward-facing camera to recognize an individual user, future iPhones and iPads from Apple could automatically customize applications, settings and features to a user’s personal preferences once they pick up the device”.

Insider explained that Apple’s application stated rather than analyzing a user’s entire face which can drain the battery, the concept would rely on a “high information portion of a human face”.

This means potential parts of the face that could be analyzed may include eyes, a mouth, or the tip of a user’s nose.

It is understood the system will scale the distance between a users eyes and mouth and once it has measured that against the image originally captured, it will be able to confirm that it is the same person and unlock.

The patent also details that each user could customize their personal profile with unique wallpaper, applications and settings, and that profile would be immediately accessed once the iPad recognizes a user’s face.

New phones using Google’s Andriod platform already have a face recognition tool that uses the inbuilt camera.

The progress may be welcomed by many people, as according to a 2008 study by Trinity College Dublin, the average person has to remember five passwords, five pins, two numberplates, three security ID numbers and three bank accounts.

However it may not yet be effective to completely eradicate passwords in favor of facial recognition – within days of the Google Android facial recognition tool being launched, there were reports online that claimed it could be fooled by holding a photograph of the owners face up to the device.

Kathy Porter, the wife of Atlanta Braves head trainer, died in a New Year’s Eve collision

Diane A. Wade
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Kathy Porter, the wife of Atlanta Braves head trainer, died in a New Year’s Eve collision

Kathy Porter, the wife of Atlanta Braves head trainer Jeff Porter died in a tragic New Year’s Eve collision between the SUV he was driving and a police car in Loganville, Georgia.

Kathy Porter, 54, was on her way to the annual college football Chick-fil-A-Bowl game with her husband, son and a friend.

Their son David Porter, 19, and friend Courtney Ann Williams, 18, were taken to hospital but were released last night along with Jeff Porter.

“The Braves family is deeply saddened and shocked to learn about the tragic accident,” a spokesman for the baseball team said last night.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jeff and Kathy’s family, their son David and all their friends and loved ones.”

The state patrol trooper collided with a Ford Expedition driven by Jeff Porter at an intersection with Capitol Avenue and Memorial Drive
The state patrol trooper collided with a Ford Expedition driven by Jeff Porter at an intersection with Capitol Avenue and Memorial Drive

The patrol cruiser was travelling with the lights and siren activated on Saturday at 4:40 p.m. when it crashed with the SUV driven by Jeff Porter.

The state patrol trooper collided with a Ford Expedition driven by Jeff Porter at an intersection with Capitol Avenue and Memorial Drive.

The trooper, travelling westbound on Memorial Drive, was en route to help another trooper who was attempting to stop a motorcyclist.

The rider was located on nearby Interstate 20, west of the Downtown Connector, and had failed to give way, a state patrol spokesman said.

The patrol car collided with the Ford Expedition that was northbound on Capitol Avenue, hitting the SUV on the passenger’s side.

The SUV then struck a utility pole, killing Kathy Porter. Jeff Porter, his son David and Courtney Ann Williams were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment.

The unidentified trooper was examined at the same hospital and released and placed on administrative leave as authorities investigate.

Jeff Porter has been on the Atlanta Braves’ training staff for nearly three decades and the head athletic trainer for nine years.

Fox apologized for the poll that asked people if Jews killed Jesus

Diane A. Wade
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A Fox Christmas special poll on whether Jesus Christ was killed by Jews was posted on a promoting Facebook page by a network’s employee last week.

It was reported that the poll, carried out by the Latin America division, asked readers: Who was responsible for the death of Christ? There were three options: A. Pontius Pilate, B. The Jewish People, C. High Priests.

The Simon Weisenthal Center in Buenos Aires calls the action a defamatory reference to Vatican propaganda that “resulted in the persecution and murder of Jews for two millennia”.

The Jewish group says it’s outraged that Fox would perpetuate an idea that the Vatican annulled back in 1965, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

Pope Benedict XVI exonerated the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ in his book, “Jesus of Nazareth Part II”, released in March 2011.

In the book, Pope Benedict explains why there is no basis for the argument that the Jewish people were responsible for Jesus’ death.

Fox Spokeswoman Guadalupe Lucero apologized on behalf of National Geographic, saying the poll was removed immediately and measures have been taken to prevent such incidents in the future.

Kim Kardashian changed her look for 2012

Lisa.Felice
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Kim Kardashian changed her look for 2012

Kim Kardashian looked sensational as she arrived at a New Year’s Eve party in Las Vegas in a short white dress that clung to her sexy curves, with her new hairdo that also attracted attention as she showed off a new fringe.

Kim Kardashian, 31, was the guest of honor at the TAO Nightclub at The Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino, and was joined by her family for the celebration.

The reality TV star posed again for the cameras as she rang in the New Year as glitter fell around her.

Kim Kardashian looked sensational as she arrived at a New Year's Eve party in Las Vegas
Kim Kardashian looked sensational as she arrived at a New Year's Eve party in Las Vegas

 

Kim Kardashian is reported to have earned $600,000 to ring in the New Year in Vegas and she jetted into the city with a number of her Kardashian clan in tow.

The Kardashians were seen arriving in Sin City by private jet early yesterday hours before the big bash.

Kim Kardashian was seen wearing a pair of thigh high leather boots an oversized black blazer and a grey jumper.

As well as carrying a baby blue Balenciaga handbag the TV star was also seen carrying a clothing bag, presumably with her outfit for tonight’s bash inside.

Kim Kardashian took to Twitter today to post her resolutions for the New Year and told her fans: “Decided to change my twitter background to nothing. i wanna be more simple in 2012.”

The background, which had displayed Kim Kardashian on the cover of a plethora of magazines is now plain black.

Her mother, Kris Jenner was on hand to support her daughter and was seen along with Kim’s sister Kourtney and her beau Scott Disick.

Kourtney Kardashian, 32, clearly isn’t letting her second pregnancy get in the way of enjoying a family party.

She covered her baby bump in a flowing white blouse which she teamed with a pair of grey skinny jeans.

While Kim Kardashian rang in the New Year at TAO the happy Kourtney and Scott were hosting a party of their own at Chateau nightclub.

Michael Fuller tried to go shopping at Walmart with $1 million bill

Diane A. Wade
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Michael Fuller tried to go shopping at Walmart with $1 million bill

Michael Fuller from Lexington, North Carolina, allegedly tried to go shopping at Walmart with a million dollar bill.

Michael Fuller, 53, insisted his million-dollar note was real when he was trying to buy $476 worth of items, including a vacuum cleaner, and a microwave oven, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

Walmart employees called police after Michael Fuller insisted that the bill was legitimate, and the man was arrested.

Michael Fuller, 53, insisted his million-dollar note was real when he was trying to buy $476 worth of items, including a vacuum cleaner, and a microwave oven
Michael Fuller, 53, insisted his million-dollar note was real when he was trying to buy $476 worth of items, including a vacuum cleaner, and a microwave oven

The largest bill in circulation is $100. The US government stopped printing notes of up to $10,000 in 1969 because the public rarely used them.

The largest bill ever printed in US was $100,000 which carried a picture of President Woodrow Wilson.

The bills, which were never used by the public, were printed between December 18, 1934 and January 9, 1935, and were used for transferring money between Federal Reserve banks.

Michael Fuller was charged with attempting to obtain property by false pretense and uttering a forged instrument.

The man is in jail on a $17,500 bond, and it isn’t clear if he has an attorney. He is scheduled to be in court Tuesday.

Twitter crashed last night due to more than 16,000 New Year tweets a second

Nancy Clayson
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Twitter ground to a halt on the last day of 2011 as it was overloaded with New Year messages.

In UK, the social network crashed at about 3:00 p.m. and was out of action for more than an hour.

The moment coincided with midnight celebrations in Japan when revelers were sending a record 16,197 tweets per second.

The overload meant no one could post new messages or read existing ones. Instead, frustrated users were greeted with the error message: “Twitter is over capacity.”

Twitter returned to working order but then stopped on several other occasions, prompting speculation that it was being hit by the arrival of New Year in different parts of the world.

One user tweeted: “It’s amazing how three words can ruin my day! Twitter over capacity.”

The meltdown happened as the world welcomed in 2012, a year of historic importance for Britain, with the Olympics, the Paralympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee set to be defining moments.

Lady Gaga led the stars performing in Times Square to celebrate New Year’s Eve

Lisa.Felice
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Lady Gaga led the stars performing in Times Square to celebrate New Year’s Eve

Last night Lady Gaga led a galaxy of stars performing in Times Square to celebrate the New Year.

Lady Gaga, 25, put on a stellar show in front of the one million revellers gathered in New York to welcome in 2012.

The kooky singer was joined by the likes of Justin Bieber, Pitbull, LMFAO, Florence and The Machine and The Band Perry who all took to the stage throughout the evening.

As always, Lady Gaga did not disappoint and neither did her outfits with the singer enjoying several wardrobe changes throughout the evening.

When the time came activate the ball drop Lady Gaga was on hand to help New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Looking glittery as the orb itself, Lady Gaga was invited by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to press the crystal button at 11:59 p.m. that triggered the decent of the 2012 New Year’s Eve Ball – a dazzling sphere 12 feet in diameter that weighs 11,875 pounds.

More than one ton of confetti – some of it inscribed with wishes for the New Year written by people across the globe –descended on the revellers in New York, who enjoyed an unseasonably warm New Year’s.

Lady Gaga was invited by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to press the crystal button at 11:59 p.m. that triggered the decent of the 2012 New Year’s Eve Ball
Lady Gaga was invited by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to press the crystal button at 11:59 p.m. that triggered the decent of the 2012 New Year’s Eve Ball

Dick Clark – who has hosted his New Year’s Eve special since the 1970’s – is again being helped this year by his protégé Ryan Seacrest for the 40th anniversary of the show. The ABC special has been expanded and now begins at 8:00 p.m., making the six-hour broadcast the longest ever.

Teen favorite Justin Bieber took to the stage alongside legendary guitar player Carlos Santana to perform the classic Beatles hit Let It Be.

Justin Bieber, 17, showed off his piano skills as he spoke about New Year’s resolutions but said “what’s done is done’.

He donned a bright red beanie, a camel colored coat, a Burberry scarf and maroon jeans for the occasion for his performance.

After the New Year celebrations were over Lady Gaga took to Twitter to talk about her experience.

Lady Gaga tweeted: “I cant even quite describe what tonight felt like. Sort of poetic madness. A dream come true. Moments recalling a leather taking the subway.

“My new years resolution: Never be afraid to be kicked in the teeth. Let the blood and the bruises define your legacy.”

[youtube lvMDJ72TsG0]

NASA’s twin Grail-A entered the Moon orbit

James J. Williams
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NASA’s twin Grail-A entered the Moon orbit

NASA has succeeded in putting the first of twin gravity mapping satellites (Gravity Recovery and Internal Laboratories) in orbit around the Moon.

The Grail-A spacecraft fired its main engine late on Saturday (GMT) to slow itself sufficiently to take up an elliptical path around the lunar body.

The twin Grail-B, will attempt exactly the same maneuver on Sunday.

Together, the satellites will make measurements that are expected to give scientists remarkable new insights into the internal structure of the Moon.

This new data should clarify ideas about the Moon’s formation and resolve many questions, such as why its near and far sides look so different.

Lead scientist Dr. Maria Zuber from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is hoping for some dramatic discoveries.

“My resolution for the new year is to unlock lunar mysteries and understand how the Moon, Earth and other rocky planets evolved,” she said.

“Now, with Grail-A successfully placed in orbit around the Moon, we are one step closer to achieving that goal.”

NASA’s twin Grail satellites will make measurements that are expected to give scientists remarkable new insights into the internal structure of the Moon
NASA’s twin Grail satellites will make measurements that are expected to give scientists remarkable new insights into the internal structure of the Moon

The twin satellites were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, last September, and took a long spiral out to their destination.

This weekend’s approach to the Moon was designed to bring them in over the South Pole.

Grail-A, which is running ahead of its twin, initiated its orbit insertion manoeuvre at 21:21 GMT with a 40-minute burn on its 22-newton thruster.

Grail-B is programmed to make an almost identical burn on Sunday, starting at 22:05 GMT. NASA should have confirmation shortly before 23:00 GMT on New Year’s Day that both satellites are in the positions they should be.

“Following the lunar orbit insertion, the spacecraft will perform a series on intricate burns that take about two months, and these are required to get both spacecraft down to a [55km; 34-mile] altitude; and once that’s done, that’s when the science for Grail can begin,” explained David Lehman, the mission’s project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California.

Grail will map the small variations in gravity across the Moon.

These differences are the result of an uneven distribution of mass. Obvious examples at the Moon’s surface include big mountain ranges or deep impact basins, but even inside the lunar body the rock will be arranged in an irregular fashion, with some regions being denser than others.

All this will have a subtle influence on the pull of gravity sensed by over-flying spacecraft.

The Grail twins will make their measurements by carrying out a carefully calibrated pursuit of each other.

As the lead spacecraft flies through the uneven gravity field, it will experience small accelerations or decelerations. The second spacecraft, following some 100-200km behind, will detect these disturbances as very slight changes in the separation between the pair – deviations that are not much more than the width of a human red blood cell.

When the gravity map is combined with comparable-resolution topographical information showing the surface highs and lows, scientists should be able to deduce the Moon’s probable internal structure and composition. This is fundamental knowledge that will play into theories of how the lunar body formed and how it has evolved over time.

“We believe the Moon formed from the impact of a Mars-sized object into Earth, but we understand little really of how this happened and how the [lunar body] cooled off after the violent event,” said Dr. Maria Zuber. And she described as “shocking”, the continued inability of science to explain why the rugged far-side of the Moon looks so different from that of the nearside with its great swathe of dark volcanic plains, or marina.

“Given that we’ve sent so many missions that have studied the outside of the Moon, it seems that the answer is not on the surface. The answer is locked in the interior,” Dr. Maria Zuber said.

Grail’s mapping phase will last for 82 days until early June. The Moon then goes into shadow, into eclipse, behind the Earth.

If the satellites can survive the hours of darkness on their batteries, it is likely they will be tasked with a second mapping cycle in the second half of 2012.

This would be at a much reduced altitude, perhaps as low as 25 km from the surface. Getting lower would improve the resolution of the gravity maps yet again, and enable scientists to study even the structure of relatively small, shallow craters.

Grail is an acronym for Gravity Recovery and Internal Laboratory. The satellites will be given more engaging names than just “A” and “B” once the weekend’s orbit insertion is confirmed. The names are being chosen via a public competition.

Japan: 7 magnitude earthquake struck hours after New Year celebration

Diane A. Wade
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A 7 magnitude earthquake hit eastern and northeastern Japan today, but there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no danger of a tsunami.

The earthquake struck 217 miles below the sea surface at 2:28 p.m. (5:27 a.m. GMT) and measured 4 in central Tokyo, Fukushima and their surrounding areas,

Such a deep jolt is less likely to cause damage than one close to the surface.

The quake was centered near Japan’s Izu Islands, about 307 miles south-southwest of the capital, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Buildings swayed in Tokyo, but did not disrupt the final of the Emperor’s Cup football tournament being played at the National Stadium.

A spokesman for Tokyo Electric Power said there were no reports of any irregularities at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plan.

Some roads were temporarily closed and high-speed train services in northern Japan were suspended for a short time.

The Hawaii-based US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has not issued a tsunami.

John Roos, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, said in a message on Twitter: “Memorable start to New Year – about to greet Emperor and Empress for New Year when Imperial Palace began to shake.”

Japan, which lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, is one of the world’s most seismically active countries.

The country accounts for about 20% of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

On March 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a record magnitude 9 earthquake, and a massive tsunami, which triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years since Chernobyl.

The disaster left more than 20,000 dead or missing.

Man found with explosives in his carry-on at Midland International Airport

Diane A. Wade
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A man has been detained at Midland International Airport in Texas, after he tried to carry explosives through security, according to officials.

The man was stopped at the airport when explosives in military wrapping were found in his carry-on baggage as it went through an X-ray machine.

The suspect is now being held by the FBI.

The airport terminal was cleared for checks, but normal operations have now resumed, say Midland city officials.

The FBI is conducting an investigation.

A spokesman declined to say whether the man was in military uniform, or what quantity of explosive he was carrying.

The man said that he was active in the military, according to police sources quoted by local newspapers.

The suspect had reportedly been on a family visit to relatives in the Midland area and was returning to a base in North Carolina when he was detained.

Orthodox Archimandrite Ephraim, imprisoned on Christmas Eve without trial

Ricky Robinson
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Orthodox Archimandrite Ephraim, imprisoned on Christmas Eve without trial

The abbot of the prestigious Vatopedi monastery in Mount Athos, Greece has been imprisoned pending trial for alleged fraud and embezzlement.

Archimandrite Ephraim, 56, is accused of arranging land swaps between Vatopedi and the state which are thought to have cost the government millions of euros.

The abbot, now being held in Korydallos prison in Athens, denies wrongdoing. His arrest has triggered protests in Greece, Cyprus, Russia and other christian orthodox countries.

 

 

What is Archimandrite Ephraim accused of?

 

Mount Athos monks rallied for Abbot Ephraim
Mount Athos monks rallied for Abbot Ephraim

 

Vatopedi is part of the ancient Mount Athos monastic community that has been visited by Britain’s Prince Charles and Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

 

The controversial deal saw valuable state land traded for less valuable land held by Vatopedi. It is said to have cost the state some EURO 100 million ($129.42m). None of the involved state officials have been accused, prosecuted or detained, some have even been promoted.

 

“They rushed Efraim to jail … while others who have embezzled Greek people’s money remain at large,” said George Karatzaferis, leader of the far-right LAOS party which is part of Greece’s coalition government.

Despite parliamentary investigations into several public officials, no senior politician has so far been charged.

“Undoubtedly the pre-trial jailing could create the impression, in one part of Greek society, that finally someone is paying for a such a big scandal,” said Costas Panagopoulos, head of ALCO pollsters.

“But it also reminds everyone that all politicians involved in this case are left unpunished,” he said.

The government’s anti-corruption crackdown hit another snag on Wednesday when two newly-appointed special prosecutors targeting economic crime resigned, complaining of political meddling. They did not give details.

Justice Minister Miltiadis Papaioannou replied accusing the critics of “interfering in the work of the justice system”.

Cyprus protesters for freeing Archimandrite Ephraim
Cyprus protesters for freeing Archimandrite Ephraim

 

Speaking to Skai TV, Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki wondered why Ephraim was the only person among the 32 involved in the Vatopedi land swap to be remanded in custody.

 

“People are wondering whether Ephraim is being made a scapegoat,” said the bishop, who insisted that the Church of Greece’s Holy Synod would not take a position on the matter.

“There is the problem of meddling in judicial matters,” he said. “The church is totally separate from the state.”

 

 

 

According to Stavros Tsakyrakis, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Athens University the imprisonment of Abbot Ephraim has no basis in law

Stavros_Tsakyrakis
Stavros Tsakyrakis

“The detention of Mr. Ephraim is another impropriety of Greek justice. It violates the fundamental principle of rule of law dictates that no one is deprived of liberty only after a decision legally consisting court. Temporary custody is a derogation from this principle because it is ordered without a court has ruled on the guilt of a person and therefore justified only in extreme cases when the accused is suspected of absconding or is likely to commit new offenses.

The law governing the detention (Article 282 CCP) is detailed and fully consistent with the exceptional nature of the measure. It requires not only the accused is suspected escape, but have gone in flight preparations. Not only is likely to commit new offenses, but very likely that they will commit. […] With these data, the pre-trial detention is completely arbitrary and has no basis in law.”

Prof. Tsakyrakis added:

It is Mr. Ephraim the only victim of judicial arbitrariness that sends people to prison without a court to rule on guilt, only because the investigating judge and the prosecutor consider them guilty. Two of them, for Mr. A. Sotiropoulou and daughter accused of scandal Zimens I publicly complained in the past. Our judges, however, do not seem to pay attention. They still consider custody as a means of power that allows them to imprison someone accused by themselves and not according to the law. The anxiety of most defendants in Greece is not the trial (which nobody knows when it will take place) but to avoid detention. […]

 

Russia supports the release of Archimandrite Ephraim

 

The Russian Orthodox Church’s head of foreign relations, Metropolitan Ilarion, called the abbot’s detention “an extraordinary event, arousing profound bewilderment”

“We are deeply concerned by the ruling of the Greek judiciary to put him under pre-trial detention, despite the recommendations of the European Court of Human Rights” the Russian foreign ministry said.

 

Patriarch Kirill asks Greek president to release Abbot Ephraim

 
Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill
Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of Vatopedi Monastery
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of Vatopedi Monastery

Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill has sent a message to Greek President Karolos Papoulias to express his concern regarding the custody of Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Mount Athos Vatopedi Monastery.

“It is my duty to convey our common concern to the chief of the Greek state and to request the release from custody of Archimandrite Ephraim, superior of the Mount Athos Vatopedi Monastery,” says the message posted on the Russian Orthodox Church website.

“I do not question the powers of the Greek law enforcement officials and express hope for a fair and impartial decision regarding the property of the Vatopedi Monastery. However, I am perplexed by the custody of the monk, who is not a danger to society and has repeatedly expressed readiness to cooperate with detectives, prior to the court hearing of the case merits,” he said.

Patriarch Kirill said he was particularly concerned about Archimandrite Ephraim’s ill health, which was ignored in taking him into custody.

“In Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and other countries, whose peoples are the traditional flock of the Russian Orthodox Church, millions of believers are alarmed by the police measures taken as regards the hegemon of the famous Athos monastery well-known to the entire Orthodox world on the days Orthodox Greece celebrates Christmas,” he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the custody of Archimandrite Ephraim on Wednesday.

 

There was no intention to flee the country to escape a trial, Abbot Ephraim was in Russia accompanying the Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God for more than one month in fall. Approximately three million believers worshiped the holy object from Athos in that period.

 

Protests in Russia for freeing Archimandrite Ephraim

Support Crowd in Moscow
Support Crowd in Moscow

Russia’s Orthodox St.Andrew Foundation has held a protest campaign in the vicinity of EU Moscow office to support Archimandrite Ephraim, superior of the Vatopedi Monastery in Athos who had been arrested earlier. The Fund arranged the delivery of the Most Holy Mother of God Belt from Athos earlier this autumn.

The protesters believe it is  cruel and inhumane to keep  Father Ephraim under arrest given the state of his health and age. A similar rally was organized near the Greek Embassy in Moscow.

 

Letter condemning the decision

 

To:
The President of the Hellenic Republic,
The Prime Minister,
The Attorney General

24 December 2011

Your Excellencies,

We hereby condemn with abhorrence the judicial ‘’crime’ committed in Athens on the 23rd December 2011, against the Church in the face of Elder Efrem, Abbot of the Great, Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi in the Holy Mountain.

The decision to take Elder Efrem into custody was based on hatred and prejudice. This is manifested in the following:

  1. The timing of the decision: Christmas Eve
  2. The surrounding of the Holy Mountain by armed police forces despite the declaration by the attorney representing the Elder that the latter intended to present himself to the police willingly.
  3. The sentence passed is normally given to people who have the intention to repeat the offences accused of.
  4. During the preliminary hearing the reason given for the sentence was the Elder’s recent trip to Russia, when he accompanied the Holy Belt of the Most Holy Mother of God. During this visit millions of people, including the President, the Prime Minister and the Attorney General of the Russian Republic came out to greet them.
  5. The investigation lasted more than three years and no incriminating evidence has been found.
  6. The offense which the Elder is accused of is ‘instigation’ even though the suspects of this offence have been acquitted.
  7. During the last three years of the investigation, the Elder has taken numerous trips abroad and if he had intended to leave the country he had plenty of opportunity to do so.
  8. The Elder, as a spiritual figure, is honored and praised worldwide and constitutes an excellent envoy for Greece.
  9. The people who have been revealed as the masterminds of the conspiracy against him have been honored with ministerial posts and are attempting to cover up their deception at all costs.
  10. In Greece, enormous scandals have been uncovered and established while those responsible are not only walking free but are also given political posts.

We are convinced that the decision is a deliberate political act intending to defame the Holy Mountain and the Church.

We call upon you to do the utmost to reverse it.

 

Click here to download the letter.

 

You can send it via:

 

 

The letter is also available in romanian

 

Sprijin Elder Efrem

 

Prieteni şi prietene,

Cutremuraţi şi rămaşi fără grai, noi, ortodocşii de pretutindeni, greci sau nu, am aflat de hotărârea cu totul neîntemeiată a Curţii de Apel din Atena, privind arestul preventiv al Părintelui Stareţ Efrem.

Această evoluţie neaşteptată a evenimentelor ne îndeamnă să semnăm, în semn de dezaprobare a acestei hotărâri şi de susţinere a Părintelui Stareţ Efrem, scrisoarea ataşată şi să facem demersuri pentru semnarea ei de toţi cei care sunt de acord cu conţinutul ei.

Vă dorim un Crăciun fericit!

 

Internet sensation: Sarah and her dancing eyebrows have 3.9 million viewers on YouTube

Diane A. Wade
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Internet sensation: Sarah and her dancing eyebrows have 3.9 million viewers on YouTube

A girl whose video is trending on YouTube has incredible control over her facial features – and in particular, her eyebrows.

Though unsuspecting at first, the cute girl, named Sarah, shows quite the unusual talent as she causes her eyebrows to dance and spasm in rhythm.

The 14-year-old girl starts out with a shy smile to the camera, and an awkward grimace as she waits for the music to start.

What follows is a bizarre, hilarious, and slightly disturbing use of one’s facial muscles.

The 14-year-old girl starts out with a shy smile to the camera, and an awkward grimace as she waits for the music to start
The 14-year-old girl starts out with a shy smile to the camera, and an awkward grimace as she waits for the music to start

The video, uploaded to Youtube by user Theinternetisaweird, calls it a girl’s “funny talent” and had almost 3.9 million viewers up to now.

As the music starts, Sarah coyly glances off to one side and dramatically raises one eyebrow.

Then, it’s onto the other side.

The girl does every arch in tempo and on point.

The most impressive part of this video – which is fast becoming an internet sensation with more than a thousand hits – is when the girl begins doing what can only be called the Worm, but with her eyebrows.

One side starts the motion, and then the movement ripples to the other side, and then back again – still in tempo with the music.

Once the show is done, the girl returns to smiling at the camera, no doubt proud of her unusual and mesmerizing talent.

[youtube 6Zx39v3JUUI]

[youtube OoNtKdkEJww]

China: man dies after he was dignosed with bird flu more than one year ago

Diane A. Wade
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A Chinese man, who was the first case of bird flu in the country in more than a year, has died in the southern city of Shenzhen, according to health officials.

The 39-year-old bus driver was admitted to hospital with pneumonia but tested positive for the bird flu virus.

The H5N1 bird flu strain has a high level of mortality, killing up to 60% of humans infected with it.

Positive tests on a dead market chicken last week prompted nearby Hong Kong’s government to issue an alert.

Hong Kong authorities culled 17,000 chickens after three birds were found to have died from the H5N1 bird flu strain.

It also banned imports and the sale of live chickens for three weeks after the infected chicken carcass was found at a wholesale market.

But it was not clear whether the chicken came from a local farm or was imported.

The Shenzhen victim had not been in contact with poultry, nor travelled recently, China’s Ministry of Health told Hong Kong health authorities.

In November 2010, a 59-year-old woman was isolated in Hong Kong with bird flu but survived.

In October 2011 a 29-year-old woman confirmed to have contracted the virus died on the Indonesian island of Bali.

The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 332 people since 2003.

The virus has been eliminated from most of the 63 countries infected at its 2006 peak, which saw 4,000 outbreaks across the globe, but remains endemic in Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture warned last month that the bird flu virus seemed to exist widely in the poultry markets of mainland China, particularly in the south.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has expressed deep concern about the way research was being carried out on the H5N1 virus, which can be fatal if transmitted to humans.

Such work carried significant risks and must be tightly controlled, said the WHO.

Scientists in the Netherlands and the US said last week they had discovered ways in which the virus might mutate so it can spread more easily to – and between – humans and other mammals.

The US government has asked the scientists not to publish full details, in case the information is used to produce a biological weapon.

Rochelle Wiseman and Marvin Humes are engaged

Lisa.Felice
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Rochelle Wiseman and Marvin Humes are engaged

Rochelle Wiseman and Marvin Humes announce that they got engaged during their holiday in the Caribbean.

The Saturdays singer, Rochelle Wiseman, 22, took to Twitter immediately after JLS star Marvin Humes, 26, proposed her to reveal the news, posting a picture of the ecstatic couple on the beach toasting with champagne.

Rochelle Wiseman proudly flashes her dazzling engagement ring, an enormous heart-shaped diamond.

The singer wrote: “Its official Marvin proposed 2me 2day,wanted 2 tell u b4 some1 else did! SO excited 2 b Mrs Humes. X”

Writing from the official JLS Twitter account, Marvin Humes added: “Happy New Year everyone!!! So everyone hears it from me… Rochelle and I are engaged!! Party time tonight! Have a great one..All love..Marv x”

“Thank you so much for all the love,” Marvin Humes wrote as congratulations flooded in.

“We are the happiest 2 people in the world. A perfect start to 2012.This year is gonna be massive. Luv ya! Mx”

Rochelle Wiseman and Marvin Humes announce that they got engaged during their holiday in the Caribbean
Rochelle Wiseman and Marvin Humes announce that they got engaged during their holiday in the Caribbean

Rochelle Wiseman and Marvin Humes, who first began dating in March 2010, are on holiday in Antigua.

It was reported back in July that Marvin Humes was planning a romantic New Year’s proposal after he booked an appointment at Tiffany and Co.

The couple rekindled their relationship in January and moved in together following a two month separation.

They began dating in March the year before after meeting a number of times at awards shows and concerts.

Shortly before their brief split, Marvin Humes said in an interview: “I wouldn’t be with her if she wasn’t The One. I don’t believe in being with someone if you don’t believe they couldn’t be that person.”

2012 List of Banished Words

James J. Williams
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Michigan’s Lake Superior State University has released the 2012 List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness.

The 37th annual list, released Friday, was compiled by the university from nominations submitted from across the globe.

The 2012 list also includes “occupy”, “ginormous”, “man cave” and “the new normal”.

In all, a dozen words or phrases made the 37th end-of-the year list.

The list started as a publicity ploy by the school’s public relations department on New Year’s Day 1976, and has since generated tens of thousands of nominations.

“Amazing” received more than 1,500 nominations, the most of any on this year’s list.

Disdain for the superlative was apparently universal among English speakers, garnering disparaging dispatches from across the United States and even the United Kingdom and Israel.

While it lacked a single pop-culture culprit, such as the proliferating protest movement that occupied the word “occupy” or the collective ooh-ing and aah-ing that accompanied Beyonce’s “baby bump”, nominations to banish “amazing’ cite its overuse on reality television and by daytime talk show hosts.

Social media also spurred the call to surrender the word’s conversational credentials, notably through a Facebook page called “Overuse of the Word Amazing”.

“The word has been overused to describe things only slightly better than mundane,” Alyce-Mae Alexander of Maitland, Florida, wrote in her nomination. “I blame Martha Stewart because to her, EVERYTHING is amazing!”

University spokesman John Shibley said he and his colleagues were surprised that “amazing” hadn’t already graced the archive of about 900 banished words.

“The simple ones are always the ones that get through the cracks – until this year,” he said.

Other terms circulating for years that have finally raised enough ire to earn a spot on the list include “blowback”, “man cave”, “the new normal” and “thank you in advance”.

The last one particularly annoys Mike Cloran of Cincinnati, Ohio.

“This is a condescending and challenging way to say. Since I already thanked you, you have to do this,” Mike Cloran wrote in his submission.

Lake Superior State University, located in Sault St. Marie – the last stop before Michigan’s northernmost border-crossing with Canada – has seen its list survive despite many banished words stubbornly clinging to the language.

For evidence, look no further than last year’s “fail”, “viral” and “a-ha moment”. And then there is, well, blowback from critics who can’t take a little tongue-in-cheek critique.

John Shibley said some people have missed the point over the years and complained that the list is an effort to control the language. But most seem to receive it in good cheer, rather than with jeers.

“A lot of people can take this wrong. We don’t mean any malice when we publish it,” John Shibley said.

“If it makes you angry, it gets you thinking about language. If it gets you laughing, it gets you thinking about language. It’s done its job – to get you to think about how you express yourself.”

THE 2012 LIST OF BANISHED WORDS

1. Amazing – overused

2. Baby Bump – overused

3. Shared Sacrifice – abused for escaping a burden

4. Occupy – overused

5. Blowback – overused

6. Man Cave – overused

7. The New Normal – misused for justifying “bad trends”

8. Pet Parent – misused as”’there is no equate”

9. Win The Future – useless as a contrary wouldn’t ever be applied

10. Trickeration – useless and “made up”

11. Ginormous – useless and “made up”

12. Thank You in Advance – abused for getting ones way while also condescending

The controversial photo of an 8ft giant soldier attending Kim Jong-Il’s funerals

Roy Siemens
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The controversial photo of an 8ft giant soldier attending Kim Jong-Il’s funerals

Footages from Kim Jong-Il’s funerals showed an 8ft member of the North Korean armed forces towering beside his fellow soldiers in the driving snow.

Observers of how the country’s media covered Kim Jong Il’s funeral believe what we are in fact really seeing is a spot of Photoshopping.

The seemingly doctored photograph of the soldier, who appears to be well over 8ft tall, shows him in the back row of one block of mourners.

The image was captured as the funeral procession passed near the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in the capital Pyongyang.

Footages from Kim Jong-Il’s funerals showed an 8ft member of the North Korean armed forces towering beside his fellow soldiers in the driving snow
Footages from Kim Jong-Il’s funerals showed an 8ft member of the North Korean armed forces towering beside his fellow soldiers in the driving snow

Official news agency KCNA took the photo, and the giant soldier appears to be shown from several different angles. This has led some to say that the photo has not be manipulated.

Others believe it could be 7ft 8in tall North Korean basketball star Ri Myung Hun, dubbed Michael Ri for his prowess on the court.

The discovery of the giant follows evidence from this week showing how the scores of wailing mourners were not the only well-choreographed aspect at the memorial service.

Two comparison photos showed how a camera crew filming the sombre ceremony were apparently erased from history after being digitally removed from the picture.

Live footage from the North Korean capital is rarely seen outside of the insular communist dictatorship.

The tightly stage-managed two-day funeral seemed to be a message from the country’s ruling family that they remain in tight control despite the death of their figurehead.

There has been no explanation for the apparent omission from within North Korea since the funeral.

However, a note released by Reuters describing the previous doctored images said: “This combination picture of two handout images from KCNA shows a limousine with a portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il leading his funeral procession in Pyongyang December 28, 2011.

“In the top picture released by Kyodo, a group of men is seen on the left side of the picture. In the bottom picture which was sent directly to Reuters by KCNA, the group is missing.

“Reuters now believes the bottom picture was altered by KCNA.”

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