Richard Garritson, a San Diego County runner described the terrifying moment he was savaged by a pack of pit bulls as he jogged on a trail.
Richard Garritson, 21, and his 20-year-old brother, John, were attacked by the dogs about a mile from their home.
The man said he was running ahead of his sisters, Meagan Garritson, 18, and Shelby Garritson, 15, and his nine-year-old niece, when at least six dogs attacked. One bit his leg and a second grabbed his other leg, knocking him down.
Richard Garritson yelled for his sister to run as he tried to fight off the dogs which surrounded him. They snapped at his legs and arms. One bit him under his armpit.
Richard Garritson, a San Diego County runner described the terrifying moment he was savaged by a pack of pit bulls as he jogged on a trail
He told the San Diego Union-Tribune: “I was dripping blood from all over – my shirt, socks, shoes.”
“I was terrified,” Richard Garritson said.
“I thought I was going to die. They just kept biting at my legs and thighs.”
Richard Garritson, who already had run three miles, was running out of energy and yelled for his brother, who grabbed a stick and tried to fend off the dogs.
His brother also was attacked as the dogs kept rushing between the two brothers, Richard Garritson said.
He said the brothers knew where the dogs lived and they yelled for the owner, who managed to get all but three dogs into the house.
The dog’s owner finally put a leash on one of the larger dogs and the others broke off the attack, Richard Garritson said.
The brothers walked to a neighbour’s house and a woman there called county sheriff’s deputies.
“We could barely hold ourselves up,” Richard Garritson said.
Richard Garritson, who comes from a family of competitive runners, said his doctor told him that he probably will be able to run again even though he lost chunks from his lower legs.
His brother, John Garritson, suffered less serious bites to his legs. Their two sisters and young niece were not attacked.
Four dogs, all seven-month-old pit bull mixes, were destroyed at the owner’s request, county animal control Lieutenant Dan DeSousa said.
As CBS8 reports, the other two dogs were not destroyed, with authorities citing an early investigation.
The department continues to investigate and will decide whether to pursue charges against the owner, who has not been named Dan DeSousa said.
Rossie Brovent from Dayton, Ohio, was reportedly suing her ex-boyfriend and tattoo artist Ryan Fitzjerald for $100,000 over the drawing of a tattoo, which she eventually found out was of flies over a pile of excrement.
As an act of revenge, the jilted boyfriend of Rossie Brovent cruelly tattooed a picture of flies over excrement on his ex-girlfriend’s back and the photo swept the internet.
The ex-boyfriend was said to be angry at Rossie Brovent for cheating on him with a friend and plied her with alcohol before she signed a consent form agreeing a design “at the artist’s discretion”.
Rossie Brovent wanted an image of Narnia.
Rossie Brovent from Dayton, Ohio, was reportedly suing her ex-boyfriend and tattoo artist Ryan Fitzjerald for $100,000 over the drawing of a tattoo, which she eventually found out was of flies over a pile of excrement
Rossie Brovent’s “poo tattoo” story, which was originally reported on the VeryWeirdNews website and later followed up by British newspaper The Sun, U.S. website Metro and others across the world, has been recently thrown into doubt.
The picture of her tattoo appeared on the Ugliest Tattoos blog, part of the Fail Blog group of websites, as far back as December 2009.
It was sourced from Polish social network website Nasza-klasa, which translates as “our class”, and the caption on the photo lists the month in Polish as January, without a year, and the name of “Ania”.
A court official at Dayton Municipal Court, where the lawsuit would most likely have been filed, said they had no record of either Rossie Brovent or Ryan Fitzjerald in their records system.
A search of that court’s database and of those of the surrounding civil courts also threw up no matches for either the defendant or plaintiff.
In addition the Smoking Gun website reported that a spokesman for Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, which covers the Dayton area, said he did not know about the reported lawsuit.
In the VeryWeirdNews article from November 21, Rossie Brovent is quoted. But no contact address, email or phone number is listed for the website.
“He tricked me by drinking a bottle of cheap wine with me and doing tequila shots before I signed it and got the tattoo,” Rossie Brovent is quoted as saying.
“Actually I was passed out for most of the time, and woke up to this horrible image on my back.”
The photo has gone viral since it was picked up by the mainstream media, but it now appears the image has been floating around blogs for years and there is no civil lawsuit as has been reported.
Jesse Dimmick from Denver, who held Jared and Lindsay Rowley from Kansas as hostages in their home while fleeing from authorities is suing them, claiming they broke an oral contract made when he promised them money in exchange for hiding him from police.
Jared and Lindsay Rowley have asked a judge to dismiss the suit.
Jesse Dimmick is serving an 11-year sentence after bursting into Jared and Lindsay Rowley’s Topeka-area home in September 2009.
The man was wanted for questioning in the beating death of a Colorado man and a chase had begun in Geary County, the Associated Press reports.
Jesse Dimmick contends he told the couple he was being chased by someone, most likely the police, who wanted to kill him.
In his hand-written court documents, Jesse Dimmick said: “I, the defendant, asked the Rowleys to hide me because I feared for my life. I offered the Rowleys an unspecified amount of money which they agreed upon, therefore forging a legally binding oral contract.”
Jesse Dimmick wants $235,000 in total, including $160,000 for his hospital bills after he was shot in the back by police and an additional $75,000 for emotional stress.
Kidnapper Jesse Dimmick sues his hostages for $235,000 in total, including $160,000 for his hospital bills after he was shot in the back by police and an additional $75,000 for emotional stress
Neighbours have said Jared and Lindsay Rowley fed Jesse Dimmick snacks and watched movies with him until he fell asleep and they were able to escape their home unharmed.
Jesse Dimmick was convicted in May 2010 of four felonies, including two counts of kidnapping.
The man was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months on those charges.
Jesse Dimmick was later sent to a jail in Brighton, Colorado, where he is being held on eight charges, including murder, in connection with the killing of Michael Curtis in September 2009.
A preliminary hearing originally scheduled for December 6 has been rescheduled for April 12.
No plea has been entered in the case.
Robert E. Keeshan, an attorney for the Rowleys, filed a motion denying there was a contract, but said if there was it would not have been binding anyway.
“In order for parties to form a binding contract, there must be a meeting of the minds on all essential terms, including and most specifically, an agreement on the price,” Robert E. Keeshan wrote.
Robert E. Keeshan said the contract also would have been invalid because the couple agreed to let Jesse Dimmick in the home only because they knew he had a knife and suspected he might have a gun.
Gabrielle Marvelli, a Pennsylvania math teacher admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old student earlier this year on the same day as his senior prom.
Gabrielle Marvelli pleaded guilty to the corruption of a minor after she had sex with a male student.
The 39-year-old math teacher was shaking and crying quietly as she admitted she had sex with one of her former students during a hearing yesterday.
By admitting guilt, Gabrielle Marvelli faces a maximum sentence of 9 months, though she may be placed in either a county jail rather than a state prison, or even in a jail’s work-release program.
Gabrielle Marvelli was arrested in June, just under a month after going to the Econo Lodge, an Allentown, Pennsylvania motel, at 3:20 a.m. for the early morning tryst.
Gabrielle Marvelli, a Pennsylvania math teacher admitted to having sex with a 17-year-old student earlier this year on the same day as his senior prom
The unidentified male student was one week shy of his 18th birthday at the time of their romp. Gabrielle Marvelli claimed that the student said he was 18 at the time, though the boy’s mother says otherwise.
The police were contacted shortly after the encounter took place on Memorial Day weekend in late May and began an investigation into Gabrielle Marvelli’s actions.
Gabrielle Marvelli, a married and the mother of a young daughter, was suspended from her job at the Allen High School after news of the encounter broke.
Her role as a teacher in the young man’s school made her sentencing a moral issue for county officials.
“I have chosen to approve this charge because teachers must be held to a high standard and, stating the obvious, should not enlist their students to engage in sexual relations,” district attorney Jim Martin said at the time of her arrest.
Those sentiments were echoed by Tim Eller, spokesman for the state Department of Education said: “When it comes to teachers there’s no delineation between a student of adult age or child. Regardless of age, the department does not look favourably upon it.”
Under Pennsylvania criminal law, the charge of corruption of minors can be applied to adults who commit various offences, including sexual abuse, against anyone under age 18.
Gabrielle Marvelli was released on $10,000 bail, and said Tuesday that though she had been suspended from her teaching position, she now works two jobs. She did not say what those jobs were.
The next step in the process is Gabrielle Marvelli’s sentencing hearing which is scheduled to take place on December 20.
Kourtney Kardashian has announced she is pregnant with baby number two.
Kourtney Kardashian, 32, has revealed that she is just nine weeks into her second pregnancy.
The reality star and her partner Scott Disick, 28, already have a son Mason, who turns two on December 14.
In a statement to E! Kourtney Kardashian said: “Scott and I are so excited to announce that we are expecting our second child and are thrilled to be expanding the love in our family.”
Kourtney Kardashian first revealed the news to this week’s issue of Us Weekly.
The older sibling of Kim and Khloé Kardashian told how she woke Scott Disik up at seven o’clock after taking a positive pregnancy test to share the news.
Kourtney Kardashian first revealed the news she is pregnant with the second child to this week's issue of Us Weekly
Kourtney Kardashian was so excited, she couldn’t wait the traditional amount of time before sharing it with the world.
“Now I’m nine weeks along,” Kourtney Kardashian tells Us Weekly.
“You’re supposed to wait 12 weeks to tell people, but I feel confident.”
In an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians in July, Kourtney Kardashian was seen clashing with mother Kris Jenner after she mentioned that she and Scott Disik were considering trying for another baby.
While their first child Mason was a happy surprise, Kris Jenner is adamant that the couple should be married before thinking about expanding their family.
In the episode, Kourtney Kardashian is insistent that she will marry if and when she chooses, and admits the reason she is hesitant to walk down the aisle is because she doesn’t want her children to go through a parents’ divorce they way she did as a child.
Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disik have broken up a number of times over Kourtney’s disapproval of her partner’s hard partying and anger issues.
During their stint in Miami last year, Kourtney Kardashian ordered Scott Disick to leave her and their son alone after he turned violent and smashed a mirror, telling him “I love Mason more than I love you”.
Scott Disik has since worked out his issues and has said he has no problem marrying his long-time love.
Scott Disik even proposed to an unimpressed Kourtney Kardashian in the final episode of last season’s Kourtney and Kim Take New York.
Turning down his offer of marriage during dinner on their four-and-a-half year anniversary in April, Kourtney Kardashian asked: “Things are so good right now, why would we want to change that?”
And headstrong Kourtney Kardashian has clearly decided not to fulfill her mother’s wishes to get married before falling pregnant again.
“It wasn’t like we weren’t trying,” Scott Disick says.
“We kind of just said, <<If it’s meant to be, it’ll be>>.”
Another member of the family who may not be thrilled over the news is Kourtney Kardashian’s sister Kim.
Kim Kardashian, 30, who recently separated from husband Kris Humphries after just 72 days, said in a magazine interview this week that she feels her dreams of children may be dashed.
“At first I was like, I want six kids. Then I went down to four, then I was down to three, and now I’m like, maybe I won’t have any.”
“Maybe my fairy tale has a different ending than I dreamed it would.”
The Kardashians younger sister Khloé, who married basketballer Lamar Odom in 2009, has also revealed that she is concerned about her difficulty in conceiving.
Speaking on The Today Show last month, Khloé Kardashian, 27, admitted: “It’s so hard. I never knew about ovulation and the limited amount of time that you have to get pregnant.
“I never knew about that. No-one ever taught me that.”
A study of Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands shows that type 2 diabetes could be reversed in just 4 months by simply following a low-calorie diet.
The new research results show that people who reduced their calorific intake in their daily diet experienced a far greater improvement of type 2 diabetes condition – and their health in general – than any medication offered.
The study conclusion says that life-saving insulin would no longer be needed to combat the disorder, cardiac function would improve and dangerous fats building up around patients’ hearts would be significantly reduced.
As obesity levels soar, type 2 diabetes is fast emerging as one of the biggest priorities for the health profession.
The disorder is thought to be driven by junk food diets and a lack of exercise.
The Leiden University research results show that people who reduced their calorific intake in their daily diet experienced a far greater improvement of type 2 diabetes - and their health in general - than any medication offered
Dr. Sebastiaan Hammer, the study’s lead author, told The Express: “It is striking to see how a relatively simple intervention of a very low-calorie diet effectively cures Type 2 diabetes.
“Moreover, these effects are long term, illustrating the potential of this method.
“Lifestyle interventions may have more powerful beneficial cardiac effects than medication in these patients.”
The research has been hailed as a breakthrough which could revolutionize the treatment of what was thought to be an incurable lifelong condition.
Dr. Sebastiaan Hammer added that the results showed significant improvements in patients after just 16 weeks of following a low-calorie diet.
Some 90% of diabetic patients have type 2 diabetes, the form which can be caused by being overweight or obese.
The remainder 10% patients have type 1, which is believed to be genetic.
Scientists believe excess fat upsets the working of insulin – a key hormone which delivers sugar to cells – and this can lead to type 2 diabetes.
Those with the condition are five times more at risk of heart attacks and strokes and can also suffer damage to nerve endings in feet, cells in the eye’s retina and kidney disease.
Two testosterone-fuelled Corvette drivers line up at a set of traffic lights and prepare to settle the best in a drag race in The Woodlands, Houston.
As children and cyclists cross the road, the drivers of the $40,000 C5 Corvette and $45,000 C6 Corvette revved their engines as they waited for the lights to change.
The drivers accelerate rapidly as the lights switch green, racing across the junction side by side.
But as the video footage shows, instead of one motorist emerging triumphant, both were left red-faced as one lost control, swerved into the other and sent both of them crashing into trees.
Two testosterone-fuelled Corvette drivers line up at a set of traffic lights and prepare to settle the best in a drag race in The Woodlands, Houston
Gerod Rush, 29, who recorded the footage last Thursday, posted it on YouTube under the title “Two Turkeys on Thanksgiving wrecking their Corvettes in The Woodlands”.
Gerod Rush told yourhoustonnews.com: “They were driving like idiots a mile before and then pulled up to a red light, revving their engines at each other.
“I had a feeling that I knew what was going to happen next.”
Gerod Rush said he believed the two cars were travelling at nearly 60 mph when the Corvette on the right lost traction, swerved and smashed into the other car.
The impact sent both vehicles off the road before coming to an abrupt halt. No one was killed in the crash, but it is not known if the drivers were injured.
Gerod Rush added: “I noticed before, when they were going at it just earlier, that the right-side car’s back tire was losing traction.
“So when he hard-accelerated at the light, he lost traction and then lost control.”
Authorities are now examining the footage to see whether any charges are brought on either driver.
If either was injured, they could face Class B misdemeanors or felonies.
Kardashian family makes millions from living their lives in the public eye on their reality television shows, but Daniel Craig is one person who is less than impressed by them.
The James Bond star launched an astonishing foul-mouthed rant at the brood, headed by Kim Kardashian, in a new interview in the January edition of GQ magazine.
Daniel Craig labeled the Kardashians “f***ing idiots” and criticized those who “sell” themselves and then make demands about their private lives.
Daniel Craig, 43, who managed to keep his marriage to Rachel Weisz under wraps in the summer, told GQ magazine: “I think there’s a lot to be said for keeping your own counsel.
“It’s not about being afraid to be public with your emotions or about who you are and what you stand for. But if you sell it off it’s gone.
“You can’t buy it back – you can’t buy your privacy back. Ooh I want to be alone. F*** you. We’ve been in your living room. We were at your birth. You filmed it for us and showed us the placenta and now you want some privacy?
Referring to the Kardashians, Daniel Craig said: “Look at the Kardashians, they’re worth millions. I don’t think they were that badly off to begin with but now look at them.
“You see that and you think <<what, you mean all I have to do is behave like a f***ing idiot on television and then you’ll pay me millions>>.
“I’m not judging it – well, I am obviously.”
Daniel Craig launched an astonishing foul-mouthed rant at the brood, headed by Kim Kardashian, in a new interview in the January edition of GQ magazine
Daniel Craig also spoke about his wedding to Rachel Weisz, and said that while they managed to keep it out of the spotlight, he doesn’t feel victorious about the matter.
“We got away with it. We did it privately and I’ve got a lot of people to thank for that. But that was the point, we did it for private reasons.
“Because we didn’t want it f*****d up, because that would be sharing a secret. And the whole point is that it was a secret. A secret is a secret in my mind.”
Refusing to go into any details about the ceremony, Daniel Craig said: “Look, I’m in love. I’m very happy. And that is as far as I’m prepared to go. Life is long, life goes wrong and I don’t want to say something now that might be thrown back later.”
Daniel Craig, who is now working on the 23rd Bond film, Skyfall, can soon be seen in the English language remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
But the actor says despite his lengthy and successful career, he is still not happy with how things stand.
Daniel Craig said: “I’m definitely not satisfied about my career. I don’t know how you can be, it’s the very nature of things.
“I’m always trying to figure it out, and I’m kind of unsatisfied constantly. I always want to get it right and I don’t know what the answer to it is.
“But I do know that it’s out there and I do know it’s worth looking for.”
Jordan Liu, a teenage babysitter Alhambra, California, was arrested over the sexual abuse of two young boys – after their mother discovered the abuse as she told her children about the Penn State Sex scandal.
Jordan Liu, 19, was accused of molesting the boys in his care after their mother found out while explaining to her eldest son what abuse was, using the example of Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Tom Lorenz, spokesman for the Glendale Police Department told ABC: “She was trying to describe some of the acts that are basically no-nos.
“The child began to cry and said, <<Mommy, the babysitter has been doing this to me>>.”
Jordan Liu was arrested on sexual assault charges for the abuse of an eight-year-old and a three-year-old last week.
The teenager entered a plea of not guilty to the charges on November 22 and was held on $2.7 million bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for January 5.
Jordan Liu, 19, was accused of molesting two boys in his care after their mother found out while explaining to her eldest son what abuse was, using the example of Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky
The mother of two made the horrific discovery after she was trying to educate her son about the dangers of child abuse from the Penn State scandal.
Jordan Liu was said to have been in charge of the boys for around four hours at a time at least once a month over the past eight months.
The family had found Jordan Liu on Sittercity.com, a website that matches families with babysitters.
Jordan Liu’s account has since been terminated. A company spokesman said it had been in touch with “anyone who may have had contact with him about the termination”.
Sittercity.com explained that it does background checks on members and cross- checked their identities with profiles on state sex offender registries.
Jordan Liu was also signed up to another site Care.com., which said he had been a member since 2008 and during that time in contact with “a little over 300 people”, but there was no way of knowing if he had worked for any of the families.
Police do not yet know if there are other victims of Jordan Liu, but the investigation is ongoing.
Jordan Liu’s Facebook profile has a picture of him holding a camera, standing next to a boy who appears to be a teenager.
Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach has been accused of sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period.
Jerry Sandusky case also prompted three people to come forward with claims that Syracuse University’s basketball coach Bernie Fine sexually abused them when they were children.
72 male beagles kept in captivity inside a laboratory in Spain were released from their cages for the first time during a rescue operation ran by Animal Rescue Media Education.
Scared and visibly unsure of leaving the confines of their cages, the dogs were among many being used for lab testing before it went out of business.
The beagles were rescued by members of Animal Rescue Media Education (ARME) and most of them had never been outside their cages.
Gary Smith, ARME’s Beagle Freedom Project spokesman, said: “We’ve been told they lived on per cage in rooms of 10 beagles, but they never had any physical interaction with one another.
“They’ve been in kennels since they were rescued about a week ago, but aside from that, they’ve spent most of their lives locked up.”
The beagles were rescued by members of Animal Rescue Media Education (ARME) and most of them had never been outside their cages
The rescue operation took place in June, and the animals’ first steps of freedom were posted on YouTube after they were recovered.
40 of the beagles arrived in Los Angeles last week where they will be put up for adoption.
The remainder of the dogs, all aged between 4 and 7 and bred in captivity, has already been adopted in Europe.
Beagles are often used in lab testing of products, including cosmetics, because of their “docile and trusting” personalities.
Gary Smith added: “Beagles are incredibly sweet, docile, companion animals.
“The downfall is, the same reason the beagle is a perfect companion animal, is the same reason they’re used for testing.”
Rajee Narinesingh, an alleged victim of “butt implant doctor” Oneal Ron Morris has come forward to show the horrific state of her face after it was injected with a toxic mixture of cement and tire sealant.
Rajee Narinesingh, 48, from Miami, Florida, says her face was ruined by transgender Oneal Ron Morris, 30, who had just been released from custody after he was accused of administering the potentially lethal shots to another victim.
The victim, who, like Oneal Ron Morris, was born a man, but lives as a woman, said she suffered acutely lumpy cheeks, misshapen chin and ballooning upper lip after the back room beauty treatment.
Rajee Narinesingh admitted that she initially turned to Oneal Ron Morris because she did not have the money to pay a licensed plastic surgeon. The victim says she learned of him by word-of-mouth in the transsexual community.
The victim told Miami television station CBS4: “It becomes so dire that you want to match your outside with your inside that you’re willing to roll the dice and take your chances.
“As a transgender person, you’re thinking, <<Oh, my God, I can start to look like I want to look like and I don’t have to spend a lot of money>>.”
Rajee Narinesingh has since had several plastic surgery procedures to repair the damage, and faces more still.
“I had to end up going to surgery, to get me even to this point,” Rajee Narinesingh revealed.
Rajee Narinesingh, an alleged victim of “butt implant doctor” Oneal Ron Morris has come forward to show the horrific state of her face after it was injected with a toxic mixture of cement and tire sealant
Oneal Ron Morris, who was released from custody late last night after posting $15,000 bail, declined to comment as he left the Miami Dade County Jail.
The transgender fake doctor said only that he has a lawyer to answer reporters’ questions, and the lawyer claims his client is innocent.
Oneal Ron Morris was arrested earlier this month for practicing medicine without a license and causing serious bodily injury after a patient complained that he injected cement and a chemical compound called Fix-a-Flat, which is used to mend car tires, into her backside.
The treatment left the victim with life threatening injuries, needing several surgeries and round-the-clock care.
Since Oneal Ron Morris’s alleged practices came to light, prosecutors say several victims have come forward.
A court was told that Oneal Ron Morris used cement, mineral oil and Fix-a-Flat, in her backroom beauty treatments.
It heard that the fake doctor then used superglue to patch up entry wounds in the skin.
Oneal Ron Morris’ arrest photographs show an apparently enhanced rear. Detectives say he performed the potentially lethal treatment on himself.
The transgender is now free on bond but the probe by the Miami Gardens Police and health officials is continuing.
Dr. John Martin, who is now treating Rajee Narinesingh, said he has been giving her therapeutic injections that he hopes will eventually soften the hard nodules that formed in her face and return her to a more normal appearance.
“There is not an easy solution to this nightmare,” Dr. John Martin said.
Rajee Narinesingh says she is grateful to Dr. John Martin for trying to help give her a face back.
A Qantas pilot faces the prospect of losing his job after getting frisky with a first-class section female passenger on a long-haul flight between London and Sydney.
The Qantas pilot was off-duty pilot and he was not wearing uniform, but he stunned passengers in the first-class section of the flight to Australia with his amorous antics.
Pilot’s behaviour in the luxury premium seats, which have privacy walls and recline into beds, included sitting on the woman’s lap, it was reported.
A Qantas pilot faces the prospect of losing his job after getting frisky with a first-class section female passenger on a long-haul flight between London and Sydney
The fellow passengers became so annoyed by the display that flight crews twice had to reprimand the unidentified pilot during the flight and he subsequently moved to economy, according to the Herald Sun.
However, when the woman got off the plane in Singapore, the pilot went back into the first-class cabin until the plane arrived in Sydney.
It is unclear whether the pilot had been drinking or whether he even knew the woman prior to boarding the flight.
Qantas has confirmed the company is investigating the incident, which could threaten the pilot’s $235,000-a-year job.
A Qantas spokeswoman told the Herald Sun: “Qantas is aware of an incident involving a travelling crew member on board QF32.
“The matter is being investigated internally in line with Qantas policy.
“Interaction of that nature is something that wouldn’t be sanctioned.”
The Qantas pilot has been offered assistance from the Australian and International Pilots’ Association.
Captain Richard Woodward, the association’s vice-president, said he was aware of the incident.
Atos, one of the largest information technology companies in the world decided to abolish e-mails, because it says 90% of them are a waste of time.
Atos employs almost 80,000 people in 42 countries.
The company believes that too many of its employees waste hours dealing with irrelevant e-mails, so wants them phased out within 18 months.
Atos, one of the largest information technology companies in the world decided to abolish e-mails, because it says 90 percent of them are a waste of time
Instead, Atos wants people to spend more time talking to each other – either on the phone or in person – and to use tightly controlled “real time” messaging interfaces.
Atos CEO, Thierry Breton, who is a former French finance minister, said the “zero e-mail” policy could be in place within 18 months.
“It is not right that some of our fellow employees spend hours in the evening dealing with their e-mails,” said the 56-year-old CEO.
Claiming that only 20 out of every 200 emails received by his staff every day turn out to be important, Thierry Breton said: “The e-mail is no longer the appropriate tool. It is time to think differently.
“The deluge of information will be one of the most important problems a company will have to face.”
Thierry Breton said the main problem was people switching to a “useless” email while they were carrying out a far more important task.
Allowing e-mails to stack up also means that staff has huge e-mail workloads to pile through when they get home.
Thierry Breton pointed to a recent study by the business watchdog ORSE, which reads: “Reading useless messages is terrible for concentration, as it takes 64 seconds to get back on the ball after doing so. Poorly controlled, the e-mail can become a devastating tool.”
Atos CEO suggested that a real time messaging interface as available on sites like Facebook would be far preferable to email, with staff also encouraged to talk to each other in person.
“Companies must prepare for the new wave of usage and behaviour,” Thierry Breton said, adding that he always preferred proper conversations.
“If people want to talk to me, they can come and visit me, call or send me a text message,” he said.
George Michael, who is in AKH hospital in Vienna suffering from severe pneumonia, has been joined by his 75-year-old father Kyriacos Panayiotou – known as Jack Panos – as well as older sisters Melanie, 49 and Yioda, 53.
George Michael’s former boyfriend, art dealer Kenny Goss, 53, is also due to join the group.
His current boyfriend, hair stylist Fadi Fawaz has been with the star throughout his ordeal.
George Michael, who is in AKH hospital in Vienna suffering from severe pneumonia, has been joined by his family
Kenny Goss, who split from Michael in 2009, will jet to Vienna from the US, where he has galleries in both Dallas and New York.
A friend said: “Kenny of course is very concerned. Kenny has been very supportive throughout this.
“He is planning to come. He’s been in touch every single day. They are very close still. Kenny and George will always be the best of friends.”
The AKH is Europe’s largest hospital with 1,600 doctors, including world experts in pneumonia treatment. Experts say that pneumonia is especially difficult to treat because it is hard to diagnose, meaning that immediate specialist care is often vital in severe cases such as George Michael’s.
Specialists at AKH decided to bring in the futuristic Triadyne Proventa bed – which helps breathing pneumonia patients in a critical condition – which is believed to have saved the George Michael’s life.
According to his friends, George Michael, 48, was fortunate to be taken ill in Vienna, where he was able to be admitted to a hospital which is renowned for its “pioneering, amazing” work with regards to the potentially fatal illness.
Australian-born Fadi Fawaz, 38, appeared tired and drawn as he left the hospital where George Mchael is battling severe pneumonia during the weekend.
Fadi Fawaz anxiously fiddled with his mobile telephone after visiting Vienna’s AKH Hospital where he has kept a vigil by George Michael’s bedside for a week.
Fadi Fawaz was accompanied by two women, believed to by George Michael’s sisters, one of whom held her head in her hands in the hospital lobby as she waited for the car to collect them.
George Michael’s fans from across Europe have also visited the hospital in the Austrian capital to wish him well.
George Michael was rushed to hospital last week after he fell ill just hours before he was due on stage in the city.
As a result, on Friday, the rest of his Symphonica tour, which was due to go on until Christmas, was called off.
There were also claims George Michael had been in a coma and that he is also suffering from heart problems, though, have been dismissed by aides.
On Friday, a statement was issued revealing George Michael’s condition is ‘severe community acquired pneumonia.’
Prof. Dr. Christoph Zielinski, Chairman, Department of Medicine General Hospital – Medical University Vienna, Austria and Prof. Dr. Thomas Staudinger, Specialist in Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine said then: “George Michael has severe community acquired pneumonia and is being treated as an inpatient.
“His condition has stabilized and he is responding to treatment. From the current point of view, the time until recovery cannot be estimated, but he will not be able to perform the rest of the tour. Besides medical treatment, complete rest and peace and quiet are mandatory.”
Karin Fehringer, spokeswoman for the AKH hospital yesterday declined to comment on George Michael’s condition, but said: “We are Europe’s largest hospital and we have advanced specialist care for pneumonia treatment.”
Gary Speed, the Welsh soccer team manager, was not depressed and had not argued with his wife before being found hanged at his home, says Hayden Evans, his agent and a close friend.
Gary Speed’s agent and best man Hayden Evans said of his friend was “happily married” and that his widow Louise is bewildered by his suspected suicide.
Hayden Evans said: “They were happily married and anyone who knows them will tell you that. This is why it is a mystery.
“We genuinely at the moment have no clue whatsoever what has caused it and I have been with the family all day.
“Everybody is asking the same question and no one has an answer. We are all in shock.”
When asked about the circumstances behind Gary Speed’s death and whether he had argued with Louise before killing himself, Hayden Evans added: “Louise is saying that’s not the case. She just doesn’t understand it.”
Gary Speed, the Welsh soccer team manager, was not depressed and had not argued with his wife before being found hanged at his home, says Hayden Evans, his agent and a close friend
When asked if Gary Speed had suffered bouts of depression, Hayden Evans told The Sun “none whatsoever”.
Hayden Evans said: “The one thing the family and me as one of his closest friends would totally refute is that. There was no indication of any problems and never has been.”
Gary Speed, 42, appeared happy as he left the BBC studios in Salford on Saturday afternoon after filming Football Focus. Louise Speed found him hanged in the garage of their £1.5 million ($2.3 million) mansion near Chester just after 7:00 a.m. on Sunday.
On Monday, as tributes to Gary Speed continued to pour in from across the sporting world, police were preparing for the delicate task of speaking to his wife, Louise, 40, and their two teenage sons.
As they struggled to come to terms with his death, Hayden Evans spoke of how they had been “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of sympathy over the past 24 hours.
“Gary’s family would sincerely like to thank all the people who have sent messages of condolence and tributes in what is a very difficult time,” said Hayden Evans.
“They have been overwhelmed by the support – it really has helped. You can imagine how Louise is feeling.”
A pile of tributes including flowers, footballs and soccer shirts was growing at the gates at the end of Gary Speed’s drive last night as a steady stream of fans came to pay their respects.
Yesterday officials at the Welsh Football Association promised to support the family and offer them a “shoulder to cry on” in the coming weeks.
Chief executive Jonathan Ford said: “I’ve no understanding of why it happened, I don’t know the answer and I don’t think we ever will.
“At the moment our thoughts aren’t with that – they are with Gary’s family.
“He was a family man, he loved his wife and children.
“We will do whatever we can to help Louise and the boys.”
Both Gary Speed’s sons are promising sportsmen, 14-year-old Ed is a talented footballer and his 13-year-old brother Tommy a keen boxer.
Cheshire Police confirmed that Gary Speed’s death was being treated as “non-suspicious”.
An inquest will be opened and adjourned today in Warrington.
There is no secret that the fashion world uses a bit of photo-trickery to ensure models look their best.
Any fashion magazine is full of pictures of Amazonian celebrities with endless legs, flawless skin, and not a wrinkle in sight.
However, health organizations have warned that such digital enhancement promotes unrealistic expectations of body image, especially among young girls.
Two computer scientists have said that consumers should be told how much altering has been done on a particular image – and believe they have found a way of quantifying it to offer a universal “health warning” on magazine images.
Professor Hany Farid, the man behind the project, wrote : “Impossibly thin, tall, and wrinkle-and blemish-free models are routinely splashed into billboards, advertisements, and magazine covers.”
Prof. Hany Farid and Eric Kee, from Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, listed the troubling side-effects of altered images as a primary motivation of the project to provide consumers with more information on “photoshopped” images.
“The ubiquity of these unrealistic and highly idealized images has been linked to eating disorders and body-image dissatisfaction in men, women, and children,” the two computer scientists said.
Using a computer programme to highlight the differences between a natural and retouched picture, they have now come up with a simple system under which a picture scores a “1” when there is little retouching and “5” when there are significant changes.
The rating system accounts for two types of adjustments made in photos: geometric adjustments that slim the arms, legs, and torso; and photometric alterations that augment skin tone and removes wrinkles, blemishes, and cellulite.
Prof. Hany Farid and Eric Kee, from Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, listed the troubling side-effects of altered images as a primary motivation of the project to provide consumers with more information on “photoshopped” images
The researchers sought to break down an image’s retouching by producing statistics which detail changes made to each photograph.
“We start with the before-and-after digital images, from which we automatically estimate the geometric and photometric changes, effectively reverse-engineering the manipulations that a photo retoucher has made,” Prof. Hany Farid said.
The specialists analyzed 468 sets of unedited and retouched photographs. They then used a simplified mathematical description of augmentations made to a model’s features, such as their shape or their skin tone.
Each altered photograph was scored between one and five, with five representing a heavy retouching. Volunteers were each asked to score from 1 to 5 how similar each pair of pictures was.
Prof. Hany Farid and his student, Eric Kee, found a close correlation between their computerized assessment and the human opinion, suggesting the technique could be used to come up with a rating that could be published alongside the image.
“Now what we have is a mathematical measure of photo retouching,” Professor Hany Farid, along with doctoral student Eric Kee, wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“We can predict what the average observer would say.
“We propose that the interests of advertisers, publishers and consumers may be protected by providing a perceptually meaningful rating of the amount by which a person’s appearance has been digitally altered.
“When published alongside a photo, such a rating can inform consumers of how much a photo has strayed from reality, and can also inform photo editors of exaggerated and perhaps unintended alterations to … appearance.”
Prof. Hany Farid said that it is understandable why magazines go to such great lengths to edit a photo to perfection.
“Publishers have legitimate reasons to alter photographs to create fantasy and sell products, but they’ve gone a little too far. You can’t ignore the body of literature showing negative consequences to being inundated with these images.”
Prof. Hany Farid and Eric Kee aren’t the only ones who have seen the negative effects of over-editing.
In June, the American Medical Association called for industry standards in photo altering, saying: “We must stop exposing impressionable children and teenagers to advertisements portraying models with body types only attainable with the help of photo editing software.”
Emma West, a 34-year-old British woman from New Addington, London, has been charged with racial harassment after video showing her allegedly abusing passengers aboard a tram while balancing a toddler on her knee appeared on the internet.
Emma West appeared before magistrates today charged with racially aggravated harassment following an appeal by the British Transport Police.
The woman was remanded in custody on Monday night, after complaints were made in relation to the footage uploaded to YouTube.
Emma West appeared before magistrates today charged with racially aggravated harassment following an appeal by the British Transport Police
Emma West’s arrest followed an appeal by the British Transport officers who asked the media to publicize the video to help identify her.
A British Transport Police spokesman said: “This is in relation to an incident onboard a Croydon Tramlink.”
The video, posted on YouTube, shows a woman apparently hurling abuse at other passengers on the South London tram and making xenophobic insults.
The footage appears to have been discreetly captured by a passenger as the tram travelled from Croydon to Wimbledon.
Throughout the two minutes of footage the woman’s little boy sits nervously as his mother begins her rant.
At one point the woman declares other passengers should go back to their own country, saying they’re not British because they are black.
Onlookers appear to be uncertain whether the woman is drunk while she is making the comments.
The woman in the footage says: “None of you are ****ing English. Get back to your own country. Sort your own countries, don’t come and do mine.
“It’s nothing now. Britain is nothing now. Britain is **** all. My Britain is **** all.”
At one point the woman claims passengers in the carriage are “****ing burnt people.”
The film was posted on Youtube, on Sunday, by LadyK89 and already has more than 10,000 viewers.
The British Transport Police said: “The video posted on YouTube and Twitter has been brought to our attention and our officers have launched an investigation.
“At present it is not entirely clear which tram stops the offence took place between and when it occurred.
“As a result we need anyone who witnessed this incident, or with any information that could assist our investigation – including the identity of the woman – to contact us.
“We will not tolerate racism in any form on the rail network and will do everything in our power to locate the person responsible.”
A spokeswoman for Transport for London (TfL), said: “All of our customers have the right to use our services without fear of being abused.
“TfL will not tolerate disgusting and offensive behaviour and we will work with the police to fully investigate this incident.
“London Tramlink has a dedicated team of police officers who patrol the network and we would like to assure all our customers that we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that they can travel safely.
“We would appeal to whoever posted the video to contact us in confidence.”
The transcript of Emma West’s racist rant:
“What has this country come to? A load of black people and a load of ****ing Polish. A load of ****ing, yeah… you’re all ****ing… do you know what I mean?
“You ain’t English. No, you ain’t English either. You ain’t English. None of you’s ****ing English. Get back to your own ****ing… do you know what sort out your own countries, don’t come and do mine.
“It’s nothing now. Britain is nothing now. Britain is **** all. My Britain is **** all.
“Yeah its fine. I have got a little kid here. Have respect? I have a little boy here. **** you. I dare you, I ****ing dare you.
“Don’t watch my language. Go back to where you come from, go back to ****ing Nicaragua or where ever you come from. Just ****ing go back.
“I work, I work, I work, this is my British country until we let you lot come over.
“So, what. It is my British country, you ain’t British. Are you British? You ain’t ****ing British. **** off.
“You ain’t British, you’re black. Where do you come from?
“No, someone’s got to talk up for these lot. Look the whole ****ing tram, look at them. Who is black and who is white.
Iranian protesters in the capital, Tehran, have broken into the UK embassy compound during an anti-British demonstration, reports say.
The protesters are said to be militant students. They are said to have removed the British flag, burnt it and replaced it with the Iranian flag.
Protesters who carried photographs of Iran’s assassinated nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari and IRGC Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, set fire on Britain’s flag.
The protesters were also shown live on Iranian state TV throwing stones at embassy windows and breaking them.
Hundreds of Iranian university students started a rally in front of the British embassy in Tehran Tuesday afternoon to shout protest against London’s hostile policies against Iran.
The rally comes as Iran is commemorating the first martyrdom anniversary of its nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari who was assassinated by the Israeli Mossad agency supported by the British MI6.
The move comes after Iran resolved to reduce ties following the Britain’s decision to impose further sanctions on it.
AP reported that students clashed with anti-riot police and chanted “the embassy of Britain should be taken over” and “death to England”.
“Down with Britain”, “Down with America”, “Down with Israel” and “Students are Awake and Hate Britain” are among the slogans chanted by the protestors.
One protester was reported to be waving a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth II.
On Sunday, Iran’s parliament voted by a large majority to downgrade diplomatic relations with the UK after the British Treasury imposed sanctions on Iranian banks the previous week, accusing them of facilitating the country’s nuclear programme. The Iranian legislators approved the bill with 179 yes votes, 4 oppositions and 11 abstentions. The 4 oppositions demanded a full cut of ties with London.
Iranian protesters in the capital, Tehran, have broken into the UK embassy compound during an anti-British demonstration
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
The Guardian Council – a powerful vetting body tasked with studying parliament approvals to make sure they are not against Islamic rules and the Constitution – announced its approval over the parliament ratification yesterday.
As the parliament approval calls for downgrading ambassadorial ties with Britain to the level of charge d’affaires, Tehran is now preparing to expel the British Ambassador to Iran Dominick Chilcott.
Chilcott took his post as the new Tehran ambassador in October and after several months of tension between the two capitals. The British embassy was meanwhile led by the charge d’affaires, Jane Marriott.
The parliament approval came a week after the US and Britain targeted Iranian financial sectors with new punitive measures, including sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank and petrochemical industry.
The sanction against CBI and Iran’s petrochemical industry was adopted in a unilateral move by the US, Canada and Britain outside the UN Security Council as other council members, specially Russia and China, had earlier warned against any fresh punitive measure, including sanctions, against Iran.
The British government has also embarked on delisting the anti-Iran terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) from its list of terrorist groups.
Svetlana Peters, the only daughter of Soviet dictator Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin has died in Wisconsin, aged 85.
Stalin’s daughter, who famously denounced communism and moved to the United States in the late 1960s, died from colon cancer.
Svetlana Peters’ defection in 1967 – partly motivated by the poor treatment of her late husband, Brijesh Singh, by Soviet authorities – caused an international furor.
Within months, Svetlana Peters published her memoirs about life in Russia, entitled “Twenty Letters to a Friend”, that became a best-seller.
Svetlana Peters, the only daughter of Soviet dictator Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin has died in Wisconsin, aged 85
Svetlana Peters, who was known internationally by her previous name, Svetlana Alliluyeva, said her identity involved more than just switching from one side to the other in the Cold War.
Upon her arrival in New York City in 1967 at 41, she said: “I have come here to seek the self-expression that has been denied me for so long in Russia.”
Stalin’s daughter said she had come to doubt the communism she was taught growing up and believed there weren’t capitalists or communists, just good and bad human beings.
In “Twenty Letters to a Friend”, Svetlana Peters recalled her father, who died in 1953 after ruling the nation for 29 years, as a distant and paranoid man.
Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin denounced Svetlana Peters as a “morally unstable” and “sick person”.
“I switched camps from the Marxists to the capitalists,” Svetlana Peters recalled in a 2007 interview. But she said her identity was far more complex than that and never completely understood.
“People say, <<Stalin’s daughter, Stalin’s daughter>>, meaning I’m supposed to walk around with a rifle and shoot the Americans.
“Or they say, <<No, she came here. She is an American citizen>>. That means I’m with a bomb against the others.
“No, I’m neither one. I’m somewhere in between. That <<somewhere in between>> they can’t understand.”
Svetlana Peters’ defection came at a high personal cost. She left two children behind in Russia – Josef and Yekaterina – from previous marriages.
Both her children were upset by her departure, and she was never close to either again.
Svetlana Peters was Stalin’s only daughter. She had two legitimate brothers, Vasili and Jacob.
When Svetlana, also known as Lana in US, was six years old, her mother, Stalin’s second wife, Nadezhda, shot herself after a row over his philandering. Thereafter, Lana was raised by a beloved nanny.
At 17, Stalin’s daughter fell in love for the first time, with a film-maker and writer 22 years her senior named Aleksei Kapler.
But Stalin did not approve of Aleksei Kapler, whom he dismissed as a “Bohemian artist” and a Jew, and banished him to Siberia for ten years.
Incensed that her boyfriend had influenced her to apply for a university fine arts course, Stalin also insisted she study history and become “an educated Marxist”.
Svetlana Peters graduated from Moscow University in 1949, worked as a teacher and translator and travelled in Moscow’s literary circles before leaving the Soviet Union.
Stalin’s daughter was married four times – the last time to William Wesley Peters, an apprentice to the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright. She took the name Lana Peters.
They had a daughter, Olga, before divorcing in 1973.
Svetlana Peters wrote three more books, including “Only One Year”, an autobiography published in 1969. The book made more than $3 million.
Stalin’s legacy appeared to haunt her throughout her life.
Stalin’s daughter denounced his policies, which included sending millions into labor camps.
“Over me my father’s shadow hovers, no matter what I do or say,” Svetlana Peters lamented in a 1983 interview with the Chicago Tribune.
After living in Britain for two years, Svetlana Peters returned to the Soviet Union with Olga in 1984, saying she wanted to be reunited with her children.
Svetlana Peters’ Soviet citizenship was restored, and she denounced her time in the U.S. and Britain, saying she never really had freedom.
But more than a year later, Svetlana Peters asked for and was given permission to leave after feuding with relatives. She returned to the U.S. and vowed never to go back to Russia.
By her later life, Svetlana Peters was fully immersed in American culture, admitted that she enjoyed American food, particularly hamburgers, and American films, and preferred to speak her adopted language.
Svetlana Peters later lived in Cornwall, England for a brief period in the mid 1990s.
A documentary, “Svetlana About Svetlana”, aired at the Madison Film Festival, Wisconsin in 2010. But Svetlana Peters, who did not attend the airing, later expressed regret at taking part, claiming the film-maker Lana Parshina had tricked her.
“This girl (Parshina) told me she was a college film student and she had to present something different,” she said.
“She was young, and I always like to help young people, so I let her in. But she only came to see me twice and she didn’t say she was making a film about my father.
“She just said it was going to be about the way I live now. I wish I didn’t do it. I won’t even make any money out of it. She will make all the money.”
Svetlana Peters went into seclusion in the last decades of her life in Richland Centre, Wisconsin, and relied on a cane after she developing scoliosis – a condition which twists the spine.
Stalin’s daughter survivors include her daughter Olga, who now goes by Chrese Evans and lives in Portland, Oregon, where she manages a clothes shop.
Her second daughter, who was born in 1950, goes by Katya, and is a scientist who studies an active volcano in eastern Siberia.
A son, Josef, died in 2008 at age 63 in Moscow, according to media reports in Russia.
Stalin’s other children:
Yakov Dzhugashvili, born in 1907, was Stalin’s eldest child and was raised by his aunt in Tbilisi, Georgia. During WWII, Yakov fought in Russia’s Red Army and was captured by the Nazis in 1941. He died in a concentration camp in 1943, aged 35. It has been suggested that he ran into an electric fence to kill himself.
Konstantin Kuzakov, born in 1911, was Stalin’s illegitimate second child, whose mother was Stalin’s landlady while he was in exile. In 1932, the Soviet secret police forced him to sign a statement promising he would not reveal Stalin was his father.
He was later a colonel in WWII. After he was accused of being a spy, he was dismissed from the Communist party. He died in 1996.
Vasili Dzhugashvili, born in 1921, was the son of Stalin and his second wife. After her death, Stalin rarely visited Vasili and Lana, and they were raised by nannies.
Vasili served in the Red Air Force, but was dismissed after allowing planes to fly in bad weather. He was imprisoned for giving away secret information to foreign diplomats. He died in 1962, aged 40, from alcoholism.
Jason Good, a married man from Laurel, Virginia, was caught out by his wife after he used his cell phone to record his mother-in-law taking her clothes off.
Jason Good was charged with a misdemeanor after his wife contacted police to say she had been looking at her husband’s phone when she found a “video of an adult female using the restroom”, an officer said.
The wife was horrified to discover the footage taken at their home was of her 57-year-old mother.
The woman phoned the police department in Henrico County on Sunday morning after finding the tape.
Jason Good, a married man from Laurel, Virginia, was caught out by his wife after he used his cell phone to record his mother-in-law taking her clothes off
When officers arrived to take a statement from Jason Good’s wife she directed them to “a hole located in the wall between the garage and the bathroom”.
Jason Good, 40, was then interviewed and arrested by officers.
If found guilty, the man could face up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $2,500.
The woman who was filmed does not live with the couple and it is unclear if the incident took place over Thanksgiving, according to thesmokinggun.com.
Lt. Eric Owens, Henrico County Police spokesman, said in a statement that the crime of filming someone undressing was considered a class 1 misdemeanor and was punishable by up to one year in jail.
Eric Owens added Jason Good’s wife discovered the video while looking through her husband’s cell phone. The woman recognized her mother in the video and called police.
Three wealthy bankers from Connecticut, who came forward to claim a $254 million record Powerball jackpot are facing claims that they were not in fact the real winners.
An anonymous man – one of the bankers clients – is said to have actually purchased the ticket but came to Tim Davidson, Brandon Lacoff and Greg Skidmore to avoid the “hassle” of his name becoming public.
They then allegedly set up a trust “as a front” so that Tim Davidson, Brandon Lacoff and Greg Skidmore could be the public face of the win.
In a further twist, it was also claimed that rather than donate a large proportion of the money to charity, the winner has requested that the majority just be invested for his personal gain.
The explosive claims blow apart the fairytale story that Tim Davidson bought the ticket at a gas station in Greenwich Connecticut for $1.
It would also explain the bankers’ sheepish performance at a press conference to collect their “jackpot”, during which they refused to discuss their relationship with each other.
It had been suggested that Tim Davidson bought his ticket on November 1 and the following day they realized their numbers had come up, beating odds of 195,249,054 to one.
The jackpot was the largest ever won in Connecticut and the 12th biggest in Powerball history.
The jackpot was the largest ever won in Connecticut and the 12th biggest in Powerball history
It means the three bankers will take the after-tax lump sum of nearly $104 million in cash between them.
Now, according to a family friend who has known Brandon Lacoff since he was a boy, the truth behind what happened is very different.
Tom Gladstone said that a client at investment company Belpointe LLC, which was founded by Brandon Lacoff and provides investment advice, much of it to wealthy individuals, was the real winner.
He, Tim Davidson and Greg Skidmore then set up the Putnam Avenue Family Trust which will allow the man to keep out of the spotlight.
Tom Gladstone, a real estate agent who rents Brandon Lacoff the Belpointe office space, said: “The person who really won it is anonymous.
“They set up the trust so that Brandon and his two partners could claim they won it and that the real winner wouldn’t get hassled.
“They have said they are going to give it to charity but they are going to manage the money. They are going to make a donation but they keeping a large proportion of the money and they are going to manage it.
“The winner is a client of theirs and their clients are a mixture of larger and smaller investors. By Wall Street standards they are not big players.
“They set up the trust as a front to ensure their client anonymity. It clearly took them some time to work it out as they won on November 1, realized the next day and have only now come forward.
“I saw Brandon last Friday and he didn’t say a word to me. They are smart, rich Greenwich men.”
Tom Gladstone added that he had known Brandon Lacoff’s father Marty, an anti-trust lawyer, for 30 years and that the family were “hard working people”.
He said: “Brandon is a good kid, I don’t know how else to describe him. Obviously the client is putting their faith in him to look after this very substantial amount.”
According to the story which has been told so far, Tim Davidson bought the $1 quick pick ticket for the November 2 drawing at the Shippan Point BP gas station in Stamford. It was the only ticket he bought.
During the press conference Tim Davidson and his two colleagues sat stoically at a conference table sipping bottled water as Jason Kurland, the group’s attorney, answered questions but declined to address basic issues about the win.
Jason Kurland said: “Obviously, everybody is extremely excited. These numbers are huge. This is going to benefit many people.
“From the first conversation I had with them, it was very philanthropic. Charities was definitely, probably No. 1 on their priority list.”
As they were leaving the news conference, Greg Skidmore stopped at the microphone to identify himself and his partners and said: “And it feels good,” before leaving the room.
The winning numbers were 12-14-34-39-46, Powerball 36.
Lottery officials had used billboards across the state to urge the ticket holder to come forward as the weeks went by without a winner.
Jason Kurland said the group called him the day after the draw.
He said: “They thought they were the winners, and then, that night, I think, one of the local TV stations had the numbers, and the Powerball number was wrong on the TV screen, so that put them into a little bit of a tizzy.
“But the news, to their credit, corrected it a few hours later, and they were confident they had it.”
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Belpointe manages $82 million which makes it a boutique investment firm by the standards of many New York finance houses.
Brandon Lacoff was an accountant for Ernst & Young before founding an investment company known Belray capital, which became Belpointe LLC.
He “owns a number of properties and businesses throughout the region”, according to the Belpointe website.
Greg Skidmore, the company’s president and chief investment officer, formerly worked as an investment banker for a subsidiary of AXA Financial Services and Citigroup.
He is a former member of the U.S. sailing team who was once an Olympic hopeful, according to the company’s website.
Greg Skidmore is also the grandson of Louis Skidmore, the notable American architect and founder of the firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, which created the Sears Tower in Chicago amongst other buildings.
Tim Davidson started his career at a French bank where he worked in foreign exchange before moving on to advise companies, hedge funds and “ultra high worth” individuals.
Hungry Hobos, a long-lost Disney cartoon that features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a character who was the prototype for Mickey Mouse), has been discovered in a British film archive.
Hungry Hobos, was made in 1928 but has been missing since before World War II.
The black-and-white cartoon features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and was drawn shortly before the character was abandoned and turned into Mickey Mouse that same year.
Incredibly, the five-minute silent cartoon has turned up in a vault at the Huntley Film Archives in Herefordshire, where it has sat for decades.
Amanda Huntley, who runs the company, said a colleague stumbled upon it on a shelf and out of curiosity searched its name on Google and discovered it was a “lost” classic.
Amanda Huntley said: “There are a lot of lost films out there. This was made in 1928 and has been in our collection for decades.
“We specialize in social history films and not animation. But my colleague took the film from the shelf and Googled it – I don’t really know why.
“We quickly realized it was one of the great lost films. We posted the news on specialist web forums and everybody was very excited.”
Hungry Hobos, a long-lost Disney cartoon that features Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a character who was the prototype for Mickey Mouse), has been discovered in a British film archive
Hungry Hobos follows a starving Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and his friend Peg Leg Pete on a train. They rob a chicken of her egg by squeezing the animal and cook it by using the train’s wheels.
Oswald’s facial features and behaviour are clearly those of Mickey Mouse – the legendary character that has endured ever since.
The whereabouts of the film has for decades baffled animation experts, who believed it would never be seen again.
It is now expected to fetch at least £25,000 ($39,000) when it goes under the hammer at Bonhams’ Entertainment Memorabilia auction in Los Angeles next month.
Hungry Hobos was released for general screening on May 14, 1928, just one day before Mickey Mouse’s feature debut, Plane Crazy, had its first preview screening.
The film marked a significant turning point for Walt Disney as it was the last time he had to work alongside another studio.
Walt Disney made 26 films with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit as the central character for Universal Pictures before taking the character to his own studio and turning it into a rodent.
Amanda Huntley said: “It is significant because it is Disney but also because the character was the prototype of Mickey Mouse.
“Disney developed many characters and they changed over time and Oswald has the characteristics of Mickey Mouse – he looks similar even though he’s a rabbit.
“Disney made a series with this character and then turned him into a mouse.
“Mickey Mouse has lasted over 80 years and many generations have grown up to love him.
“How we ended up with the film I don’t know. It was probably collected by my father who started the company and it has been sitting on our shelves for decades.
“We have decided to sell it because it is not really what we specialize in and we can use the money to preserve other films we have.”
Stephanie Connell, from Bonhams, said: “Hungry Hobos is an incredible find, a lost masterpiece and a cartoon with a unique and vital place in animation history.”
Hungry Hobos comprises of a 16mm double perforated celluloid acetate positive print.
Lupita Gonzalez, a one-year-old girl from Florida, was found alive after being kidnapped and abandoned by Carlos Rivera, a man who was angry at being interrupted while having sex with her mother.
Lupita Gonzalez was found after a intensive search involving helicopters and bloodhound tracking dogs.
Dozens of police with a Child Abduction Response Team combed a farmland and wooden areas while boats were deployed to several lakes in the area.
Lupita Gonzalez, a one-year-old girl from Florida, was found alive after being kidnapped and abandoned by Carlos Rivera, a man who was angry at being interrupted while having sex with her mother
The little girl was discovered under a bush more than two miles from where she he had allegedly been snatched by Carlos Rivera, 23.
Police said Lupita Gonzalez was alone for 12 hours before being discovered.
Police said Lupita Gonzalez was unharmed by the ordeal but was taken to hospital as a precaution.
Lupita Gonzalez’s mother, Leah Wiley, 30, had failed to report her missing as she worried the girl’s father would find out about her having sex with another man.
Carlos Rivera told police he had grabbed the little girl because he was upset that he was interrupted while having sex with her mother.
Carlos Rivera told investigators he had paid Leah Wiley for sex but it ended when she was called away to another room at a party held in rural Seville, Florida.
The man said he snatched the toddler and left the party, but later worried about his actions and abandoned the girl in woodland.
Carlos Rivera called 911 to report the girl missing, but did not give police any firm details.
Leah Wiley told authorities she suspected Carlos Rivera had taken the girl but did not report her missing because she didn’t want the child’s father to find out she had sex with another man.
After being arrested, Carlos Rivera initially told authorities he remembered a little girl was at the party held in Seville but didn’t know what happened to her.
Later during questioning Carlos River gave police a vague description of the area where he abandoned her.
Volusia County Sheriff’s spokesman Gary Davidson said Carlos Rivera told investigators that he had paid Leah Wiley to have sex with her.
“He said that he got mad because the sex was interrupted when Wiley was called to another room, so he decided to take her daughter and leave the house,” Gary Davidson said.
“With no food, water or other provisions, Rivera took off with Wiley’s daughter.”
Carlos Rivera was charged with child abuse and kidnapping.
The man is also being held on charges out of Putnam County for failure to appear on charges of grand theft auto, driving under the influence with property damage and driving without a valid driver’s license, according to court records.
Carlos Rivera is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bail.
Leah Wiley was charged with one count of an act that could result in the physical/mental injury of a child.
The Florida Department of Children and Families has taken custody of the child and Leah Wiley’s two other children, Gary Davidson said.
Lindsey Vonn, the ski Olympic gold medalist and her husband have decided to divorce after four years of marriage.
Lindsey Vonn, 27, confirmed on Sunday night that she and Thomas Vonn have started divorce proceedings. Her husband also serves as her chief adviser.
“This is an extremely difficult time in my personal life and I hope the media and my fans can respect my need for privacy on this matter,” Lindsey Vonn said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Lindsey Vonn elected to skip the season-opening World Cup slalom race Sunday to rest a sore back she recently tweaked in training. She plans to return to the slopes Tuesday for a downhill training run in Lake Louise, Alberta, the site of the next competition.
Lindsey Vonn, the ski Olympic gold medalist and her husband have decided to divorce after four years of marriage
Thomas Vonn, 35, said in an email to The AP that he filed for divorce last Monday.
Lindsey and Thomas married on September 29, 2007.
Lindsey Vonn became one of the faces of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, winning a gold medal in the downhill and a bronze in the super-G – all on a badly bruised shin.
Her shining moment in Vancouver was years in the making, beginning when her father, Alan Kildow, introduced her to skiing. Her father even moved the family to Colorado to foster that passion for the slopes.
But Lindsey Vonn had a falling out with her father a few years ago. By all accounts, the feud began before the 2006 Turin Olympics, when she was known as Lindsey Kildow.
Part of the escalating tension had to do with her relationship with Thomas Vonn, a former U.S. Olympic skier who is nearly nine years older.
Lindsey Vonn’s father, a Minneapolis-based attorney, spoke with AP before the 2010 Olympics and said that while he did not want to get into details. He said: “She’s my daughter, I love her, and in that sense it’s great.”
For her part, though, Lindsey Vonn has been critical of her father’s pressured attitude towards her success.
“He always supported me when I did well, which was 90 per cent of the time, but when I didn’t, he didn’t handle it very well,” Lindsey Vonn told Denver Post in 2010.
“It was so hot and cold. It was so much criticism and so much negativity, and it was really hard to balance my emotions.”
Alan Kildow was reportedly not invited to his daughter’s wedding.
Over the years, Thomas Vonn became a rock in her life as he helped coordinate interviews, provided tips on the course and made sure logistics were taken care of, freeing Lindsey Vonn to focus on skiing.
Lindsey Vonn has blossomed into one of the top racers in U.S. team history, winning three overall World Cup titles. She also has 42 World Cup wins, tying her with Sweden’s Anja Paerson for fourth place on the all-time list.
With her victory in the giant slalom last month in Soelden, Austria, Lindsey Vonn became just the fifth female skier to win a race in all five Alpine disciplines. She’s also the second American skier to complete the discipline sweep, joining Bode Miller.
Lindsey Vonn could add to her win total this week at Lake Louise, on a hill where she’s typically skied very well. She has 14 podium finishes at the venue, including eight wins.
She has appeared in Sports Illustrated magazine’s swimsuit edition – infamously photographed in skiing tuck position in a bikini for its cover – and came 59th on Maxim’s Hot 100 list.
Lindsey Vonn said in a statement that she will “continue to be coached by the U.S. Ski Team and look forward to competing the rest of the season”.
Juan Jose Padilla, a Spanish matador blinded in one eye after being gored during a bullfight announced today he will return to the ring as he made his first public appearance since the horrific incident.
Juan Jose Padilla, 38, was speaking at a press conference just six days after undergoing a crucial operation to repair nerve damage in the left side of his face, which was left paralyzed in the attack.
Bearing scars next to his jaw and left eye where Juan Jose Padilla was pierced by the bull’s horn, he said it was his dream to don the famous uniform once again and insisted he did not want pity.
“I do not want the fans to feel sorry for (me),” Juan Jose Padilla told media at Virgen del Rocio hospital in southern Seville before returning home.
“I will fight again dressed as a bullfighter because this is my dream to meet the fans,” Juan Jose Padilla added before referring to the motto “Strength Padilla”, which has flooded social networks in recent weeks.
Juan Jose Padilla, a Spanish matador blinded in one eye after being gored during a bullfight announced today he will return to the ring as he made his first public appearance since the horrific incident
The crowds at the Zaragoza’s Fiestas Del Pilar bullfight at the Misericordia ring were left stunned when the bull’s horn pierced his jaw and emerged through his left eye socket in October.
With blood gushing from his head, Juan Jose Padilla was helped out of the ring screaming: “I can’t see, I can’t see.”
Juan Jose Padilla then underwent a life-saving five-hour operation to repair severe damage to his eye, bone, muscle and skin.
Juan Jose Padilla said he was feeling better than three weeks ago and was “very excited” about his recovery following his treatment under the direction of maxillofacial surgeon Alberto Garcia Perla.
The operation Juan Jose Padilla underwent last Tuesday aims to rebuild the facial nerve severed in the goring which left him with difficulties swallowing and talking.
Juan Jose Padilla will face a long rehabilitation process that will begin in a couple of weeks at a recovery centre.
It is hoped the operation will recover around 80% mobility in his face.
Juan Jose Padilla said: “I want to thank the Hospital Virgen del Rocio and the entire medical team for giving me the opportunity to return to normal life and giving me the hope of returning to the arena.”
Accompanied by his wife, Lidia, his parents and his attorney, Taurine Sanlúcar Diego Robles, Juan Jose Padilla was given a standing ovation before moving to his home in Sanlucar de Barrameda in Cadiz.
It is not the first time Juan Jose Padilla, a popular matador who has won many fans for his courage and willingness to face the toughest bulls, has been gored.
In 2001 Juan Jose Padilla suffered serious injuries to his neck during a fight in Pamplona.
The bull, called Marques and from the Ana Romero ranch, quickly took its revenge after Juan Jose Padilla slipped and fell in the sand after the placing of the banderillas (barbed sticks).
Doctors had initially thought the goring, of which footage exists on Youtube and was shown on Spanish TV channel Canal+ Toros, would be fatal.
But the bullring’s doctor Antonio Val-Carreres later told El Pais newspaper that Juan Jose Padilla was in serious condition and was staying at Zaragoza’s Miguel Servet hospital.
