MDA Labor Day Telethon 2011 Programme

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 5, 2011

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MDA Telethon 2011 Raised $61.5 Million Without Jerry Lewis.

What Does Labor Day Mean?

What Happened At The MDA Telethon? Tribute To Jerry Lewis.

The 46th annual Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day Telethon was broadcasted nationwide from 6 p.m. to midnight in every U.S. time zone on Sunday and the iconic show attracted outstanding talents on its first time without Jerry Lewis’ hosting.

One of the biggest stars participating to the MDA Telethon 2011 was Celine Dion, who performed in the opening hour.

“It’s always a privilege to be part of the MDA Labor Day Telethon,” said Celine Dion.

“I hope by taking part in this great cause, I can help MDA in its mission to make life better for families who are fighting muscle diseases. From supporting scientists who are searching for treatments and cures, to helping children go to MDA summer camp, MDA provides love and care in so many ways.”

Celine Dion’s motivation was shared by other artists who participated in Sunday’s prime-time Telethon, which has been broadcasted by more than 150 television stations nationwide.

In a group message so typical of their harmonious sound, Boyz II Men members Shawn Stockton, and Nathan and Wanya Morris said:

“We’re excited to be part of the MDA Labor Day Telethon this year and lend our voices to a such a good cause. We remember watching it growing up, and it’s great to be a part of something so historic that benefits so many people every day. Be sure to tune in to catch us on the Telethon this Sunday.”

Also, Tony Award-winning choreographer Twyla Tharp, when confirming that “Come Fly Away” principal dancers would perform two Telethon dance segments to the legendary original vocals of Frank Sinatra, noted that:

“Dance has the power to move people with nothing more than the flow of bodies and the expression of emotion. Progressive muscle diseases rob people of the power to move but not the experience of emotion or humanity. Hopefully, our dance performance will move us one step closer to preserving free motion for people with muscle diseases.”

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When people tuned in to watch the prime-time Telethon on Sunday, they have immediately been engaged by the “Make a Muscle, Make a Difference”® show opening using dance, music and striking visuals of everyday people flexing their biceps muscles to immediately let America know how important it is to “Be the Next to Flex”® for MDA.

Followed by the incredible magic of Penn & Teller, plus the intergalactic fun of music phenomenon Voca People, and an unforgettable performance by Celine Dion, the show’s first hour, which also introduced Telethon co-hosts Nigel Lythgoe (“American Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance”), Nancy O’Dell (“Entertainment Tonight”), Alison Sweeney (NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” and author of The Mommy Diet), and Jann Carl (Emmy-winning journalist and independent producer).

The second hour of the MDA Labor Day Telethon has been full of many memorable moments, too.

Darius Rucker performed solo and also sang a duet with MDA National Goodwill Ambassador Abbey Umali of Redlands, Calif. Other performances on the Telethon stage in the second hour included the JabbaWockeeZ, winners of the MTV’s “America’s Best Dance Crew” competition; the incredibly popular Italian trio II Volo; and Ellen DeGeneres protégé Greyson Chance.

“The View’s” Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, as well as NFL running back Reggie Bush have made special appeals.

The third hour of the Telethon has been full of extraordinary entertainers, too. Lady Antebellum, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Feinstein, and renowned Australian guitarist Tommy Emmanuel appeared to encourage even greater public support to help advance MDA’s lifesaving mission.

Plus, “One Step Away,” the teenage Boston band making their network television debut, has rocked the house for MDA. One “Step Away” is one of three winners of the second annual iHeartRadio.com “Get Discovered!” talent competition entered by more than 7,800 artists.

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The fourth hour presented the exceptional musical stylings of Jimmy Webb, Richie Sambora, Jon Secada and Maureen McGovern, as well as the first of two “Come Fly Away” dance performances to the legendary original vocals of Frank Sinatra.

These powerful performances have been reinforced by appeals from R&B singer/songwriter Smokey Robinson and NFL legend Kurt Warner, as well as by a high-energy performance by the Universal Cheerleaders Association all-stars, 36 of the nation’s best cheerleaders representing 17 states.

Sensational entertainers continued to appear for MDA Telethon in the fifth hour, with Grammy-nominated platinum recording artist Jordin Sparks, Martina McBride, Steven Tyler, Randy Jackson, and a second “Come Fly Away” dance performance to the sizzling vocals of “Ol’ Blue Eyes.”

The soap stars of “General Hospital’s” rock band Port Chuck, Tony Award-winning ventriloquist Jay Johnson, and Brokedown Cadillac (upbeat country group which also won 2011 iHeartRadio.com “Get Discovered!” competition to secure its live network television performance opportunity on the Telethon), also performed from the national Telethon stage at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Four-time Grammy Award-winning group, Boyz II Men, has opened the sixth and final hour of the 2011 prime-time Telethon. They have been followed by Rootdown, the Oregon-based “Get Discovered!”-winning band with a Reggae hip-hop sound. Then, Billy Ray Cyrus performed his new single “Nineteen,” and “Glee’s” Max Adler made “Make a Muscle, Make a Difference” for MDA leading up to a spectacular America tribute involving more than 100 performers. Scored with a patriotic medley, the finale was anchored by Jordin Sparks, Jon Secada, Maureen McGovern, Richie Sambora, Tommy Emanuel and 70 kids from the Clark County Children’s choir.

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What Happened At The MDA Telethon? Tribute To Jerry Lewis.

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 5, 2011

6

What Happened At The MDA Telethon? Tribute To Jerry Lewis.

MDA Telethon 2011 Raised $61.5 Million Without Jerry Lewis.

MDA Labor Day Telethon 2011 Programme.

Jerry Lewis Is Missing From Today’s Telethon.

Jerry Lewis won’t host MDA Labor Day Telethon.

The 46th edition of the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon wasted no time in offering a tribute to its longtime host, Jerry Lewis, and potentially diffusing any backlash or disappointment with his absence.

A dance performance opened the MDA Labor Day Telethon 2011 and then, Jerry Lewis‘ replacements — Nigel Lythgoe, Jann Carl, Alison Sweeney and Nancy O’Dell — took the stage and immediately took turns talking about the comedian’s five-decade commitment to raising money for a cure.

Huge images of Jerry Lewis at various stages of his career served as a backdrop on stage as the 2011 MDA Telethon hosts talked.

Last May, Jerry Lewis, who had hosted the telethon since 1966, announced he was retiring as MDA chairman and that this year’s Labor Day weekend telethon would be his last. But the MDA subsequently — and rather tersely and unceremoniously — said Lewis would not host this year’s show.

The new MDA Telethon hosts talked alluded to how Jerry Lewis had “retired.”

Jerry Lewis’ publicist Candi Cazau declined to comment to the AP when told of the comments to start Sunday night’s program.

Muscular Dystrophy Association spokesman, Jim Brown refused to say anything elaborate on the hosts’ words, but said the telethon would include at least one more nod to Jerry Lewis.

Nancy O’Dell talked about how MDA was there for her and her family while her mother was dying of ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease).

“And, boy, did Jerry’s closing song, <<You’ll Never Walk Alone>>, hit home the year that my mom passed away,” she said.

Nigel Lythgoe talked about how Jerry Lewis was irreplaceable.

“What you have done for this organization and its families is something close to a miracle,” he said. “And I know that we all want to carry on your legacy. We’re going to try and, with a humble heart, and occasionally a good laugh — because you taught us, above all, that laughter can cure almost anything — I trust we will continue to be successful.”

Then, the show and the fundraising continued.

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Typhoon Talas In Japan: 18 deaths, over 50 missing and half million evacuated.

Ricky Robinson

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Sep 4, 2011

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Typhoon Talas In Japan: 18 deaths, over 50 missing and half million evacuated.

Typhoon Talas killed at least 18 people and left more than 50 missing after hitting the western area of Japan.

Typhoon Talas came with heavy rain and winds of up to 68 mph after making landfall on Shikoku Island on Saturday.

Talas is the season’s 12th typhoon and is now moving slowly north across the Sea of Japan, according to the Japan’s Meteorological Agency Sunday statement.

The tropical storm Talas had crossed the southern Japanese island of Shikoku and the central part of the main island of Honshu early on Sunday.

But because of the storm’s slow speed, forecasters warned heavy rains and strong winds would continue, increasing the likelihood of more floods and landslides.

Almost 500,000 people in western and central Japan were issued with evacuation orders and advisories, according to Kyodo News agency.

The worst hit areas were in Nara and Wakayama prefectures, with homes swept away by flood waters and landslides.

In Wakayama prefecture, three homes were buried in a landslide and one woman who was rescued later died, four people remained missing and a 14-year old girl was saved from the debris, police said.

Wakayama, an iron bridge over the Nachi River in Nachikatsuura town

According to police, 10 people were dead and 32 people were missing.

In Nara Prefecture, local NHK TV said seven people were missing after their homes were swept away down a river.

According to police, among the dead was a woman who appeared to be in her 30s whose body was found in a river in Ehime prefecture on Shikoku.

In Nara prefecture, a 73-year-old man died after a landslide caused his house to collapse.

TV footage showed a bridge swept away after intense rainfall, which swelled a normally placid river to a raging brown torrent, and people holding umbrellas were seen wading through knee-deep water in city streets.

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Jerry Lewis Is Missing From Today’s Telethon.

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 4, 2011

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Jerry Lewis Is Missing From Today’s Telethon.

What Happened At The MDA Telethon? Tribute To Jerry Lewis.

MDA Labor Day Telethon 2011 Programme.

MDA Labor Day Telethon 2011: first time without Jerry Lewis.

Jerry Lewis won’t host MDA Labor Day Telethon.

Labor Day this year promises to be bland by comparison, with Jerry Lewis now banished from the annual rite he built from scratch and molded in his image.

As if deflated by the absence of its larger-than-life host, “The 46th Annual MDA Labor Day Telethon” will fill just six hours (Sunday from 6 p.m. to midnight in each time zone), rather than the grueling 21½-hour endurance contest that Jerry Lewis used to churn through with his viewers in tow.

Year after year, Jerry Lewis bounced between the polarities of smarmy sentimentalism and badgering lunacy as if in a weightless environment — Year after year, *Jerry Lewis* bounced between the polarities of smarmy sentimentalism and badgering lunacy as if in a weightless environment

On 2011 broadcast of MDA Labor Day Telethon, which, ironically, will no longer be actually airing on Labor Day, a quartet of lightweights are standing in for Jerry Lewis:

Nigel Lythgoe (“So You Think You Can Dance”),

Nancy O’Dell (“Entertainment Tonight”),

Alison Sweeney (“The Biggest Loser”),

Jann Carl (billed as “an Emmy-winning journalist”).

Celebrities at the MDA Labor Day Telethon 2011 will include Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Antebellum, Richie Sambora and Jordan Sparks.

It may be entertaining. It may spur contributions. But as a media event, this year’s telethon can hardly match the display of wretched excess Jerry Lewis guaranteed, especially in his epic, unbridled prime.

“Jerry is a ferociously contradictory personality, and that’s what makes him fascinating to watch,” says satirist-actor-writer Harry Shearer, a Jerry-watcher for a half-century. He noted just two of Jerry Lewis’ clashing identities: “the inner 9-year-old, set loose” and the would-be deep thinker “who fancies himself something of an autodidact.”

“It all makes for psychodrama of a high order,” Harry Shearer marvels.

Year after year, Jerry Lewis bounced between the polarities of smarmy sentimentalism and badgering lunacy as if in a weightless environment. He put his multiple identities on raw display, each constantly jostling for the spotlight.

Australia: Surfer Torn In Half In A Deadly Shark Attack.

Travel
World

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 4, 2011

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Seychelles: British bridegroom killed by a shark.

A surfer has been killed today in a horrifying shark attack near a crowded beach in Western Australia.

Eyewitnesses said the shark – believed to be a great white – came up beneath him, grabbed the young man (aged in his early 20s) and pulled him below the surface.

The surfer, who has yet to be named, was riding on a bodyboard – a cut-down version of a surfboard – when the shark attack occurred near Cape Naturaliste in the south west of Western Australia.

The victim was frolicking with a group of five friends off popular Bunkers Beach when the shark struck.

The young surfer was bitten in two by the shark, which had grabbed him from the waist down.

An eyewitness, Kurt Morris, who was having lunch at the Bunker Bay Cafe with his family when shark attack happened, said he had been told by the victim’s friends that he had been torn apart.

“They were saying they were just two meters away from him,” Morris said.

“From the waist down, it was all gone.”

“Surfers were sprinting out of the water to their cars, driving to nearby surfing breaks to let others know of the shark.”

“It was about 50 metres from the shore. No-one is going back in the water.”

Hamish McLeay, Bunkers Beach Café’s manager, said the water was full of people when the attack happened.

“There were at least another 20 people in the water but it seemed that no-one had seen the shark lurking about,” McLeay said.

“There’s a big seal colony around the coast and the shark might have mistaken the young man for one of the seals – it’s been known to happen.”

Police spokesman Graham Clifford said officers believed they knew who the dead man was, but it has not been revealed whether his body has been found.

“The person was body-boarding at the time with a mate and also three or four to five others were in the water at the time but unfortunately he was taken from the lower part of the body,” Clifford said.

Police confirmed that the man had been torn in half and the lower half of the man’s body had been ripped away.

“He was bodyboarding with about four or five of his mates when he was taken out of the group.

“He’s lost the lower half of his body and he’s deceased.”

Friends of the victim have told police that the young surfer had been staying in the popular wine-growing area of Margaret River. The young man is believed to have been on holiday from the east of Australia.

The shark attack occurred near a popular surfing area known as The Boneyards, near Bunker Bay.

According to police, the victim had been positively identified but his name would not be released until his family had been informed.

Enrique Hillman, a surf shop owner told W.A.Today that a sombre mood had spread across the south-west region following the tragedy.

Hillman also agreed with local people that the shark had probably been attracted to the area by seals that were known to inhabit the area.

“There’s a seal colony just next to the lighthouse – there’s a channel the seals use along there.”

Hillman believed it was strange that the shark had attacked in the middle of the day, pointing out that they usually occurred early in the morning or at dusk.

According to the locals, it was the first major shark attack they could recall in the area, which is a popular surfing and fishing spot.

But local people said it was known that sharks prowled the waters and there was also the added danger of powerful undersea currents.

Australian Shark Attack File said there have been 13 other fatal shark attacks around the continent since 2002.

Today’s tragedy on the Australian beach was the second this year – in February an abalone diver was killed when he was attacked by two sharks, believed to be great whites, in Coffin Bay, South Australia.

Not all attacks have been by great whites. In January 2006, Sarah Whiley, 21, was mauled by three bull sharks while swimming in waist-deep water at Amity Point off Queensland’s North Stradbroke Island.

In July 2004 a bronze whaler is believed to have been involved in an attack that killed Brad Smith, 29, in the south west of Western Australia.

Sony Launched Smartphone That Takes 3D Pictures With 2D Camera.

Nancy Clayson

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Sep 4, 2011

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Sony Launched Smartphone That Takes 3D Pictures With 2D Camera.

Sony Tablet P: the world’s first folding tablet computer.

Sony launched Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, a smartphone which will be able to take 3D, panoramic photos with standard 2 D camera.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S was unveiled at the IFA Techology Fair in Berlin and is expected to go on sale next month.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S takes 8.1megapixel panoramic photos which can be viewed on any 3D compatible television set.

However, the phone displays the pictures only in 2D and is not able to produce 3D video output.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S was unveiled at the IFA Techology Fair in Berlin and is expected to go on sale next month

Xperia Arc S camera works by taking several simultaneous images and “stitching” them together.

The Sony smartphone, which runs Google’s Android operating system, has a 4.2″ screen and the camera definition is 8.1 megapixels.

3D images can be viewed by connecting the phone to a 3D TV using the HDMI output.

Sony Ericsson said the Arc S’s 1.4GHz processor means it will start up 25% faster than its predecessor, the Arc.

Arc S can double as a remote control for Sony Bravia televisions, and features Sony’s Music and Video Unlimited media stores.

Most of the Arc S’s other updates are software-based. It comes with Android 2.3 installed, which enables faster web-browsing.

Sony said the Arc S will come in five colours – white, blue, silver, black and pink.

The new device was presented at the IFA technology fair in Berlin.

The fair also featured what Toshiba claims is the first glasses-free 3D television, although the model, the 55ZL2, has had mixed reviews.

Korean manufacturer LG presented a glasses-free 3D computer monitor.

Mussolini’s Affair With Italy’s Last Queen.

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 4, 2011

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Mussolini’s Affair With Italy’s Last Queen.

A letter from Benito Mussolini’s son emerged this week claiming dictator had an affair with Marie-José, wife of heir to the Italy’s throne.

Not so many things have stayed secret about the tumultuous private life of Benito Mussolini. That is apart from the true nature of his relationship with the woman who was to be Italy’s last queen, Marie-José of Belgium.

In 1937, Mussolini‘s mistress, Claretta Petacci, claimed in her diary that the then princess and wife of the heir to the throne, Marie-José tried and failed to seduce the dictator at a beach resort near Rome.

But Marie-José may have been more successful than her rival suspected, if evidence that emerged on this week is to be believed.

In a letter reproduced by the weekly magazine Oggi, Benito Mussolini’s son, Romano, quotes his mother as saying that there was a “brief period of intimate romantic relations between my father and the then princess of Piedmont”.

Marie-José, born in 1906, was the daughter of the Belgian king, Albert I. While still a child, it was decided that she should marry into the Italian royal family and in 1930 she wed Umberto of Savoy, the only son of King Victor Emmanuel.

By the marriage was not a happy one, and Marie-José separated from Umberto after the Italian monarchy was abolished by referendum in 1946. Marie-José lived for most of the rest of her life in Switzerland where she died in 2001.

In contrast to the Savoy family, Marie-José had little time for fascism and during the Second World War made a failed attempt to broker a peace treaty with the United States.

But she had time for Mussolini. It was very well known that Mussolini was compulsively promiscuous: by one account, he had sex with at least one woman a day at his office in Palazzo Venezia for almost 14 years until the collapse of his regime in 1943.

According to Claretta Petacci’s diaries from the period, Benito Mussolini told her that the princess Marie-José had tried to seduce him at Castelporziano, a coastal area south of Rome where the king had made available to him a hunting estate in which the Italian dictator entertained many of his lovers.

Claretta Petacci’s quoted the fascist leader as saying:

“Marie-José came and said <<May I?>>. Then, with a small movement her dress fell and she was there virtually naked.”

But Petacci records Benito Mussolini reassuring her that he found the princess “repulsive” and that she had made “no impression on me at all”.

But the letter written by Mussolini’s youngest son in 1971 to Antonio Terzi, a former deputy editor of the newspaper Corriere della Sera, showed a different picture.

“I can confirm in all good faith that the romantic and political relations between Marie-José and my father were often talked about at home, and I can tell you with honesty that my mother (albeit with understandable reservations) was always pretty explicit: there was a brief period of intimate romantic relations between my father and the then Princess of Piedmont that was then I believe interrupted at the instance of my father.”

The Oggi report from this week said the letter was found among the journalist’s papers by his son and that Romano Mussolini’s widow had judged it authentic.

Though discredited by his support for Mussolini, King Victor Emmanuel clung on to his throne after the dictator’s fall, only abdicating in favor of Umberto in May 1946. Umberto ruled for only 34 days, earning for himself the sobriquet “the May King“.

Netherlands: The Dutch Are Building Their Own Mountain.

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 4, 2011

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Netherlands: The Dutch Are Building Their Own Mountain.

The Netherlands has a reputation for being “flat” geographically speaking, but a journalist called for the Dutch to build their own mountain.

The highest point on Dutch soil is technically a volcano on the island of Sava in what’s called the Caribbean Netherlands. But Thijs Zonneveld, a former professional cyclist turned sports writer, wants to change that and he called for the Dutch to build their own mountain.

Thijs Zonneveld, who remembers making drawings of mountains in his geography book at school, has recently used his newspaper column to argue that the Dutch need their own mile-high peak.

“The Dutch people go to the mountains in the summertime and wintertime by the millions,” Zonneveld wrote.

“They go for biking, for hiking, for having a picnic with a view, and for skiing in wintertime.”

“So, what we need is our own mountain in Holland, so that people don’t have to leave the country to enjoy these things.”

The journalist said that, at first, he meant it as a joke.

“But after I wrote the column, I got so much response from people who had been thinking seriously about this that I started to take it seriously myself.”

This week, Thijs Zonneveld organized a brainstorming session in the city of Utrecht. Dozens of engineers, architects and urban planners gathered to talk about how exactly would go about building a mile-high mountain.

The brainstorming session kicked off with all participants doing a rousing cheer of “Die Berg Komt Er!” (“The Mountain is Coming!”)

Pol Tummers, from Dutch engineering firm DHV, started things off by reminding people that:

“God created the Earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.”

The Dutch, after all, have been using technology and engineering to carve land out of the sea for centuries.

“We created our own country,” Tummers said.

“We created our lakes. We planted our woods. The only thing we haven’t done yet, is a mountain.”

“When we finish this, we can lay down and relax,” Tummers added.

Pol Tummers and his partner presented a plan envisioning a snow-capped mountain sitting offshore, in Dutch waters, in the North Sea. They estimated it would take more than a trillion cubic feet of sand to build it, not to mention hundreds of billions of dollars.

Another architect at the brainstorming session presented an idea for a land-based Swiss-Alps style peak made with a man-made steel structure underneath.

“On that type of mountain, only one man can stand on the top,” says urban planner Martin Dubbeling.

“That’s absolutely not very Dutch. What we need is a different type of mountain, on which we can all stand on top.”

Martin Dubbling suggests that a flat-topped mountain, a mesa, might be more suited to the Dutch character.

“That way more Dutch could stand on it, as equals, at the same time.”

Martin Dubbeling also insists that the Dutch need a new big engineering project.

“Since we stopped reclaiming land from the sea, we Dutch are in some kind of identity crisis. And in the last decades we could export our ideas. But now, with this economic crisis, we really have to think of something different. ”

“A mountain definitely qualifies on that score.”

The idea of building a mountain has drawn the support of some of the Dutch sports federations.

Meanwhile, “The Mountain is NOT Coming”, an anti-mountain page, appeared on Facebook.

“I am anti-mountain!”

“First of all, it will be an eyesore, and second, that money could be better spent on education and health care,” wrote one visitor to the Facebook page.

But the organizer, Thijs Zonneveld said:

“We’re not going to change the whole country. We just want to give people more options. The whole of Holland, with the exception of a small part of the country in the south, is flat already. We won’t change anything about that.”

DSK is back to France.

James J. Williams

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Sep 4, 2011

1

DSK under police investigation in France.

DSK freed to return to France.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief has arrived in Paris from New York.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his wife Anne Sinclair landed at Charles de Gaulle airport at 07:05, Paris time, on board an Air France flight.

DSK has been in New York since his arrest in May on sex assault charges, which were dropped at the end of August.

DSK, 62, once seen as a possible French presidential contender, denied the allegations.

DSK, who resigned from IFM position in the days after his arrest, had his passport returned last month.

Hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo, who accused Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her in his hotel room, is pressing her claims in a civil lawsuit.

DSK and his wife, Anne Sinclair, arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport. (Reuters)

DSK and his wife, Anne Sinclair, smiled and waved as they arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, but made no comment to waiting journalists and passed rapidly through the terminal to a waiting car.

Couple had boarded the same scheduled Saturday night Air France flight for Paris that he was about to take when he was arrested on 14 May.

The charges against DSK were dropped on August 23 at the request of prosecutors who had concerns about Nafissatou Diallo’s credibility.

Having DNA evidence indicating a sexual encounter did occur between the two in a suite at the Sofitel Hotel in May, DSK’s lawyers maintain it was consensual and prosecutors were unable to determine whether force had been used.

According to BBC, friends of Dominique Strauss-Kahn said he does, at some point, intend to explain to the French people what happened.

DSK had been considered the Socialist Party’s front-runner to take on French President Nicolas Sarkozy in presidential elections next year.

At this moment, although DSK is legally innocent, he has been hugely damaged in the eyes of the French voters and, in the same time, it is not clear if the other candidates for the Socialist nomination for next year’s presidential election even want his endorsement.

DSK also faces another sexual assault allegation in France, after journalist Tristane Banon accused him of trying to rape her during an interview in 2003.

Tristane Banon made the allegation after DSK was arrested in the Diallo case, saying that she feared no-one would have believed her beforehand.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s reputation has been further damaged by stories about his womanising and vast wealth.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn allegations:

• 2006: Publication of Sexus Politicus, book by Christophe Deloire and Christophe Dubois, with chapter on DSK and his tendency of “seduction to the point of obsession”

• 2008: Dominique Strauss-Kahn admits an affair with IMF colleague, calling it an “error of judgement”

• 2011: Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrested on 14 May in New York, accused of sexually assaulting Sofitel hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo,

• 16 May: Writer Tristane Banon comes forward to say Dominique Strauss-Kahn tried to assault her in an interview nearly a decade before

• 1 July: Dominique Strauss-Kahn freed from New York house arrest

• 23 August: A New York judge dismissed the Diallo case

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Tropical Storm Lee: Louisiana declared state of emergency.

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 4, 2011

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Tropical Storm Lee: Louisiana declared state of emergency.

Bastrop Texas: Major wildfire

Tropical Storm Lee is hitting Louisiana as it hurls rain at the US Gulf coast, bringing back memories of the Katrina flood disaster.

US National Hurricane Center traced storm centre on Saturday afternoon to 45 miles (75km) south-west of Morgan City, with maximum winds of 60mph (95km/h).

Louisiana declared state of emergency and an emergency has also been declared in coastal parts of Mississippi.

Flood defences repaired after the 2005 disaster are expected to be put to the test in New Orleans.

According to National Hurricane Center forecasters, Tropical Storm Lee had been stationary for a few hours then began a slow and erratic path to the north and north-east, and is expected to make landfall later on Sunday.

Lee comes few days after Hurricane Irene killed 44 people from North Carolina to Maine and left millions of people without electricity.

For the moment is too soon to tell if another hurricane, Katia, which is out in the Atlantic, could threaten the US.

The Atlantic hurricane season usually brings about a dozen named storms, but Katia is already the 11th with half the season still ahead.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has warned of possible major flooding, with up to 10in (25cm) of rain forecast for the city.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the flood control structures in New Orleans, says it is not planning to close any of the structures yet.

Businesses in the New Orleans’ famous French Quarter fear the storm may dampen the Southern Decadence festival, an annual gay lifestyle fixture.

“People are probably scared to death to come here after Katrina,” Ann Sonnier, shift manager of Jester’s bar, told the Associated Press news agency, adding that receipts had been disappointing so far.

Nearly half of US Gulf oil production was shut on Friday as companies – including Exxon Mobil, Shell and Chevron – evacuated workers and shut offshore platforms.

BP, the largest oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico, told the BBC it had evacuated all personnel and shut down production.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal warned residents to “make sure they have a game plan for themselves and their families should this storm strengthen”.

However, the developing weather system could bring some much-needed rain to Texas, which is in the grip of a severe drought.

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Dancing With The Stars: Cher defends her son Chaz Bono.

Lisa.Felice

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Sep 3, 2011

1

Dancing With The Stars: Cher defends her son Chaz Bono.

Following Monday night’s announcement of the Dancing With The Stars celebrity cast and the subsequent partner pairing announcement on Wednesday, the internet has exploded over the inclusion of Chaz Bono for the show’s 13th season.

The issue at hand is the fact that Chaz Bono used to be Chastity Bono, famous daughter of Sonny and Cher. Over the last few years, Chaz Bono has taken the steps to transition from a woman to a man – culminating in gender reassignment surgery last May.

Chaz Bono is the first transgendered contestant that has ever been on the show. He has been paired with professional dancer Lacey Schwimmer.

Chaz’s upcoming appearance on the beloved reality show has drawn both harsh criticism as well as inspired defenses. Chaz’s mother, pop icon Cher, took to Twitter to express her thoughts on those attacking Chaz across the internet.

Cher has criticized the “stupid bigots” who have attacked the casting of her transgender son on US show Dancing With The Stars.

“Chaz is being viciously attacked on blogs and messageboards about being on DWTS!” Cher said via her Twitter page.

Cher also urged fans to pledge their support for Bono on other social media sites.

“I support him no matter what he chooses to do. It took courage to do DWTS!”

She added that “mothers don’t stop getting angry with stupid bigots” who hurt their children, but said she was sure the “vast majority of people will love Chaz” on the show.

Chaz Bono replied to the comments on his Twitter page saying:

“Thanks for all your support mom. The haters are just motivating me to work harder and stay on DWTS as long as I possibly can.”

Chaz Bono, 42, has been the target of online jokes and hate messages since Monday’s announcement that he would be taking part in the new series of Dancing with the Stars, which begins on 19 September.

Some fans have said they will no longer watch the show – which is one of the most popular programmes in the US – while he is a contestant, while some conservative groups have called for a boycott.

Dan Gainor, of the Culture and Media Institute, called Chaz Bono’s casting “a ridiculous, agenda-driven move” by the show’s producers.

“This is the latest example of the networks trying to push a sexual agenda on American families,” he said.

However, Dancing With The Stars’ executive producer Conrad Green said viewers should watch the new series before passing judgment.

He added the show had no agenda other than entertainment and was seeking to represent a range of people.

“I hope that a lot of the people who appear to be upset at the moment will give him a chance and maybe realise it’s not quite as bad as they think,” he said, in an interview with AP.

The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation praised the casting of both Bono and gay TV stylist Carson Kressley on the show, calling it “a primetime first.”

“Chaz Bono joining the cast of a series like Dancing with the Stars is a tremendous step forward for the public to recognise that transgender people are another wonderful part of the fabric of American culture,” Herndon Graddick, senior director of programmes, said.

Anonymous and LulzSec members arrested in UK.

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 3, 2011

0

Anonymous and LulzSec members arrested in UK.

Four persons have been arrested in different areas of the UK by police investigating the hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec.

The four suspects – from Doncaster, Warminster, Northampton and London – are being questioned by Scotland Yard’s e-Crime unit.

The arrests are part of a wider operation involving UK law enforcement and the FBI.

At the same time other 14 suspected members of Anonymous appeared in a US court.

Authorities from worldwide have been rounding up suspects following a wave of attacks by both groups on major corporations and government institutions.

Amazon, PayPal, the CIA, US Senate and the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency have all suffered either intrusions or denial of service attacks, designed to take their websites offline.

In the latest arrests, British police detained Christopher Weatherhead, 20, from Northampton and Ashley Rhodes, 26, from Kennington, near London.

Both suspects are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on September 7.

Police also arrested a 24-year-old man from Doncaster, and a 20-year-old from Wiltshire for conspiring to commit offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

In US, a mass court appearance saw 14 suspected Anonymous members appear before a judge in San Jose, California.

All of them denied being involved in a denial of service attack on PayPal’s website in December 2010.

Anonymous had publicly declared its intent to target both PayPal and Amazon for, what the group perceived as, “their complicity in isolating whistle blowing website Wikileaks”.

Following the leaking of confidential US State Department memos, PayPal stopped processing donations to Wikileaks, while Amazon kicked the site off its web hosting service.

Anonymous is known as a hacktivist group, pursuing its agenda through online attacks.

Jacques Chirac is not in a fit state to attend his corruption trial.

Roy Siemens

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Sep 3, 2011

0

Jacques Chirac is not in a fit state to attend his corruption trial.

The former France President Jacques Chirac says he is not in a fit state to attend his corruption trial, according to French media.

Jacques Chirac has asked the Paris court for his lawyers be allowed to represent him, AFP news agency has reported.

Jacques Chirac, 78, is accused of embezzling public funds in the 1990s, when he was mayor of Paris, but he denies the charges.

His trial is due to start on September 5, having been adjourned in March after a co-defendant argued that some of the charges were unconstitutional.

Jacques Chirac is the first former head of state to stand trial in France since World War II

In a letter to the Paris court on Friday, Jacques Chirac wrote that he wanted his trial to go ahead “even if he no longer has the full ability to participate in hearings”.

A statement from former president Chirac’s lawyers said:

“In the letter… he requested that his lawyers be able to represent him and carry his voice during these hearings.”

A copy of Jacques Chirac’s medical records was enclosed in the letter, it added.

The medical report attached to Jacques Chirac’s letter to the court suggests his mind is in a “vulnerable mental state which does not permit him to answer questions about his past”.

This supports suggestions from friends of the ex-president that in recent months he has been suffering from memory lapses.

While the letter is an informal request, it is within the judge’s powers to accept it, or request a second medical opinion.

The letter could result in the trial being delayed, and possibly postponed indefinitely if it is deemed that Jacques Chirac is no longer able to talk with any reliability about things that happened more than 20 years ago.

French media described Jacques Chirac as tired during a holiday in St. Tropez last month, although he reportedly signed autographs and posed for pictures with tourists.

Jacques Chirac, who was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, is the first former head of state to stand trial in France since World War II.

The ex-president is accused on two counts of paying members of his Rally for the Republic (RPR) party for municipal jobs that did not exist.

The first count accuses Jacques Chirac of embezzlement and breach of trust relating to 21 so-called “ghost jobs”.

The second count came about from a separate investigation in the Paris suburb of Nanterre and involves an illegal conflict of interest relating to seven ghost jobs.

There were persistent rumors of wrongdoing for years, but Jacques Chirac had immunity from prosecution while he was president from 1995 to 2007.

After 11 years of legal wrangling, Chirac and nine other defendants finally went in court in March.

However, on the second day of the trial a lawyer representing Jacques Chirac’s former chief of staff at city hall, Remy Chardon, challenged the two cases being brought together.

He argued that the statute of limitations had expired in the first case.

The judge decided to refer the question to the Court of Cassation, which ruled that the constitutional challenge was not valid.

HP TouchPads could get cheaper for the Christmas season

Science & Technology

Nancy Clayson

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Sep 3, 2011

1

HP TouchPads could get cheaper for the Christmas season

The fire sale of HP TouchPads for $99 stimulated a purchasing madness. Experts point out tablets in the $200 to $300 range might be in shops for the approaching Christmas season.

Tech giant Hewlett-Packard Co. could not market its TouchPad tablets right up until it decreased the cost to $99, cutting a lot of money from the initial price. They then flew off the racks.

The incredibly popular promotion, in the wake of HP stating it was giving up the tablet business, might have many people convinced that $99 is definitely the tipping point, when tablets will change from being the desired gadget of the several to an item which practically every person possesses like a mobile phone or notebook.

: HP TouchPad Review

For the time being, experts point out, $99 isn’t a reasonable price for a tablet pc that isn’t some sort of plaything.

“The TouchPad was an anomaly in the market. They are exiting the market and they’re losing a lot of money by selling the tablets that cheap.” said Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research at IHS iSuppli.

The HP TouchPad is made up of lot more than $300 component pieces, as outlined by a tear-down evaluation by iSuppli, excluding or labor costs. That’s like the $326 value of components in the runaway top seller amongst tablets, Apple Inc.’s iPad 2. The co-founder of teardown expert iFixit Kevin Wiens stated:

“From a manufacturing standpoint, there is no way you can make a quality tablet for $100 right now . It’s basically impossible. The cheaper tablets out there are very, very poorly made.”

An iPad – that have 85% from global tablet income this past year, based on ABI Research – today begins at $499, and professionals claim it’ll most likely stay at or close to this cost for the near future.

The HP Touchpad, pre-fire sale, was initially priced at $399 for the basic model.

However because tablets carry on to extend their appeal beyond tech fanatics to regular customers, there’s increasing motivation to provide a great gadget at a cheaper cost.

The cost at this point stands as the top consideration for 65% of individuals buying a tablet, based on a newly released study from Forrester Research. However buyers might possibly not have a realistic view of just how much the products cost in shops.

These people taking part in the survey anticipated to spend around $257 for a tablet, maybe due to the fact that’s about the cost a few e-readers cost.

But reality may well satisfy anticipations for tablet rates just before the year is finished.

Tony Berkman, chief executive of ITG Investment Research, mentioned the need is so very strong that brandnames apart from Apple may reveal a small selection of tablets within the $200 to $300 range for the approaching holidays. One electronic products firm, Lenovo, explained recently that it’ll release a $199 tablet at the end of September.

“Within a year, we’ll start seeing quite a few decent tablets in that price range for sale,” Berkman forecasted.

Amazon, that is rumored to be rolling out a tablet of its own this autumn, is the greatest competitor for providing a great item inexpensively, experts claim.

“Amazon could sell a tablet at cost, or even at a loss, because they think they can make money through selling digital content,” Berkman said. “Or other companies can sell at a loss because they want to grab a piece of the market.”

Amazon has refused to reply to the gossips.

“The cheaper tablets probably would not have all the bells and whistles of the current top models”, Berkman stated.

However iSuppli estimates that by 2015, tablets generally will certainly drop to an ordinary cost below $300.

“I wouldn’t totally rule out someone offering a good tablet for $100 in a few years,” Alexander said. “The market is changing fast.”

: HP TouchPad On Sale

Michelle Lapid, 22, of Hawthorne wasn’t ready to delay. Once the $99 TouchPad was released and rapidly turned out to be a hard-to-find product, the current California State Northridge graduate student went on what she called a “crazy bargain-hunting fever” hunt for one, going through three tanks of gasoline in four days.

This ultimately paid back. A close friend who works at a local Best Buy informed her that a delivery of TouchPads could be arriving at a store. “I had to get in line at 4 a.m.,” she said, “but it was worth it. I’m so happy.”

Other people may still have a chance. HP reported earlier this week that it would definitely launch an additional batch of TouchPads, yet the company wouldn’t say just how many would be arriving.

And HP wouldn’t suggest if the new TouchPads could be offered at the magic $99 value.

HawthoRNe, Jada Pinkett Smith’s show cancelled after three seasons.

Diane A. Wade

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Sep 3, 2011

1

HawthoRNe, Jada Pinkett Smith’s show cancelled after three seasons.

“Will Smith caught Jada and Marc Anthony in his own home” In Touch said.

Will Smith says his marriage is “intact”. Jada Pinkett denies affair with Marc Anthony.

Only one week after weathering rumors of an infidelity with Marc Anthony, Jada Pinkett Smith has suffered another blow.

TNT confirmed on Friday that medical drama HawthoRNe, in which Jada Pinkett Smith starred alongside Marc Anthony, has been cancelled.

HawthoRNe ran for three seasons, premiereing on U.S. channel TNT back in 2009.

In the last season, Jada Pinkett Smith’s character, Christina Hawthorne, shared steamy scenes with Marc Anthony’s Detective, Nick Renata.

There were reports claiming that Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith’s wife, had shared an off-screen fling with Jennifer Lopez’s now estranged husband, Marc Anthony.

There were reports claiming that Jada Pinkett Smith had shared an off-screen fling with Marc Anthony

All parties, including Will Smith, have strenuously denied the claims.

Writing on social networking site Twitter, Jada Pinkett Smith thanked her fans on Friday for their loyal support.

Jada wrote: “Hey everyone…if you don’t know Hawthorne will not be returning for another season.

“I want to say thank you to all the fans for being Hawthorne soldiers. All our facebook fans…twitter soldiers and viewers…you held us down. Of course you know there is more to come…believe it!”

Jada Pinkett Smith thanked her fans on Twitter

In a yesterday statement, TNT confirmed:

“TNT has decided not to order a fourth season of HawthoRNe.

“TNT truly appreciates the tremendous dedication of everyone involved in HawthoRNe.

“The series gave TNT the opportunity to work with many outstanding people, including Jada Pinkett Smith and the rest of the show’s talented cast, crew, producers and writers.

“We wish everyone involved with HawthoRNe nothing but the best.”

Gerard Depardieu remakes “oui” airplane role.

Lisa.Felice

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Sep 3, 2011

0

Gerard Depardieu remakes “oui” airplane role.

Gerard Depardieu apologized for his urinary performance.

Gerard Depardieu peed in front of an aircraft’s passengers.

Gerard Depardieu, who made headlines recently for urinating in the cabin of a airplane, has bounced back with another performance.

Gerard Depardieu and fellow Asterix and Obelix star, Edouard Baer, who was by French actor’s side when he caused a scandal by urinating in front of passengers on a flight from Paris to Dublin, have teamed up for a comic remake.

In a video posted Friday on the Dailymotion website, the pair, appearing as ancient Gaul comic heroes Asterix (Edouard Baer) and Obelix (Gerard Depardieu), are seen reading newspapers as the plane readies for takeoff.

Suddenly Gerard Depardieu, resplendent in the long red plaits and enormous striped pants of his oafish character, blurts out:

“I need a wild boar.”

“I can’t wait, I must have one now,” Gerard Depardieu insists as the flight attendant and Edouard Baer, who is wearing a walrus moustache and winged helmet, try to soothe him.

“These famous Gauls think they can get away with anything,” a young man sitting behind Depardieu remarks indignantly, as Obelix leaps out of his seat and disappears off-screen to satiate his craving.

In the real life version, Gerard Depardieu was reported by a fellow passenger to have urinated on the floor of the plane after being refused permission by a flight attendant to use the toilets during takeoff.

Baer said later Gerard Depardieu urinated into a bottle, not directly onto the floor. There had been some spillage, he admitted, pinning it on 62-year-old French actor’s “dodgy prostate”.

[youtube 6pUsdFucHLY]

Chile: Air Force Plane Crashed In The Juan Fernandez Islands.

Ricky Robinson

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Sep 3, 2011

0

Chile: Air Force Plane Crashed In The Juan Fernandez Islands.

A plane of Chile Air Force, having 21 people aboard, including a popular local television host, crashed in the Juan Fernandez Islands off the country’s Pacific coast, authorities said.

Leopoldo Gonzalez, Juan Fernandez’s mayor said the plane tried without success to land at the islands’ airport, which is 515 miles from Chile’s coast.

A Chilean air force plane with 21 people aboard, including a popular local television host, crashed in the Juan Fernandez Islands off the country's Pacific coast

“The accident must be accepted as a fact,” Gonzalez said in an interview with Television Nacional de Chile.

Rescuers were searching for the wreckage of the plane but so far they have only found some equipment, the mayor said.

Andres Allamand, defence minister said searchers faced “particularly adverse” conditions, adding that the plane’s status was still listed as missing.

Felipe Camiroaga, one of Chile’s most popular television presenters, was on the flight, Mayor Gonzalez said.

Felipe Camiroaga, 44, worked for the state TV channel’s Good Morning Everyone programme, and was travelling to the islands for a story on the reconstruction following the 27 February magnitude-8.8 earthquake and tsunami that wiped out its main town.

Also on board was businessman Felipe Cubillos, who had been working on post-earthquake reconstruction efforts.

The Chilean air force plane took off from the capital, Santiago, at 2:00 p.m. local time and lost contact with air control almost four hours later, according to a statement from aviation authorities.

[youtube 52PHm0PX8UA]

Labor Day Sales 2011

James J. Williams

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Sep 2, 2011

1

What Does Labor Day Mean?

Labor Day Weekend Las Vegas 2011

HP TouchPads could get cheaper for the Christmas season

HP Tablet in Stock. Read more for HP TouchPad Tablet Stock 9/5

Labor Day Sales 2011

Below you can find a list with some of the web sites that offers Labor Day Sales 2011 during Labor Day Weekend.

Labor Day Sales 2011 Home & Garden

Home Depot (www6.homedepot.com/labor-day-savings/): Labor Day Savings Event

Harbor Freight (www.harborfreight.com): Labor Day Super Sale (ends 9/5)

Lowe’s (www.lowes.com): Labor Day Values (ends 9/5)

Pottery Barn (www.potterybarn.com): Labor Day Sale, save up to 60% on new markdowns and clearance clearance sale (ends 9/5).

Brylane Home (www.brylanehome.com): Labor Day Sale, save up to 50%, and 20% off your highest priced item (w/code: BHWFALL20).

Labor Day Sales 2011 Pet Food&Care

Petsmart (www.petsmart.com): Labor Day Sale, save up to 50% and free shipping of some products (ends 9/5)

Petco (www.petco.com): Save up to 35%, save 15% sitewide and free shipping on over $49 purchase.

Labor Day Sales 2011 Computer / Electronics

Adobe (www.adobe.com): 10% off orders over $375 (ends 9/8)

Accesory Geeks (www.accessorygeeks.com): Labor Day Sale, save up to 50% and double geek point (ends 9/5)

Hhgregg (www.hhgregg.com): Labor Day Sale, everything on sale $99 & up, extra 5% off instantly (ends 9/10)

Newegg (www.newegg.com): Labor Day Sale, promo codes only for subscribers (ends 9/5)

Office Depot (www.officedepot.com): Pre-Labor Day Sale, save up to 50%

J&R (www.jr.com): Labor Day Weekend Sale, save up to 63%, free shipping on some products, get access to free live concert (Earth,Wind & Fire) on September 8.

HP (www.shopping.hp.com): Labor Day Sale, save up to 60%, free shipping on all products. (ends 9/10)

Computer Geeks (www.geeks.com): Labor Day Sale, save up to 85%

Best Buy (www.bestbuy.com): Labor Day Sale (ends 9/5)

Labor Day Sales 2011 Travel

Southwest Vacantions (www.southwestvacations.com): Labor Day Vacation Deals, save up to $ 100 on vacantion packages, up to 40% on hotels & more (September & October).

Expedia (www.expedia.com): Labor Day Deals, save at least 20% on hotels

Hotels.com (www.hotels.com) : Labor Day Sale, save up to 30% on your hotel stay, over 20,000 last minute deals each week

CheapoAir (www.cheapoair.com): Labor Day Flight Deals, save up to 65%, redeem $10, promo code LABORDAY10 (ends 9/6).

Please notice that most of the Labor Day Sales ends on September 5, 2011!

Chocolate could lower incidents of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Health

Kathryn R. Bown

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Sep 2, 2011

0

Chocolate could lower incidents of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

People who ate more chocolate had lower incidents of cardiovascular disease and stroke compared to those who ate less, a study finds.

Eating chocolate could benefit the heart, possibly lowering heart disease by 37%.

The results coming from a meta-analysis were released online this week in the British Medical Journal.

Researchers from the United Kingdom and Colombia focused on 7 studies looking at the link between eating chocolate and a reduction in heart disease that included 114,009 people.

Eating chocolate could benefit the heart, possibly lowering heart disease by 37 percent

Of those 7 studies, 5 showed an association between higher levels of chocolate consumption and a lowered risk of cardiometabolic illness. The highest levels were linked with a 37% drop in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke, compared to the lowest levels.

There was no significant association seen between chocolate consumption and heart failure, and only one study drew a link between eating chocolate and a lowered risk of diabetes.

None of the studies, including the meta-analysis, were funded by a chocolate company or a related industry.

However, the study authors caution about eating chocolate with abandon. After all, they point out, chocolate isn’t exactly calorie-free. Although the participants in the studies ate a variety of chocolate products, including chocolate bars, drinks, nutritional supplements and desserts, all chocolate is not created equal, and eating too much of the stuff that’s filled with fat and sugar can put on pounds, possibly upping the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes — the very stuff that can lead to cardiovascular problems.

The study authors noted that among the studies there was no obvious dose-response relationship between chocolate and the risk of cardiometabolic disorders, so for now, everything in moderation, as they say.

And although the studies reviewed did control for a number of factors, including age, body mass index, physical activity, smoking and aspects of diet, there still may be other factors at work causing the heart benefits.

If chocolate is the root of these heart-healthy advantages, it may be due to its polyphenol content, anti-oxidants that could improve endothelial function (which may affect the risk of stroke and heart attack) as well as have a positive effect on blood pressure and insulin resistance.

More studies are needed, the authors wrote, to go beyond just an association and determine causation.

Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” Tea House, the new tourist attraction.

Kathryn R. Bown

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Sep 2, 2011

0

Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” Tea House, the new tourist attraction.

Adolf Hitler’s tea house, placed on the top of a Bavarian mountain, has become one of the most visited sites in Germany.

German Tourism authorities announced that over 300,000 people visited the tea house in a year. This is nearly 30,000 up on last year.

The tea house on the peak of the Kehlstein Mountain was built for Hitler as a 50th birthday gift by Nazi party secretary Martin Bormann in 1939.

Adolf Hitler’s tea house, placed on the top of a Bavarian mountain, has become one of the most visited sites in Germany

Hitler’s Berghof home on the mountain was destroyed by the Allies in bombing raids and after WW2, but the tea house survived and became a tourism attraction in peacetime.

According to officials, most visitors to the mountain are Americans followed by Britons; combined they make up 85% of the people who came to see where Hitler ate cream cakes with his mistress Eva Braun and snoozed in chintz chairs as the world war he started raged.

Germans make up just a small proportion of visitors to the “Eagle’s Nest” tea house.

For 20 euros (about $30) , visitors to the house 6,000 feet up are rewarded with spectacular views and can get refreshments from the privately run restaurant, including roast pork with dumplings and cabbage, salads and sandwiches, that operates in summer months inside it.

There is even a gift shop.

Visitors access the tea house on a bus via a serpent-like mountain road called the Kehlsteinstrabe and enter a golden brass lift built into the mountain side, itself accessed via a tunnel through the granite.

The Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest in English) is built in a chalet-style taking 13 months to construct.

The tea house was finished in the summer of 1938 before it was presented to Hitler a year later, but he only made a few visits to the chalet partly due to his fear of heights.

After the war, the retreat place was used by the Allies as a military command post until 1960 when it was handed back to the State of Bavaria.

The new tourist attraction is 1834m above sea level and is perched on a rock wall having cost 30 million Reichsmarks to build (about $180 million today).

Examining the Wonderful Garmin 1450LMT Portable GPS Product

Ricky Robinson

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Sep 2, 2011

0

Examining the Wonderful Garmin 1450LMT Portable GPS Product

Not very long ago not one person had actually heard of a “Global Positioning System” (GPS).

Today you can scarcely buy a car that doesn’t have one. Not surprisingly, developments in technology never stop, and GPS’s today are substantially smaller and more powerful than ever before. You can bring your GPS everywhere you go, be it boating, driving a car or walking. You will discover only a couple of GPS manufacturers with as much prominence in the industry as Garmin. We have now taken a good, close look at the Garmin 1450LMTGPS, a very small unit, in hope of aiding you with your purchasing decision.

One thing that has been inconvenient years ago was initially having to update your GPS database each and every year. With the introduction of the Garmin 1450LMT, that difficulty is solved. It features no cost map and traffic revisions for the life of the unit. This means you are going to save a ton of hard earned cash on updates, which are not inexpensive. Better yet, you’ll receive Garmin’s “ecoRoute” system updates integrated as well. The ecoRoute system enables you to choose a route that could offer the best gasoline savings. You spend less time And also cash!

Garmin’s 1450LMT features a gorgeous, good sized touchscreen display (5″ diagonal).

You can quickly check out your travel directions at many numerous map levels. And you should not worry, urban direction-finding is also well designed and integrated. The 1450LMT features street-to-street and also door-to-door navigation so you can get around the city with full confidence. With the stroke of a finger you will find where your stops are for community transport like buses and subways, and exactly where crosswalks are if you’re walking. You’re going to be real glad you have this product the next time you’re in a unexpected new city trying to determine how best to get around.

1450LMT GPS Garmin — My 1450LMT frequently had this problem. You have the option of using a "via point" to tell the GPS to route you via a certain highway. However, if you use a highway intersection as your "via point", the software invariably dumps you off the highway for some random maneuvers before putting you back on your way. I though this one was kinda funny (magenta is my route).

Any getaway can be made far more pleasant simply via proper and effective planning. Garmin’s 1450LMT offers you features for route arranging. The unit enables you to plan (and save) as many as 10 various routes, showing excellent previews and important points along the way for all. Should you be considering on a lot of stops, it’s easy to sort out and save the most suitable routes to accomplish this. When you plan a long journey, there are wonderful tools to take care of that too. There is certainly enough capacity to retain up to 10,000 sights, all of which will be stored instantly. You’ll have a log of your gasoline consumption for further research and future planning.

Garmin Free Lifetime Maps And Traffic — Garmin 1450LMT - Free Lifetime Maps And Traffic

This targeted article is meant to be concise and to the point, so we cannot go into all the other wonderful features of the 1450LMY.

EcoRoute, as an example, will give you quite possibly the most fuel-efficient recommendations to any destination. Better yet, it keeps gas usage records, as well as other crucial information. This 1450LMT GPS by Garmin can be as flexible and handy as they come, and can be a enormously useful and fun tool for vacationing anywhere. Crossing time zones is taken care of with computerized updates and modifications. Obviously, this product comes highly recommended mostly because of its numerous benefits and features. It’s a great one!

An Evaluation of HomeDecorators.com for Shoppers Who Expect the Best

Home & Garden

Ricky Robinson

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Sep 2, 2011

3

An Evaluation of HomeDecorators.com for Shoppers Who Expect the Best

As the years have progressed, a number of the characteristics of online shopping actions have changed. It is no longer true that people don’t think about buying furniture off the web. Quite a bit of weight is on the amount that a person believes in the website they are buying from.

This is the explanation as to why people spending money on sites like Home Decorators Collection are able to find some excellent furniture and decorations for their home at nice prices. This isn’t the sort of retailer that sells things such as computer and telephone accessories which everybody wants to buy. Despite the fact they have more than hundreds of products available on their site, they are still directing all their attention to home furnishings and décor. We want to give you an honest review of an Internet ecommerce website called HomeDecorators.com.

Buying Furniture Online - HomeDecorators.com — Buying Furniture Online - *HomeDecorators.com*

There are countless times throughout the year in which people need to purchase gifts.

Home Decorators Collection has sub-sections with names such as Gifts for a Couple, Gifts for Him, Gifts for the Traveler and some more. They divide the give options into particular price ranges, for example below $50 and $100 and over $100. Naturally, there are some individuals who take pride in customization, for instance having things personalized and monogrammed gifts, and you can see thing in this category.

There is a category called Last Chance which is found in the Outlet category. The products in this sub-category are almost completely sold out with very few remaining. Actually, they are set up in accordance with the number remaining. You can select from links such as 10, 5, 3 or less and 1 product left. Sure enough the Price Cuts and this sub-category are not much different as they both offer a multitude of merchandise. It is not surprising, that with nobody being able to have command over the array of merchandise that is offered and sold, you will obviously be able to see a mishmash of various merchandise that is about to be sold out. Because you will be totally unaware of what to expect in the category, this is an extra pleasurable part to encounter with this site.

Creating an account at HomeDecorators.com is easy and convenient.

With an account, you will have access to all your shopping history. All of this information is readily available at the bottom of each page under the Customer Service heading. If you are the type of person who likes to stay on top of your orders, rest assured that with click of the mouse, you will be able to track all your orders. Since even the best of products may have recalls, the site also has a link where you may see all the product recalls. While there aren’t many home decor recalls, for the safety of your family, it’s nice to know you have a place to go to find the recalls.

If you happen to live nearby a Home Decorators Collection physical store, then that would be the best situation. There is a real habit many online shoppers have of finding information online, and then going to a store to get a look at it. Albeit it there is expedience in online shopping and it is a really wonderful thing, it is just not the same as seeing a product in person and being able to touch it.

Weight Loss: A Much More Gentle Approach

Health

Kathryn R. Bown

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Sep 2, 2011

2

Weight Loss: A Much More Gentle Approach

Which is the best way to burn belly fat?

Trim your belly fat with high protein dairy diets.

Beautytek instead of cosmetic surgery?

Countless overweight men and women have starved themselves for a short period until they quickly lost the fight for weight loss.

The truth is that you can shed some weight simply as a result of eating less calories. However, very many people will explain to you that is a challenge to do as well as maintain. There will most certainly be too many difficult behavior changes regarding eating considerably less, or even half-starving your self. Positive along with healthy lifestyle and eating improvements will be much simpler to accomplish with a different approach. The basic policy is to do a reduced amount over time and little by little make the desired shift.

Diets Weight Loss — **Weight Loss** Target

Excessive caloric intake causes weight gain in nearly everyone. A small minority cannot put on pounds irrespective of how much they eat. Nevertheless you have to be aware that your body needs calories to work at a good level. You can get by with a bare minumum daily caloric intake, but the likelihood is very good that you would feel exhausted, sluggish, hungry and miserable. Consequently the initial step would be to begin decreasing foods that are not helping your weight difficulty. You’ll find it much easier to lessen, initially, than attempt to completely eliminate them.

Naturally you should make a parallel effort to begin with eating healthier foods on a daily basis to achieve and maintain weight loss.

Yet again, you do not need to make a significant change here, or even a total lifestyle makeover. For people who have tried implementing total change and were unsuccessful, then this may be an agreeable strategy for you. Effortlessly begin by making modest changes, and then keeping them on a daily basis for a period of time. As soon as you feel comfortable with that magnitude of change, then you can make another modification in your daily diet. On top of that, you may consider introducing some kind of physical exercise to your weekly routine.

It becomes very beneficial if you take a look at the quality of calories and fats you take in each day. Empty calories are most likely the worst, and a good illustration of that are all kinds of sugar. Then, one needs fat in your diet, but it is the sort of fat that makes a significant difference. Ready-made foods and fast foods are great examples of the incorrect kinds of fats for you. When you notice that you are eating these fattening foods far too much, then slowly begin reducing them. The key point here is to make some form of positive change that will assist you.

Weight Loss - Eat Healthy Vegetables — *Weight Loss* - Eat Healthy Vegetables

It’s essential to make these small changes an integral part of your new behaviors and routines. This is going to of course take time, but that is the trade-off any time you make smaller modifications. On the other hand, this method will certainly work for some people who cannot make drastic changes. Just don’t forget that you need to keep striving forward and cutting out increasingly more fattening foods. You certainly will, at some point, make a reasonable change so you begin to see greater success. There isn’t anything more inspiring than results in any endeavor. This works for weight loss too.

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David Guetta: “I Lost My Driver’s Licence For Life”.

Lisa.Felice

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Sep 2, 2011

0

David Guetta: “I Lost My Driver’s Licence For Life”.

In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, David Guetta has revealed something interesting about him – the world-famous French DJ lost his driver’s licence for life!

According to Bild, David Guetta, 43, was driving too often too fast, and his licence has been withdrawn for life in France!

The French DJ now moves himself with a driver. David’s wife, Cathy can drive, but this is not the same. He will never enjoy the happiness of driving a roaring engine in France.

“I have a lifetime withdrawal in France because I drove too fast … several times. It does not matter. I am anyway not a guy who has a garage full of expensive cars.”

David Guetta, the world-famous French DJ lost his driver’s licence for life — *David Guetta*, the world-famous French DJ lost his driver’s licence for life

Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980’s and 1990’s, David Guetta is the co-founder of Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002.

In 2009, David Guetta released One Love album, which include the hit singles “When Love Takes Over” (featuring Kelly Rowland), “Gettin’ Over You” (featuring Chris Willis, Fergie & LMFAO) and “Sexy Bitch” (featuring Akon), the last becoming a top five hit in the US and all three reaching #1 in the UK, as well as another internationally known single called “Memories” featuring Kid Cudi which became a top five hit in many countries.

David Guetta has sold over three million albums and 15 million singles worldwide.

David Guetta is currently one of the most sought-after music producers.

Outlook Festival 2011: Bass Music & Soundsystem Culture

Sonia Pantiss

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Sep 2, 2011

1

Outlook Festival 2011: Bass Music & Soundsystem Culture

Noah’s Ballroom – The Pit a strange and exciting venue at Outlook Festival 2011 — Noah’s Ballroom – The Pit a strange and exciting venue at **Outlook Festival 2011**

Outlook Festival 2011, the fourth edition of an event started in Fort Punta Christo, Croatia, began on Thursday, September 1.

The festival features artists from the dance scenes, line-up includes biggest names in Soundsystem Culture from Dub, Dubstep, Dancehall, Drum & Bass, Hip-hop, Grime, Garage, Electronica and Bass Music.

Outlook Festival 2011 is held in an amazing location, an abandoned fort in Pula, in the region of Istria, Croatia.

Fort Punta Christo was built in the eighteen hundreds and looks like something from a lost world. The fort is located on a peninsula and is surrounded by Adriatic Sea. During the day sun-soaked beach parties and boat parties are held and during the night the Fort becomes a strange, yet attractive and exciting place.

This year the Outlook Festival 2011 has two new arenas, the moat surrounding Fort Punta Christo, and the Harbour Stage where Outlook Festival 2011 showcase most of the headliners.

The Dungeon: a "Gothic" venue of Outlook Festival 2011

The Courtyard, The Dungeon, Noah’s Ballroom – The Pit, Oustide Arena, Mungos Arena, Main Arena, The Boats, The Beach, TheFort are the other venues of the event.

Headline performers this year are: Mala&Coki, DMZ, Macka B (live), Michael Prophet&Dub Asante (live), Mad Professor, Iration Steppas, Nero, Zinc, Roots Manuva, Skream

On the Dubstep: Distance, Quest, Pinch, Engine Earz (live), Submotion Orchestra (live), Seven, Joe Kane, Stenchman, Rouge State, Marchmellow, Daddy Nature, Captain Crunch, Play Dub. T, Luxton Brothers, Joe Dubz, Shackleton

Dub/Reggae: Gentleman’s Dub Club, Kanka (live), Radikal Dub Kolektiv (live), Dub Boy, Firehouse Sound, Trip to Zion Dj’s, Evergreen&Landlord, Inspirational Sounds, Digitron, Daddy U, Maffi (live), Count Skylarkin, Sammy Dread, Reggae Roast

Hip-Hop/Beats/Electronica: Rodney&Skitz, Task Force, Broke’n’£nglish, Verb T, Kashmere, Oneman, Brackles.

Last year, after the festival, Outlook Festival Croatia’s Christmas Reunion took place at The Coronet Theatre in London. The tickets for Outlook Festival 2012 will be on sale from mid September 2011. Outlook Festival 2011 ends on September 4.

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The 46th annual Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day Telethon was broadcasted nationwide from 6 p.m. to midnight in every U.S. time zone on Sunday and the iconic show attracted outstanding talents on its first time without Jerry Lewis’ hosting.

The fourth hour presented the exceptional musical stylings of Jimmy Webb, Richie Sambora, Jon Secada and Maureen McGovern, as well as the first of two “Come Fly Away” dance performances to the legendary original vocals of Frank Sinatra.

The 46th edition of the annual MDA Labor Day Telethon wasted no time in offering a tribute to its longtime host, Jerry Lewis, and potentially diffusing any backlash or disappointment with his absence.

Huge images of Jerry Lewis at various stages of his career served as a backdrop on stage as the 2011 MDA Telethon hosts talked.

The new MDA Telethon hosts talked alluded to how Jerry Lewis had “retired.”

Typhoon Talas killed at least 18 people and left more than 50 missing after hitting the western area of Japan.

The tropical storm Talas had crossed the southern Japanese island of Shikoku and the central part of the main island of Honshu early on Sunday.

Almost 500,000 people in western and central Japan were issued with evacuation orders and advisories, according to Kyodo News agency.

Labor Day this year promises to be bland by comparison, with Jerry Lewis now banished from the annual rite he built from scratch and molded in his image.

On 2011 broadcast of MDA Labor Day Telethon, which, ironically, will no longer be actually airing on Labor Day, a quartet of lightweights are standing in for Jerry Lewis:

Celebrities at the MDA Labor Day Telethon 2011 will include Celine Dion, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Antebellum, Richie Sambora and Jordan Sparks.

A surfer has been killed today in a horrifying shark attack near a crowded beach in Western Australia.

The young surfer was bitten in two by the shark, which had grabbed him from the waist down.

The shark attack occurred near a popular surfing area known as The Boneyards, near Bunker Bay.

Sony launched Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S, a smartphone which will be able to take 3D, panoramic photos with standard 2 D camera.

However, the phone displays the pictures only in 2D and is not able to produce 3D video output.

3D images can be viewed by connecting the phone to a 3D TV using the HDMI output.

A letter from Benito Mussolini’s son emerged this week claiming dictator had an affair with Marie-José, wife of heir to the Italy’s throne.

In a letter reproduced by the weekly magazine Oggi, Benito Mussolini’s son, Romano, quotes his mother as saying that there was a “brief period of intimate romantic relations between my father and the then princess of Piedmont”.

The Netherlands has a reputation for being “flat” geographically speaking, but a journalist called for the Dutch to build their own mountain.

Thijs Zonneveld, who remembers making drawings of mountains in his geography book at school, has recently used his newspaper column to argue that the Dutch need their own mile-high peak.

This week, Thijs Zonneveld organized a brainstorming session in the city of Utrecht. Dozens of engineers, architects and urban planners gathered to talk about how exactly would go about building a mile-high mountain.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former IMF chief has arrived in Paris from New York.

DSK and his wife, Anne Sinclair, smiled and waved as they arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport, but made no comment to waiting journalists and passed rapidly through the terminal to a waiting car.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn allegations:

Tropical Storm Lee is hitting Louisiana as it hurls rain at the US Gulf coast, bringing back memories of the Katrina flood disaster.

Louisiana declared state of emergency and an emergency has also been declared in coastal parts of Mississippi.

Businesses in the New Orleans’ famous French Quarter fear the storm may dampen the Southern Decadence festival, an annual gay lifestyle fixture.

Following Monday night’s announcement of the Dancing With The Stars celebrity cast and the subsequent partner pairing announcement on Wednesday, the internet has exploded over the inclusion of Chaz Bono for the show’s 13th season.

Cher has criticized the “stupid bigots” who have attacked the casting of her transgender son on US show Dancing With The Stars.

Chaz Bono, 42, has been the target of online jokes and hate messages since Monday’s announcement that he would be taking part in the new series of Dancing with the Stars, which begins on 19 September.

Four persons have been arrested in different areas of the UK by police investigating the hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec.

At the same time other 14 suspected members of Anonymous appeared in a US court.

Anonymous had publicly declared its intent to target both PayPal and Amazon for, what the group perceived as, “their complicity in isolating whistle blowing website Wikileaks”.

The former France President Jacques Chirac says he is not in a fit state to attend his corruption trial, according to French media.

In a letter to the Paris court on Friday, Jacques Chirac wrote that he wanted his trial to go ahead “even if he no longer has the full ability to participate in hearings”.

Jacques Chirac, who was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, is the first former head of state to stand trial in France since World War II.

The fire sale of HP TouchPads for $99 stimulated a purchasing madness. Experts point out tablets in the $200 to $300 range might be in shops for the approaching Christmas season.

For the time being, experts point out, $99 isn’t a reasonable price for a tablet pc that isn’t some sort of plaything.

The HP Touchpad, pre-fire sale, was initially priced at $399 for the basic model.

Only one week after weathering rumors of an infidelity with Marc Anthony, Jada Pinkett Smith has suffered another blow.

In the last season, Jada Pinkett Smith’s character, Christina Hawthorne, shared steamy scenes with Marc Anthony’s Detective, Nick Renata.

Writing on social networking site Twitter, Jada Pinkett Smith thanked her fans on Friday for their loyal support.

Gerard Depardieu, who made headlines recently for urinating in the cabin of a airplane, has bounced back with another performance.

In a video posted Friday on the Dailymotion website, the pair, appearing as ancient Gaul comic heroes Asterix (Edouard Baer) and Obelix (Gerard Depardieu), are seen reading newspapers as the plane readies for takeoff.

In the real life version, Gerard Depardieu was reported by a fellow passenger to have urinated on the floor of the plane after being refused permission by a flight attendant to use the toilets during takeoff.

A plane of Chile Air Force, having 21 people aboard, including a popular local television host, crashed in the Juan Fernandez Islands off the country’s Pacific coast, authorities said.

Rescuers were searching for the wreckage of the plane but so far they have only found some equipment, the mayor said.

Felipe Camiroaga, 44, worked for the state TV channel’s Good Morning Everyone programme, and was travelling to the islands for a story on the reconstruction following the 27 February magnitude-8.8 earthquake and tsunami that wiped out its main town.

Labor Day Sales 2011

Labor Day Sales 2011 Home & Garden

Labor Day Sales 2011 Pet Food&Care

Labor Day Sales 2011 Computer / Electronics

Labor Day Sales 2011 Travel

Please notice that most of the Labor Day Sales ends on September 5, 2011!

People who ate more chocolate had lower incidents of cardiovascular disease and stroke compared to those who ate less, a study finds.

Of those 7 studies, 5 showed an association between higher levels of chocolate consumption and a lowered risk of cardiometabolic illness. The highest levels were linked with a 37% drop in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke, compared to the lowest levels.

If chocolate is the root of these heart-healthy advantages, it may be due to its polyphenol content, anti-oxidants that could improve endothelial function (which may affect the risk of stroke and heart attack) as well as have a positive effect on blood pressure and insulin resistance.

Adolf Hitler’s tea house, placed on the top of a Bavarian mountain, has become one of the most visited sites in Germany.

Hitler’s Berghof home on the mountain was destroyed by the Allies in bombing raids and after WW2, but the tea house survived and became a tourism attraction in peacetime.

The tea house was finished in the summer of 1938 before it was presented to Hitler a year later, but he only made a few visits to the chalet partly due to his fear of heights.

Not very long ago not one person had actually heard of a “Global Positioning System” (GPS).

Garmin’s 1450LMT features a gorgeous, good sized touchscreen display (5″ diagonal).

This targeted article is meant to be concise and to the point, so we cannot go into all the other wonderful features of the 1450LMY.

As the years have progressed, a number of the characteristics of online shopping actions have changed. It is no longer true that people don’t think about buying furniture off the web. Quite a bit of weight is on the amount that a person believes in the website they are buying from.

There are countless times throughout the year in which people need to purchase gifts.

Creating an account at HomeDecorators.com is easy and convenient.

Countless overweight men and women have starved themselves for a short period until they quickly lost the fight for weight loss.

Naturally you should make a parallel effort to begin with eating healthier foods on a daily basis to achieve and maintain weight loss.

In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, David Guetta has revealed something interesting about him – the world-famous French DJ lost his driver’s licence for life!

Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980’s and 1990’s, David Guetta is the co-founder of Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002.