Friday, November 2, 2007

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Prosta- tot?

Catholic Principal Cited for Prostitution Charge

The principal at a Kentucky Catholic school is taking personal leave from his job after police in Louisville allegedly found him dressed as a woman and wearing bondage gear inside his car in a seedy part of town.

Paul A. Schum, 50, was cited for loitering for the purpose of prostitution late Tuesday by Louisville Metro police. Officers allege that they came across the educator inside his parked car when patrolling the neighborhood known for prostitution and narcotics. (MORE)

Rowling Completes Book of Fairy Tales


LONDON — J.K. Rowling has completed her first book after her wildly popular series on teen wizard Harry Potter _ an illustrated collection of magical fairy stories titled "The Tales of Beedle the Bard."

Only seven copies of the handwritten book have been made, Rowling said Thursday. One will be auctioned next month to raise money for a children's charity, while the others have been given away as gifts.

Rowling drew the illustrations herself and provided the handwriting for the five stories that make up the collection of fairy tales.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard" is mentioned in the final Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," as a gift left by headmaster Albus Dumbledore to Harry's friend Hermione, and provides clues that help destroy evil Lord Voldemort. (MORE)

See female stars who hit 40

PEOPLE.com

Julia Roberts and Pam Anderson are among the ladies who are proving that age ain't nothin' but a number. (VIEW)

NBC Developing The Office 2

How does NBC hope to replace “Scrubs” after it burns off its 15 final half-hours?

A spinoff of the highly rated “The Office,” featuring characters we’ve not yet met, is in the works.

The stars of “Office II” will be introduced on “Office I” this season.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Eliza Dushku Lures Joss Whedon Back to TV!

Short of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer reunion movie, this is just about the best news you could ask for: Eliza Dushku and Joss Whedon are reteaming for a new series! (Told ya it would be worth tearing yourself away from the candy corn to drop by The Ausiello Report.) Here are the five things you have to know about the show, and I mean now: (READ)

"My So-Called Life" finds new life in a new box set


via Afterellen.com


The long lusted-after, dreamed-about and angsted-over My So-Called Life: The Complete Series DVD box set is here. It’s finally here. I think Rickie’s World Happiness Dance is in order here. Who knows the steps? Geez, where are all the gay boys when you need them? (READ)

Biden: Rudy's Sentences Consist Of "A Noun, A Verb, And 9/11"

October 30, 2007 11:18 PM

Sen. Joe Biden nails Rudy Giuliani during Tuesday's MSNBC debate: "And the irony is, Rudy Giuliani, probably the most underqualified man since George Bush to seek the presidency, is here talking about any of the people here. Rudy Giuliani... I mean, think about it! Rudy Giuliani. There's only three things he mentions in a sentence -- a noun, a verb, and 9/11. There's nothing else! There's nothing else! And I mean this sincerely. He's genuinely not qualified to be president."

Watch..

Church ordered to pay $10.9 million for funeral protest


BALTIMORE, Maryland (AP) -- A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals in the belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder of York, Pennsylvania, sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned later in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.

U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted the size of the award for compensating damages "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court.

Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags." (READ MORE)

Google and Friends to Gang Up on Facebook

By MIGUEL HELFT and BRAD STONE
Published: October 31, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 30 — Google and some of the Web’s leading social networks are teaming up to take on the new kid on the block — Facebook.

On Thursday, an alliance of companies led by Google plans to begin introducing a common set of standards to allow software developers to write programs for Google’s social network, Orkut, as well as others, including LinkedIn, hi5, Friendster, Plaxo and Ning.

The strategy is aimed at one-upping Facebook, which last spring opened its service to outside developers. Since then, more than 5,000 small programs have been built to run on the Facebook site, and some have been adopted by millions of the site’s users. Most of those programs tap into connections among Facebook friends and spread themselves through those connections, as well as through a “news feed” that alerts Facebook users about what their friends are doing. (MORE)

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Leopard weekend sales "far outpaced" Tiger at 2 million copies

Ars Technica By Jacqui Cheng | Published: October 30, 2007 - 08:07AM CT

Mac users around the world waited in "nerd lines" last Friday in order to grab a copy of Mac OS X Leopard the moment it went on sale. Many more preordered it so that the big cat would come right to their doors. Ken, Jade, and I covered a few Apple Stores in the US, but how representative was that of the overall Mac-using population? How many copies were actually sold?

About 2 million, according to Apple. During its debut weekend, Mac OS X 10.5 "far outpaced" sales of Tiger in its first weekend. (By comparison, Tiger took over a month to sell its 2 millionth copy once it was released.) "Leopard’s innovative features are getting great reviews and making more people than ever think about switching to the Mac," said Steve Jobs in a statement. Well, I wouldn't exactly say that they're all great, but Leopard is still reviewing well despite its flaws.

2 million is apparently Apple's number of the year. The company just hit its first 2 million Mac quarter, and has now already crossed 2 million copies of Leopard. Given the pace that the iPhone is going at, it won't be long before we see 2 million iPhones sold. And hey, we haven't even hit the holiday season yet. Merry Christmas, Apple.

How green is your bottle of red?

At long last: A guide to calculating the carbon footprint of wine.
Andrew Leonard, Salon.com

Oct. 30, 2007 | And now for a truly important question: What is the greener option, in terms of carbon footprint, for a hypothetical wine-drinking citizen of Ohio: a California merlot from Napa county, a cheap Australian bottle of Yellow Tail shiraz, or a French bordeaux?

To answer this query, we first need to know whether you live east or west of Columbus, Ohio. Because, as explained in the fascinating new working paper, "Red, White and 'Green': The Cost of Carbon in the Global Wine Trade," the most important factor involved with calculating the carbon footprint of wine is the energy cost of transporting glass bottles around the world. Unrefrigerated container shipping by sea is best, air freight is worst, and trucks trundle on somewhere in between. (MORE)

Mirren marked the Queen of 'mashups'

From

DAME HELEN Mirren’s hitherto hidden talent for kung fu, alongside swearing like a sailor and unapologetic smoking, has propelled her to another accolade — the queen of “mashups”, home-made videos spread by largely American fans across the internet.

Mirren is the number one star in the world of mashups, compilations of film clips edited together for fun or social comment, which have blossomed since the video-sharing website YouTube was founded in 2005. (MORE)

Student has a nice chat with Rather during three-hour flight

Daily Texan

Caroline Page sat next to Dan Rather on an Austin-to-New York flight and, after thirty minutes, got up the nerve to begin a conversation. "He was candid, intelligent and spoke to me as though we weren't 54 years apart in age," she writes. "We touched on what seemed like every issue from our personal backgrounds, including relationship struggles due to the strain of reporting and the importance of a woman in the field remaining true to herself. He told me stories of young female reporters losing themselves and 'sleeping their way to the top,' only to ultimately crash and burn." During their chat, "the real Dan Rather made a Dan Rather-fan out of me."
(more)

Kucinich questions Bush's mental health


Kucinich, with wife Elizabeth, questioned the president's mental health.

(CNN) — Strong words from Democratic presidential contender Dennis Kucinich may be nothing new, but his comments to a newspaper Tuesday questioning President Bush’s mental health are raising a few eyebrows.

“I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," the Ohio congressman told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact." (MORE)

Sunday, October 28, 2007

READ before you SIGN



Anti-Gay Marriage Petition Fraud Caught on Camera

Workers make up to $1200/day stealing signatures. Whistle-blower exposes anti-gay marriage petition fraud in Massachusetts.