Ahmadinejad tells Obama to butt out

Iran President Ahmadinejad makes the Peace sign in this undated photo of unknown source. Maybe he's ordering two Tacos...

Iranian president Ahmadinejad is telling President Obama not to interfere in Iran, claiming Obama is repeating what "Bush used to say" about Iran and calling on Obama to "express regret" about U.S. Interference, Reuters reported early Thursday quoting the Fars News Agency.

Are you freakin' kidding me?

This was to be expected, though, and it's exactly what Obama was trying to avoid (among other things), which critics didn't quite get, if you ask me.

I think Ahmadinejad is being a dick. Sorry, my friends, but you should know by know that I have little, if any, tolerance for liars and bullies, not to mention deluded narcissistic pricks.

That sick fuck is asking Obama to express regret for something Obama hasn't done (at least not as far as we know), while he himself expresses NO regret about his people being killed and their blood spilled in his backyard after almost two weeks of ongoing violence and unrest ("traffic violations" according to him) in protest of the June 12 presidential elections that he allegedly won. WTF?

I'm telling ya'...Ahmadinejad won't show his face on the streets of Iran anytime soon, as many no doubt would love to take a shot at--or an ax to--him.

Sources: BNO, Reuters, Me
Copyright © 2009

Farrah Fawcett moved to intensive care unit

Farrah Fawcett has been moved to an intensive care unit after being hospitalized, Extra reported in the early hours of Thursday. Family and friends have gathered to say their "final farewells," according to the report.

She was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, which later spread to her liver.

Farrah Fawcett became an icon of American pop culture in the 70s with her role in the very successful TV series Charlie's Angels, produced by Aaron Spelling, who was on his way to be one of the most prolific and successful producers of dramatic series and made-for-television films in American TV.

Also famous was her heavily layered hairstyle--which was copied by millions of women just as Jennifer Aniston's "Rachel hair" spread from head to head in the 90s--and a picture of her in a red bathing suit taken by photographer Bruce McBroom in 1976 before she was famous actress but around the time she was featured in ads for Wella Balsam shampoo.

While women couldn't get enough of her hair, men couldn't get enough of that picture. A record 12 million copies of the Swimsuit Poster were sold and affixed to walls and gym or school lockers, captivating the fantasies of 70s men not unlike Betty Garble's pin up poster stole the hearts of men during World War II.

We send good wishes your way, Farrah--may your last moments be as pain free and peaceful as possible, and may your loved ones, especially partner Ryan O'Neill and son Redmond, be comforted during this trying time.

Sources: BNO headlines, Me
Copyright © 2009

Unimaginable horror In Tehran today

The Iran government said Wednesday that the presence of sufficient security forces in Tehran today prevented the violence seen in previous days, according to a CNN reported.

The following story was published by ThreatsWatch.org today, and I've decided to pass it on exactly as it was submitted--no rewriting, no editing (except some spelling and style corrections), no additional reporting from other sources, no commentary from me.

By Steve Schippert on June 24, 2009 at 3:30 PM

Iran has executed its Tiananmen Square. Baharestan Square has become synonymous with barbarity, cruelty, massacre and inhumanity.

An Iranian blogger (whose URL I will not publish) live blogging from Baharestan Square in central Tehran today captures but brief glimpses of the unimaginable horror that took place today. Bus loads of protesters were stopped and unloaded from their buses by "black-clad police" and literally herded. When the massing was sufficient, as the barely controlably distraught Tehran caller to CNN described first hand, hundreds of the regime's Basij thugs poured out of an adjoining mosque and commenced a massacre with axes, clubs, guns and gas.

From the live blogger's eyewitness account:

> More than 10,000 Bassij militias got in position in central Tehran, including Baharestan Square.
> Army helicopters flying over Baharestan and Vali Asr Square.
> The streets, squares and around Baharestan (south-east of Tehran) are swarming with military forces, civilian forces, security motorists.
> The crowd have moved to the south of Baharestan, the situation is bad; the shooting has started.
> In Baharestan Square [there's] police shooting; a girl is shot, and the police is not allowing [others] to help.
> In Baharestan we saw militia with axe chopping people like meat--blood everywhere--like butcher.

This is the Iranian regime, wading into its own unarmed people and axing them to death, bludgeoning women (seen as the greatest threat to the regime) and throwing them to their deaths from pedestrian bridges. The same Iranian regime whose embassy officials are invited to American embassies around the world to celebrate on July 4th, of all things, a successful revolution.

This frantic phone call from a Tehran woman will break your heart as you consider our standard response has been "that there are sets of international norms and principles about violence" and that "the international community is watching." Part of yesterday's response by President Obama in a press conference included "that there is a peaceful path that will lead to stability and legitimacy (of the Iranian regime) and prosperity for the Iranian people. We hope they take it." The Iranian theocratic regime clearly is not interested.

There should not be--nor should have ever been--invitations to the ruthless Iranian regime's international ambassadors to celebrate anything with us, anywhere, unless it is an invitation to a tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity.

To my intelligent friends who have been arguing the logic of our President's near silence on the issue of Iran--and not without merit on certain points--you can disengage from me now. I will entertain none of it any longer.

This is an axe wound, just one, doled out by the regime's thug Basiji animals on Saturday, June 20.

This was a brutal murder of an assuredly unarmed protester of the up-close-and-personal variety. An act, and one not isolated, which requires the presence of inhumane malice and aggression and the absence of humanity. The traits required for massacres upon the unarmed. There is no nuance, no logical approach, no deft explanation that covers near silence and inadequate, tepid condemnation of the meekest sort. To decline any mention of possible repercussions on the regime for these acts "because we don't know how this is going to turn out" is moral cowardice of the highest order. Look at the picture above and listen to the frantic woman calling in to CNN again. They seem to "know how this is going to turn out."

There is a way to condemn a regime axing its citizens in the streets of Tehran and other cities across Iran without "making this about the U.S." You, and our President, are intelligent men and women and lacking no gifts of speech and prose. Find what's missing. Each of you frustrate and sadden me. Argue your eloquent points elsewhere. My ears are deaf as of now.

Source: ThreatsWatch.org
ThreatsWatch.Org was established in 2005 as the means to disseminate information on national security threats in an accessible, interactive and contextually aware form. In 2007 ThreatsWatch.Org became the web-based publication of the Center for Threat Awareness (CTA), a 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporation whose mission is to increase public awareness of threats to national security and liberty.

Stew of News - Brooks, Hasselbeck, cancer boy

Oscar winning songwriter and director Joseph Brooks is led by police in handcuffs, Tuesday, June 23, 2009, in New York. Brooks has been charged with rape and sexual assault after at least four women accused Brooks of luring them to his home and performing sex acts on them while they auditioned for movie roles. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano)

"You Light Up My Life" songwriter indicted for rape

Joseph Brooks, the 71-year-old director, producer and songwriter who scored an Academy Award and No. 1 hit for penning the 1977 ballad "You Light Up My Live" was indicted Tuesday on charges of raping and sexually assaulting 11 women in his New York apartment.

His personal assistant, 42-year-old Shawni Lucier, was also indicted on charges of knowingly facilitating the crimes, which occurred between March 2005 and April 2008, several news services reported Wednesday.

Brooks pleaded not guilty to a 91-count indictment and posted a $500,000 bail, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney said. The case was adjourned until Aug. 11. The charges carry a penalty of at least 25 years in prison.

The victims, who ranged in age from 18 to 30, responded to an ad for an audition posted by Brooks on Craigslist and a talent website, and were allegedly lured to his Upper East Side apartment to see the Oscar he won for Best Original Song for the 1977 ballad.

Prosecutors said Brooks and Lucier then plied the women with drinks and possibly drugs. Toxicology results have been inconclusive.

Aside from writing and directing You Light Up My Life, Brooks also composed the music for and produced the 1983 cult hit Eddie and the Cruisers.

We'll never listen to that song the same way again...eek.

The View host Hasselbeck denies plagiarism charges

The View co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck said Wednesday a claim that she plagiarized parts of her best-selling diet book is "without merit."

She defended her book The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide on Wednesday, speaking to the camera briefly just before the first break on the ABC daytime show.

(Photo by Sara Jaye Weiss/Startraks)

"I just want to assure you the allegations are without merit and are being handled appropriately," said Hasselbeck, 32, who has spoken openly about her self-diagnosed celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder linked to gluten proteins in wheat, barley and rye.

Susan Hassett, a self-published author on Cape Cod, alleges in the $3-million lawsuit filed in Boston Monday that Hasselbeck lifted content from her book on celiac disease "word for word," though she doesn't cite specific examples, noting also that the books follow a similar structure and chapter format.

She claims she sent Hasselbeck a copy of her own book–- the self-published Living with Celiac Disease-- along with a homemade cooking video, a newspaper story about the condition, her business card and a personal note last year.

Hassett says she will donate a portion of whatever proceeds she receives from the suit to create a camp designed for children with celiac disease. (Is this supposed to earn her brownie points with the judge?)

Hasselbeck's book, The G Free Diet-A Gluten-Free Survival Guide, was published in May 2009 by Center Street Hachette Book Group.

While this is entirely possible--though, how can people make up stuff like this and get away with it?--without examples of the "word-for-word" copying there is no lawsuit.

Teenager tumor shrinks after court-ordered chemo

The Minnesota teenager who fled with his mother to Mexico to avoid chemotherapy is responding well to his court-ordered cancer treatments.

Left: Danny Hauser with his mother, Colleen. (ABC News)

But Danny Hauser and his parents credit their alternative therapies, not the chemotherapy, for the doctor's good news that 13-year-old's tumor has shrunk, ABC News reported.

So he wasn't getting better on the so-called natural remedies, and he starts getting better only after starting chemo, but it's the natural remedies and not the chemo shrinking the tumor. Alrighty then.

Danny, who has been diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma, insists he doesn't want chemo.

"Because it's poison," he told Good Morning America. "That's why."

His mother, Colleen Hauser, said the chemo treatments are hitting her son hard. "There's a lot of crying," she said.

She and her husband are worried that the chemicals used to treat cancers like their son's will leave him with damaging side effects.

Colleen Hauser has maintained that she fled with Danny last month because they wanted to treat his cancer with natural remedies despite a judge's ruling ordering him to undergo what doctors said was life-saving chemo treatment.

Sources: E! Online, The Associated Press, Reuters, ABC News

Major bombings in Iraq since Jan 1

Fruits and vegetables are scattered at the site where a car bomb exploded Wednesdayat at a market in Baghdad's Sadr City, killing 72 people and wounding more than 125 others. (AFP)

The Associated Press published the following list today.

Deadliest bombings in Iraq since Jan. 1, when a new U.S.-Iraqi security pact took effect:

_ June 24 — Bomb hidden under vegetables on motorized pushcart explodes in Baghdad's Sadr city, killing at least 69.

_ June 20 — Truck bomb strikes Shiite mosque near northern city of Kirkuk, killing 82.

_ June 10 — Car bomb explodes in market near Shiite city of Nasiriyah, killing 30.

_ May 21 — Bomb in mainly Sunni area of Baghdad kills 15 people, including three Americans.

_ May 20 — Parked car bomb tears through restaurants in northwest Baghdad, killing 41.

_ May 6 — Parked car bomb explodes at a produce market in southern Baghdad, killing 15.

_ April 29 — Twin car bombing in Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City kills 51.

_ April 24 — Back-to-back female suicide bombings kill 71 outside Shiite shrine in Baghdad.

_ April 23 — Suicide bomber hits Iraqis collecting humanitarian aid in Baghdad, killing 31.

_ April 23 — Suicide bombing in Muqdadiyah kills 53 people, including 44 Iranian pilgrims.

_ April 6 — Series of bombings in Baghdad kill 37 people.

_ March 26 — Car bomb tears through market in Shiite area in east Baghdad, killing 20.

_ March 23 — Suicide bomber strikes Kurdish funeral in Jalula, killing 27.

_ March 10 — Suicide bomber targets tribal leaders at market in Abu Ghraib, killing 33.

_ March 8 — Suicide bomber strikes police academy in Baghdad, killing at least 30.

_ March 5 — Car bomb tears through livestock market in Hillah, killing 13.

_ Feb. 13 — Female suicide bomber targets Shiite pilgrims in Musayyib, killing 40.

_ Feb. 11 — Twin car bombs explode at a bus terminal and market area in Baghdad, killing 16.

_ Jan. 4 — Female suicide bomber strikes Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad, killing 38.

_ Jan. 2 — Suicide bomber hits tribal leader's home in Youssifiyah, killing 23.

Source: The Associated Press

South Carolina governor reappears, admits affair

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (Mary Ann Chastain/AP)

Another Republican politician with impeccable morals bites the dust.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Wednesday he has been unfaithful to his wife with a friend from Argentina, explaining his recent sudden disappearance.

The 49-year-old Republican governor (that is, the aides that prepared his speech) said he's sorry for letting his wife and children down and apologized to his family, staff and the state for leaving without saying a word to anyone.

And they still blast liberals for their "lack of family values"...

He said he is resigning as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

UPDATE: Sanford's wife, SC First Lady Jenny Sanford, released a statement later Wednesday to explaining that the couple had separated and that's why he was gone and out of contact for a week.

"I deeply regret the recent actions of my husband Mark, and their potential damage to our children," she said.

"I believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity, dignity and importance of the institution of marriage. When I found out about my husband's infidelity I worked immediately to first seek reconciliation through forgiveness, and then to work diligently to repair our marriage. We reached a point where I felt it was important to look my sons in the eyes and maintain my dignity, self-respect, and my basic sense of right and wrong. I therefore asked my husband to leave two weeks ago," she said, noting that he was not to contact the family during the "trial separation," whose goal was to strengthen their marriage.

"Because of this separation, I did not know where he was in the past week," she added.

She then went on about marriage, enduring love, commitment, honor, forgiveness, humility, repentance, healing, reconciliation, Psalm 127, the Lord, the wisdom of Solomon, the strength and patience of Job, the grace of God...

(More than a statement about her husband's affair, it looked like a sermon about marriage, if you ask me.)

Apparently, only a miracle can save their relationship:

"I believe Mark has earned a chance to resurrect our marriage," she said.

UPDATE #2: Sanford emails to mistress emerge

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford told the woman with whom he was having an affair they were "in a hopelessly impossible situation of love" last year when he was thought to be under consideration for the Republican vice presidential nomination, according to e-mails obtained by The State newspaper.

The Columbia-based newspaper, which acquired the e-mails in December, told CNN that the governor's office had confirmed their authenticity Wednesday. When contacted by CNN, a spokesman for the governor would neither confirm nor deny the authenticity of the e-mails.

Right: Gov. Mark Sanford speaks during a news conference at the State Capitol in Columbia on Wednesday. (Getty Images)

The e-mails between the GOP governor and a Buenos Aires resident named Maria were exchanged in July of last year, according to the newspaper.

"You have a particular grace and calm that I adore. You have a level of sophistication that so fitting with your beauty," Sanford wrote, according to the e-mails published on the newspaper's website.

"I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light--but hey, that would be going into sexual details ..."

(My eyes! My eyes!)

"How in the world this lightening strike snuck up on us I am still not quite sure. As I have said to you before I certainly had a special feeling about you from the first time we met, but these feelings were contained and I genuinely enjoyed our special friendship and the comparing of all too many personal notes ..."

Maria, whose full name has not yet been released, also proclaimed her devotion in a July 9 e-mail.

"You are my love...something hard to believe even for myself as it's also a kind of impossible love, not only because of distance but situation," she wrote. "Sometimes you don't choose things, they just happen...I can't redirect my feelings and I am very happy with mine towards you."

The affair began in the last year and was discovered five months ago, Sanford told reporters without elaborating. He added he and his wife were trying to work through it.

The Case of the Missing Governor

Sanford returned from an undeclared absence spent in Argentina meant to relieve the pressures of office. His staff had insisted at one point that he was off hiking on the Appalachian Trail.

"I wanted to do something exotic," Sanford said. "It's a great city."

Well... he was doing something exotic--with someone--in a great city.

He arrived at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport this morning after cutting his trip short because of the media attention regarding his disappearance.

Sanford, one of a cast of possible--now IMpossible--GOP presidential aspirants, was scheduled to hold a news conference today to explain the sudden departure that left political allies and his family making excuses that turned out to be less than accurate.

"All we've had is lies, lies, lies," South Carolina state Sen. John Knotts said in a televised news conference today. There have been "cover-ups where the governor is and where the governor is not," the Republican senator said.

"I don't have a problem with the governor taking some time off," Knotts added. "But the people in South Carolina need to know that somebody is at the helm, not just a staffer."

Perhaps "the staffer" or staffers have been running the state all along. There might be hope in new blood for the Republican Party after all!

Because of his presidential aspirations, Sanford has been one of the frequent targets of the national Democrat Party, which has trumpeted his disappearance since June 18 as an example of erratic behavior.

Did he think no one would notice he was gone? Does that mean that he was never there to begin with? This is a disaster, if you ask me.

Sanford was a visible opponent of President's Obama's economic stimulus package, at one point insisting he wouldn't accept the $700 million set aside for his state. Sanford was forced to relent after opponents won in court, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Sources: BNO, CNN, USA Today, Chicago Tribune
Copyright © 2009

Obama sent direct message to Iran's leader

An Iranian woman holds a picture of Neda Agha Soltan, who was killed while protesting in the streets of Tehran, during a demonstration in Stockholm today. The Swedish capital has seen daily protests by Iranians demonstrating against the outcome of the recent presidential elections. (OLIVIER MORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama sent a direct message to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei weeks before this month’s disputed election, Iranian sources told CNN today.

The letter requested dialogue and engagement between the two nations, CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour reported.

The sources said Khamenei has yet to reply to the letter, but nonetheless it “had set the negotiating table in order for both sides to sit around it after the election.”

Khamenei made an indirect reference to the letter in his sermon on Friday at Tehran University.

“The U.S. President said that we were waiting for a day like this to see people on the street,” the Iranian leader said. “Some people attributed these remarks to Obama and then they write letters to say we’re ready to have ties; that we respect the Islamic Republic and on the other hand they make such comments. Which one should we believe?”

One Iranian source said that the election dispute is wasting time on the issue of starting U.S.-Iranian negotiations.

The Iranian source said that before the election, “We thought President Obama would send congratulations to President Ahmedinajad” and his senior advisers had already prepared a response to the anticipated note, which never came.(Talk about wishful thinking.)

Well, perhaps if Iran had been more open about its elections process, if the results hadn't been so vehemently contested by candidates and voters alike, if the leaders had addressed the people's concerns, if hundreds of thousands of protesters hadn't taken to the streets for almost two weeks now, if Tehran hadn't turned into a burning and bloody battlefield of violent clashes between protesters and riot police, if civilians--including women and children--hadn't been wounded and killed, if the government hadn't ordered a ridiculous $3,000 "bullet fee" people must pay to recover the bodies of their loves ones, then, maybe that letter would've come.

Source: CNN
Copyright © 2009

FLASH NEWS - Iran unrest, Iraq bomb, marijuana

Iran protesters beaten 'like animals'

Security forces wielding clubs and firing weapons beat back demonstrators who flocked to a Tehran square Wednesday to continue protests. One witness told CNN security forces beat people like "animals." A witness told Reuters there were no casualties after riot police clashed with protesters in central Tehran.

New Hampshire Legislature passes medical marijuana bill

Governor reportedly will study the bill before deciding.

Car bomb in Baghdad, at least 72 dead, over 125 injured

Iraqi police told Reuters that at least 104 people were injured in a powerful explosion at a Baghdad market caused by a car bomb.


Sources: Reuters, AP, AFP, BNO, CNN

New York newborn baby abandoned in shoebox

Nassau County police are searching for the person who left a newborn baby girl in a Timberland shoebox. (NY Daily News)

Sick fuck alert! though we'll have to wait for more details about the circumstances that led to the abandonment of this baby.

A newborn baby was found stuffed in a shoebox and dumped in the lobby of a New York apartment building, cops said Monday.

Jesus F. Christ

The girl was less than a day old when she was discovered by a man who heard a noise and peeked inside a Timberland work boots box around 9 p.m. Sunday in Hempstead, Long Island.

Is that all an abandoned baby can hope for in New York? A shoebox? It figures. Anywhere else (except Tokyo) and that baby would've been found in a much larger box, maybe even a big household appliance box, which would be a mansion real estate-wise.

"She appears to be in good health," Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Raymond Cote said according to a NY Daily News reporte. "No one knows what could have happened to the child had it not been found quickly."

Um...I think just about everyone has a pretty good idea.

The infant was described as light skinned, white or Hispanic, and was dressed in a striped one-piece outfit and another one yellow emblazoned with the word "bounce." She was wrapped in a blanket with elephants pictures on it and wearing a white hat. Detectives are hoping somebody will recognize the outfit the baby was wearing or the blanket.

The umbilical cord was still attached to the baby and was tied off with dental floss.

Police are hunting the mother, who will face child abandonment charges.

Will they be asking to see the teeth of suspects? I mean, she probably flossed, or someone in that household did...someone with Timberlake work boots...

Even though she dumped her daughter, the mom showed she cared about the infant by dressing her and leaving her in a spot where she would be found, police said.

"She must have been concerned about this child," said Timothy Jaccard, President of the Safe Haven Alliance. "[The baby] was left to be found. She was prepared properly."

He said the mother might not be aware that the law provides other choices. "You can bring a less-than-5-days-old child to firehouses or hospitals or police, with no questions and just walk away," he said.

A hospital spokeswoman says Baby Jane will have to spend a few more days in intensive care.

Poor baby. Luckily, she was found within an hour or so of being placed in that lobby...the ones found in dumpsters in the dead of winter aren't that lucky. Anyone capable of throwing a baby in the trash is either mentally ill or seriously fucked up, if you ask me.

Source: NY Daily News, NBC
Copyright © 2009

"Jon & Kate Plus 8" also taking a break

Jon and Kate during filming of Jon & Kate Plus 8. (Clark McCarthy-Miller/TLC)

Well, it was bound to happen...no big revelation here, though the entertainment media will likely call it "shocking news" and "bombshell" more times that I'll be able to count tonight. (Note to self: Add "bombshell" to your list of pet peeve words.)

As the shit continues hit the fan at the speed of light in Jon and Kate Gosselin's lives, production of the reality show that made them famous, Jon & Kate Plus 8, has been suspended following their announcement Monday that they're splitting up.

Uh-oh

Last night's episode attracted a TLC-record 10.6 million viewers, but despite the huge ratings, the network and the family are "taking some time off to regroup," TLC said in a statement.

The network said that next Monday's episode will feature a clip package of the couple's highs and lows during their 10-year marriage and some new footage, but that the next all-new episode won't air until Aug 3. "Then a modified schedule will be in place to support the family's transition," TLC said.

J&K+8 addicts must be reaching for their oxygen tanks and lots of chocolate...

The decision came from TLC and not the family, the Los Angeles Times reported. Because of the couple's faltering marriage, production on each episode thus far has been down to the minute, and word is they simply don't have enough footage now to create fresh installments, according to the report.

Only six episodes of the 40-episode season have aired.

Near the end of last night's episode (the first 45 minutes spent on an excruciatingly long product placement for a playhouse company in Maine), Kate said that she had sobbed and hyperventilated for half a day when she realized that her marriage was over. And Jon, displaying all the emotion of a bottle of Drano, described his failings in terms of passivity and ineptitude as a communicator, The New York Times reported. (I thought this was too funny to pass!)

"Over the course of this weekend, Jon's activities have left me no choice but to file legal procedures in order to protect myself and our children," Kate said in a statement Monday.

The couple reportedly plans to live in different cities. Right now the family, which includes a set of twins and sextuplets, home base is a $1.1 million Pennsylvania house. People magazine recently reported Jon was apartment hunting in New York and might move to Donald Trump's Trump Place (not Plaza, which is way more expensive than what any of them will be able to afford without the show and its perks).

Now, this thing about to become a tale of two cities caught my interest because if you think about it, why the hell is he moving to New York (or wherever)--so far away from his beloved eight kids? Usually, caring parents do whatever they can to remain nearby so they can see their children as often as possible and be a part of their lives. Occasionally, this is not doable because of work or family issues. Fine. What's the issue here?

Hmmm...

During last night's episode, a teary-eyed Kate that in spite of it all "the show must go on."

Well...not really.

Sources: US magazine, E! Online, Los Angeles Times, My Twisted Mind
Copyright © 2009

Tonight Show's McMahon dies at 86

Ed McMahon appears on the Tonight Show on Jan 24, 2005, with Jay Leno, who replaced host Johnny Carson when he left. (Paul Drinkwater/WireImage.com)

Ed McMahon, the loyal Tonight Show sidekick who nightly introduced show host Johnny Carson with a resounding "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" for 30 years, died early Tuesday at 86.

He died shortly after midnight surrounded by family. His publicist didn't give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a "multitude of health problems the last few months." However, a source close to McMahon said he had bone cancer, among other illnesses, and had been hospitalized for several weeks.

McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries preventing him from working, AP reported.

McMahon and Carson had worked together for nearly five years on the game show Who Do You Trust? when Carson took over NBC's late-night show from Jack Paar in October 1962. McMahon played second banana on "Tonight" until Carson retired in 1992.

"You can't imagine hooking up with a guy like Carson," McMahon said an interview with The Associated Press in 1993. "There's the old phrase, hook your wagon to a star. I hitched my wagon to a great star."

McMahon, who never failed to laugh at his Carson's quips, kept his supporting role in perspective.

"It's like a pitcher who has a favorite catcher," he said. "The pitcher gets a little help from the catcher, but the pitcher's got to throw the ball. Well, Johnny Carson had to throw the ball, but I could give him a little help."

Sources: The Associated Press, CNN
Copyright © 2009

Computer faillure might be at fault in DC crash

Investigators and emergency personnel on Tuesday morning at the scene of the crash of two Washington subway trains after a rush-hour accident on Monday. (New York Times photo)

The death toll from a commuter train crash in Washington D.C. Monday has increased to nine, with 76 people injured, two of them in critical condition Tuesday.

Investigators looking into the deadly crash of two Metro transit trains focused Tuesday on why a computerized system failed to halt an oncoming train, and why the train failed to stop even though the emergency brake was pressed, AP reported.

At the time of the crash, the train also was operating in automatic mode, meaning it was controlled primarily by computer. In that mode, the operator's main job is to open and close the doors and respond in case of an emergency, according to the report.

Debbie Hersman, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said it was unclear whether the emergency brake actually was engaged when Monday's crash occurred. The mushroom-shaped button that activates it was found pushed down in the operator's compartment.

Hersman said it was not clear when the button was pressed or how it got that way. She also cited evidence of braking on the train's rotors, indicating it was likely that the operator tried to slow down.

The train plowed into a stopped train ahead of it at the height of the Monday evening rush hour, killing nine people and injuring more than 70. It was the deadliest accident in the 30-year history of the Washington Metro.

Crews spent Tuesday pulling apart the trains' wreckage and searching for victims' bodies. Authorities worked to determine why the train's safeguards apparently did not kick in.

"That train was never supposed to get closer than 1,200 feet, period," said Jackie Jeter, president of a union that represents Metro workers. (Right: The accident scene. Photo source: TimesOnline)

All Metro trains were running on manual control as a precaution against computer malfunction, AP reported.

The cars in the moving train were some of the oldest in the transit network, dating to the founding of the Metro system.

After touring the wreckage Tuesday of two Metro transit trains that crashed the day before, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty said it was a sight that "no one should have to see," CNN reported.

The crash occurred along the Red Line just before 5 p.m. Monday on an above-ground track in D.C. near the border with Takoma Park, Maryland, CNN reported.

"We don't know at this point whether the operator could see the train in front of her in time to stop," Hersman said, noting that the weather at the time of the crash was good. "I did have the opportunity to walk the track with our investigators. I can tell you it is a scene of real devastation," she added according to the CNN report.

"The rear car overrode the first car, and much of the survivable space on that first car...was compromised," she said.

Since 2006, the NTSB has been urging the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to bring its trains up to date.

The lead train had 5000-Series and 3000-Series cars, which are newer and have better technology than the cars in the rear train, which are 1000-Series cars.

There should be nine data recorders aboard the first train, which will aid the investigation a great deal if they aren't damaged, Hersman said. The recorders can provide data on such things as speed, braking and emergency applications.

The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were customer fatalities was in January 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian Metrorail stations. In 2004, two Metrorail trains collided at the Woodley Park/Zoo-Adams Morgan Metrorail station causing some minor injuries, according to the CNN report.

Source: CNN, The Associated Press

Iran extends election complaints deadline 5 days

Tehran streets were quieter today. What that means in terms of the movement born from a massive protest against the June 12 presidential results, which declared incumbent President Ahmadinejad the winner, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei agreed to extend deadline for election complaints by five days, NBC news anchor Ann Curry said via Twitter.

Source: Ann Curry/NBC

Son's Death Has Iranian Family Asking Why

People carry the body of a man allegedly shot by pro-government militia near a rally supporting leading opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 15. (AP photo)

One of the most outrageous news coming from Iran is the government's implementation of a $3,000 "bullet fee" people must pay to recover the body of relatives killed by bullets during the protests.

Now, that's as fucked up as it gets, if you ask me.

Farnaz Fassihi of The Wall Street Journal filed the following story on the matter.

TEHRAN—The family, clad in black, stood at the curb of the road sobbing. A middle-aged mother slapped her cheeks, letting out piercing wails. The father, a frail man who worked as a doorman at a clinic in central Tehran, wept quietly with his head bowed.

Minutes before, an ambulance had arrived from Tehran's morgue carrying the body of their only son, 19-year-old Kaveh Alipour.

On Saturday, amid the most violent clashes between security forces and protesters, Mr. Alipour was shot in the head as he stood at an intersection in downtown Tehran. He was returning from acting class and a week shy of becoming a groom, his family said.

The details of his death remain unclear. He had been alone. Neighbors and relatives think that he got trapped in the crossfire. He wasn't politically active and hadn't taken part in the turmoil that has rocked Iran for over a week, they said.

"He was a very polite, shy young man," said Mohamad, a neighbor who has known him since childhood.

When Mr. Alipour didn't return home that night, his parents began to worry. All day, they had heard gunshots ringing in the distance. His father, Yousef, first called his fiancée and friends. No one had heard from him.

At the crack of dawn, his father began searching at police stations, then hospitals and then the morgue.

Upon learning of his son's death, the elder Mr. Alipour was told the family had to pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a "bullet fee"—a fee for the bullet used by security forces—before taking the body back, relatives said.

Mr. Alipour told officials that his entire possessions wouldn't amount to $3,000, arguing they should waive the fee because he is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war. According to relatives, morgue officials finally agreed, but demanded that the family do no funeral or burial in Tehran. Kaveh Alipour's body was quietly transported to the city of Rasht, where there is family.

Everyone in the neighborhood knows the Alipour family. In addition to their slain son, they have two daughters. Shopkeepers and businesses pasted a photocopied picture of Mr. Alipour on their walls and windows. In the picture, the young man is shown wearing a dark suit with gray stripes. His black hair is combed neatly to a side and he has a half-smile.

"He was so full of life. He had so many dreams," said Arsalan, a taxi driver who has known the family for 10 years. "What did he die for?"

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Obama speaks on Iran, energy, health care, jobs

President Barack Obama at a press conference June 23. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Obama began his press conference today with Iran, followed by energy legislation bill the House is working on and finishing with health care reform.

Some of his Iran-related comments so far:

• "This is not about the United States and the West; this is about the people of Iran, and the future that they, and only they will choose."
• "The Iranian people can speak for themselves."
• "We are going to monitor and see how this plays out before we many any judgments about how to proceed..."
• "As soon as violence broke out--in fact, in anticipation of potential violence--we were very clear in saying that violence was unacceptable, that that was not how governments operate with respect to their people."
• "My role has been to say the United States is not going to be a foil for the Iranian government to try to blame what's happening on the streets of Tehran on the CIA or on the White House, that this is an issue that is led by and given voice to the frustrations of the Iranian people. What we've also been consistent about is saying that there some universal principles...freedom of assembly freedom of speech..."
• "The international community is bearing witness to what's taking place."
• "Iranian government must understand...how they handle they dissent in their country...will help shape the tone not only for Iran's future but also [their relationship] to other countries."
• To a question about John McCain calling for Obama to take a stronger stand against what's happening on Iran, Obama said: "I think John McCain has genuine passion about international issues, and I think that we all share a belief that we want justice to prevail, but only I am the president of the United States. I've got responsibilities in making certain that we are continually advancing our national security interests and that we are not used as a tool to be exploited by other countries. You must have seen the reports...[they] translate what I've said [to make it seem as though] I'm saying people should go out and revolt.... They've [Republicans in Congress] got their constitutional duties, and I'm sure they will carry them out in the way that they think is appropriate. I'm president of the United States, and I'll carry out my duties as I think are appropriate."
  
• Q: "Why don't you spell out the consequences?" A: "Because we don't know how this is going to play out. I know you're all on a 24 hour cycle--I'm not."
• Q: "Under which conditions would you accept the election of Ahmadinejad, and if you do accept it, isn't that a betrayal?" A: "We didn't have international observers on the ground..we can't say definitely what the outcome was...what we can say is that [many] Iranians are question the legitimacy of the elections, so ultimately the most important thing Iran should consider is legitimacy in front of its own people. What we can do is say unequivocally that there are...international rules against violence that spans cultures...I think it's not too late for the Iranian government...that there is a peaceful path.... We hope they take it."
• "Those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history."
• Q: "What is your reaction to the video [of Neda]?" A: "It's heartbreaking. It's..uh..heartbreaking. And I think that anyone who sees it can see that there's something fundamentally unjust about that."
  

• To a question about the economy and jobs, he replied: "I think it's clear that unemployment will go over 10%...we're not on full recovery yet. What's important to me is how resilient the American people have been, and that they're still more optimistic than the facts [would lead them to be ]...This is a tough, tough period." We've all been struck by the courage of [the Iranian] people...We have to believe that ultimately justice will prevail."

Below are the prepared remarks for his speech:

Iran

First, I’d like to say a few words about the situation in Iran. The United States and the international community have been appalled and outraged by the threats, beatings, and imprisonments of the last few days. I strongly condemn these unjust actions, and I join with the American people in mourning each and every innocent life that is lost.

I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not at all interfering in Iran’s affairs. But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening within Iranian society. And we deplore violence against innocent civilians anywhere that it takes place.

The Iranian people are trying to have a debate about their future. Some in the Iranian government are trying to avoid that debate by accusing the United States and others outside of Iran of instigating protests over the elections. These accusations are patently false and absurd. They are an obvious attempt to distract people from what is truly taking place within Iran’s borders. This tired strategy of using old tensions to scapegoat other countries won’t work anymore in Iran. This is not about the United States and the West; this is about the people of Iran, and the future that they – and only they – will choose.

The Iranian people can speak for themselves. That is precisely what has happened these last few days. In 2009, no iron fist is strong enough to shut off the world from bearing witness to the peaceful pursuit of justice. Despite the Iranian government’s efforts to expel journalists and isolate itself, powerful images and poignant words have made their way to us through cell phones and computers, and so we have watched what the Iranian people are doing.

This is what we have witnessed. We have seen the timeless dignity of tens of thousands Iranians marching in silence. We have seen people of all ages risk everything to insist that their votes are counted and their voices heard. Above all, we have seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we have experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets. While this loss is raw and painful, we also know this: those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect those rights, and heed the will of its own people. It must govern through consent, not coercion. That is what Iran’s own people are calling for, and the Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government.

Energy Bill

The second issue I want to address is our ongoing effort to build a clean energy economy.

This week, the House of Representatives is moving ahead on historic legislation that will transform the way we produce and use energy in America. It is legislation that will finally spark a clean energy transformation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and confront the carbon pollution that threatens our planet.

This energy bill will create a set of incentives that will spur the development of new sources of energy, including wind, solar, and geothermal power. It will also spur new energy savings, like efficient windows and other materials that reduce heating costs in the winter and cooling costs in the summer.

These incentives will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy. And that will lead to the development of new technologies that lead to new industries that could create millions of new jobs in America – jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.

At a time of great fiscal challenges, this legislation is paid for by the polluters who currently emit the dangerous carbon emissions that contaminate the water we drink and pollute the air we breathe. It also provides assistance to businesses and communities as they make the gradual transition to clean energy technologies.

This legislation is extraordinarily important for our country, and has taken a great effort on the part of many over the course of months. I want to thank the Chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman; his colleagues on that committee, Congressmen John Dingell, Ed Markey, and Rick Boucher. I also want to thank Charlie Rangel, the Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, and Collin Peterson, the Chair of the Agriculture Committee, for their many and ongoing contributions to this process. I also want to express my appreciation to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

We all know why this is so important. The nation that leads in the creation of a clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. That is what this legislation seeks to achieve – it is a bill that will open the door to a better future for this nation. And that is why I urge members of the House to come together and pass it.

Health Care Reform

The last issue I’d like to address is health care.

Right now, Congress is debating various health care reform proposals. This is obviously a complicated issue, but I am very optimistic about the progress they’re making.

Like energy, this is legislation that will be paid for. It will not add to our deficits over the next decade. We will find the money through savings and efficiencies within the health care system – some of which we’ve already announced.

We will also ensure that the reform we pass brings down the crushing cost of health care. We simply cannot have a system where we throw good money after bad habits. We must control the skyrocketing costs that are driving families, businesses, and our government into greater and greater debt.

There is no doubt that we must preserve what is best about our health care system, and that means allowing Americans who like their doctors and their health care plans to keep them. But unless we fix what is broken in our current system, everyone’s health care will be in jeopardy. Unless we act, premiums will climb higher, benefits will erode further, and the rolls of uninsured will swell to include millions more Americans. Unless we act, one out of every five dollars we earn will be spent on health care within a decade. And the amount our government spends on Medicare and Medicaid will eventually grow larger than what our government spends on anything else today.

When it comes to health care, the status quo is unsustainable. Reform is not a luxury, it is a necessity. And so I hope that Congress will continue to make significant progress on this issue in the weeks ahead.

Sources: CNN, BNO News, My Twisted Mind
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