She was hot though so I didn't mind.

Wait wait, back up a bit.....

What's this about Macauly Culkin wanking on a blanket? :confused:

Fucking Disney
 

$4 Billion Dollars to kill Marvel comics

press release
Aug 31, 2009, 9:00 a.m. EST

Disney to Acquire Marvel Entertainment
Worldwide leader in family entertainment agrees to acquire Marvel and its portfolio of over 5,000 characters

BURBANK, Calif. & NEW YORK, Aug 31, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --Acquisition highlights Disney's strategic focus on quality branded content, technological innovation and international expansion to build long-term shareholder value



Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company /quotes/comstock/13*!dis/quotes/nls/dis (DIS 26.26, +0.22, +0.85%) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!mvl/quotes/nls/mvl (MVL 48.40, +0.03, +0.06%) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.

Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.

"This transaction combines Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney's creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories," said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. "Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney."

"We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation," Iger said.

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's Chief Executive Officer. "This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney's global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel's properties.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.

Investor Conference Call:

An investor conference call will take place at approximately 10:15 a.m. EDT / 7:15 a.m. PDT today, August 31, 2009. To listen to the Webcast, turn your browser to http://corporate.disney.go.com/inves...entations.html or dial in domestically at 800-260-8140 or internationally at 617-614-3672. For both dial-in numbers, the participant pass code is 51214527.

The discussion will be available via replay on the Disney investors website through September 14, 2009 at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT.

About The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with five business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, interactive media and consumer products. Disney is a Dow 30 company with revenues of nearly $38 billion in its most recent fiscal year.

About Marvel Entertainment, Inc.

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a library of over 5,000 characters featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in licensing, entertainment (via Marvel Studios and Marvel Animation) and publishing (via Marvel Comics).

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this communication may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements relate to a variety of matters, including but not limited to: the operations of the businesses of Disney and Marvel separately and as a combined entity; the timing and consummation of the proposed merger transaction; the expected benefits of the integration of the two companies; the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical fact. These statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Disney and Marvel regarding future events and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Neither Disney nor Marvel undertakes any obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Such differences may result from a variety of factors, including but not limited to:

-- legal or regulatory proceedings or other matters that affect the timing or ability to complete the transactions as contemplated;

-- the possibility that the expected synergies from the proposed merger will not be realized, or will not be realized within the anticipated time period; the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully;

-- the possibility of disruption from the merger making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships;

-- the possibility that the merger does not close, including but not limited to, due to the failure to satisfy the closing conditions;

-- any actions taken by either of the companies, including but not limited to, restructuring or strategic initiatives (including capital investments or asset acquisitions or dispositions);

-- developments beyond the companies' control, including but not limited to: changes in domestic or global economic conditions, competitive conditions and consumer preferences; adverse weather conditions or natural disasters; health concerns; international, political or military developments; and technological developments.

Additional factors that may cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements are set forth in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Disney for the year ended September 27, 2008, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on November 20, 2008, under the heading "Item 1A--Risk Factors" and in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Marvel for the year ended December 31, 2008, which was filed with the SEC on February 27, 2009, under the heading "Item 1A--Risk Factors," and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by each of Marvel and Disney.

Important Merger Information and Additional Information:

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval. In connection with the proposed transaction, Disney and Marvel will file relevant materials with the SEC. Disney will file a Registration Statement on Form S-4 that includes a proxy statement of Marvel and which also constitutes a prospectus of Disney. Marvel will mail the proxy statement/prospectus to its stockholders. Investors are urged to read the proxy statement/prospectus regarding the proposed transaction when it becomes available, because it will contain important information. The proxy statement/prospectus and other documents that will be filed by Disney and Marvel with the SEC will be available free of charge at the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, or by directing a request when such a filing is made to The Walt Disney Company, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521-9722, Attention: Shareholder Services or by directing a request when such a filing is made to Marvel Entertainment, Inc., 417 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10016, Attention: Corporate Secretary.

Disney, Marvel, their respective directors and certain of their executive officers may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of Marvel is set forth in its definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the SEC on March 24, 2009. Information about the directors and executive officers of Disney is set forth in its definitive proxy statement, which was filed with the SEC on January 16, 2009. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interests of such participants by reading the proxy statement/prospectus Disney and Marvel will file with the SEC when it becomes available.

SOURCE: The Walt Disney Company


The Walt Disney Company
Zenia Mucha
Corporate Communications
818-560-5300
or
Jonathan Friedland
Corporate Communications
818-560-8306
or
Lowell Singer
Investor Relations
818-560-6601

More Mother/Daughter action

Aug 31, 2009 11:37 pm US/Eastern NE Mom Found Guilty In Prostitution Operation
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3)

A Northeast Philadelphia woman has been found guilty on charges of being part of a mother-daughter prostitution operation.

Traci Young, 39, went on trial Monday and was found guilty.

Prosecutors said Young and her 22-year-old daughter Tami Smith, a mother of three, allegedly advertised acts of prostitution on the popular online classifieds site Craigslist.

Young and her daughter were arrested in the Wissinoming section on October 2, 2008.

Police said an undercover officer arranged a meeting with the women, who were under police surveillance for three weeks, via the Web site Craigslist. Their business was found under the exotic services section of the site with an ad for "mother and daughter tag team."

The officer met the women at a home they were renting in the 6100 block of Ditman Street.

Police said Young and Smith invited the officer into the home where the trio allegedly discussed services and agreed on a price tag of $200 to have sex with both women at the same time.

"It's a messed up world out there and we have to do this just to get by," Young told reporters as she was being led out of the home in handcuffs during the 2008 arrest.

Tami Smith had previously been sentenced to probation in June of this year.

Got pics of either of them?
-SRD

National Single Cougars Convention
 

Cougar Convention Story (lots of pics in link)

Hello, Ladies: Fur Flies at Bay Area 'Cougar' Convention
By Joe Eskenazi in Last Night, Local NewsMonday, Aug. 31 2009 @ 12:01AM
Drool Brittania: British cougars Rita Sangha (left), 39, and Bea Cameron, 45, take in a lecture on 'the positive aspects of dating younger men' while wordlessly offering younger men a thorough tutorial on the virtues of coupling with older women.
​Earlier this month we reported on the Bay Area laying claim to yet another innovation: The nation's first National Single Cougars Convention -- a night of gaiety for older women who love younger men and younger men who love to be loved by older women.

Well, Friday night in Palo Alto featured more cleavage than a butcher shop run by Eldridge Cleaver as the event came off without a hitch (remember, these women are not looking for commitment, according to the cougar movement's seminal literature).

Photographer Daniel C. Britt -- who has put in time in Iraq -- was kind enough to share his brilliant documentation of the lighter and more carefree fare at the inaugural cougar convention.

Love this site lol

Don't let a crisis go to waste
 

Massachussetts is about to rescind the 4th ammendment :mad:

Goodbye 4th Ammendment rights

POLICE STATE, USA
Cops jump on swine-flu power: Shots heard 'round the world
Pandemic bill allows health authorities to enter homes, detain without warrant

Posted: September 01, 2009
9:11 pm Eastern


By Chelsea Schilling
? 2009 WorldNetDaily


A "pandemic response bill" currently making its way through the Massachusetts state legislature would allow authorities to forcefully quarantine citizens in the event of a health emergency, compel health providers to vaccinate citizens, authorize forceful entry into private dwellings and destruction of citizen property and impose fines on citizens for noncompliance.

If it is a true violation of the 4th ammendment it will never stand. States cannot supercede federal law and the Feds don't like anyone taking away your rights but the Feds.

I advise you to read the story in it's entireity then counselor so we can have your complete legal opinion.

You'll be hearing more about this as the Swine Flu "crisis" grips the entire nation!!

I like you, but you are one paranoid mother.

They still talking about swine flu over there? They have spots at every airport and train station here that takes your temperature. If you have a flu they quarantine you. I took a few Advil before I got off the plane, just in case.

must....refrain....from...engage....
world....net....daily?....wtf?!?....
civil....crisis....powers....always....been....the re....that's....what....they're....there....for... .

Sure worldnet news sounds crazy. But on their banner ad you can buy survivalist seeds...enough to plant an acre!

I threw it out there and so that you'll think to yourself when Janet Napolitano's thugs are burning your house to the ground after dragging you out of it while waving your American flag and flashing your "I Voted for Obama!" pin,


Pred fuckin knew it all along!!!

HE WAS RIGHT!!!!
HE WAS RIGHT!!!!

Do niacin and vitamin C help?

Help what :confused:

Lol. State wide we have a law that says that on certain holidays the cops are able to take blood from the perp. Texas is a red state (except for all the populated counties that hold more than half the population) and it was the conservatives that did it. Its funny cause the first cases are getting to the higher appeals courts and atleast 3 are inline for the next docket for the Supreme Court to attempt to rule on. Lets see what happens. :D

The baby pictures of 20 popular websites

How 20 popular websites looked when they launched
From Google to youtube, from craigslist to flickr - how some of today's biggest sites looked back in the early days of their existence.

Published: 5:04PM BST 02 Sep 2009


Remember the days when the word Google was not interchangeable with internet? Or when every site seemed to have a Netscape icon on it? Or when Flash was still something you cleaned your floor with? Then you were clearly using the web in the mid to late 1990s when pages were rudimentary affairs containing lists of links and information.

Thanks to the waybackmachine internet archive, we're still able to see some of the Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 pioneers looked in their earliest incarnations.

Transsexual Killer serves time in Womens prison

From Times Online September 4, 2009

Transsexual killer wins battle to serve life sentence in a women's jailFrances Gibb, Legal Editor

A transsexual killer who was born a man has won a legal battle to be transferred to a women?s prison.

The prisoner, who was also convicted of attempted rape, will be moved to a women?s jail within weeks after a High Court ruled that the refusal by Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, to transfer her violated her basic human rights and increased her long-term risk to society.

The prisoner is in her 20s and serving a life sentence for manslaughter and attempted rape.

She has had her womanhood recognised by law and her birth certificate has been amended accordingly, the High Court in London was told. She has had hair on her face and legs permanently removed by laser and has developed breasts after hormone treatment, but is forbidden from wearing skirts or blouses, or more than ?subtle? make up, at the men?s prison where she is held on a wing for vulnerable prisoners.

Describing her as ?a woman trapped inside a man?s body?, her barrister, Phillipa Kaufman, said the final step to her achieving full womanhood is gender reassignment surgery - but she had been told she cannot have it while in a men?s prison.

Doctors have refused even to consider her for the operation unless she fulfills the ?living role requirement? - living as a woman for an extended period; so she has no hope of getting the surgery she so desperately wants unless moved to a women's jail.

The barrister told Judge David Elvin, QC, that, although the woman has now served her minimum jail term, she has been told by the Parole Board that she remains an unnacceptable risk to the public, still has ?a great deal of work to do? and is ?nowhere near release?.

That, Miss Kaufman argued, was a direct result of her intense frustration at being unable to have gender reassignment surgery.

The prisoner, dressed in a dark blue blouse and striped jacket and wearing gold earrings, listened by video link as Miss Kaufman told the judge: ?At the moment, she lives as a woman amongst men on a vulnerable prisoners' unit and she can?t wear what she wants or more than subtle make up. They are an important statement of her femaleness.?

Oliver Sanders, for the Justice Department and the prison authorities, argued that the woman would be no more likely to be accepted by inmates at a female prison and that, if moved, she would have to spend long periods in segregation, at an extra cost of ?80,000 per year.

But today Judge Elvin ruled that the Justice Department?s refusal to transfer her to a women's jail amounted to a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which enshrines the right to respect for privacy.

Regardless of any extra cost involved, the judge said that to block her progress towards full gender reassignment surgery was irrational and would only increase her risk to the public.

After the judge?s ruling, Miss Kaufman told the judge that the woman is now expected to be moved to a women's jail within a few weeks.

The transsexual prisoner, referred to in court only as ?A?, was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for five years after smothering her boyfriend with a pillow and strangling him with a pair of tights.

Her life sentence tariff, the minimum period she must serve before being considered for parole, expired in 2007. "A" was diagnosed as suffering from gender dysphoria and had been aware of her condition from an early age, the judge said.

The woman said in her evidence that when her gender was legally recognised it was ?a reflection of how it should have been from the start?.

The judge said that her detention in a men?s jail had both scotched her desire to live fully ?in role? as a woman - and thus qualify for a full gender reassignment - and had also had a ?serious adverse effect? on her ability to take part in work aimed at reducing her risk status and moving towards release.

The judge issued a mandatory order requiring Mr Straw to transfer ?A? to a women's prison.

^^^ Do you know him/her???

Why you want me to introduce you to her?

Whatever happened on that last date I set you up on with "Bobbi"???

The Placebo Effect

http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/m...urrentPage=all

Long article, but worth the read. Here are the first few paragraphs.

Merck was in trouble. In 2002, the pharmaceutical giant was falling behind its rivals in sales. Even worse, patents on five blockbuster drugs were about to expire, which would allow cheaper generics to flood the market. The company hadn't introduced a truly new product in three years, and its stock price was plummeting.

In interviews with the press, Edward Scolnick, Merck's research director, laid out his battle plan to restore the firm to preeminence. Key to his strategy was expanding the company's reach into the antidepressant market, where Merck had lagged while competitors like Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline created some of the best-selling drugs in the world. "To remain dominant in the future," he told Forbes, "we need to dominate the central nervous system."

His plan hinged on the success of an experimental antidepressant codenamed MK-869. Still in clinical trials, it looked like every pharma executive's dream: a new kind of medication that exploited brain chemistry in innovative ways to promote feelings of well-being. The drug tested brilliantly early on, with minimal side effects, and Merck touted its game-changing potential at a meeting of 300 securities analysts.

Behind the scenes, however, MK-869 was starting to unravel. True, many test subjects treated with the medication felt their hopelessness and anxiety lift. But so did nearly the same number who took a placebo, a look-alike pill made of milk sugar or another inert substance given to groups of volunteers in clinical trials to gauge how much more effective the real drug is by comparison. The fact that taking a faux drug can powerfully improve some people's health?the so-called placebo effect?has long been considered an embarrassment to the serious practice of pharmacology.

Ultimately, Merck's foray into the antidepressant market failed. In subsequent tests, MK-869 turned out to be no more effective than a placebo. In the jargon of the industry, the trials crossed the futility boundary.

Ugly Blind Date Causes Teen Suicide
 

Ugly Blind Date Causes Teen Suicide
Lying about your age and beauty is par for the course when it comes to Internet dating. In China, such deceptions had deadly results for one lovesick teen who killed himself after a disappointing meeting with an Internet ?hotty? he had been chatting with.

The 17-year-old boy from the northeastern Heilongjiang province, whose name has not been released, chatted with what he thought was a 19-year-old girl for weeks on popular free Chinese instant messaging and chatroom service Tencent QQ.

The woman, who used the name Qunjiaofeiyang (meaning ?Flying Skirt?) in chats with the boy, described herself as beautiful and the two had conversations online for weeks before deciding to meet in person. When they finally met in the nearby town of Mudanjiang, the woman turned out to be ten years the boy?s senior ? and much less attractive than advertised.

Disappointed and depressed, the teen returned home immediately and discontinued eating and sleeping. He made the tragic choice to end his life through hanging himself four days later.

The teen is just one of many in China, which has one of the world?s highest suicide rates.

MadamMeow note: He should have killed the lady. lol

I was dreadfully concerned that I'd drive someone to this too (I'm the ugly, older hag in this story). I tried to compensate with a cool car - and I think that's the only thing that forestalled a tragic death.

Been there done that. Except I ended up having sex with her. She was not older but she was bigger than advertised.

Lol a cool car can work magic. I think girls come to expect such from men though otherwise you would hear about chicks killing themselves all the time.

Not too shocked, just too bad the girls don't get that most guys wouldn't care anyway and it's better to be honest.

Out of Africa my ass!!!
 

Out of Africa my ass


A skull that rewrites the history of man

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

Wednesday, 9 September 2009

The conventional view of human evolution and how early man colonised the world has been thrown into doubt by a series of stunning palaeontological discoveries suggesting that Africa was not the sole cradle of humankind. Scientists have found a handful of ancient human skulls at an archaeological site two hours from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, that suggest a Eurasian chapter in the long evolutionary story of man.


The skulls, jawbones and fragments of limb bones suggest that our ancient human ancestors migrated out of Africa far earlier than previously thought and spent a long evolutionary interlude in Eurasia ? before moving back into Africa to complete the story of man.

Experts believe fossilised bones unearthed at the medieval village of Dmanisi in the foothills of the Caucuses, and dated to about 1.8 million years ago, are the oldest indisputable remains of humans discovered outside of Africa.

The story of humans unravels but what has really excited the researchers is the discovery that these early humans (or "hominins") are far more primitive-looking than the Homo erectus humans that were, until now, believed to be the first people to migrate out of Africa about 1 million years ago.

The Dmanisi people had brains that were about 40 per cent smaller than those of Homo erectus and they were much shorter in stature than classical H. erectus skeletons, according to Professor David Lordkipanidze, general director of the Georgia National Museum. "Before our findings, the prevailing view was that humans came out of Africa almost 1 million years ago, that they already had sophisticated stone tools, and that their body anatomy was quite advanced in terms of brain capacity and limb proportions. But what we are finding is quite different," Professor Lordkipanidze said.

"The Dmanisi hominins are the earliest representatives of our own genus ? Homo ? outside Africa, and they represent the most primitive population of the species Homo erectus to date. They might be ancestral to all later Homo erectus populations, which would suggest a Eurasian origin of Homo erectus."

Speaking at the British Science Festival in Guildford, where he gave the British Council lecture, Professor Lordkipanidze raised the prospect that Homo erectus may have evolved in Eurasia from the more primitive-looking Dmanisi population and then migrated back to Africa to eventually give rise to our own species, Homo sapiens ? modern man.

"The question is whether Homo erectus originated in Africa or Eurasia, and if in Eurasia, did we have vice-versa migration? This idea looked very stupid a few years ago, but today it seems not so stupid," he told the festival.

The scientists have discovered a total of five skulls and a solitary jawbone. It is clear that they had relatively small brains, almost a third of the size of modern humans. "They are quite small. Their lower limbs are very human and their upper limbs are still quite archaic and they had very primitive stone tools," Professor Lordkipanidze said. "Their brain capacity is about 600 cubic centimetres. The prevailing view before this discovery was that the humans who first left Africa had a brain size of about 1,000 cubic centimetres."

The only human fossil to predate the Dmanisi specimens are of an archaic species Homo habilis, or "handy man", found only in Africa, which used simple stone tools and lived between about 2.5 million and 1.6 million years ago.

"I'd have to say, if we'd found the Dmanisi fossils 40 years ago, they would have been classified as Homo habilis because of the small brain size. Their brow ridges are not as thick as classical Homo erectus, but their teeth are more H. erectus like," Professor Lordkipanidze said. "All these finds show that the ancestors of these people were much more primitive than we thought. I don't think that we were so lucky as to have found the first travellers out of Africa. Georgia is the cradle of the first Europeans, I would say," he told the meeting.

"What we learnt from the Dmanisi fossils is that they are quite small ? between 1.44 metres to 1.5 metres tall. What is interesting is that their lower limbs, their tibia bones, are very human-like so it seems they were very good runners," he said.

He added: "In regards to the question of which came first, enlarged brain size or bipedalism, maybe indirectly this information calls us to think that body anatomy was more important than brain size. While the Dmanisi people were almost modern in their body proportions, and were highly efficient walkers and runners, their arms moved in a different way, and their brains were tiny compared to ours.

"Nevertheless, they were sophisticated tool makers with high social and cognitive skills," he told the science festival, which is run by the British Science Association.

One of the five skulls is of a person who lost all his or her teeth during their lifetime but had still survived for many years despite being completely toothless. This suggests some kind of social organisation based on mutual care, Professor Lordkipanidze said.

From Deep Pacific, Ugly and Tasty, With a Catch
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: September 9, 2009



The answer to the eternal mystery of what makes up a Filet-O-Fish sandwich turns out to involve an ugly creature from the sunless depths of the Pacific, whose bounty, it seems, is not limitless.

The world?s insatiable appetite for fish, with its disastrous effects on populations of favorites like red snapper, monkfish and tuna, has driven commercial fleets to deeper waters in search of creatures unlikely to star on the Food Network.

One of the most popular is the hoki, or whiptail, a bug-eyed specimen found far down in the waters around New Zealand and transformed into a major export. McDonald?s alone at one time used roughly 15 million pounds of it each year.

The hoki may be exceedingly unattractive, but when its flesh reaches the consumer it?s just fish ? cut into filets and sticks or rolled into sushi ? moist, slightly sweet and very tasty. Better yet, the hoki fishery was thought to be sustainable, providing New Zealand with a reliable major export for years to come.

But arguments over managing this resource are flaring not only between commercial interests and conservationists, but also among the environmental agencies most directly involved in monitoring and regulating the catch.

A lot of money is at stake, as well as questions about the effectiveness of global guidelines meant to limit the effects of industrial fishing.

Without formally acknowledging that hoki are being overfished, New Zealand has slashed the allowable catch in steps, from about 275,000 tons in 2000 and 2001 to about 100,000 tons in 2007 and 2008 ? a decline of nearly two-thirds.

The scientific jury is still out, but critics warn that the hoki fishery is losing its image as a showpiece of oceanic sustainability.

?We have major concerns,? said Peter Trott, the fisheries program manager in Australia for the World Wildlife Fund, which closely monitors the New Zealand fishery.

The problems, he said, include population declines, ecosystem damage and the accidental killing of skates and sharks. He added that New Zealand hoki managers let industry ?get as much as it can from the resource without alarm bells ringing.?

The hoki lives in inky darkness about a half-mile down and grows to more than four feet long, its body ending in a sinuous tail of great length. Large eyes give the fish a startled look.

Scientists say its fate represents a cautionary tale much like that of its heavily harvested forerunner, orange roughy. That deepwater fish reproduces slowly and lives more than 100 years. Around New Zealand, catches fell steeply in the early 1990s under the pressures of industrial fishing, in which factory trawlers work around the clock hauling in huge nets with big winches.

Hoki rose commercially as orange roughy fell. Its shorter life span (up to 25 years) and quicker pace of reproduction seemed to promise sustainable harvests. And its dense spawning aggregations, from June to September, made colossal hauls relatively easy.

As a result, the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries set very high quotas ? roughly 275,000 tons a year from 1996 to 2001. Dozens of factory trawlers plied the deep waters, and dealers shipped frozen blocks and fillets of the fish around the globe.

Moreover, the fishery won certification in March 2001 from the Marine Stewardship Council, a private fisheries assessment group in London, which called it sustainable and well managed. The group?s blue label became a draw for restaurant fish buyers.

?Most Americans have no clue that hoki is often what they?re eating in fried-fish sandwiches,? SeaFood Business, an industry magazine, reported in April 2001. It said chain restaurants using hoki included McDonald?s, Denny?s and Long John Silver?s.

Ominous signs of overfishing ? mainly drops in hoki spawns ? came soon thereafter. Criticism from ecological groups soared. The stewardship council promotes hoki as sustainable ?in spite of falling fish stocks and the annual killing of hundreds of protected seals, albatross and petrels,? the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand said in May 2004.

When the stewardship council had to decide whether to recertify the hoki fishery as sustainable and well managed, the World Wildlife Fund, a Washington-based group that helped found the council, was strongly opposed. ?The impacts of bottom trawling by the hoki fishery must be reduced,? the fund said.

The wildlife fund was overruled, and the council recertified the fishery in October 2007. At the same time, the New Zealand ministry cut the quota still further, reducing the allowable commercial catch from roughly 110,000 tons to about 100,000 tons.

Some restaurants cut back on hoki amid the declines and the controversy.

Last year, Yum Brands, which owns Long John Silver?s, issued a corporate responsibility report that cited its purchases of New Zealand hoki as praiseworthy because the fishery was ?certified as sustainable.?

Now, Ben Golden, a Yum Brands spokesman, said hoki was ?not on the menu.?

Denny?s said it served hoki only in its New Zealand restaurants.

Gary Johnson, McDonald?s senior director of global purchasing, said hoki use was down recently to about 11 million pounds annually from roughly 15 million pounds ? a drop of about 25 percent. ?It could go up if the quota goes up,? he said in an interview. He noted that McDonald?s also used other whitefish for its Filet-O-Fish sandwiches.

Mr. Johnson called the diminishing quotas a sign not of strain on fish stocks but of good management. ?Everything we?ve seen and heard,? he said, ?suggests the fishery is starting to come back.?

The Ministry of Fisheries agreed. ?If you look at the current state of the fishery, it?s apparent that the string of management actions that we?ve taken, which came at severe economic impact, have been effective,? said Aoife Martin, manager of deepwater fisheries.

But the Blue Ocean Institute, a conservation group in East Norwich, N.Y., that scores seafood for ecological impact on a scale from green to red, still gives New Zealand hoki an unfavorable orange rating. The fish is less abundant over all, the group says, and the fishery ?takes significant quantities of seabirds and fur seals.?

Mr. Trott of the wildlife fund was more pointed. He called the fishery?s management ?driven by short-term gains at the expense of long-term rewards? ? a characterization the ministry strongly rejects.

But he, too, held out the prospect of a turnaround that would raise the hoki?s abundance off New Zealand and significantly reduce levels of ecological damage and accidental killing.

?We are currently working with both industry and government to rectify all these issues,? he said. ?Our hope is that we will see great change and willingness by industry and, importantly, government to improve the situation dramatically.?

Fuckin' makes sense.
Glad I never liked those things, and haven't had one since I was like 10.

Courtney Love bashes Guitar Hero then blocks Twitter account http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10350525-93.html

HAHAHA, the Filet O'Fish is probably the most appealing thing in a McDonald's kitchen.

I used to be a manager in 2 stores in the early 90's. At least the fish is frozen then put into the fry-o-lator. The frozen meat patties would thaw out sometimes, fall on the floor and the hands ading the onions and pickles were not always the cleanest in the world.

Don't even get me started on the Breakfast menu!!

I'm certain that some others on here have (or still do) worked there and can attest to that.

I'm so confused. They say they only found five skulls and a jaw bone. Then later they say they also found leg bones, etc. Then they start jumping to all these conclusions about the society of the bones they found. Not stuff based on the bones, but stuff assumed.

I love Anthropology and Archeology. I HATE when these scientists jump to conclusions like this. They do it just to make a name for themselves.

Thank God.
U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves' Letter Announcing Decision to Sever ACORN Ties
by Publius

I saw this story last night and was so happy to know that the country is starting to wake up!!

National Tea Party in DC today 9/12/09!!!!

British officer wins two gallantry awards for fending off Taliban attack with bayonet

Lieutenant James Adamson was awarded the Military Cross after killing two insurgents during close quarter combat in Helmand's notorious "Green Zone".

The 24-year-old officer, a member of the 5th battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, revealed that he shouted "have some of this" before shooting dead a gunman who had just emerged from a maize field.

Seconds later and out of ammunition, the lieutenant leapt over a river bank and killed a second insurgent machine-gunner with a single thrust of his bayonet in the man's chest.

The officer was one of 145 members of the armed services who last week received awards in the latest Operational Honours list.

In a graphic description of the intense fighting in Helmand, the officer told of the moment killed the second fighter. He said: "It was a split second decision.

"I either wasted vital seconds changing the magazine on my rifle or went over the top and did it more quickly with the bayonet.

"I took the second option. I jumped up over the bank of the river. He was just over the other side, almost touching distance.

"We caught each other's eye as I went towards him but by then, for him, it was too late. There was no inner monologue going on in my head I was just reacting in the way that I was trained.

"He was alive when it went in ? he wasn't alive when it came out ? it was that simple."

Recalling his feelings in the moments afterwards Lt Adamson, said: "He was young, with dark hair. He only had kind of whispy hair on his chin, not a proper beard, so he wasn't that old, maybe a teenager.

"Afterwards, when he was dead, I picked up his PKM (Russian-made belt-fed machine gun) machine gun and slung it over my back.

"We then had to wait for more of my men to join us. We thought there could be more Taliban about and we were just watching our arcs of fire, waiting for more to come out of a big field of maize which came right up to the river we had been wading through.

"One of my men, Corporal Billy Carnegie, reached us, looked at the two dead Taliban on the ground and then saw the blood on my bayonet and said "boss what the **** have you been doing?"

The firefight, in July 2008, began during the middle an operation to push the Taliban out of an area close to the town of Musa Qala in northern Helmand.

Lt Adamson's platoon of 25-men, which was leading the assault, had just halted their advance when they were attacked.

Lt Adamson, who is single and comes from the Isle of Man, was moving between two eight man sections when a group of Taliban fighters attempted a flanking attack.

He continued: "The Taliban kept on probing us ? sending in fighters to attack, first in twos then in fours.

"There was a gap between the two sections and the Taliban realised this and were sending in men to get between the two groups so they could split us up and isolate us.

"Myself and Corporal Fraser 'Hammy' Hamilton were wading nipple deep down a river which connected the two positions. Hammy was ahead when the Taliban fighter with the PKM (Russian machine gun) appeared from a maize field.

"There was an exchange of fire and 'Hammy' fired off his ammunition and then the weight of fire coming from the Taliban forced him under the water.

"The machine-gunner had also gone to ground but was still firing in our direction periodically. I had just caught up when 'Hammy' came up out of the water like a monster of the deep.

"Then another Taliban man came through the maize carrying an AK47. He was only three to four metres away.

"I immediately shot him with a burst from my rifle which was already set on automatic. He went down straight away and I knew I had hit him.

"Hammy said I shouted: 'have some of this' as I shot him but I can't remember that. I fired another burst at the PKM gunner and then that was me out of ammunition as well.

"That was when I decided to use the bayonet on him. It was a case of one second to bayonet him or two seconds to put on a fresh magazine.

"Nothing was really going through my mind but briefly I did think 'if this works out the boys will love it' ? as in the rest of the platoon that I commanded.

"The undergrowth is so dense in the 'Green zone' that I often ordered bayonets fixed because you knew the distances between you and the Taliban could be very short. It is also good for morale."

His Military Cross citation read: "Adamson's supreme physical courage, combined with the calm leadership he continued to display after a very close encounter with the Taliban, were of the very highest order.

"His actions also neutralised an enemy flanking attack which could have resulted in casualties for his platoon."

Two weeks earlier Lt Adamson had won a Mention in Dispatches (MID) by leading his men in an ambush against the Taliban in the same area.

It is understood that the young lieutenant is the first member of the armed forces to receive two awards for gallantry during the same operational tour.


Balls of fucking steel!

Number of webcam models 'on the rise'
 

A Newsbeat investigation's found a rising number of British women are working as webcam models on the internet.

Market analysts say the overall webcam market is now worth more than a billion pounds, with online sex shows a big part of it.

Industry insiders say there's been a rise in applications, partly fuelled by the recession, with hundreds of British women signing up to UK websites each month, many more internationally.

They appear live on webcams that can be accessed on computers around the world.

Men usually pay premium rates for the privilege.



Twenty-three-year-old Lauren's been working as a webcam model for a few months.

She works with a few other girls in a basement of a semi-detached house that's been converted into a studio.

It's been furnished to look like two different rooms. On one side there's a bed, on the other a sofa.

The girls wear fancy underwear and headsets to talk to punters on the webcams. Lauren told Newsbeat she can make up to ?30 per hour with bonuses.

"You can imagine, it is talking dirty. You know, if they ask me to take my top off, I will do."


It's a secretive international industry. Women can work from anywhere in the world, posing naked and talking explicitly about sex.

Lauren says she can make up to ?30 per hour as a webcam girl Market analysts say overall the webcam market grew from around ?730m in 2006 to ?1.1bn in 2008.

It's predicted to almost double in worth again by 2015, with pornographic webcam sites driving much of that growth.

They say it's more hidden from analysts than other segments, but is a "lively" part of the market.

The most popular site is huge in size, claiming to have around 27,000 webcam models and 17 million members, with around 12,000 new sign-ups each day.

Brodie Fry set up one of the websites. He told Newsbeat the recession has contributed to more women working as webcam models.

"A lot of women in this sort of economic downturn will move into the adult industry.


"This is a safe alternative to becoming an escort or an adult model. There's total anonymity. Of course, the operators don't use their real names.

One site told Newsbeat in the last year it's put an extra 42 British women on average a month on its books.

Richard Smallbone recently set his own webcam site. He told Newsbeat up to 150 British women are signing up to UK sites a month, with many more joining international sites.

He said: "We started off with 12 profiles and there would be one girl working during the day.

"Eighteen months down the line, we now have 80 different profiles, anything up to 16 girls working during the day."

'Enormous pressure'

But there are concerns. Campaigners say webcam girls could be pressurised into doing things they're not comfortable with.

Mobile adult services are thought to be the next growth area Anna van Heeswijk's from Object, which campaigns against the sexual exploitation of women, said the industry needs to be better regulated.

"It is the man who decides which women he wants to choose, depending on what she looks like and how she's willing to behave sexually.

"This puts enormous pressure on women within the industry to perform more and more extreme versions of pornography in order to attract men, in order to make a living."

Lauren has no such worries. She said her priority is her three-year-old daughter and insists she's not being exploited.

"A lot of my friends are working in clothes shops and stuff, they've got no money.

"I could do two shifts in a week and I'm still earning more money than what they are and I get to spend all day, every day, with my little girl.

"I wouldn't want to be at work all day and have her in nursery. I wouldn't be able to see her."

It's not only on the internet where webcam models are becoming more popular.

Juniper Research anticipates that revenues from mobile adult services will rise from ?1.3 bn in 2008 to ?2.9bn by 2013 - part of that growth is from webcams on mobiles.

'Pirates' ship looted in Scotland
 

A tall ship used in the Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy has been raided while docked in Scotland.

Thieves targeted HMS Bounty while she was berthed at Custom House Quay in Greenock, Inverclyde, at about 0410 BST on Saturday.

A sum of cash between ?50 and ?100 was taken, along with several items of clothing with the Bounty's insignia.

A survival suit, book, life ring and an American flag were also stolen. These were later recovered nearby.

Police have appealed for anyone with information about the theft to come forward.

HMS Bounty is a replica of the original Bounty, famous for its ill-fated trip to Tahiti and the West Indies in 1789.

A mutiny took place during the expedition, which saw Captain William Bligh and 18 crewmen set adrift.

The replica was built in 1962 for the film Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando.

It has since been used as The Edinburgh Trader in the final two Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which starred Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.

The ship was berthed in Greenock during a tour of several UK ports.