Monday, May 10, 2010

Has Radar Online Found A Chelsea Handler Sex Tape?

A VHS tape of a 23-year-old Chelsea Handler has surfaced, and Radar Online claims it’s a sex tape. At first glance it appears to be Handler practicing her standup routine at home, but it quickly explodes into a sex tape featuring Chelsea Handler and a male sporting a British accent. After sexy time, the tape quickly cuts back to Chelsea Handler’s standup routine. In response to Radar’s claim of the sex tape Handler cleared the air on her E! Network celebrity news talk show “Chelsea Lately” when she announced that she had made the tape for a comedy club audition when she first moved to Los Angeles and was in need of a loan. ”I would like to say to Radar Online: A) thanks for ruining my surprise Christmas gift to my staff, and number two, it was made as a joke,” Handler said to her loyal “Chelsea Lately”! ; viewers. “I put it on an audition tape for a comedy club because I’m a comedian.”

Chelsea Handler has built her comedy career on sexual frankness

In her standup routines and self-penned books like “My Horizontal Life,” “Are You There, Vodka? It is Me, Chelsea” and “Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang,” Chelsea Handler has spoken at length about her sexual experiences and other Vodka-fueled ventures as a gregarious single woman. Chelsea Handler’s unique brand of storytelling can be wildly entertaining, even if the subject matter is rarely family-friendly. It doesn’t take much figuring to see the Chelsea Handler sex tape could very easily be her way of making a big first impression in her job search at that time.

Wither the unnamed source?

Blogs the caliber of The Hollywood Gossip doubt that Chelsea Handler is telling the full truth about whether the sex was really part of an audition. But Chelsea Handler has stuck to her guns. It is a wonder the gossip rags haven’t made the connection between the British man in the video and also the British boyfriend Handler writes about in her books. Chelsea cared about this boyfriend, but he ended up betraying her. Now that Chelsea Handler’s television career has taken off, is this a case of the former boyfriend back to extort cash and fame, or does he want to hurt her again?

If such is the case, then clearly “British Bob” doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. Handler told her “Chelsea Lately” audience that a person (whom she did not identify) attempted a sex tape shakedown to the tune of $ 1,000,000. Handler’s retort to the extortion try was self-effacement: “No thanks. I’m not worth it,” she said, smiling.

Sources for the article

Radar Online

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/04/exclusive-chelsea-handler-sex-tape-its-no-joke



Saturday, May 8, 2010

Is Times Square Bomb Muslim Revenge For South Park Muhammad?

South Park Muhammad Revenge By Muslims With Times Square Bomb?

The New York Police department reports that numerous would have died had the Times Square bomb gone off instead of failing to explode. The owner of the SUV that was packed with explosives was tracked down although police force has been looking for a person of interest that was captures on video. As the investigation resulting from the Times Square bomb 2010 continues, a group that calls itself the “Pakistani Taliban” chimed in to take credit for the botched bombing.

Times Square bomb/South Park Muhammad

The Pathfinder that was holding the Times Square bomb — a vehicle that was stolen, not bought with an auto loan — seemed to be parked near the headquarters of Viacom, the parent company of Comedy Central. Comedy Central censored recently an episode of South Park portraying the Prophet Muhammad. The South Park Muhammad episode, and the fact the Times Square bomb was planted near Viacom, is giving way for numerous suspicions the attack was related to the controversy surrounding the Comedy Central cartoon program.

Scare of Times Square bomb

In a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder that a surveillance camera captured on video Saturday, the Times Square bomb was transported in. Saturday night, a street vendor noticed smoke coming from the car and alerted police. Thousands of people were evacuated from Times Square due to the bomb. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told CNN that had the bomb exploded, it "would have caused casualties, a significant fireball”.

The New York bomb was made from gasoline, firecrackers, analog alarm clocks and propane canisters. Police said the canisters of propane were of the type commonly used for barbecue grills. Legal in some states were the firecrackers, consumer grade M-88.

Times Square bomb plot claimed by Taliban

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the Times Square bomb plot on an Islamist website, muslim.net. Reuters reports that the statement said before it was taken down, “The Pakistani Taliban announces its responsibility for the New York attack in revenge for the two leaders al-Baghdadi and al-Muhajir and Muslim martyrs.” The muslim.net statement also said that Qari Hussain Mehsud, who’s the master mentor of Taliban suicide bombers, accepted responsibility for the New York bomb plot “with good pride and utmost bravery.” There was no evidence, as outlined by Federal and local officials, to support the Pakistani Taliban's statement.

New York bomb plot and Iraq

Fox News reports that investigators are looking at parallels between the New York bomb and other attacks from summer of 2007. The attacks were at an airport in Glasgow, Scotland, in a neighborhood of nightclubs in London, and a theater. Both attacks involved cars containing propane and gasoline that also failed to explode. Those attacks supposedly had roots in Iraq.

Blunder with the Times Square bomb

The Pathfinder that has the New York bomb was brought to forensic in Jamaica, Queens where investigators searched for DNA, hairs, fibers, and fingerprints. No fingerprints were found as of Sunday night, officials told the New York Times. The owner of the auto was found through identification numbers on the auto. Thieves had stripped the VIN number from the dashboard but they didn’t realize it was stamped in other places, like the engine block and axle.

Is this man the bomber?

Hundreds of hours of surveillance footage is being studied by the FBI from more than 80 cameras which contain images of a man leaving the vicinity of the Pathfinder that was shot by a tourist. The person of interest within the video was seen taking off a shirt and walking away shortly before the automobile started to smolder.

Resources

Comedy Central

http://www.comedycentral.com/

Reuters reports

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6412UP20100502

New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/nyregion/04bomb.html?pagewanted=2&hp



Faisal Shahzad Arrested For Times Square Automobile Bomb

A 30-year-old Pakistani-born U.S. Citizen, Faisal Shahzad, has been arrested in connection to the Times Square vehicle bomb incident. He is due to appear in court today, Tuesday, May 4. He evidently and fortunately didn’t know much about bomb making, because it didn’t go off. He didn’t get too far afterwards, either. With the charges he’s likely to face, he’s going to need some hefty no faxing payday loans to get decent lawyer.

Faisal Shahzad arrested in nick of time

Faisal Shahzad was attempting escape when caught. He had boarded a plane bound for Dubai at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he was apprehended. According to the Los Angeles Times, the car that he left idling with a bomb in it was traced to the previous owner, whom he had purchased it from . The bomb, according to authorities, appeared to be the work of two individuals.

Described as quiet, family man

Faisal Shahzad was described by his neighbors as being quiet and mostly private. He never seemed to venture out of his house much, and there were conflicting stories over just what he did for a living. One neighbor in his neighborhood in Shelton, Connecticut said Shahzad had said he worked on Wall Street, and an additional neighbor as outlined by CBS) believed he worked in Norwalk, Connecticut, which is nearby to Shelton. Neither saw him outside of the house much. The house he resided with his wife and children in was later foreclosed on.

The President weighs in

President Obama released a brief statement in which he praised the efforts of the citizens who tipped off police force and the law enforcement officials who responded to the threat. He promised further investigation and that justice would be done.

Unknown motives

So far, the motives of Faisal Shahzad’s Times Square car bomb have not been identified. What is clear, from the CBS reports and others reports, is that he had become a citizen. He and his wife purchased a home, and she and their children now reside close to Peshawar, Pakistan, where he returned from several months ago. He also bought a used Pathfinder with cash and didn’t register it. Authorities tracked down the previous owner using the VIN on the motor. Further insight may be gained soon, as he is due in court soon.

Article Resources

Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-times-square-bomb-201000505,0,3797615.story

CBS

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/04/national/main6459360.shtml



Tuesday, May 4, 2010

A Intelligent Phone Partnership? Palm And HP

Despite grandfathering the concept of smartphones with personal digital assistants, Palm hasn’t been doing this well recently – so the Palm HP buyout that has been announced this week could not come at a better time. The $ 1.2 billion loan till payday for Palm is giving HP the OS, intellectual property, and phone handset designs of Palm.

HP purchase saves faltering Palm

HP Palm partnership is surely coming at a very good time for Palm. Palm has been struggling, besides good reviews for its new operating system. The technology behind Palm wise phones has been well-reviewed, but a combination of slow sales and frustrating design have meant that Palm’s revenues are falling to dangerous levels. The latest SEC filing of Palm outlined the problem – slow sales and low order volumes.

Plans for Palm

Some Wall Street investors have questioned HP’s purchase of Palm. It seems a little odd that a business would pay $ 5 a stock for a company that was trading at $ 1 two years ago. It certainly seems that HP might have plans for the Palm operating system. In the HP Palm purchase announcement, HP outlines its strategy as “creating a mobile ecosystem” that “leverages HP’s channel and enterprise connections”. The translation of this is that HP can be distancing itself from Windows as it enters the tablet and mobile markets.

Will HP Slate run the new Palm OS?

Though HP has been a strategic partner with Microsoft for a very long time, HP may very well be using the HP Palm partnership to get a new operating system. The HP Streak 3 or 5 might require a a lot more lightweight operating system than what Windows 7 can offer. Since the HP Streak could be a smartphone also as a slate, the Palm OS would be a good match. Using the Palm OS would keep HP from being beholden to Window’s release regulations. Though Apple’s dominance is difficult to challenge, Palm and HP partnering might be able to make a go of it.

HP Palm to merge in July

There are still regulatory hurdles for HP Palm to jump over. The merger needs to be approved by the stockholders of palm and US regulatory agencies. If the HP Palm merger is approved, HP will become complete owner of Palm around July 2010.

Resources

HP Press Release

Palm SEC filings

ZD Net



Monday, May 3, 2010

BrandsZ Top 100 Names BMW Most Valuable Auto Brand

BMW Tops All Automakers Within the BrandsZ Top 100

In the annual BrandsZ Top 100 survey conducted by market research company Millward Brown, BMW has moved to the lead when it comes to the most valuable auto brands worldwide. BMW’s rise takes them above Toyota, who was damaged considerably by recent scandals over mechanical defects. Some including Millward Brown Global Brand Manager Peter Walshe believe that this is only a temporary setback for Toyota. BMW moved to the top slot despite a nine percent decrease from the previous year. By contrast, Toyota’s brand value dropped a whopping 27 percent over the very same period.

BMW rules, despite Ford’s high climb

Not to be outdone, Ford and Volkswagen increased in value significantly according to the BrandsZ Top 100, to the tune of 19 and 20 percent, respectively. Walshe said that Ford’s exciting new technology – from voice control to better emissions standards and exciting social media – played a large role in their surprising success on the survey. Speaking of the success of VW and Audi, a Millward Brown press release attributed the rise to the fact the German carmakers are “viewed as trustworthy brands with style, global distribution, German engineering and lower prices than prestige.”

Toyota isn’t really the only automotive brand that suffered

Brands like Mercedes-Benz and Porsche also dropped significantly, which comes as no surprise when one considers that the top six automakers on the BrandsZ Top 100 took a 15 percent nosedive as a whole. That decrease was the largest noted in any sector, likely indicative of negative perception associated with government bailouts and large car recalls.

Top 10 automotive brands on the BrandsZ Top 100

Millward Brown’s BrandsZ Top 100 is based on a lot more than 1 million global consumer interviews and business performance analysis extrapolated from Bloomberg and Datamonitor data. Google, IBM and Apple sit atop the prestigious survey, with brand values ranging from $ 114 billion to $ 83 billion. Without further ado, here are were the top 10 most valuable auto brands rank on the BrandsZ Top 100:

  • BMW 21.82 billion dollars (ranked 25th)
  • Toyota $ 21.77 – (26)
  • Honda $ 14.30 – (46)
  • Mercedes-Benz 13.74 billion (Fifty-third)
  • Porsche 12.02 billion dollars (ranked 65th)
  • Nissan 8.61 billion dollars (ranked 86th)
  • Ford 7.04 billion dollars (out of BrandsZ Top 100)
  • VW $ 6.99
  • Audi 3.62 billion dollars (out of BrandsZ Top 100
  • Renault 3.26 billion (not in top 100)

Resources

BMW has moved into the lead

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100428/COPY01/304289884/1254

Millward Brown’s BrandsZ Top 100

http://www.millwardbrown.com/Libraries/Optimor_BrandZ_Files/2010_BrandZ_Top100_Report.sflb.ashx



Sunday, May 2, 2010

Freed From Prison Is Malcolm X Assassin Thomas Hagan

Freed From Prison Is Malcolm X Assassin Thomas Hagan

Civil rights leader Malcolm X was shot to death on Feb. 21, 1965 within the Audubon Ballroom during a speaking engagement. Three men were arrested for the crime, but the prime mover in the shooting was Thomas Hagan. Hagan served 44 years for the crime. Previously known as Talmadge Hayer, or Talmadge X Hayer, Thomas Hagan is 69 years old and was granted parole after a dozen requests, and probably a payday loans or two for legal representation.

The assassination of Malcolm X

In 1965 on that day, Malcolm X took the podium at the Audubon Ballroom. A disturbance broke out in the audience as he started addressing the crowd. As he tried to calm the situation, Thomas Hagan, and then Talmadge Hayer, shot him within the chest with a sawed off shotgun at point blank range. Two handguns from two other men started to shot him. Malcolm X was shot a lot more than 16 times and was dead just after his arrival at the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital at 3:30. After being severely beaten by the crowd, Hagan was arrested and was the only person who confessed to the crime.

The two other gunmen

Two others were arrested, Norman 3X and Thomas 15X, now known as Muhammed Abdul Aziz and Khalil Islam. Both maintained their innocence, and Hagan has always said they had nothing to do with the crime. Even low interest loans into a lot more investigations yielded no results in finding who the other gunmen were. They were both paroled within the mid-1980s.

The shooting is over ecumenical split

Malcolm X had a split from the Nation of Islam in 1964 which he had been a member of for a dozen years. The shooting was due to some tensions between him and Elijah Muhammad, who was the leader. Hagan said that had been the inspiration for himself and conspirators to gun him down.

Thomas Hagan of course 17th try parole

The Los Angeles Times says that Hagan has showed regret over the shooting. This was his 17th try to get on parole and he was granted it. He is married, has a daughter, and since 1988 has been on work release, working in a fast food restaurant among other endeavors, according to the New York Times. He also earned a Masters in Sociology since his incarceration.

Resources

Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-us-malcolm-x-killer,,117782.story

New York Times

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/killer-of-malcolm-x-granted-parole/



Court Order Sends Jon And Kate Gosselin To Parenting Class

According to reputable source TMZ, Jon and Kate Gosselin will attend parenting class. The Berks County, Philadelphia, judge who’s presiding over the Gosselin custody dispute has released this mandatory decree. Both parents of the “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ brood must complete anything by June 8, which involves all associated fees and coursework for the “Children in the Middle” program. Both Jon and Kate must attend the seven-hour class live, although they’re permitted to attend separately so they can keep away from any unpleasantness. In this instance, Jon and Kate can take a lot more than a day to complete class, which is surely a slower delivery time than payday loans.

Hopefully, Jon and Kate’s parenting class won’t be a spectacle

Television cameras will hopefully be turned off for Jon and Kate at parenting class, as the " Children within the Middle” program seems to be within the best interest of the youngsters, rather than the opportunistic show parents. The “Children within the Middle” website makes it quite clear that the purpose of the parenting class is to show “how families can meet the needs of children growing up between two homes.” Two three-and-one-half hour segments will fill Jon and Kate’s minds with parenting knowledge that evidently don’t otherwise possess, including strategies as they apply to adults and to children.

On the adult side, Jon and Kate plus parenting class could be learning a fantastic deal about:

  • Understanding oneself
  • How not to play the victim
  • Recognizing and stopping domestic violence before it occurs
  • Work with the other household, not against
  • How will extended family and dating partners fit into your new two-household life?
  • How to co-parent better
  • Dealing with your own grief
  • Conflict resolution
  • When third-party conflict resolution assistance is necessary

It’s all about the children

OK, Jon and Kate, all of us know you’ll be exhausted at this point; it is tougher than Kate being on DWTS or Jon doing his Jon thing. However, they must plow through the second and final “Children in the Middle” installment, which focuses specifically on their kids. Learn what makes your children tick, if you do not already know:

  • Child development stages
  • Making two homes work for youngsters
  • Time to parent
  • Supporting your children
  • How you talk to your kids
  • Helping them through large feelings
  • What kids shouldn’t be part of
  • How children perceive co-parent interaction
  • How co-parenting can be beneficial
  • Don’t disparage your ex, children can come to resent you

It’s called cooperative parenting for a reason, Jon and Kate

A well-considered parenting plan is what your sons or daughters need now. Parents who set aside petty squabbles and work together is the best example you are able to provide to your children now. Step out of the spotlight and into your children's’ lives a lot more fully. Jon and Kate: parenting class won’t be so bad. Instant cash loans-using families are where you are now, just without all television cash. In your case, cash won’t be as much of an issue in the co-parenting jungle, so get a couple of machetes and clear a path for your family. Prove to the world your “Plus 8″ aren’t simply devices around just to glorify you.

Resources for the article

TMZ

http://www.tmz.com/2010/04/26/jon-and-kate-back-to-school-custody-children-middle-mediation-orientation-berks-county-gosselin/

Children in the Middle

http://www.childreninthemiddle.com/