Weve spotted Elvis! His head and shoulders, that is, singing his resurrected heart out at a CES preview event here in Vegas. To follow up their wildly successful Robosapien and Roboraptor, Hong-Kong-based WowWee Ltd. is releasing an animatronic Elvis bust. And in the his likeness and movements, including the trademark pompadour, facial tics and comeback tour-era leather duds, are licensed by Elvis Presley Enterprises. The WowWee Alive Elvis costs $349, belts out 8 actual Elvis songs, tells stories about Elvis's life, and generally looks and acts like a dislocated chunk of the long-lost King. It also has a karaoke mode, where hell sing along as you try your own renditions of his classic tunes. Or, if you attach an mp3 player and croon away to a song it doesnt know, itll politely bop along to the beat.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/07/2007 08:58 ||
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College students around the world are in mourning
Momofuku Ando, inventor of instant ramen and founder and chairman of Nissin Food Products Co. in Osaka, died of a heart attack on Jan. 5. He was 96.
Ando, also chairman of the Japan Convenience Foods Industry Association, is widely regarded as having affected the nation's food culture.
On Jan. 4, Ando made a speech at a ceremony marking the company's first workday of the year. He then went home to rest, as he had a high fever. He was taken to a hospital in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, on Friday afternoon, but at that point, he was already in cardiorespiratory arrest.
Born in Taiwan, Ando established a seafood company in 1948. Ten years later, Ando invented the world's first instant ramen product that could be prepared just by adding hot water, in a workshop at his home in Ikeda. At the end of 1958, he changed the company's name to its current moniker. Before long, Nissin's Chicken Ramen had become a great success.
In 1971, the company began selling Cup Noodle. Ando made Cup Noodle a worldwide hit by exporting to the United States, European and other Asian nations.
Ando also established the association and became its director in 1964 to maintain order in the industry, as many other companies had violated Nissin's patents after the success of Chicken Ramen.
Keep voting Dem, and that's what it will end up being like here, eventually. The Dems are the party who wants the U.S. to be a clone of Europe.
Stuff like this ridiculous law will become commonplace in the U.S. if the left here becomes as emboldened and empowered as they are in Euroland.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
01/07/2007 17:35 Comments ||
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#4
It's a Welsh joke (they feel somewhat the same about the English), but still good:
The Pope and the shark:
On a tour of Wales, the Pope took a couple of days off his Itinerary to visit the West coast near Aberystwyth on an impromptu sightseeing trip.
His 4X4 Popemobile was driving along the golden sands when there was an enormous commotion heard just off the headland. They rushed to see what it was and upon approaching the scene the Pope noticed just outside the surf, a hapless man wearing an English Rugby jersey, struggling frantically to free himself from the jaws of a twenty foot shark.
At that moment a speedboat containing three men wearing Welsh Rugby Shirts roared into view from around the point. Spontaneously, one of the men took aim and fired a harpoon into the shark's ribs, immobilising it instantly. The other two reached out and pulled the Englishman from the water and then, using long clubs, beat the shark to death.
They bundled the bleeding, semi conscious man into the speed boat along with the dead shark and then prepared for a hasty retreat, when they heard frantic shouting from the shore. It was of course the Pope, and he summoned them to the beach.
Upon them reaching the shore the Pope went into raptures about the rescue and said, "I give you my blessing for your brave actions. I had heard that there were some racist xenophobic people trying to divide Wales and England, but now I have seen with my own eyes this is not true. I can see that your society is a truly enlightened example of racial harmony and could serve as a model on which other nations could follow.
"He blessed them all and drove off in a cloud of dust. As he departed, the harpoonist asked the others, "Who was that???!"
"That," one answered, "was his Holiness the Pope. He is in direct contact with God and has access to all God's wisdom."
"Well," the harpoonist replied, "he knows nowt about shark hunting.
How's that bait holding up or do we need to get another one?"
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/07/2007 17:43 Comments ||
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Police have refused to release photographs of two escaped murderers, claiming it might breach their human rights. Killers Jason Croft and Michael Nixon are among 13 inmates to have absconded from Sudbury open jail in Derbyshire in the past two months.
Despite the fact that only two have been caught - and that the killers are still on the loose - Derbyshire Police said the public do not have a right to know what the convicts look like.
A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: "When making a decision to release any photograph, police forces must take into account numerous factors including the public interest test, whether there is a strong local policing purpose and, of course, the Human Rights and Data Protection Acts.
"Photographs of named people that are in police possession are classed as data and their release is restricted by law.
"Acpo (Association of Chief Police Officers) guidance states that releasing a 'wanted' photograph of a named person should only happen in exceptional circumstances where officers believe that the named suspect may be a danger to the public." As Melanie Phillips has said, the British have taken leave of their senses.
#1
Well they are only murderers, so they really arent that much of a danger to the public. Now if they were mislabeling food, like "Dragon Sausages" then it may be in order, but as it stands...
#2
so you have no right to own a gun (or scary knife) to defend yourself, but the criminals are allowed to remain unidentified due to concern over their human rights? Sounds like a revolution is in order, with a lotta PC bureaucrats hung from streetlamps at the start. Jeebus! What has happened to the British Sheeple?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/07/2007 14:20 Comments ||
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#3
man their post offices must be bare, and in desperate need of some deecorating.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
01/07/2007 14:57 Comments ||
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#4
How much more of the "Great" can they take out of Great Britain, for cryin' out loud? What is it with these people? They seem determined to die on their knees.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/07/2007 18:55 Comments ||
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#5
Maybe the Brits do wanna be a future US State - only in America do Americans expect to see such Politixial PCorrectness???
PARIS, Jan. 5 Warsaws new archbishop, Stanislaw W. Wielgus, caught in Eastern Europes widening witch hunt for former Communist secret police informers...
MULTAN: A man has sought protection from Baloch tribesmen and Sardars who have ordered him to give his one and a half years old daughter as Vani to a tribal chiefs son. Addressing a press conference at the Multan Press Club on Saturday, Shah Muhammad, a resident of Miranpur, Rojhan tehsil said that Tribal chief Tota Khan had himself decided to take his minor daughter Mariam Bibi for his son Muhammad Bukhsh as Vani. We are unable to face his power, he said. He said Tota Khans men had threatened him and his family to kill if they did not comply with the tribal tradition. He has appealed to President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Governor Khalid Maqbool, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and the Dera Ghazi Khan Regional Police Officer to provide them with security.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/07/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Perhaps it is true, perha&ps it is just smearing from the Pakistanis against the Balochs (who have had enough from being milked by the Punjbis who rule Pakistan). Also let's
In a smart boutique displaying an array of miniskirts and skimpy tops, the shopkeeper was too busy attending to his female customers to listen to a sermon on HIV/Aids. "I don't know anything about it at all. Come back after I've finished with my customers," he told the volunteer health education worker.
The volunteer, Amir Fattahi, was unsurprised. Observation and experience told him he had interrupted no ordinary business transaction. The four young women, he surmised, were prostitutes striking a deal with the shopkeeper offering sex in exchange for free or cheap clothes, an increasingly common arrangement in Tehran's fashion shops.
Health education workers say the practice undermines efforts to combat HIV/Aids in Iran, where the disease is increasingly spread through sexual contact. Along with health officials they believe Iran's strict sexual mores are loosening among its predominantly young population.
An official drive has been launched to raise HIV/Aids awareness, which lags behind that in the west. However, experts say the fight to stop the disease spreading is being hampered by a lack of hard facts.
While the latest figures show 13,704 registered HIV cases, World Health Organisation and Iranian health ministry estimates put the true figure at between 70,000 and 120,000. Experts believe many infected young people do not seek blood tests because they are too ill-informed or are afraid of their parents finding out.
In the Qaem mall in north Tehran's affluent Tajrish district, where two floors are dedicated to women's fashion, several shopkeepers admitted to first-hand experience of receiving offers of sex. Arash, 23, said he had been propositioned 40 or 50 times in his store. "I reckon that 50% of shopkeepers have accepted sex in return for clothes," he said.
Ahmed Reza, 23, admitted having accepted such offers. "I was sitting outside the shop when two women came and said they wanted to try various manteaus [overcoats]," he said. "They asked for a bargain and I offered them the standard discount. But they said, 'We cannot pay that - if you give us a good discount and your mobile number, we will serve you'. So I gave them more discount and got their mobile numbers.
"I can tell a prostitute by their attitudes and body language. When she asks the price of something, I say it's much more than it really is. Then I reduce it when she asks for discount, so she think she's getting a great bargain and offers sex."
Iran's Islamic authorities attempted a clampdown on the trade by deploying policemen and plainclothes security guards inside shopping malls.
"I don't think [the prostitutes] are HIV/Aids-aware," said Mr Fattahi, a team leader with Iran Positive Life, a volunteer group part-funded by Unicef.
"If they are infected and have sex with three or four shopkeepers a day, you can imagine the danger. I think most of the shopkeepers know the risk but they can't resist the temptation. Most times, the opportunity arises too quickly to take precautions."
(advisory - link goes to a PDF document.)
The mommy state of Washington is seeking to amend its law against discriminiation to imaginary disabilities (and I don't mean disability to one's imagination...) And its Retroactive!
Sec. 2. RCW 49.60.040 and 2006 c 4 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
(25) Disability means the presence of a sensory, mental or physical impairment that:
(a) Is medically cognizable or diagnosable; or
(b) Exists as a record or history; or
(c) Is perceived to exist whether or not it exists in fact.
A disability exists whether it is temporary or permanent, common or uncommon, mitigated or unmitigated, or
whether or not it limits the ability to work generally or work at a particular job or whether or not it limits any other
activity within the scope of this chapter.
For purposes of this definition, impairment includes, but is not limited to:
(a) Any physiological disorder, or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more
of the following body systems: neurological, musculoskeletal, special sense organs, respiratory (including speech
organs), cardiovascular, reproductive, digestive, genitor-urinary, hemic and lymphatic, skin and endocrine; or
(b) Any mental, developmental, traumatic, or psychological disorder, including, but not limited to cognitive
limitation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.
Sec. 3. This act is remedial and retroactive and shall apply to all claims which are not time barred, as well as all
claims pending in any court or agency at the time of enactment.
You know I had a headache when that cop gave me a $150 speeding ticket a few years ago. I think I have a good case for discrimination.
The truly sad part is that those who really do have a disability will not be able to get what they need because all the funding is gobbled up by these imaginary disabilities.
#1
"The truly sad part is that those who really do have a disability will not be able to get what they need because all the funding is gobbled up by these imaginary disabilities."
CF, the 'newly disabled' will probably just need to hold a telethon or web-a-thon or something....the Washington (state) loony gruberment would NEVER take funding resources away from the truly needy (cough, cough,...spit).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/07/2007 17:39 Comments ||
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#2
I'm obviously disabled and thus eligible for benefits under Washington state law as I have asthma and arthritis/gout (the former occurs daily and prevents me from performing some activities such as mountain climbing, running the hundred meter dash, or competitive weightlifting, and the latter occasionally prevents me from walking without a limp or a cane and requires massive amounts of painkillers to control).
None of it prevents me from remaining gainfully employed or doing activities that I really do enjoy (such as hiking, Rantburging, writing, etc.).
#3
Any mental, developmental, traumatic, or psychological disorder, including, but not limited to cognitive
limitation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities
Does that include Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS)?
#4
With a lack of ablity to smell lots of things I can't work in a chemical plant with my computer skills. So I should qualify as disabled from what job?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Police have refused to release photographs of two escaped murderers, claiming it might breach their human rights. Killers Jason Croft and Michael Nixon are among 13 inmates to have absconded from Sudbury open jail in Derbyshire in the past two months.
MULTAN: A man has sought protection from Baloch tribesmen and Sardars who have ordered him to give his one and a half years old daughter as Vani to a tribal chiefs son. Addressing a press conference at the Multan Press Club on Saturday, Shah Muhammad, a resident of Miranpur, Rojhan tehsil said that Tribal chief Tota Khan had himself decided to take his minor daughter Mariam Bibi for his son Muhammad Bukhsh as Vani. We are unable to face his power, he said. He said Tota Khans men had threatened him and his family to kill if they did not comply with the tribal tradition. He has appealed to President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Governor Khalid Maqbool, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and the Dera Ghazi Khan Regional Police Officer to provide them with security.
