A car that plunged down the side of Mulholland Drive on Friday morning is owned by actor Charlie Sheen, who reported the vehicle stolen, authorities said. "Dude,where's my car?"
Sheen called police about 5:15 a.m. to report a possible burglar on the premises of his Sherman Oaks home, said Los Angeles police Officer Bruce Borihanh. Remember that time, 5:15 a.m. Um, it's late for a cross-fire? ...
"That's a hot prowl -- as in, 'I think there's someone in my garage,'" Borihanh said.
The car, a Mercedes four-door sedan, was found 300 feet to 400 feet down near the 13300 block of Mulholland Drive in Beverly Crest, said LAPD Det. Bill Bustos. Police and fire crews found the car badly damaged just after 4 a.m., but no one was found in or around it. A search was ongoing. Found at 4 a.m., reported stolen at 5:15 a.m.
Nothing else from Sheen's home was reported stolen, Borihanh said. The Mercedes was likely taken before the burglary was reported, Borihanh said. Yeah, well, that's one explanation.
[Updated at 8:17 a.m.: A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation says that based on a preliminary review, it appears Sheen's car was stolen after the actor left it in the open garage with the keys inside.] ...with the engine running and insurance paid in full.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/05/2010 12:27 ||
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#7
"Oppossums, or Raccoons" > Now, now, lets not force GRANNY to use her shotgun on us, or Banker Mr. Drysdale, as fresh roadkill is among the Clampetts' favorite dishes to eat.
NBC served up a mountain of controversy Thursday after a cafeteria menu offered fried chicken, collard greens, black-eyed peas and cornbread in honor of Black History Month. But the African-American chef who planned the menu said she had been trying to cook the menu for years in honor of the month and doesn't understand why everyone was so upset.
"All I wanted to do was make a meal that everyone would enjoy, and that I eat myself," chef Leslie Calhoun told the New York Post.
The fallout over the menu was prompted by a Tweet from Ahmir Thompson, aka 'Questlove,' the drummer for Jimmy Fallon's house band the Roots. He posted a picture of the menu on Twitter next to the words, "Hmm HR?"
The picture sparked a flurry of anger and claims the menu was racist, which led to NBC nixing the cafeteria special. "The sign in the NBCU cafeteria has been removed. We apologize for anyone who was offended by it," tweeted NBC vice president of communications Kevin Goldman.
But that didn't stop comedian Wanda Sykes from the bashing the menu on NBC's The Jay Leno Show. "That's how [NBC] celebrates. Oh, no, no, ya'll don't need to know about Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Here's some fried chicken," Sykes said on the show.
It was unclear, however, if Questlove regretted igniting all the fuss. "i think i need a twitter break. i done started something. and now i must put out fire," Questlove tweeted after the menu was pulled down.
#5
"All I wanted to do was make a meal that everyone would enjoy"
And yet you still served collard greens.
Disclaimer: My grandmother and her children, including my mother, all loved collards, hominy, etc., since that's what they grew up eating. My brother and I hated them. "Soul food" (supposedly foods black folks ate) became a big thing during the 1960's, which is also when I noticed "soul food" was the food that poor Southerners ate, no matter what their skin color. But don't anybody tell Jesse, et al.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/05/2010 14:10 Comments ||
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#6
Sounds like a pretty good lunch to me, and I'm as white as they come.
#8
Fried chicken and cornbread are good, Parabellum. I can take or leave the black-eyed peas (I certainly take them every New Year's, but not so much the rest of the year).
But collards? Yuck! your mileage may vary
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/05/2010 14:31 Comments ||
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#9
So I guess any restaurant with the audacity to serve fried chicken during this sacred month should be...what...burnt to the ground?
For the rest of the month, Chef Leslie, nuthin but Jello. Screw 'em...
#10
This is how the liberal mind works. How DARE anyone actually serve black people's food during Black History Month. How DARE anyone suggest black people are in any way different, even though their entire existence is predicated upon being different from whites.
#11
According to wikipedia, Collard Greens are 'extremely similar' to what the British call Spring Greens or Spring Cabbage. Which I loved as a kid, and miss because nothing similar is available in Oz.
#14
Turnip Greens are a hell of a lot better than collards, especially when you add a splash of Pepper/vinegar, gives them some gooood tastin vittles
Yup I eat 'em why do you ask.
No, I don't care for black eyed peas either, tasteless mush.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/05/2010 16:15 Comments ||
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#15
Just for all y'all Bigots out there, that's Southern Food, NOT Black food, we all eat it.
(And love it, Y'all haven't had fried chicken untill you've had SOUTHERN fried chicken, Yup it's different and a hell of a lot better than what I ate in Yankeeland.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/05/2010 16:20 Comments ||
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#16
That's not just a "black" menu, it's a southern POOR menu. My entire childhood included just about anything that could be grown or raised by my parents (We didn't raise black-eye peas, but I've spent many a day picking purple-hull, crowder, and lady peas somewhere you picked what you wanted, and paid cash for it at the farmstead). I know plenty of other white families that ate the same menu. For most of those that ate such a menu, it was a sign of self-sufficiency, and independence from grocery stores, just as raising chickens for eggs and a cow for milk. Someone is waaaayyy too thin-skinned.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/05/2010 16:35 Comments ||
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#17
Collard, Black-eyed peas, corn...
Are we noticing a pattern?
It's all cattle feed, and the cheapest stuff around.
#24
Bes, it may not be there now. I frequented the place back in 1979. It was (or still is) near the Hospital.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/05/2010 20:39 Comments ||
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#25
mojo, collards are members of the wild cabbage family, related to kale (but less pungent). Nutritious, with anti-cancer properties, they also grow in poor soil. They're not cattle feed - in fact, some historians believe that on slaveholding plantations, kitchen slaves added them to the owners' meals, to the distinct benefit of the latter.
#26
Where I grew up in South Alabama collard greens were a staple as were turnip greens. The turnips were fed to the pigs and the greens were prized.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/05/2010 20:53 Comments ||
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#27
Glad it was brought up, but in a place like, say, Kansas City, BBQ would be more likely to be identified as what these people are getting at as black cultural food, than this particular cafeteria menu.
Mrs. Sykes, if she is genuinely upset and not just doing topical humor (giving her the benefit, didn't see the clip) then she needs to turn her attention to BET, MTV, and VH1 whose childish and clicheed portrayal of blacks is not only leagues above a regional lunch menu, but also a year long occupation. Perhaps, add a promotion at the end of her joke to guide people to the information about the good, smart, strong black men and women who have been involved in this nation's history since before this was a nation.
And yes, Southern Fried Chicken is unstopable. It is everything people make it out to be and more. I will attest that in the midwest there can be quite a few miles between good meals, but KC does have some great food. The BBQ at Royals stadium is fantastic naturally, but in some of the poorer neighborhoods people sell their BBQ at the quick shops and it is usually so good ya don't wanna drive for 15 minutes afterwards because ya ain't thinking correct. At one point KC ranked among the top 5 overweight cities and people were not only unsurprised but for a while the call was, "Yeah we're fat...come find out why".
(Not trying to start a BBQ war, even though its an arguement everyone wins...to me its all good, but for some reason I have a personal affinity for that Carolina Style Sauce)
Nope. Just marking the limits of their territory and power. If they don't get the response they want, they up the pressure. That they can play the guilt game confirms their power.
#30
Wanda Sykes is of the Vagitarian persuasion. This time, when she says it "tastes like chicken", it is.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2010 22:01 Comments ||
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#31
speaking of Wanda Sykes, food and racism all in one -- here's a most un-pc, dirty, foul-mouthed and possibly pretty offensive clip for some from the Clerks II movie...watch at your own risk...
#2
It's snowing with a vengence here in central Virginia. I just drove home from the store and noticed that, while the roads are still pretty clear (but starting to get slushy), the trees are already weighted down with snow. Lots of wet snow = power lines down sooner or later. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/05/2010 14:16 Comments ||
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Posted by: ed ||
02/05/2010 14:48 Comments ||
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#5
DC radio this am said with 18" of snow, the 100-year old record for snowfall bows. Since 18-24" is forecast, and it's Feb. 5th, I'd say the record is going to be buried.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/05/2010 16:05 Comments ||
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#6
Hey, send it up here please!! Worcester MA has only gotten a total of about 30" this winter and our snow-pack is down to just a couple of inches. We've only had a couple of 8 - 10 inchers and a few little things since Tgiving.
An Egyptian cleric has issued a religious decree banning the use of Facebook, on the grounds that it encourages adultery.
Sheikh Abd Al-Hamid Al-Atrash, former head of the fatwa council at the influential Al-Azhar Institution, based his ruling on a sociological study linking the use of Facebook and other forms of new media with moral corruption.
He called the site a destructive tool that helps form "forbidden relations."
"When one side in a relationship is working hard, if the other side has lots of free time and hasn't got much of a conscience, they form illegitimate relationships," the cleric said.
Heba Morayef, a researcher with Human Rights Watch said Facebook is used extensively in Egypt, both for social networking and for political purposes.
"It's a relatively conservative society," Morayef told The Media Line. "For a lot of people, meeting people online is a way to date. What's interesting about it is that it's heavily used by activists to organize demonstrations and share information."
Your average young Egyptian who wants to learn about politics will go onto Facebook," she added. "I think the security services still view this activism as something that is dangerous."
Nevertheless, Morayef does not believe that this fatwa was sanctioned by the government as a way to silence opposition activists.
"For the most part, the government will only issue fatwas through the mufti who is closely aligned with government policy, to the extent that he will issue things that are criticized by the rest of the religious institutions," she said. "I don't think the government uses other low-level sheikhs because they are keen to monopolize the religious authorities in Al-Azhar."
Kareem El-Behirey, an Egyptian blogger, said the ban was part of a government tactic to employ religious people against channels of communication such as Facebook.
"[The Sheikh] says that Facebook isn't good because it pits the woman against her husband," he told The Media Line. "But I think this is an attempt to stop people from using Facebook, blogs and certain websites. I think you can't stop them and it's a good way for activists to be heard on the streets so I don't think they will stop using Facebook."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
banning the use of Facebook, on the grounds that it encourages adultery.
So does the edicts against women in the Koran (ie, OK to Bitch-slap your woman and look elsewhere).
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
02/05/2010 9:21 Comments ||
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#2
He called the site a destructive tool that helps form "forbidden relations."
Posted by: ed ||
02/05/2010 10:06 Comments ||
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#4
My guess is that his concern about relationships is decidedly uni-directional. It's fine for men to develop them but Allah Forbid that a woman might.
#5
Sheikh Abd Al-Hamid Al-Atrash, former head of the fatwa council at the influential Al-Azhar Institution, based his ruling on a sociological study linking the use of Facebook and other forms of new media with moral corruption.
His name is trash, and he is worried about moral corruption. You can't make this up.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The government of Dubai announced Thursday the discovery of a new off-shore oil field which it hoped would rescue its limping economy. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum, "heralds the good news to the people of the United Arab Emirates that a new off-shore oil field has been discovered in Dubai," a government statement said.
Small oil producer Dubai was evaluating the size of the field and potential production, the statement said. The ruler's office was unable to provide further information.
The discovery is timely for the emirate, which is currently restructuring.
"(It would) give a strong impetus to all sectors of the local economy and provide a new source of income enhancing the comprehensive development of Dubai," UAE state news agency WAM said in a statement.
Dubai's crude has an influence on global oil markets that belies its limited output, as it is used as a pricing benchmark for more than 10 million barrels per day of crude heading to Asia from the Middle East.
The emirate pumps only a fraction of supply from the United Arab Emirates, the world's third largest oil exporter with output of around 2.3 million bpd. The emirate of Abu Dhabi produces most of the UAE's oil and holds over 90 percent of its reserves.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2010 00:00 ||
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May wanna add TUNA WARS to this one as many international food(s) companies that supply mainstream restaurant chains add CHARLEY-THE-TUNA = TUNA, OTHER FISHIES to their "chicken" products.
Newborn babies in the United States are routinely screened for a panel of genetic diseases. Since the testing is mandated by the government, it's often done without the parents' consent, according to Brad Therrell, director of the National Newborn Screening & Genetics Resource Center.
In many states, such as Florida, where Isabel was born, babies' DNA is stored indefinitely, according to the resource center.
Many parents don't realize their baby's DNA is being stored in a government lab, but sometimes when they find out, as the Browns did, they take action. Parents in Texas, and Minnesota have filed lawsuits, and these parents' concerns are sparking a new debate about whether it's appropriate for a baby's genetic blueprint to be in the government's possession.
Art Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, says he understands why states don't first ask permission to screen babies for genetic diseases. "It's paternalistic, but the state has an overriding interest in protecting these babies," he says.
However, he added that storage of DNA for long periods of time is a different matter.
"I don't see any reason to do that kind of storage," Caplan says. "If it's anonymous, then I don't care. I don't have an issue with that. But if you keep names attached to those samples, that makes me nervous."
Genetic testing for newborns started in the 1960s with testing for diseases and conditions that, if undetected, could kill a child or cause severe problems, such as mental retardation. Since then, the screening has helped save countless newborns.
Over the years, many other tests were added to the list. Now, states mandate that newborns be tested for anywhere between 28 and 54 different conditions, and the DNA samples are stored in state labs for anywhere from three months to indefinitely, depending on the state.
The specimens don't always stay in the state labs. They're often given to outside researchers -- sometimes with the baby's name attached.
According to a study done by the state of Minnesota, more than 20 scientific papers have been published in the United States since 2000 using newborn blood samples.
The researchers do not have to have parental consent to obtain samples as long as the baby's name is not attached, according to Amy Gaviglio, one of the authors of the Minnesota report. However, she says it's her understanding that if a researcher wants a sample with a baby's name attached, consent first must be obtained from the parents.
Scientists have heralded this enormous collection of DNA samples as a "gold mine" for doing research, according to Gaviglio.
[Straits Times] US LAWMAKERS on Thursday implored Thailand not to deport thousands of ethnic Karen villagers back to military-ruled Myanmar, saying they were at grave risk of human rights abuses.
Around 4,000 villagers escaped to Thailand in June when the regime stepped up its campaign against the Karen rebels, one of the few ethnic insurgent groups yet to sign a peace deal in the nation formerly known as Burma.
Twenty-seven US lawmakers sent a letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva urging Thailand not to repatriate the Karen, with reports saying the operation could begin imminently.
'If forced to return, these refugees will suffer horrific human rights abuses,' said the letter led by Representative Joseph Crowley, a Democrat from New York. 'They will undoubtedly be subject to forced labor, executions, torture and mutilations, forced recruitment as soldiers, including child soldiers, and theft and extortion, making their survival very difficult.'
While praising Thailand for taking on the burden of settling tens of thousands of refugees, the lawmakers warned of repercussions for forced repatriation. 'Historically, Thailand has developed a reputation as a country that provides refuge to those fleeing serious persecution, but actions like this will undermine and tarnish this reputation,' the letter said.
The appeal comes weeks after Thailand defied appeals by the United States, European Union and United Nations and sent thousands of members of the Hmong community to Laos. Hmong activists said that the group risked persecution in Laos, but Thailand said they were illegal economic migrants.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2010 00:00 ||
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The Pentagon for the first time will require military bases worldwide to offer emergency contraception or the so-called morning-after pill, a military spokesman told Fox News Friday.
The decision follows a recommendation by an independent panel of doctors and pharmacists in November, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The panel determined that emergency contraception should be added to the military's list of medications that must be stocked at each military facility.
The decision represents a policy shift from the Bush administration when such a change was resisted, Nancy Keenan, president of the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, said in a statement praising the decision.
Over much resistance from abortion opponents, the Food and Drug Administration approved the over-the-counter sale of the morning-after pill to adults in 2006.
The drug, which contains a high dose of birth control pills, can be used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex by blocking ovulation or fertilization. Critics of the contraceptive say it is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it can prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus.
It is not known when the policy would be implemented.
Military hospitals are legally forbidden to perform abortions. When asked if the new policy violated that law, Whitman had no immediate response and said he'd have to defer to the policy experts.
#1
If you should experience any of the well documented adverse side effects listed below, skip chow, go on sick call and visit your unit's assigned dispensary immediately:
Adverse side effects include significant weight gain (on average 15 pounds), depression, ovarian cyst enlargement, gallbladder disease, high blood pressure, respiratory disorders,4 increased risk of ectopic pregnancy5 and death. In some women, these serious adverse effects of levonorgestrel-type MAP could lead to further health risks for bulimia, anorexia, or clinical depression.
Our Obama government and the pharmaceutical lobby are working for YOU!
#2
The purpose of the military is to close with and destroy the enemy.
Anything else is rubbish.
Posted by: Kelly ||
02/05/2010 16:21 Comments ||
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#3
Yet I have to buy my pain meds on the local economy, because the military pharmacy system only stocks generic, or only stocks certain drugs that don't provide relief for my problems.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/05/2010 16:40 Comments ||
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#4
OP:
An old gentleman carefully hooks his cane on the counter and grimices silently while pulling himself onto the ice cream store stool. Issuing a well deserved sigh, he removes his hat, smiles broadly, and orders a banana split. "Crushed nuts" asks the young waitress. "No" retorts the old man..."arthritis."
All a female needs to do is pop 3-4 birth control pills at once for the contraceptive effect? How is that rubbish exactly? And what alternative are you proposing? If you're going to pass judgment on the ways things are getting done by our military, by all means propose an alternative and hopefully a realistic one?
#6
Please if someone trots out the old abstinence idea I will scream. Please please please lie to yourself and others and espouse that is possible and see how far that gets you.
#10
OP, I hear you about the inconvenience you face - but consider this. Tricare presumably is at least covering those meds that you are able to purchase. This policy is aimed at active duty troops, and especially young enlisted women. My guess is that many commanders will welcome the fact that their medical facilities will have this as an option.
#11
This is probably the flag pole's response to the commander who a month or so back threatened UCMJ action to soldiers who got pregnant [see self inflicted wound] resulting in the loss of personnel with skills creating operational problems.
#12
GirlThursday, it is possible. I lived through a lot of deployments and managed to keep myself out of situations where pregnancy or STDs would become an issue.
Surely you girls can keep your legs shut long enough in order -- or else soldier up and face the consequences of your actions. You're not a cat in heat backign up against any available couch leg and yowling at night. You are a human being, you have a choice. Start acting like it.
Don't get me wrong, if the "morning after" is needed then as long as its not an abortion (that is destroying a human live instead of preventing ovulation), then I can have no objection that would be legally enforceable.
Otherwise how about YOU be responsible enough to take your own pills or abstain from activity that can get you pregnant.
Don't depend on the medics/government to bail you out from your own lack of control at the cost of a human life.
Either you're completely jesting or you're disrespecting between 13-20% of the present military depending on locale. Those in uniform are by-and-large professionals. I applaud your unabashed bluntness about your view that women should be separate from men. But you leave out something of the warrior ethos when you do that. Those soldiering can't afford to think like that. In war times when strapping on a flack vest, LBE, Kevlar, etc., to go out and do your job you are a soldier not a man and not a woman. You are a trained killer. If this threatens you, get some therapy, because women soldiers aren't your Madonnas or Whores, or whatever neat little box category society wants them in. And those 'girls' who can't hack it usually get pregnant or get kicked out within the first year or two tops.
Women currently out there risking their lives are not to be made light of unchecked, this is not okay.
#14
"You are a human being, you have a choice. Start acting like it."
Making it personal when it is not personal? That is a sure sign of irrational thinking. Logically speaking, the Pentagon's policies are not mine to question. The first rule of being a soldier is you follow orders. You just failed the 'follow orders' portion of this hypothetical argument, yet you condescend to question my self control abilities? Second, my self control is well outside the bounds of being any of your business.
#15
Lest we fergit, 9-11 + GWOT = WAR FOR OWG-NWO > Add to US Army-DOD's news this AM that the US Army intends to cancel proposed budget cuts due to Soldiers' complaints about effects on family services, + US Embassy-Consuls reloc to US-controlled Milbases andor expanding its security to near-USDOD specs > IMO OWG-NWO + DEV "RISE/REST OF THE WORLD" = US MILBASES WILL BECOME SYMBOLIC, LIVING OR OPER
"INTERNATIONAL/SANCTUARY CITIES" + SHOPPING MALLS FOR ANY AND ALL NON-US CITIZEN LOCALS + FOREIGN NATIONALS.
Guam's "GUANTANAMO MODEL/SCENARIO" applied GLOBALLY, i.e. "MINI-US/AMERICA IN CUBA" aka SOVEREIGN US BASE ENCLAVE ON HOSTILE SOVEREIGN FOREIGN NATIONS.
#16
@#11 Procopious 2k nails it:
This is probably the flag pole's response to the commander who a month or so back threatened UCMJ action to soldiers who got pregnant [see self inflicted wound] resulting in the loss of personnel with skills creating operational problems.
Uh, yes a thousand times. Which goes back to my initial assertion (different phrasing this time) that yes, I concede in an ideal world abstinence could work but in a common sense which is not-so-flipping common world some people (present company excluded) will not abstain while deployed and bingo you will need to have contraception available.
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.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The government of Dubai announced Thursday the discovery of a new off-shore oil field which it hoped would rescue its limping economy. The ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum, "heralds the good news to the people of the United Arab Emirates that a new off-shore oil field has been discovered in Dubai," a government statement said.
