Saturday - May 29, 2010
Aww Crap
Actor Dennis Hopper died about 3 hours ago. Prostate cancer. He was 74.
This sucks.
Actor Dennis Hopper, whose 50-year film career spanned such classics as “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Easy Rider,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Blue Velvet” died Saturday following a battle with prostate cancer, Reuters reported. He was 74.
Hopper died from complications related to the cancer at his home in Venice, Calif., at 8:15am PT and had friends and family by his side, friend Alex Hitz told Reuters.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/05/29/actor-dennis-hopper-dies-suffering-prostate-cancer/
Posted by Drew458
on 05/29/2010 at 01:25 PM
Filed Under: • Celebrities •
• Comments (4)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Sunday - March 28, 2010
Vasily Smyslov, 1921-2010
Former World Champion Vasily Smyslov died on March 27 in Moscow at the age of 89. He was born March 24 in Moscow. Smyslov became World Champion in 1957 after defeating Bovinnik in a match, and he lost the title back to Botvinnik a year later. Smyslov was known for his positional chess style, endgame skills and his baritone singing voice.
He was the seventh World Chess Champion.
(Hey Drew, how do you add categories? Need a chess catagory)
Posted by Christopher
on 03/28/2010 at 04:20 PM
Filed Under: • Celebrities •
• Comments (1)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Wednesday - March 10, 2010
TEHRAN TO LONDON ………. Something way,way off the norm for my posting habits.
Over a year ago I heard this young lady on the radio as a panelist on a brilliant program called Just a Minute. I didn’t quite catch her last name and at the time didn’t even bother trying to look it up on the BBC site. But as time went on and she appeared a few more times in the coming yrs, I started to take more note of her. Actually, her appearance on the radio made fans of us almost at once. Unfortunately, she isn’t a regular on that program and it’s easy to lose track of entertainers when there are tons of other things to do and you don’t own a TV. Then, this past wkend in one of the Sunday magazines that come with the papers, I found a profile on her. Prior to this I only knew she was originally from Iran and came to England as a toddler.
Here’s a success story of an immigrant whose family left the madhouse of the ayatollahs and found a home and freedom here.
I thought this was worthy of a post on it’s own. Not to say that everyone who YTs her looking for her act will be fans of her humor. What we have seen we have enjoyed very much. This is a bright and talented woman we admire. Here’s her story.
Shappi Khorsandi: From Tehran to Enid Blyton
The stand-up comedian recalls the often comic upheaval of fleeing to Britain with her family from Iran in 1979
You can tell by the names my parents gave me and my brother that they never planned to leave our native Iran for good. Had they known they would end up raising us in England, they would have given us Persian names that the English could pronounce more easily — like Darius and Cyrus, Dara and Sara. They would not have named us Shaparak and Peyvand, thus condemning us to childhoods of being called Shakkattack and Pavement.
Our names, though, turned out to be the least of our problems when we ended up in exile after my satirist father had insisted on writing jokes that criticised the mullahs. The ruling clerics have never been known for their sense of humour, nor their interest in freedom of speech, and it was made clear to my father, by a 3,000-strong mob that stood outside his Tehran office in 1979 chanting “Death to Hadi Khorsandi”, that it was probably best to leave Iran quite quickly. That figure of 3,000 was only an estimate made later, by witnesses — my father didn’t stop to count.
So London became our refuge, and when my parents first took us to nursery school, the kindly, elderly teacher asked: “How old are your children, Mr Khorsandi?” Taking pride in his English, my father told her: “This one is half past three, and that one is half past four.”
Aged half past three, I spoke only Persian and thought English was a language you made up as you went along and everyone else would just magically understand: “Foroshh knoo allaw!” With my parents maintaining Persian at home, though, I soon became bilingual and able to sulk in two different languages.
While I discovered Enid Blyton and all the other delights of this new language, my father continued his attacks on the Iranian government through the cartoons, articles and poems he penned in the satirical newspaper he published and distributed to the Iranian diaspora. His newspaper, Asghar Agha (which roughly translates as Joe Bloggs), had a wide circulation among the Iranians who had fled the regime. But the popularity of Asghar Agha made my father a target even in exile. Many times I would answer the phone and be informed by an angry, growling voice that my father should be killed for his opinions. “Dad!” I would call. “It’s for you! I think it’s the Ayatollah!”
In 1984, when I was 11, I came home from school to find two burly Englishmen in our little flat. At that time, English strangers in our home were usually bailiffs, but these two gentlemen were sipping chai and enjoying Persian sweets. Iranians are widely regarded as the most hospitable of people, but even we draw a line at breaking bread with bailiffs. They were, I was told, plain-clothes police officers from Scotland Yard who had come to take us into hiding. They had uncovered a terrorist plot to kill my father. I had often wished that my father was a plumber, like Mark Johnson’s dad at school. Never more so than in that moment, though. Plumbers are almost never assassinated.
We went to Windsor, to a little bed and breakfast. My father was told that he mustn’t let a soul know where he was, so he only told around 20 of his closest friends who all joined us for our hiding party. After a few days we were assured it was safe to come home. We did, but I didn’t feel safe. I kept expecting someone to leap out from behind a tree and throw a grenade at us. We were still under police protection, which meant that from time to time officers would stop by, drink tea and talk about terrorists with my father. “You must check under your car for bombs, Mr Khorsandi,” they told him. So, every morning, before my father drove us to school, we would lie on our bellies in our drive and stare underneath our Ford Cortina. My father would crease his brow and say: “I don’t know what a bomb looks like. There could be 10 under there, I have no idea. Jump in, we’ll see what happens.”
Nothing bad did happen, but the threat that it might followed us to and from school, travelled with us on our holidays to Brighton and Blackpool, and hovered over us as we slept. From that day on, we lived in fear of losing each other.
For a terrorist, killing is just the tip of the iceberg. His job is to take away your peace of mind and to break the spirit of your supporters. They didn’t manage this with my father. Asghar Agha is online and going strong. As for myself, I have tried to spare my own son the traumas we went through. I don’t have a car, I have given him an easy name and I am instilling in him a healthy interest in plumbing.
Shappi Khorsandi will discuss her memoir, A Beginner’s Guide to Acting English, at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival on Wednesday, March 24, at 8pm.
Posted by peiper
on 03/10/2010 at 07:15 AM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Humor • Talented Ppl. • UK •
• Comments (1)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Friday - February 19, 2010
Silvio Berlusconi shortlists dental hygienist as political candidate. (score one for eye candy)
I thought I’d start the day, late as it is, with humor. True, it isn’t so funny to many but hey. Not so poor Silvio is keeping up the tradition of Italian stallions, or at least the perception, and someone has to do it ya know. It can’t be easy. Plus, he provide the press with copy and usually that’s pretty funny.
Last week Mr Berlusconi caused another furore after joking that while Italy had succeeded in staunching the flow of Albanian illegal immigrants crossing the Adriatic, he would be prepared to make an exception for “beautiful girls”.
His ex wife sees no humor in his carrying on but hell. She’s no innocent either. After all, he was married when she was seeing him. He finally left the wife for her and so his fidelity or lack thereof should have been no surprise. And anyway, he’s Italian. He has a stallion license.
Not all Silvio’s lassies are stunners however. So he’s an equal opportunity letch.
Silvio Berlusconi has shortlisted his dental hygienist to contest crucial elections next month, despite the furore caused by his attempts to promote showgirls as candidates last year.
By Nick Squires in Rome
TelegraphThe Italian prime minister has spent weeks denying reports that his party would stack its list of candidates with attractive young models or actresses.
But the 73-year-old premier was apparently unable to resist the charms of Nicole Minetti, a showgirl turned dental hygienist who he met when his teeth were being repaired after he was attacked by a man with a history of mental illness in Milan in December.
Despite the furore and the wrath of his wife caused by his attempts last year to promote a string of glamorous women as candidates for the European elections, Miss Minetti is reportedly now on a short list to run as a candidate for Mr Berlusconi’s People of Freedom (PDL) party in Lombardy, northern Italy.
A former dancer who has appeared on various TV variety shows, she graduated as a dental hygienist last November and within weeks was tending to the prime minister when he was treated in Milan’s San Raffaele Hospital for two broken teeth and a smashed nose following the assault on Dec 13.
Hers will not be the only pretty face in the ranks of Mr Berlusconi’s party as it seeks to consolidate its hold on power in the elections in 13 of Italy’s 20 regions at the end of March.
Graziana Capone, a law graduate and model who has been dubbed “the Angelina Jolie of Puglia,” the southern region from which she hails, was recently hired to help mould Mr Berlusconi’s image on television, La Repubblica reported. She had also been touted as a possible candidate in the elections.A smiling Mr Berlusconi was photographed this week as he presented four women who hope to be elected as regional governors, two of whom have cover girl looks: Monica Faenzi and Anna Maria Bernini.
His penchant for favouring brains over beauty earned him exasperated criticism from the main opposition party.“Berlusconi chooses candidates more for their good looks than for their experience,” said Anna Finocchiaro, the Senate leader of the Democratic Party. “He’s filled parliament with beautiful girls, albeit competent, but they don’t count for anything within the party.”
But loyalists within the ranks of his party angrily hit back. Margherita Boniver, an MP, told Corriere della Sera: “I’m astonished. You only have to look at the CVs of our candidates to understand that they are people who are dedicated to politics,” said Barbara Saltamartini, an MP who has responsibility for equal opportunities within the PDL, said that Miss Finocchiaro’s remarks had shown “that she is an enemy of women”.
The glamorous line-up invited comparisons with the row which broke out last year when Mr Berlusconi’s party proposed fielding a bevy of actresses, models and reality television starlets as candidates for the European parliament elections in June.
His wife, Veronica Lario, branded the plan “shamelessly tacky” and a week later demanded a divorce after nearly 30 years of marriage.
In the end most of the women were ditched from the line-up and only one, Barbara Matera, 27, a television presenter, actress and former Miss Italy contender, was elected to Brussels.She revealed that her role model was Mara Carfagna, the former men’s magazine model who Mr Berlusconi made his equal opportunities minister when he returned to power in 2008.
Posted by peiper
on 02/19/2010 at 09:15 AM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Eye-Candy • Fun-Stuff • Government • Humor • Politically-Incorrect •
• Comments (2)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Monday - February 08, 2010
SARA HAS SIGHT ON WHITE HOUSE BUT MINUS THE PARTY. TEA THAT IS. ??
SOME COMMENTS ON PALIN by people who don’t know the USA and wouldn’t learn if given the chance.
A Molly wrote:
I do believe everyone in life gets what they deserve..so if Palin is what America wants, so be it. I am not going to lose any sleep over it.
All I can do from here is hope that Europe will never again be fooled by the lies that have come out of America in the past and will never lead our troops into another 8 years of war on their behalf.
Let the cowboys fight their own battles in the future.
If it’s in Palin you trust, well good luck to you!
Ellie Light wrote:
Sarah Palin is a proven quitter, with little experience and even lower inate intelligence (I can see Russia). Her only accomplishment is that she can reproduce, but even that she did not do properly. She is not even a good mother, raising a daughter that breeds an illegitimate grandchild. She is a joke. Her only supporters are gap toothed inbreds from Appalachia.
And that’s about as kind as it gets here among the comments from ppl foreign and domestic with regard to Americans (who they take to be war loving, ignorant, inbred hillbillys) who led them into an 8 year war ongoing. The suggestion is also made that America should fight it’s own battles and not drag others into our quarrels. Some see Palin as “Bush in a wig.”
Tell the truth, the comments section is more interesting then the article but also more aggravating because they also show how little they know us, and how mean spirited some folks can be with regard to the USA.
There was a column recently from America reporting on the trend Obama seems to be setting, that the writer feels is somewhat isolationist. Which he doesn’t believe to be a good thing. Being something of an isolationist myself, I wondered if that’s a bad thing. Is Barry doing something right? Nah. In my dreams. But I’ll be honest no matter how bad it might make me look. I wish we could be isolationist and circle the wagons and tell the world to go to hell.
Americans have enough home grown problems to deal with. Serious problems that I don’t see being resolved no matter who’s in office. We mostly aren’t getting along very well with each other, who needs the additional headache of arguments with people outside our own country?
Back to Mrs. Palin for a moment.
She was paid a hefty sum it’s been reported, to address the Tea Party folks in Nashville recently. As I understand it and if I don’t I know BMEWS will correct me, she also accepted a second speaking date with the TP. BUT ... she has also appeared FREE on behalf of Republicians who have different views then that of the Tea Party Congress. She has also agreed to speak on behalf of Sen, McCain. Why? He surely isn’t running for anything. Is he?
Sometimes I get to feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Here’s part of the article and as always the rest is at the link below.
Sarah Palin has her sights on the White House not Tea Party movement
Giles Whittell in Washington
The TimesSarah Palin has given the clearest indication yet that her ambition is to become President of the United States, rather than merely the leader of the radical grassroots Tea Party movement that adores her.
The day after her return to national politics with a barnstorming attack on President Obama in a speech in Nashville, Mrs Palin was shown a poll yesterday ranking her the top Republican candidate for 2012 and asked if she would run.
“I would,” she said without hesitation. “I would, if I believed that that was the right thing to do for my country and for my family.”
In an interview with Fox News, for which she is also a paid analyst, Mrs Palin said that it would be “absurd not to consider what it is that I can potentially do to help our country”. She said that she would not “close a door that could perhaps be open to me in the future” and acknowledged that she had started receiving daily political and economic briefings by e-mail from a panel of Washington experts.
In oblique reference to a disastrous pre-election interview with CBS in 2008, she added: “I sure as heck better be more astute on these national issues than I was two years ago.”
Posted by peiper
on 02/08/2010 at 08:45 AM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • News-Briefs • Politics • Republicans • Sarah Palin • USA •
• Comments (9)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Wednesday - February 03, 2010
REWARDING BAD BEHAVIOR LEADS TO MORE OF THE SAME WITH LOWER STANDARDS THE RESULT
This has NOTHING to do with this post but my mind won’t let go of something.
Brit election I think in May AND ..... the conservative numbers are not as large as they were a few months ago. Not that the cons here are all that much to brag about but at least they are not Labour (Party). It is scary beyond words at the possibility of another leftist Labour Party govt., especially with that screaming loon, Harriet Harperson, Comrade Commissar of Equality. Also ... Gordon Brown, the current PM, is so desperate that he has announced that he will push to extend the vote to .... 16 year olds. SWEET 16
So that’s off my chest, now back to our regular posting schedule.
I’m posting this editorial because first it makes interesting points and also because it falls right into something Wardmama here at BMEWS has commented on.
Back home in the USA you might not know who the ballplayer is that’s referred to here but really that doesn’t matter. For a frame of reference think Tiger Woods. Pretty much the same thing but the twist with this disreputable fellow is, not being satisfied with cheating on his wife, he had an affair with the girlfriend of a close friend and team mate. Some friend. And his wife btw is no bow-wow either. Sure, as a male I understand needs and drives etc. But surely there should be limits or a code of honor or ... ? I’m looking for another word here. Fidelity? And oh yeah. The guy is also captain of his team. So now the team is split between those who “understand” and don’t care, and those who think it might be normal to cheat but not steal a friend’s girlfriend, and all the rest.
I think Miss Pearson and Wardmom nailed it well. Rewarding bad behavior only encourages more of the same and while that’s going on, the standards keep getting lower and lower.
This toxic WAG virus is infecting our youngBy Allison Pearson
Last updated at 8:06 AM on 03rd February 2010Every night, my son falls asleep with John Terry. Tucked up under his Chelsea duvet, wearing his Chelsea pyjamas, Tom dreams of being captain of his favourite team - dogged, doughty, rich, an invincible defender, an England legend.
Oh, and a liar, a cheat and a sexually incontinent slimeball. The Small Boy doesn’t know about that bit yet, though I’m finding it increasingly hard to swipe the morning papers before he sees them.
Following his affair with Vanessa Perroncel, a family friend and underwear model - what else? - there are calls for Terry to stand down as England captain.
Fans are worried that tensions between Terry and Wayne Bridge, Miss Perroncel’s former boyfriend, will damage team morale during the World Cup in June.
Let’s be practical here, folks. If England players were to be excluded on the grounds of crude or ungentlemanly conduct, who would be left on the pitch? The manager, that’s who.
Wayne Bridge has been cast as the poor, wronged bloke in this seedy story. But, according to Shalimar Wimble, one of Terry’s Trollops who have come tottering out of the gutter in their six-inch stilettos, it was to a house owned by Bridge that the England captain took Wimble for regular sex sessions.
Looks like Wayne was more than happy to aid and abet his mate’s rampant infidelity. Until it was his WAG that Terry bagged.
Posted by peiper
on 02/03/2010 at 10:23 AM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Scary Stuff • Sex • Sports • UK •
• Comments (1)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • who’d have thought the name Nicholson and ‘eye candy’ might be a match?
Ok so it isn’t weekend women but it’s kinda hard to resist. Even if she wasn’t the daughter of this guy. But since she is and since I can’t wait for the weekend, take a look. I sure do hope she has the talent to go with the looks, because often times being the kin of a famous parent can work against one.
Jack Nicholson’s daughter gets big acting break as friend of teenage surfer who lost her arm in shark attack
By Daily Mail ReporterJack Nicholson’s daughter is following in his footsteps with a big screen appearance in a biopic about surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack.
Budding actress Lorraine, 19, was spotted filming scenes in a bikini in Hawaii yesterday as shooting began for the new film, titled Soul Surfer.
She plays best friend Alana Blanchard, who was with Hamilton on the day a 14ft tiger shark ripped her left arm off at her local beach in Kauai.
I didn’t think many if any would be interested in the whole article, and why would ya, but here’s the link to the source anyway.
Posted by peiper
on 02/03/2010 at 09:32 AM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Eye-Candy • USA •
• Comments (1)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Monday - January 18, 2010
Isn’t meant as eye candy although I guess it could be. But the reason for posting this is, GAWK!
Chances are you folks might not be looking for things like this and I wasn’t either. Until I saw the price of the dress.
£26,000.00 for a crystal gown she can not possibly sit down in. This stuff is all hand sown, has to be a team effort, and I’ll leave it to you to work out the conversion in American dollars. Bet too it won’t be worn more then once or maybe 2wice at the most. You can’t label it as Moonbat either since the lady can well afford it. So how how she spends her money is her business. Or maybe it’s company money. No matter. I’m just amazed that anyone can spend that much on a gown to be worn one time. Look for this to show up on eBay I betcha. And btw, how is it that ladies have so many shoes and almost all more expensive then the shoes we guys wear. There’s hardly anything to em but they cost the earth it seems. Are there $30,000 suits for men? Just wondered.
Danielle Lloyd lives the WAG dream as she dazzles in £26,000 bridal-style gown at her engagement party
By DAILY MAIL REPORTERIt was just an engagement party, but Danielle Lloyd arrived at the celebration last night looking more like a glamorous bride.
Wearing a £26,000 floor-sweeping, crystal-encrusted gown, the glamour model smiled as she and footballer fiance Jamie O’Hara greeted guests at the Mayfair Hotel in London.
Having longed to be a WAG for some time, perhaps the 25-year-old was keen to practise the bridal look after Jamie proposed in Paris last month.
Imagine how much the wedding dress might cost.
The same lady leaving the party that night. Wow. Amazing what a £26,000 gown and makeup can do.
Posted by peiper
on 01/18/2010 at 09:47 AM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Daily Life • UK •
• Comments (6)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Tuesday - December 08, 2009
Fashion Tips
OMG, I have to go meet the Queen of England! What do I wear???
Something formal, obviously. Demure, sophisticated, classic, and classy. Be absolutely certain that your shoes coordinate, and don’t speak until spoken to.
And make sure you do something with those eyebrows first, m’kay?
Sounds like good advice. Of course, if you’re Lady Gaga, you find a unique way to do exactly what’s expected, but still keep your freak flag flying ...
Posted by Drew458
on 12/08/2009 at 06:07 PM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Humor • Music •
• Comments (8)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Saturday - December 05, 2009
Interesting New Metric, the TWI
This meme is running around the intranets today. It’s a focused update on the old giveashitometer ( or whatever you call yours ) ...
... which has been with us since analog days.
The TMI is focused because it deals with the Tiger Woods brouhaha, and ranks what people really do find important with what the media tells us is important. Big difference there. I haven’t posted anything on the Tiger tales ... because it ranks a big fat ZERO on my personal meter. Oh sure, I considered it, just for eye candy purposes. I don’t know the guy. Don’t know what he’s like as a person. But he’s young, he’s athletic, he’s got a goofy disarming smile, and he’s got a BILLION DOLLARS in the bank. Is that all it takes to have legions of gorgeous women throw themselves at him? Um, dur!
See? Just another nobody. So who cares really? But the story has been all over the news, every channel, every hour, every day. That is, when they aren’t prattling on endlessly about the Sahalis possibly sneaking into a party at the White House. And NEVER mentioning the PLO connection. Because they’re part of the ritzy Washington DC social circuit, and the Mrs. is a genuine beauty queen who looked great in that red sari. Ok, she’s a pretend genuine beauty queen, but fake but accurate is good enough for the MSM. And good enough for old “Plugs” Biden ...
Kind of makes you wonder if the “important” news stories aren’t based on cheesecake appeal, the old “Q factor”. Because pretty is more newsworthy than important?
OK, I was distracted by what statisticians call a “double blond test” for a moment ... where was I? Um, ah, got it. The TWI.
Right. So this guy Richard North at EUReferendum analyzes the comparative frequency of various stories written about on the internet vs. their MSM online news coverage, and uses the Tiger Woods thingy as a baseline. He’s counting up the Google hits and categorizing them, while ignoring any bias Google might have built in to their search engine. And just like that, a meme is born, and the web is all over it and soon thereafter so is the MSM. Or at least FoxNews. And away we go ...
s the public more interested in Tiger Woods than Climategate? And does the media coverage reflect the public interest? Those were the questions posed yesterday by Jan Corn in an obscure publication called Associated Content.
Corn had her own ideas, using Twitter searches as a measure, suggesting that Tiger Woods is grabbing the lion’s share of attention while issues like Climategate get a far smaller amount of interest – from the media at least.
Twitter may or may not be the best measure but, over the last two weeks, the measure most constantly referred to is the number of general web pages on Google compared with the number of news reports recorded.
This provides a measure in respect of one subject, but allows no comparison with other issues. Thus, as an experiment, I started trawling around, taking the stats on other issues in the news. To make the figures comparable, I then worked out the ratios of web pages to news pages reported.
On that basis, Tiger Woods delivered 22,500,000 web and 46,025 news pages, giving ratio of 489. That is the “Tiger Woods Index” (TWI) against which I chose to measure a raft of other issues.
“Climategate” was the next obvious choice and that produced 28,400,000 on the web page search, compared with 2,930 news items, delivering a ratio of 9,693. Using the TWI as a comparator, the public in general are more interested in “Climategate” than Tiger Woods, by a factor of nearly 20 times.
Cheese Whiz, there goes Drew, with the 3rd level meta-blogging again. But it’s true. His bit was picked up by the Telegraph, a UK online paper that is running the Climategate story, to which they add their own snark and observations, and bring Al Gore and Sarah Palin into the mix. And that post got picked up by David Horowitz. And so on and so on. It’s going viral. And they all print the same thing:
He explains the formula thusly:
Tiger Woods delivered 22,500,000 web and 46,025 news pages, giving ratio of 489. That is the “Tiger Woods Index” (TWI) against which I chose to measure a raft of other issues.
Here are the results:
1. Climategate: 28,400,000 – 2,930 = 9693
2. Afghanistan: 143,000,000 – 154,145 = 928
3. Obama: 202,000,000 – 252,583 = 800
4. Tiger Woods: 22,500,000 – 46,025 = 489
5. Gordon Brown: 12,300,000 – 37,021 = 332
6. Climate change: 22,200,000 – 68,419 = 324
7. Sally Bercow: 25,000 – 86 = 290
8. David Cameron: 545,000 – 4837 = 113
9. Meredith Kercher: 261,000 – 3,471 = 75
10. Chilcot Inquiry: 125,000 – 4,350 = 29Climategate has received less coverage in the fringe media than Meredith Kercher or the Chilcot Inquiry, of whom/which I’ve never even heard, but I’m sure they’re just fascinating. More surprisingly, Climategate is a bigger story from a consumer standpoint – 20 times over – than Tiger Woods.
Almost all the posts have some comment about how the data has been checked, and how it isn’t hacked, lost, thrown out, modified, managed, or had any “nature tricks” applied to it. Great fun. A bit of Saturday Snark.
And yet, every single one of these guys is DEAD WRONG. They have NOT checked their data, or at least not done any proof reading.
You’ve spotted the error already, yes? Good for you. No? It’s glaring. North developed a RATIO. How many of one thing compared proportionally to how many of another thing. Let me introduce you to some “ultra-advanced” html code (by which I mean it’s as basic as breathing):
AMPERSAND. D. I. V. I. D. E. SEMI-COLON written as “÷”
As in “1. Climategate: 28,400,000 ÷ 2,930 = 9693”
Or for our less advanced blog brethren, SLASH. “/”.
As in “1. Climategate: 28,400,000 / 2,930 = 9693”
Because otherwise it’s subtraction. And that doesn’t give you a ratio at all, just the number that’s left over. And I’m the only person who has noticed. Because I’m a total twit. And also because I have standards. I want my fake-but-accurate to be accurately fake. Not inaccurately fake. That’s sloppy work, which will only get me a job at CRU, when what I’d prefer is one of Tiger’s cast-offs. Well, when she isn’t busy banging actor David Boreanez when his wife is pregnant. Classy! Um, 2nd thought, maybe not ...
Posted by Drew458
on 12/05/2009 at 12:36 PM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Climate-Weather • Humor •
• Comments (4)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Monday - October 05, 2009
BBC wins bid to keep star salaries under wraps (and it only cost us £200,000)
The big deal about this bit of business, is that the BBC is publicly funded. For those who don’t know, people here pay a yearly TV license and they do try and collect using whatever means necessary. So why shouldn’t the salaries be made public?
Thankfully, just last week we gave away the perfectly good (for now) TV set as anything I want to see is not shown on television. The set belonged to the wife’s mom who didn’t even use it the final two yrs of her life. It just stood there in her room, silent. Truth to tell, we don’t miss TV and haven’t watched but one program in five years here. Thank heaven for You Tube.
Even if we hadn’t given the set away, I’d have fought tooth and nail and refused to pay as others have. Use my money to help pay millions a year to ONE foul mouthed,rude and crude individual? (pictured) Not bloody likely!
The surprise is how many folks simply buckle down and give up and pay. I guess addictions are like that and I can only assume it is an addiction as why else would so many watch what’s on offer? No thank You.
Think of it this way. What if you were required to pay a license (USA) for a channel hosting Howard Stern? Even if you weren’t demented enough to think he was funny or talented or whatever. Yes, I know millions do and millions are also tasteless and possibly very sick as well. But that’s not the point. At least in the US you aren’t forced to get a TV license to fund things you think are gross and in very poor taste. Like the fellow pictured here who thought it quite funny when he and his sidekick made public calls to a well known actor, on air, telling the old guy all about the enjoyable sex one of em had with his grand daughter. That’s what passed for entertainment, and this guy gets paid millions a year. Well, not with any of our money.
BBC wins bid to keep star salaries and Middle East report under wraps (and it only cost us £200,000)By Liz Thomas
Daily MailBig earner: Jonathan Ross earns a reported £6million a year
The BBC has won a High Court battle to keep the salaries of its stars a secret.
The corporation spent more than £200,000 ensuring those who fund the service never know how their cash is spent.
Three years of appeals and legal wrangles mean it will not now have to disclose what it pays on-screen talent, production staff or how much money shows cost.
Mr Justice Irwin concluded that the ‘BBC has no obligation to disclose information which they hold to any significant extent for the purposes of journalism, art or literature, whether or not the information is also held for other purposes’.
Although insiders insist that details of executive pay will continue to be publicly released, the BBC could still use this ruling as a further tool to ensure it does not have to disclose the salaries of top talent.
The BBC has come under fire for the eye-watering sums it pays stars such as Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton and Chris Moyles.
Ross earns a reported £6million a year and around 40 other stars are paid more than £1million annually.
Jeremy Hunt, Tory culture spokesman, said: ‘We have long called for the BBC to open their books to the National Audit Office so licence-fee payers can be sure they are getting value for money.
‘If the BBC was more transparent about its finances then court cases like these could be avoided.’
Matthew Elliott, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘The BBC’s behaviour is shocking and incredibly disappointing.
‘Firstly, the fact that the Corporation has blown a fortune on lawyers trying to obscure the truth shows they see zero need for accountability, even when it’s rightfully required of them.
‘Secondly, the BBC should be entirely open and honest about how it spends licence-fee payers’ money. If they can’t justify the amount they are spending, they shouldn’t do it in the first place.
‘This is yet another example of the BBC being out of touch with the concerns of the people it is supposed to be entertaining, and who pay its keep.’
The case went to the High Court because the BBC consistently refused to comply with freedom of information requests from newspapers and members of the public.
The broadcaster was taken to the Information Commissioner, and the Information Tribunal, who both ruled that it should release the information.
Ruling: The BBC will not be forced to disclose an internal report on its Middle East coverage, or details of staff salariesRuling: The BBC will not be forced to disclose an internal report on its Middle East coverage, or details of staff salaries
But the BBC appealed to the High Court, which found previous hearings had not properly taken into account its evidence.
It also ruled that the broadcaster was exempt from sections of the Act as a public body, and therefore did not have to give out information relating to its programming in journalism, arts or literature.
A spokesman for the BBC said: ‘The BBC was entitled to decline to disclose the information on the basis that the Freedom of Information Act did not apply to it.’
Macker and BMEWS… I didn’t have this when originally posted but, here’s the other sick no talent turd who once worked for the BBC and was in on the sick joke I wrote about. And this bit of filth btw is doing well I understand, in the USA. GAK!
Posted by peiper
on 10/05/2009 at 08:00 AM
Filed Under: • Big Business • Celebrities • CULTURE IN DECLINE • Economics • Television • UK •
• Comments (2)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Monday - September 07, 2009
Frost over Terry Prachett
It’s 5:00 AM, there’s a nasty thunderstorm overhead, and I’m posting about Terry Pratchett.
God will get me for this.
An interesting interview with Terry Pratchett.
A) I believe this is the first time I’ve seen him without his hat.
B) the interviewer is David Frost, who I’d assumed was long dead. [If I were Richard Nixon, I’d have made sure of it… (just kidding, maybe…)]
Well, here you go: David Frost’s interview with Terry Pratchett.
One of my favorite Pratchett quotes: Granny Weatherwax on ‘progress’: “Progress just means bad things happen faster.”
I like to quote that to liberals who try to use the ‘progressive’ moniker.
Appears to be quite true under the Obama regime.
Methinks the USA needs regime change now!
UPDATE: embuggerance-a very minor problem - not the end of the world, but the world would be better without it.
Source: Urban Dictionary
Posted by Christopher
on 09/07/2009 at 04:59 AM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Health-Medicine • Literature •
• Comments (5)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Saturday - August 29, 2009
Madonna is booed on stage in Bucharest after gypsy comments anger local fan.
Good. She’s a skank anyway. But she most likely won’t care what they think. It’s great to know that at least once, some self important entertainer exhibitionist found that people didn’t pay to listen to political statements from the stage. Of course, I can’t understand why anybody would pay good money to see her anyway. But that’s me.
Off line all day yesterday and thought this a pretty good article to start with today. What makes so many of these ppl believe an audience wants to be lectured to or listen to these so called ‘stars’ who bump and grind their way to fame?
Well, Drew’s moving, it’s beginning to feel like winter (to me) as this has not been a hot summer cept for a few days, and the postal people are threatening yet another strike. That’ll make three. I think. Any other important news? Uh, well maybe.
I hope this either a bad joke or just something I read and misunderstood.
Just a brief line in the paper yesterday with regard to one of BMEWs favorite subjects.
HEALTHCARE ...According to something I read, it says that Obama is thinking of naming whatever program he ends up with after the late Sen.Kennedy.
I could not make this one up.
He may call it KennedyCare.
So help me Hannah that is exactly what I read. And yes I did check to make sure the date wasn’t April 1.
I can’t believe that true even for him. But as Will Rogers once famously said. “ All I know is what I read in the papers.”
No not literally. Just a figure of speech. I hafta say that coz in case Macker is here and knowing his sense of humor, I thought I better cover myself.
Madonna is booed on stage in Bucharest after gypsy comments anger local fans
By Daily Mail ReporterShe’s never shied away from courting controversy, but Madonna may be wishing she’d never said a word this week.
The Queen of Pop was on stage in Bucharest, when she was booed by thousands of fans after making comments supporting gypsies.
Madonna, 51, spoke out in support of Roma gypsies, but was met with jeers and boos by the 60,000-strong audience.
‘It has been brought to my attention...that there is a lot of discrimination against Romanies and Gypsies in general in eastern Europe,’ she said.
‘It made me feel very sad.’
The singer started her show on stage with Roma musicians and a dancer, who were initially greeted with enthusiastic applause.
But the huge crowd turned when Madonna took a break during her performance to speak out against the prejudice suffered by gypsies across eastern Europe.
There was a small amount of applause when she added, ‘We don’t believe in discrimination … we believe in freedom and equal rights for everyone.’But yet more boos followed when she also condemned injustice against gay people. Madonna seemed unfazed by the experience and carried on with the concert.
The singer was performing in Bucharest, just yards away from the giant palace of ex-communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
Human rights campaigners say gypsies probably suffer more humiliation and endure more discrimination than any other people group on the continent.
Nearly 50% of Europe’s estimated 12million Roma claimed to have suffered an act of discrimination over the past 12 months, according to a recent EU report.
In May 2007, Romanian President Traian Basescu was forced to apologise for calling a Romanian journalist a ‘stinky gypsy’, while in neighbouring Hungary, six Roma have been killed in recent attacks.
Of course she’s “unfazed.” That’s because she only listens to her egoself. And as for the persecution of all those poo gypsies, gee whiz.
Like, what is it they do and what kind of trouble do they cause wherever they go, that would make other ppl turn against em?
Now lets see ... this is a deep one huh?
Apparently Madonna is way too busy buying African children she can adopt, to read the papers and see the problems caused by these folk.
Anyway ... she was more then likely pontificating thinking her comments might endear her to the tone deaf fans who buy tickets.
Well, surprise Maddy. Looks like this group of young people know something you don’t. Not that you’d be interested.
Posted by peiper
on 08/29/2009 at 11:11 AM
Filed Under: • Celebrities • Travelers/Gypsies/Squatters •
• Comments (1)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Saturday - August 15, 2009
Just Monkee-ing around…
I grew up in 1968.
I know this because that year I didn’t get the usual Disney/Superman/Aquaman story vinyl albums for either my birthday or for Christmas.
No, that year, for my 8th birthday, I received the Monkee’s Greatest Hits. My first rock album.
It’s been all downhill from there!
Oh yes, I found part of the rest:
Okay, found parts 3 and 5. Had no luck finding the missing parts. Probably could be found in a barrel full of MonKees!
I just know I’m going to Hades for this one…
Posted by Christopher
on 08/15/2009 at 08:04 PM
Filed Under: • Adventure • Celebrities • Fun-Stuff • Personal •
• Comments (5)
•
Trackbacks(0)
Permalink • Five Most Recent Trackbacks:
Once Again, The One And Only Post
(4 total trackbacks)
Tracked at iHaan.org
Thｅ advantage to having a guide with you is thɑt an expert will haѵe very first hand experience dealing and navigating the river with гegional wildlife. Tһomas, there are great…
On: 07/28/23 10:37
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We've Been Waiting For
(3 total trackbacks)
Tracked at head to the Momarms site
The Brownshirts: Partie Deux; These aare the Muscle We’ve Been Waiting For
On: 03/14/23 11:20
Vietnam Homecoming
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at 广告专题配音 专业从事中文配音跟外文配音制造，北京名传天下配音公司
专业从事中文配音和外文配音制作，北京名传天下配音公司 北京名传天下专业配音公司成破于2006年12月，是专业从事中 中文配音 文配音跟外文配音的音频制造公司，幻想飞腾配音网领 配音制作 有海内外优良专业配音职员已达500多位，可供给一流的外语配音，长年服务于国内中心级各大媒体、各省市电台电视台，能满意不同客户的各种需要。电话：010-83265555 北京名传天下专业配音公司…
On: 03/20/21 07:00
meaningless marching orders for a thousand travellers ... strife ahead ..
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at Casual Blog
[...] RTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPL [...]
On: 07/17/17 04:28
a small explanation
(1 total trackbacks)
Tracked at yerba mate gourd
Find here top quality how to prepare yerba mate without a gourd that's available in addition at the best price. Get it now!
On: 07/09/17 03:07
DISCLAIMER
THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.
Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:
It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.
- Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
- Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
- Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
- Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere
THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.
Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner
Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.
RSS 2.0 
Atom 
