tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25478583516461478582024-03-13T17:13:50.440-04:00News! Internationally served right on your screen.Hi there,
If you're reading this you have stumbled upon my blog.
It is something I always wanted to do but never tried.
I've heard alot about blogging and decided it's about time to get with the 21st century and try it out.
My blog will deliver news from around the world and bring it to the monitors of my followers.
From Wealth to Gaming, Technology to sports, Catastrophic events to the most latest buzzes I'll have it all!kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-25335179247729961762011-08-14T12:34:00.000-04:002011-08-14T12:34:10.608-04:00The most hated car of 2011 (andddd im bacccccck)<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px;">I have returned finally from a fun filled summer. Sadly I was on the road so much I wasn't able to update my blog which I love so dearly at all. But nothing to worry about because I am back and better than ever. Let's re-start off this blog with the most hated car of 2011. But the year is still young you might say, yeah well people are really hasty to name this one out, so without further ado here it is. </span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The year has four more months left, but a chorus of boos from the nation's auto reviewers makes it evident that the clear favorite for the title of "Most Disliked 2011 Car" is ... the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet. Not since the Mercedes R-class, and, before that, the Pontiac Aztek has the overall verdict been so bruisingly negative. The CrossCabrio has been tarred for being lumpy, dumpy, shaky and sluggish.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9JvUYxpsu4g/Tkf3SDHS5DI/AAAAAAAAADc/lS1rNS2PwjE/s1600/ca_autos-326644263-1312987863.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9JvUYxpsu4g/Tkf3SDHS5DI/AAAAAAAAADc/lS1rNS2PwjE/s320/ca_autos-326644263-1312987863.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">In simple terms, the Murano CrossCabriolet is an all-wheel-drive Murano crossover in which an automatic folding fabric top replaces the metal roof, and the two rear doors have been eliminated. It has been billed as the first convertible crossover (if you exclude the Jeep Wrangler ). With its raised suspension and high deck lid, the CrossCabrio looks somewhat like an artichoke on wheels, the prototypical niche vehicle. It seats four and, available only fully-loaded, has an MSRP of $47,520.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; margin-bottom: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What is your least favorite car make of all time?<br />
Me, I hate PT Cruiser, just a very ugly car in general.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-66018810117533878592011-07-19T06:21:00.000-04:002011-07-19T06:21:37.385-04:00Yahtzee game goes wrongWow I didn't really think stuff like this happens.<br />
But I guess this new article proves me wrong.<br />
Read through it and tell me in the comments below how this makes feel.<br />
I'm still shocked in awe.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Oqt3kLCFZ88/TiVaI3h0cDI/AAAAAAAAADY/eVmHRmdfAfU/s1600/three-sons-murder-mother-over-game-of-yahtzee-31362-1311002426-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Oqt3kLCFZ88/TiVaI3h0cDI/AAAAAAAAADY/eVmHRmdfAfU/s320/three-sons-murder-mother-over-game-of-yahtzee-31362-1311002426-13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Spring comes along and Jacob asks his friend how to dispose of a body, you know his mom has only been</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">missing for 4 months now so it's not bait at all. He gets caught and is being tried as an adult.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-4668032702529477902011-07-04T19:10:00.007-04:002011-07-04T19:14:12.159-04:00Woman dies after waking up at her own funeral<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DH8TTu8D7FE/ThJIXN_oM2I/AAAAAAAAADQ/0_n9Ki0Tv_k/s1600/Rick-Ground-Guns-760-550x387-e1309376684689-300x166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DH8TTu8D7FE/ThJIXN_oM2I/AAAAAAAAADQ/0_n9Ki0Tv_k/s1600/Rick-Ground-Guns-760-550x387-e1309376684689-300x166.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7a7575; font-family: 'Droid Sans', Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The picture: Too much?</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anyway, you would think that this is something that happens in, say, Indonesia, where in some parts their medical expertise is, well, lacking.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Nope – this happened in Kazan, Russia, which no, not in Siberia – it’s a modernized city with over a million people. Moscow branded it “The Third Capital of Russia.” And was also known as the “sports capital of Russia.” This is not some backwards hick town.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A woman suffered from chest pains and supposedly heart failure. She was pronounced dead by the doctors on site. Everyone made preparations for a funeral.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Except, she woke up.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rightly shocked at what was happening around her — waking up at your own <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">funeral</em> — she screamed and died for real this time.<br />
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Fagilyu Mukhametzyanov, 49, woke up as relatives were praying at her open coffin, The Sun reported.<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">She screamed on realising that she was going to be buried.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The woman was promptly taken to a hospital in <span class="" id="lw_1309676832_1">Kazan, Russia</span>, where, however, she was declared dead from a suspected heart attack.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">'Her eyes fluttered and we immediately rushed her back to the hospital,' the woman's husband Fagili was quoted as saying.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">'But she only lived another 12 minutes before she died again, this time for good.'<br />
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</div></div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Needless to say, the husband is <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">pissed</em>, and launching a lawsuit against the hospital, who is performing “an investigation.” Which is code for, “getting our legal team together to cover our asses.”</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-58306611110572963852011-06-30T10:28:00.001-04:002011-06-30T10:29:14.776-04:00Mosquitoes more attracted to beer drinkers<div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">...And I always thought that alcohol in your bloodstream kept the mosquitoes from biting you.<br />
Trash that idea, it's only a myth.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Fh4wUV1XPI/TgyIN0SxWMI/AAAAAAAAADM/hu_CakFE-rw/s1600/beer-afp_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6Fh4wUV1XPI/TgyIN0SxWMI/AAAAAAAAADM/hu_CakFE-rw/s1600/beer-afp_crop.jpg" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">It might be nice enough to enjoy a pint outside in your part of Canada, but news that mosquitoes are likely to target people with beer in their systems might make you re-think enjoying your favorite patio.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Or at least apply some bug repellent before you head out.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">A study, conducted by scientists at the IRD Research Centre in France, shows that insects are 15 per cent more likely to fly toward humans after they have consumed a pint.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The researchers write in <a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AhzyQiI3zlR1SpeiRK5QZN1VJd1_;_ylu=X3oDMTBuYzdsYmhoBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dCb2R5;_ylg=X3oDMTMxdXV0YTBoBGludGwDY2EEbGFuZwNlbi1jYQRwc3RhaWQDZDk3NGNhMjctMGEyYS0zZmIxLTlhZmUtZjA5MTNkNmY3ZDRkBHBzdGNhdANob21lfGRhaWx5YnV6egRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=0/SIG=1348smnjl/EXP=1310653563/**http%3A//www.plosone.org/article/info%253Adoi%252F10.1371%252Fjournal.pone.0009546" style="color: #005790; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Plos One">Plos One</a> that one possible explanation is, "Mosquitoes may have evolved preferences for people who recently consumed beer - possibly due to reduced host defensive behaviours or highly-nutritious blood-meals."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The team used 25 males from West Africa and had them drink a local brew called Dolo. Mosquitoes were then released into the air and had the option of flying toward open air or the odour of the participant. Before participants drank the beer, only 50 per cent of mosquitoes flew toward the participant's odour. After a beer, the number rose to 65 per cent.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"Beer consumption, as opposed to water consumption, significantly increased both the activation and orientation of An. gambiae," the authors write in <a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AitQR8BlACLPiQJP57Oush9VJd1_;_ylu=X3oDMTBuNW9sanFvBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dCb2R5;_ylg=X3oDMTMxdXV0YTBoBGludGwDY2EEbGFuZwNlbi1jYQRwc3RhaWQDZDk3NGNhMjctMGEyYS0zZmIxLTlhZmUtZjA5MTNkNmY3ZDRkBHBzdGNhdANob21lfGRhaWx5YnV6egRwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=0/SIG=1348smnjl/EXP=1310653563/**http%3A//www.plosone.org/article/info%253Adoi%252F10.1371%252Fjournal.pone.0009546" style="color: #005790; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Plos One">Plos One</a>. "We found that beer consumption not only enhanced the number of mosquitoes that engage in odour-mediated upwind flight (mosquito activation) but also enhanced the strength of their odour-mediated anemotactic response (mosquito orientation)."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Researchers also tried the same experiment with water finding that it was six per cent less likely for mosquitoes to fly toward the participants odour after consuming a glass.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">They are hoping to use the findings to decrease cases of malaria, a disease that kills 780,000 people worldwide every year.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">While malaria may not be a big problem in Canada, it is a good idea to lather on the bug screen when at the cottage enjoying beer.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-84331740782936596432011-06-28T06:09:00.000-04:002011-06-28T06:09:49.058-04:00Ford's absence at Pride ceremony elicits boos<div style="margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px;">Now I understand a bit why the mayor should show up to something like this, but this is a individual's decision to go and if it comes in the way of his family annual reunion at his cottage, then so be it, family is stronger than a job. At least it should be for most people. I think with or without the mayor there, the event won't change at all, it's not like he's the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 20px; line-height: 18px;">host</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px;"> of the parade anyways.</span></span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Toronto council speaker Frances Nunziata was greeted with boos at the flag-raising ceremony for Toronto's Pride Week as protesters demanded to know why Mayor Rob Ford was not present.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Nunziata was acting as Ford's representative at the noon ceremony at Nathan Phillips Square on Monday, in which she proclaimed Pride Week festivities were officially underway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nOO6ltbzD2M/TgmnkyB8fOI/AAAAAAAAADE/2WdrRKry2gE/s1600/B01DF04AE66F554C9274E8CCCC12DF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nOO6ltbzD2M/TgmnkyB8fOI/AAAAAAAAADE/2WdrRKry2gE/s1600/B01DF04AE66F554C9274E8CCCC12DF.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">But she was drowned out by a handful of protesters at the ceremony who booed as she tried to read the proclamation.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Where's the mayor?," they yelled. Some were carrying signs with slogans like "you can't hide from us 4eva," and "respect LGBTQ taxpayers."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Nunziata responded by saying those who didn't want to hear her speak "have the right to leave."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">'Could have softened the blow'</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">She said after the meeting that Ford had a "prior commitment" and could not attend the ceremony.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"I don't think people should criticize because you can't be at all places at the same time," she said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Ford said later that he skipped the flag ceremony for a "private" meeting at the Air Canada Centre with Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Last year Burke marched in the parade as a tribute to his son Brendan, who was killed in a car accident. This was just months after his son revealed he was gay. Since then Burke has been fighting homophobic attitudes.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">When asked by reporters later on Monday if the meeting had changed his mind, Ford told reporters "One day at a time. Let's take it one day at a time."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Pride organizers say there are seven more days of events that the mayor could attend and add they would be happy if he even made a small appearance to show his support.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Ford's relationship with Pride Week has come under intense scrutiny in recent days after the mayor said he would skip this week's Pride Parade to spend that time with his family at his cottage.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Richard Warner, one of those who shouted down Nunziata, said Ford's decision to not attend the parade was not politically smart, given the size of the city's gay community and how much the event brings to the city's economy. He also lamented Ford's decision not to come to the flag raising ceremony.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"If he had shown up today...he could have softened the blow [of not attending the parade]," said Warner.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The mayor said he still may attend other Pride-related events, but first has to check his schedule.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The Pride Parade will be held on July 3 and is the culmination of the city's well-known Pride Week, a 10-day festival celebrating sexual diversity in downtown Toronto.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-45292121397159409972011-06-27T06:04:00.000-04:002011-06-27T06:04:12.184-04:00Family barbecue ends in stabbing<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">One woman is in custody and another woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries following a dispute at a family barbecue in Toronto early Sunday morning.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police said they were called to an east-end home in the Pharmacy Avenue and Danforth Avenue area where there were reports of a stabbing.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police said they found a woman suffering from at least six wounds to her head and neck. She was taken to hospital were she was treated and released.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The altercation was the result of an ongoing dispute between two sisters.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OWp0jdI9zbU/TghVmaiqXVI/AAAAAAAAAC8/W1Z8IPjvHBU/s1600/FF38E2686458ED9CBA2C62A4E5FD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OWp0jdI9zbU/TghVmaiqXVI/AAAAAAAAAC8/W1Z8IPjvHBU/s1600/FF38E2686458ED9CBA2C62A4E5FD.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Meanwhile, the victim's sister has been charged with aggravated assault. Police have not released the names of the victim or of the accused.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-77084500129829471472011-06-22T05:55:00.000-04:002011-06-22T05:55:14.742-04:00Sentencing begins in York Region officer's death<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A man who struck and killed York Regional Police Det.-Const. Robert Plunkett with a car in 2007 appeared before a sentencing hearing on Tuesday.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Earlier this year, 23-year-old Nadeem Jiwa was convicted of manslaughter in Plunkett's death. Plunkett, a 22-year veteran of the force and a father of three, died in August 2007 while investigating air bag thefts.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Plunkett was trying to arrest Jiwa on a residential street in Markham, Ont. Jiwa, who was driving, reversed the car and pinned Plunkett between a tree and the car's open door.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The Crown has asked for a 12- to 14-year prison sentence for Jiwa, arguing this would reflect the level of community outrage at the death of an officer in the line of duty.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The defence argues a sentence of five to seven years better reflects a crime that was unintentional.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">During Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Plunkett's family said Jiwa has never shown remorse or sympathy.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"In fact, his family has taken steps to show disdain for the system and have seen him as the victim," said Plunkett's widow Sonja.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">York Regional Police Chief Eric Jolliffe said the loss of Plunkett has been keenly felt on the force.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"This has been a very long ordeal, not only for the Plunkett family but for York Region Police," he told CBC News.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Jiwa's sentencing hearing will continue on June 29, when he will likely be sentenced.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-30202166098173783522011-06-21T17:06:00.000-04:002011-06-21T17:06:04.375-04:00'Jackass' star Dunn dies<div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> "Jackass" star Ryan Dunn, who along with his cast mates made Americans cringe and snicker through vulgar stunts in their multimillion-dollar TV and movie franchise, was killed early Monday in a fiery car crash. He was 34.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dunn, a daredevil who gained notoriety for diving into a sewage tank and performing other unsavoury stunts, was driving his 2007 Porsche in suburban Philadelphia when it careered off the road, flipped over a guardrail and crashed into the woods before bursting into flames. A passenger was also killed, and speed may have been a factor in the crash, West Goshen Township police said.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The force of impact shattered the vehicle into several twisted and blackened pieces, leaving the Porsche 911 GT3 unrecognizable except for a door that was thrown from the crash and not incinerated. A 100-foot-long tire skid marked where the car left the roadway.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Both Dunn and his passenger were severely burned. Police said they were able to identify Dunn through his tattoos and hair, but the identity of his passenger was still unknown.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dunn appeared on MTV shows "Jackass" and "Viva La Bam" and the three "Jackass" big-screen adaptations. He also was the star of his own MTV show, "Homewrecker," and just began hosting the new show "Proving Ground" on the G4 cable network.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">G4 spokesman Dave Welch said "Proving Ground," which premiered June 11 with the second episode slated to air Tuesday, was being pulled for now until the network can discuss the show's future.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"> "Jackass" star Ryan Dunn, who along with his cast mates made Americans cringe and snicker through vulgar stunts in their multimillion-dollar TV and movie franchise, was killed early Monday in a fiery car crash. He was 34.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dunn, a daredevil who gained notoriety for diving into a sewage tank and performing other unsavoury stunts, was driving his 2007 Porsche in suburban Philadelphia when it careered off the road, flipped over a guardrail and crashed into the woods before bursting into flames. A passenger was also killed, and speed may have been a factor in the crash, West Goshen Township police said.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The force of impact shattered the vehicle into several twisted and blackened pieces, leaving the Porsche 911 GT3 unrecognizable except for a door that was thrown from the crash and not incinerated. A 100-foot-long tire skid marked where the car left the roadway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7e6_Q3iGObA/TgEHQSdgHsI/AAAAAAAAACo/ZzpnU2iwFp0/s1600/GYI0062299269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7e6_Q3iGObA/TgEHQSdgHsI/AAAAAAAAACo/ZzpnU2iwFp0/s320/GYI0062299269.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Both Dunn and his passenger were severely burned. Police said they were able to identify Dunn through his tattoos and hair, but the identity of his passenger was still unknown.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Dunn appeared on MTV shows "Jackass" and "Viva La Bam" and the three "Jackass" big-screen adaptations. He also was the star of his own MTV show, "Homewrecker," and just began hosting the new show "Proving Ground" on the G4 cable network.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">G4 spokesman Dave Welch said "Proving Ground," which premiered June 11 with the second episode slated to air Tuesday, was being pulled for now until the network can discuss the show's future.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-51543432053836496472011-06-20T06:53:00.000-04:002011-06-20T06:53:19.261-04:00Car bomb near women's college kills 2 in southwestern Pakistan<div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">QUETTA, Pakistan - Police say a car bomb exploded near a women's college in southwestern Pakistan, killing two people and wounding 12 others.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Police officer Hamid Shakil says the bomb appears to have been detonated Monday by a timing device. The car was parked near a women's college in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Shakil did not say who is suspected of carrying out the attack or indicate the target.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Baluchistan has experienced frequent attacks by nationalists who demand a greater share of the province's natural resource wealth but car bomb attacks are rare.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d4YA8b-yH4U/Tf8mk1HeUfI/AAAAAAAAACg/AxnyA4kOV5c/s1600/r184852_687001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d4YA8b-yH4U/Tf8mk1HeUfI/AAAAAAAAACg/AxnyA4kOV5c/s320/r184852_687001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The province, which borders Afghanistan, is also widely believed to be home for many Afghan Taliban militants, including the group's leader, Mullah Omar.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-15732776222598633952011-06-16T06:18:00.000-04:002011-06-16T06:18:19.678-04:00Downtown Vancouver ablaze after rioters run amok following Canuck Cup loss<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The misery for the Vancouver Canucks and their fans continued with another near miss in their 40th season.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Moments after the 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the frustration and disappointment turned to anger and violence. Only a few blocks from Rogers Arena, cars were overturned, several fires were set, store windows were smashed and people clashed with police as a riot ensued in downtown Vancouver on Monday evening.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">What was supposed to be a party in Vancouver turned into violent behaviour after the Canucks came up with another clunker in the seventh and deciding game. They were unable to continue the trend of the home team winning each game.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">From the Bruins fourth line to their magnificent goalie, Conn Smythe-winner Tim Thomas, head coach Claude Julien had the better team on this night as Boston celebrated its first championship since 1972.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2kg0U3_WAUo/TfnYWb810yI/AAAAAAAAACc/lfDUY4gdxL4/s1600/gwh13365756_high.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2kg0U3_WAUo/TfnYWb810yI/AAAAAAAAACc/lfDUY4gdxL4/s320/gwh13365756_high.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Thomas made 37 saves for his second shutout of the series and fourth of the postseason. He set a record for the most saves made in a playoffs at 798 and most shots faced at 849 for a .940 save percentage. In the seven-game final, the 37-year-old Thomas recorded a .967 save percentage. Not bad for a ninth-round pick who took almost a decade after he was drafted to make his first appearance in an NHL game.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"I know the game, and I know the way that it is," Thomas said. "Winning the Stanley Cup is huge. It's the biggest accomplishment of my career thus far. But everybody knows in this game that you have to continuously prove yourself.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"I'm sure if I were to, for example, start out the season bad next year that I probably, with the Cup, would have bought myself a little bit of leeway, but it won't last forever unless I turn my game around."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A stunned capacity crowd of 18,860 at Rogers Arena and hundreds of thousands more in the downtown streets watched their Presidents' Trophy-winning team slump offensively with only eight goals in seven games. The Canucks weren't going to become the first Canadian-based team since the 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup with such little production.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-56734909007545343652011-06-15T15:36:00.001-04:002011-06-15T15:37:05.423-04:00Racial hoax causes PR headache for McDonald’s<div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">An online hoax that falsely suggests McDonald's discriminates against African-American customers is causing a PR headache for the Golden Arches.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Over the weekend, the photograph above circulated widely on the internet. The image shows what looks like an official McDonald's notice in the window of a restaurant, telling customers that blacks will be charged $1.50 extra "as an insurance measure due in part to a recent string of robberies."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Many internet users retweeted the photo, using the words "Seriously McDonald's," to express their disapproval of the burger chain.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span id="more-12560"></span>In response, McDonald's sent <a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AvEJCSAx0PK4In8mYU1fk5UcssB_;_ylu=X3oDMTBuYzdsYmhoBHBvcwMxBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dCb2R5;_ylg=X3oDMTJwb3R1Mm5zBGludGwDY2EEbGFuZwNlbi1jYQRwc3RhaWQDOWEwM2MxMDYtNDlhMS0zZGRlLWEwODAtNmE3ZWRkMTNkYTQzBHBzdGNhdANjYW5hZGEEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=0/SIG=12e5oga94/EXP=1309376091/**http%3A//twitter.com/%23!/McDonalds/status/79566741298085888" style="color: #005790; text-decoration: none;">a tweet of its own</a> on Saturday: "That pic is a senseless & ignorant hoax McD's values ALL our customers. Diversity runs deep in our culture on both sides of the counter."</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">But that clearly wasn't enough to clear things up, because Twitter users continued to send out the picture, with that same message of condemnation: "Seriously McDonald's." Indeed, so many people sent "Seriously McDonald's" Tweets that the phrase became a leading entry on Twitter's trend list.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jf3IzwR2i0Y/TfkJmT458fI/AAAAAAAAAB0/XA70D4xmfJ4/s1600/McDonalds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jf3IzwR2i0Y/TfkJmT458fI/AAAAAAAAAB0/XA70D4xmfJ4/s1600/McDonalds.jpg" /></a></div>That led to a second, blunter McTweet, on Sunday: "<a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AvGcnZE2YpiZ7h_eIwXYCtYcssB_;_ylu=X3oDMTBuNW9sanFvBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dCb2R5;_ylg=X3oDMTJwb3R1Mm5zBGludGwDY2EEbGFuZwNlbi1jYQRwc3RhaWQDOWEwM2MxMDYtNDlhMS0zZGRlLWEwODAtNmE3ZWRkMTNkYTQzBHBzdGNhdANjYW5hZGEEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=0/SIG=12eedbt81/EXP=1309376091/**http%3A//twitter.com/%23!/McDonalds/status/80002626548269056" style="color: #005790; text-decoration: none;">That Seriously McDonalds picture is a hoax.</a>"</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The latest pushback effort seems to have helped keep the photo from spreading too much further--but there's no telling how many people out there still think the photo is for real.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">This is hardly the only recent barrage of negative publicity for the burger behemoth--some of it more justified. McDonalds CEO Jim Skinner recently was <a href="http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=AlVGbYGwX5tww1SeZxANCtEcssB_;_ylu=X3oDMTBuZWRrMTVtBHBvcwMzBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dCb2R5;_ylg=X3oDMTJwb3R1Mm5zBGludGwDY2EEbGFuZwNlbi1jYQRwc3RhaWQDOWEwM2MxMDYtNDlhMS0zZGRlLWEwODAtNmE3ZWRkMTNkYTQzBHBzdGNhdANjYW5hZGEEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdl;_ylv=0/SIG=13umcc85h/EXP=1309376091/**http%3A//www.latimes.com/health/chibrkbus-mcdonalds-defends-advertising-to-children-20110519,0,7420358.story" style="color: #005790; text-decoration: none;">forced to defend the company's renewed use of the Ronald McDonald mascot to appeal to children</a>, after critics said the restaurant's fat-laden burgers and fries endanger kids' health.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">But there's no doubt it's fake. As some Twitter users have pointed out, the toll-free number given at the bottom of the sign is actually the number for ... Kentucky Fried Chicken.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-36618064947841561102011-06-14T06:04:00.000-04:002011-06-14T06:04:23.222-04:00Man dies while raping elderly Texas woman<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">REFUGIO, Texas - Investigators say a man has died while in the act of raping an elderly South Texas woman.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The Refugio County Sheriff's Office identifies the man as 53-year-old Isabel Chavelo Gutierrez. Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Wright says the incident happened June 2 after he rode two miles by bicycle from his home to that of his 77-year-old victim in the tiny coastal community of Tivoli.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">He says the man, weighing between 230 and 250 pounds, sneaked into the woman's house and raped her at knifepoint. During the attack, he said he wasn't feeling well, rolled over and died. His body was sent to the Nueces County medical examiner in Corpus Christi for autopsy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wDEpDTnq2lw/TfcyIXR4uvI/AAAAAAAAABw/e_INiJrR_h8/s1600/article-2003218-0C8C954900000578-161_224x313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wDEpDTnq2lw/TfcyIXR4uvI/AAAAAAAAABw/e_INiJrR_h8/s1600/article-2003218-0C8C954900000578-161_224x313.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Gutierrez was a registered sexual offender on parole from a sentence for aggravated sexual assault and indecency with a child.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-69027712066715504822011-06-08T05:47:00.000-04:002011-06-08T05:47:15.013-04:00Suspected Ontario E. coli case linked to Germany<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">An Ontario man who consumed local produce on a trip to Germany earlier this spring has Canada's first suspected case of E. coli linked to the deadly outbreak in Europe.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Initial testing has confirmed the presence of the toxin compatible with the E. coli outbreak overseas, but it will take a few more days for further lab tests to confirm the case of the super strain, Ontario's chief medical officer of health said Monday.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"This is an adult male who recently returned from Germany and who was clearly exposed to this infection while there," Dr. Arlene King said in an interview. "He's doing well, and the followup is continuing with him."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The man, who is from Peel Region west of Toronto, has been released from hospital, King said. She did not provide his age or any other details about him, citing privacy concerns.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">King said the risk to the public is low and stressed that people should practise good hygiene, particularly after using the bathroom, handling animals and before preparing food or eating.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The European outbreak was initially attributed to Spanish cucumbers but officials later ruled them out. Suspicion was then cast on sprouts from Germany, but authorities backtracked again</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Monday, though they stopped short of giving sprouts a clean bill of health.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The strain that is responsible for the German outbreak has never been detected before by researchers and has various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c2gfg2SK6AM/Te9FGXBOMXI/AAAAAAAAABs/qGJvK1Ou1tg/s1600/2E2A297E19477D371F3307332BE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c2gfg2SK6AM/Te9FGXBOMXI/AAAAAAAAABs/qGJvK1Ou1tg/s1600/2E2A297E19477D371F3307332BE.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The bug has killed 22 people and sickened some 2,330 others in Europe. More than 630 of the victims are hospitalized with a rare, serious complication that can lead to kidney failure, but there's no evidence the Canadian man suffered kidney damage, said King.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A Public Health Agency of Canada spokesperson said no other E. coli cases have been reported elsewhere in the country. The U.S. has reported four suspected case linked to the European outbreak.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">King expected more cases could surface in Canada.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-49852729011101338642011-06-07T05:48:00.000-04:002011-06-07T05:48:44.546-04:001 man's success revives hope of curing AIDS, 30 years after first cases appeared in the US<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Sunday marks 30 years since the first AIDS cases were reported in the United States. And this anniversary brings fresh hope for something many had come to think was impossible: finding a cure.</span><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The example is Timothy Ray Brown of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307127259_1">San Francisco</span>, the first person in the world apparently cured of AIDS. His treatment isn't practical for wide use, but there are encouraging signs that other approaches might someday lead to a cure, or at least allow some people to control HIV without needing medication every day.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"I want to pull out all the stops to go for it," though cure is still a very difficult goal, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bfAEe5RRDco/Te3z9Lmg4MI/AAAAAAAAABo/-AWCRqhlonQ/s1600/aids_173232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bfAEe5RRDco/Te3z9Lmg4MI/AAAAAAAAABo/-AWCRqhlonQ/s1600/aids_173232.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">For now, the focus remains on preventing new infections. With recent progress on novel ways to do that and a partially effective vaccine, "we're starting to get the feel that we can really get our arms around this pandemic," Fauci said.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Nearly 30 million people have died of AIDS since the first five cases were recognized in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307127259_4">Los Angeles</span> in 1981.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">About 34 million people have HIV now, including more than 1 million in the United States.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">About 2 million people die of the disease each year, mostly in poor countries that lack treatment. In the U.S. though, newly diagnosed patients have a life expectancy only a few months shorter than people without HIV. Modern drugs are much easier to take, and many patients get by on a single pill a day.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">But it wasn't that way in 1995, when Brown, an American working as a translator in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307127259_0">Berlin</span>, learned he had HIV. He went on and off medicines because of side effects but was holding his own until 2006, when he was diagnosed with leukemia, a problem unrelated to HIV. Chemotherapy left him so sick he had to be put into a coma to allow his body to recover.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"They didn't know if I'd survive that," Brown said.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Now 45, Brown needs no medicines, and his only health problems are from the mugging he suffered two years ago as he returned home one night in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1307127259_2">Berlin</span>. Brown was knocked unconscious, required brain surgery and therapy to walk and talk again, and doesn't have full use of one arm. He moved back to the United States in December.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">"He's now four years off his antiretroviral therapy and we have no evidence of HIV in any tissue or blood that we have tested," even places where the virus can lie dormant for many years, Huetter said.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-61337695778335186842011-06-02T07:15:00.000-04:002011-06-02T07:15:10.802-04:00Mexico charges 73 in Tamaulipas mass grave deaths<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">MEXICO CITY - The Mexican government charged 73 suspects Wednesday in the killings of 183 people whose bodies were recovered during April in mass graves near the U.S. border, prosecutors said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The defendants were booked in different jails in Mexico while waiting to see a federal judge, said Ricardo Najera, spokesman for federal Attorney General's Office.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The government had in the past weeks announced the detention of 74 people, including several police officers who allegedly protected gang members, but Najera said no one had been charged until Wednesday. He said more suspects were in custody of the federal government pending charges, but he didn't know the number.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nlhKSIl9ReI/Tedwq_VwmEI/AAAAAAAAABk/zVRK5EZXCh4/s1600/7996C4174667AA4250D0F69C899C6A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nlhKSIl9ReI/Tedwq_VwmEI/AAAAAAAAABk/zVRK5EZXCh4/s1600/7996C4174667AA4250D0F69C899C6A.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It wasn't clear which specific crimes the 73 suspects were charged with, but officials said they were related to the grisly discovery of 183 corpses in San Fernando, a town 85 miles (137 kilometres) from the border at Brownsville, Texas.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The excavations in the border state of Tamaulipas shocked Mexicans around the country, who filed dozens of missing-person reports as the horrifying tale of the mass graves unfolded.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Federal officials said most of the victims were Mexicans looking to migrate to the United States in March, but who instead were kidnapped off passenger buses and killed. The government has identified only 12 victims so far — one a Guatemalan man, the rest Mexican.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Authorities blamed the Zetas gang, a vicious drug-trafficking organization suspected of forcefully recruiting migrants to fight the formerly allied Gulf cartel. Those who refused are killed.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Mass graves are a common method used by Mexican drug cartels to bury their victims.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In the northern state of Durango, authorities have unearthed 226 bodies since April 11 in residential neighbourhoods in the state capital, also called Durango. The latest three bodies were removed this week, Fernando Rios, spokesman for the state police, said Wednesday. Excavations continue.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The mass cases in Tamaulipas and Durango don't appear to be connected, officials have said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A top federal police official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said recently that the killings in Durango stem from an internal bloody battle for power within the same gang — the Sinaloa drug cartel.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Durango borders the state of Sinaloa, the cartel's home base, and the gang keeps a strong presence in the vast region close to the Sierra Madre Mountains.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In another drug-related incident in the Sinaloa state capital, Culiacan, the Mexican army said Wednesday that soldiers found $500,000 in cash inside a sport utility vehicle that a drug suspect abandoned alongside a highway.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-15850898142568446722011-06-01T06:53:00.000-04:002011-06-01T06:53:40.766-04:00[UPDATE] Stepmother charged in Brampton boy's death<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The wife of a Brampton, Ont., man who is facing a second-degree murder charge in the death of his 10-year-old son has now been charged with manslaughter.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Nichelle Rowe Boothe, 28, was formally charged on Tuesday morning in connection with the death of Shakeil Boothe, her stepson.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MzL_j_Po6kI/TeYaK0WLyUI/AAAAAAAAABg/x80risnPGRo/s1600/AB1CF773DF8A052BDB696E46B59FD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MzL_j_Po6kI/TeYaK0WLyUI/AAAAAAAAABg/x80risnPGRo/s1600/AB1CF773DF8A052BDB696E46B59FD.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The boy's father, Garfield Boothe, 31, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder in his son's death and also faces one count of failing to provide the necessities of life.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Nichelle Boothe appeared in court on Tuesday. Her bail hearing is set for June 8 and she is prohibited from having contact with her husband.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Garfield Boothe also made a court appearance on Tuesday. He was not granted bail and his next scheduled court appearance is set for June 14 via video link.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Obviously he's upset, he's grieving the loss of his son," Boothe's lawyer Luc Leclaire said outside the courthouse on Tuesday.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The boy was found dead Friday in a house on Homeland Court, located in the Dixie Road and Howden Drive area of Brampton.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The investigation began Friday when police responded to a 911 call shortly after 5 p.m. and found the child unresponsive in the home.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The boy was declared dead at the scene. Police said an autopsy was conducted on Saturday. Results have not been released.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police have been canvassing the neighbourhood where the couple lived as part of their investigation. The Boothes have an eight-month-old baby.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Staff at Hanover Public School, where Shakeil was a student, said the boy's father withdrew him from school in January.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-53027985811488926852011-06-01T06:50:00.001-04:002011-06-02T07:09:51.674-04:00100 Followers!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cnxblIOYfkY/TeYZZCZt9wI/AAAAAAAAABc/jK6e89cymK4/s1600/100.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cnxblIOYfkY/TeYZZCZt9wI/AAAAAAAAABc/jK6e89cymK4/s320/100.gif" width="320" /></a></div>Wow!<br />
I actually have 100 followers I didn't think this day would come. Now I'm more motivated than ever to keep this blog rolling on it's wheels. I just want to let you all and I hope you guys stick around because I'm not going anywhere. :)kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-9236743809910518752011-05-31T06:52:00.000-04:002011-05-31T06:52:42.454-04:00Sword-wielding man subdued by Vancouver police<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police used rubber bullets and a Taser to try to take down a sword-wielding man in downtown Vancouver near the busy intersection of Burrard Street and Georgia Street on Monday.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wb_MwRSRtSU/TeTIJ4zqhZI/AAAAAAAAABU/SiprreQEBuQ/s1600/3EE2A6159945C4EF399AD78A9C0B8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wb_MwRSRtSU/TeTIJ4zqhZI/AAAAAAAAABU/SiprreQEBuQ/s1600/3EE2A6159945C4EF399AD78A9C0B8.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The man was hit by several of the bullets fired by Vancouver police officers as they tried to subdue him after he had been waving the sword on a downtown street and while on the city's public transit system, said police spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The rubber bullets — fired from an Arwen gun usually deployed in riot control — and a shot from a Taser stun-gun failed to take the man down, and he was then tackled to the ground by several officers, Houghton said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The man was taken into custody and appeared to have suffered no serious injuries.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_3s2uVUpZ1M/TeTIXxkRjCI/AAAAAAAAABY/1ZK1HRKhwTk/s1600/452671_com_warrior_icon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_3s2uVUpZ1M/TeTIXxkRjCI/AAAAAAAAABY/1ZK1HRKhwTk/s1600/452671_com_warrior_icon.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Houghton said SkyTrain passengers reported the man to police at about 1:30 p.m. PT when he started repeatedly unsheathing the sword while on a train at the Metrotown station.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police confronted the man outside the Burrard SkyTrain station at about 2 p.m. PT.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The man is facing possible weapons-related charges and officers will be requesting the courts consider a psychological examination, Houghton said.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-53143684336813175552011-05-30T06:24:00.000-04:002011-05-30T06:24:52.870-04:00The Hangover 2 Sets Box Office Records<div id="abw" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 51, 0); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 3px; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; width: 930px;"><div class="clear" id="abm" style="border-top-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; zoom: 1;"><div id="abc" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: -336px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; width: 930px;"><div id="articlebody" style="margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 351px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static;"><div class="entry" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; zoom: 1;"><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">It didn't take long for <a href="http://movies.about.com/od/thehangover2/" style="color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><em style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">The Hangover Part 2</em></a> to break some box office records. The R-rated sequel to 2009's surprise hit <a href="http://movies.about.com/od/thehangover/" style="color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;"><em style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">The Hangover</em></a> grossed $31.7 million in just its first day in release, and set a few new records in the process.</div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><em style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">The Hangover 2</em> can now claim the top spot as the biggest midnight opening for an R-rated film at $10.4 million, a figure that more than doubles the take from any other midnight release this year. Writer/director <a href="http://video.about.com/movies/Todd-Phillips-Hangover-2.htm" style="color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Todd Phillips'</a> follow-up to <em style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">The Hangover</em>, the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time, also set a new record as the best opening day on record for a comedy film (and the widest opening of any R-rated film).</div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">In announcing the new records, Warner Bros. Pictures President of Domestic Distribution Dan Fellman stated, "From the tracking, we knew audiences couldn't wait for another <em style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">Hangover</em>, but these numbers are through the roof. Leave it to Todd Phillips to create a new must-see comedy that has people lining up at the box office and rolling in the aisles. Congratulations to him, the cast and all the other talents behind the film on making another unforgettable comedy."</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1b1_V70j3Hw/TeNwZPGmmRI/AAAAAAAAAAs/b6aWFMhSFlw/s1600/hangover2-box-office-records.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1b1_V70j3Hw/TeNwZPGmmRI/AAAAAAAAAAs/b6aWFMhSFlw/s1600/hangover2-box-office-records.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;"><em style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">The Hangover Part 2</em> is breaking records in spite of the fact critics aren't fans of this sequel. The film currently rests at just 34% fresh on<a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hangover_2/" style="color: #3366cc; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">RottenTomatoes</a>, while the original film sits at 79% fresh.<br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit;">I personally went to watch it on </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Saturday</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit;"> with my girlfriend, and we loved it. These critics are harsh and don't know what they are talking about. But here's an update.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit;">"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div id="abw" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 51, 0); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 3px; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit; width: 930px;"><div class="clear" id="abm" style="border-top-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit; zoom: 1;"><div id="abc" style="display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: -336px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-decoration: inherit; width: 930px;"><div id="articlebody" style="display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 351px; margin-top: 1.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static; text-decoration: inherit;"><div class="entry" style="display: inline !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.75em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; zoom: 1;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">The Hangover Part II has earned an estimated $118 million since opening late Wednesday night, movie industry website boxofficemojo.com reported Sunday. It's the second biggest opening weekend of the year, and the most lucrative ever for a live-action comedy."</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-4467590601273979212011-05-29T10:52:00.002-04:002011-05-29T10:52:36.173-04:0010-year-old dies in Brampton home<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A 10-year-old boy died at a home in Brampton, Ont., on Friday afternoon.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Paramedics and police responding to a 911 call shortly after 5 p.m. found the child unresponsive in the home on Homeland Court, in the Dixie Road and Howden Boulevard area.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The boy was declared dead at the scene.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police are investigating and an autopsy is being conducted, though results aren't expected for a couple days.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Peel Regional Police spokesman Const. Adam Minnion said the boy's body showed no obvious signs of trauma.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"That's what makes this a little bit more challenging for us, is it's not clear cut for us to walk in and go, 'There's been an obvious assault taken place, we can make arrests right away,' " Minnion said.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"Generally speaking… most people would think that a 10-year-old child is in relatively good health, so we have to make sure that the death either occurred naturally or whether or not there was some type of neglect or assault."</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police would not say who called 911.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Minnion said police constables will be posted around the home until it's determined whether the boy's death was from natural causes or involved potential foul play.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The city of Brampton borders Toronto to the northwest.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-16805814255739243142011-05-27T06:39:00.000-04:002011-05-27T06:39:36.239-04:00Attendant dies after being dragged by gas thief<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A Mississauga gas station attendant has died after he was seriously hurt trying to chase down a driver who drove away without paying.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The incident occurred May 19 at a Petro Canada station on Southdown Road near the Queen Elizabeth Way. Emergency crews arrived at around 5 p.m. to find the man lying on the roadway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ITg382UgMXc/Td9-71uusgI/AAAAAAAAAAo/BE1a5nzSCBw/s1600/6FA02C697271661545E353BD72851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ITg382UgMXc/Td9-71uusgI/AAAAAAAAAAo/BE1a5nzSCBw/s1600/6FA02C697271661545E353BD72851.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The 62-year-old suffered severe injuries, and died the following day, Peel police said. They withheld that information until Thursday, citing investigative reasons.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police said last week the employee tried to confront the driver and was then hit by his vehicle as it drove away from the scene.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">They are still searching for a suspect.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Police are looking for a gold sedan, and the driver is described as a black male aged 20-30 years old. The vehicle may have incurred some damage, and police are urging the public to contact them if they have information.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This man died over a tank of gas. Is this showing how bad the cost of fuel is now? Let me know in the comments below what you guys think.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-75999859009247448802011-05-26T06:41:00.002-04:002011-05-26T11:16:07.574-04:00Tornado death toll rises, no more survivors found<div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The death toll from a monster tornado that savaged Joplin, Missouri, rose to 125 on Wednesday and tornadoes overnight in nearby states caused at least 15 more deaths.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Three days after the deadliest single tornado in the United States in 64 years, rescue teams with dogs sifted through rubble in Joplin without finding anyone alive on Wednesday.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Authorities said the operation was still a search and rescue, but hope of finding more people alive was fading.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The number of people injured by the massive tornado was revised up to more than 900, according to local authorities, from 823 earlier in the day.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Officials were no longer saying how many people are missing because they believe the figure of 1,500 missing mentioned earlier in the week was inflated by double counting or people simply being out of town.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-up5ZE4zEf8Y/Td4uQTukPMI/AAAAAAAAAAk/Wr7gHZIZVKw/s1600/2011-05-25T204222Z_01_BTRE74O1LIO00_RTROPTP_2_USA-WEATHER-TORNADOES.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-up5ZE4zEf8Y/Td4uQTukPMI/AAAAAAAAAAk/Wr7gHZIZVKw/s320/2011-05-25T204222Z_01_BTRE74O1LIO00_RTROPTP_2_USA-WEATHER-TORNADOES.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Some families continued a desperate search for missing loved ones amid the ruins of homes and businesses.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Fifteen-month-old Skyular Logsdon, whose blue teddy bear, red t-shirt and pants were found wrapped around a telephone pole after the storm, remains missing, his great grandmother told Reuters on Wednesday.</div><div style="font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 11px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">His injured parents were found and taken to a hospital after the tornado. But the little boy has vanished.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-56993997549678652032011-05-25T06:53:00.000-04:002011-05-25T06:53:16.368-04:00Blockbuster Canada to close 140 stores<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">TORONTO - Some 1,400 Blockbuster Canada employees could lose their jobs if the movie and video game rental chain closes a third of its stores as part of a court-ordered receivership process.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">One Canadian store manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tuesday the company has notified staff that 140 locations across the country will be closing their doors on June 18. Each store currently employs about 10 people, and staff are still waiting to learn what will happen to their jobs once the stores </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EBPQ48BvsIg/TdzfjcTGiLI/AAAAAAAAAAg/G6jWZA8xFp4/s1600/3CE87CA7C7227ED95921477B5D028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EBPQ48BvsIg/TdzfjcTGiLI/AAAAAAAAAAg/G6jWZA8xFp4/s1600/3CE87CA7C7227ED95921477B5D028.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Employees had already been warned that they would be paid weekly instead of bi-weekly and were instructed not to sell gift certificates.</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"></span>The last day customers will be able to rent merchandise at the affected stores is Thursday, with a liquidation sale beginning the next day at those locations.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The receiver is looking for potential buyers interested in Blockbuster Canada's assets. The company currently operates 400 movie and video game rental stores that employ 4,000 people across the country.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Blockbuster Canada was placed into receivership by an Ontario court this month in the face of US$70 million in claims from various movie distributors, including Hollywood studios, and other suppliers.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Since 2009, Blockbuster Canada had been paying its parent company three per cent of its sales in exchange for the right to use, and argues that if the new owner strips them of that right, it would have a "devastating impact" on its business. Stores have been operating under the Blockbuster name in Canada for 21 years.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">In papers filed in a New York state court, Grant Thornton said the Canadian operations need to keep using Blockbuster's intellectual property, which includes its name as well as the computer systems that allow it to rent movies.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Blockbuster Canada was already shedding market share amid growing competition before the court-appointed receivership happened.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Movie download and streaming service Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq:NFLX) accounts for nearly 30 per cent of Internet traffic into homes during peak evening hours, according to a study published by Sandvine Inc. (<a class="cspagelinknounderline" href="http://ca.moneycentral.msn.com/investor/quotes/quotes.aspx?Symbol=CA%3ASVC" style="background-color: transparent; color: #07519a; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">TSX:SVC</a>) earlier this month. Video stores will soon face even more competition from Zip.ca, the Canadian company that currently rents videos by mail. It will soon partner with Samsung to offer rentals through Internet connected TVs.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Video on demand rentals through TV cable and satellite companies generated $210 million in revenues in Canada in 2010, up 20 per cent over 2009.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Rogers (<a class="cspagelinknounderline" href="http://ca.moneycentral.msn.com/investor/quotes/quotes.aspx?Symbol=CA%3ARCI.B" style="background-color: transparent; color: #07519a; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">TSX:RCI.B</a>), which owns the second-biggest video store chain in Canada, reported a 31 per cent drop in sales in its video stores last year, compared to the year before. The company said it will continue to shut down stores due to a continued decline in business.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">With the dark cloud looming over the Blockbuster brand for several years, its American unit was already shrinking when it filed for bankruptcy protection.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The American Blockbuster used to dominate the U.S. movie rental business, but has been losing as customers shifted Netflix, video on demand offered by cable providers, and DVD kiosks that charge as little as $1 for per rental.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The company had slimmed down to 3,000 stores in the U.S., less than a third of the peak of 9,100 in 2004. In the United States there are about 2,400 currently open with plans to close about 700 more by mid-April.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-11878429634402820612011-05-24T09:06:00.000-04:002011-05-24T09:06:26.412-04:00The rising cost of living<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Canada's pain at the pumps is bordering on torture. Despite relief in the form of a few cents per litre decrease since the early days of May, our nation's year-over-year gas price hike is brutal: a jump of nearly 30 cents per litre, on average, across Canada from May, 2010, to May, 2011, according to GasBuddy.com.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RZrK68BAMPE/TdutI5IDCHI/AAAAAAAAAAc/xmKk8EXPxSQ/s1600/4CCFAE256228F7727F13AB16B2F648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RZrK68BAMPE/TdutI5IDCHI/AAAAAAAAAAc/xmKk8EXPxSQ/s1600/4CCFAE256228F7727F13AB16B2F648.jpg" /></a></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Yet while skyrocketing pump prices get all the media play, in fact all areas of consumerism are rising, rising, rising. Here are what goods and services you're paying more for now versus a year earlier in Canada.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Year-over-year increase</strong>: 1.9 per cent</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The cost of goods and services around the house are up almost across the board over the last year - according to Statistics Canada, furniture prices jumped 2.4 per cent; pet food spiked 3.4 per cent; child care costs rose 5.2 per cent. More notably, though, is the price of Internet access, which was a major headline maker in the past 12 months. Over the same period Ontario and British Columbia applied the dreaded 13 per cent HST to its residents' telecom bills, Canadian Internet access ballooned in price by 3.7 per cent.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Year-over-year increase</strong>: 2.5 per cent</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It was a tale of two trends for the cost of beer in Canada over the last year. According to Stats Canada, the price of suds bought in stores fell by 1.6 per cent (about 45 cents on a case of cheap brew) since March, 2010, though beer served in bars and restaurants conversely rose by 2.1 per cent during that same period. Those might sound like sweet numbers to smokers, though. By Statistics Canada's Consumer Price Index, the price of a pack of cigarettes has jumped 5.7 per cent nationwide over the past year.</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 13px;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><strong>Year-over-year increase</strong>: 2.6 per cent</div><div style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 1.25em; line-height: 1.286em; margin-bottom: 0.714em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Health care costs in Canada are rising, this we know. And the crisis, as it was called by party leaders during election time, is proving very costly. Prescribed medications are down in cost by 2.2 per cent year-over-year, Stats Canada notes, but over-the-counter drugs have soared by 5.8 per cent. Add that all up and the numbers are frightening. According to the <em>Globe and Mail</em>, Canadians spent about $172 billion on health care in 2008. Last year, that figure rose to more than $191 billion.</div>kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2547858351646147858.post-31332487665139295822011-05-23T12:50:00.000-04:002011-05-23T12:50:07.200-04:00'Cut the city in half': Death toll rises to 89 in Missouri tornado<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BZSx9HgpfXg/TdqQJHJW0WI/AAAAAAAAAAM/H39gcU9oMzE/s1600/ss-110523-joplin-jw-01.grid-9x2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BZSx9HgpfXg/TdqQJHJW0WI/AAAAAAAAAAM/H39gcU9oMzE/s320/ss-110523-joplin-jw-01.grid-9x2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>A massive tornado - the deadliest single U.S. tornado since 1953 - tore through the city of Joplin on Sunday, killing at least 89 people. Please take a moment and pray for the lost.kite1099http://www.blogger.com/profile/08996010400112075851noreply@blogger.com31