Michael Jackson dies in LA hospital www.BlasterMix.com

LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson, the moonwalking former child star who became known the world over as the "King of Pop" before his life and career deteriorated in a freakish series of scandals, died Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. He was 50. The person said Jackson died in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear. Jackson was not breathing when Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics responded to a call at his Los Angeles home about 12:30 p.m., Capt. Steve Ruda told the Los Angeles Times. The paramedics performed CPR and took him to UCLA Medical Center, Ruda told the newspaper.

Jackson's death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves, his high-pitched voice punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove and tight, military-style jacket were trademarks second only to his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance. Over the years, his skin became lighter and his nose narrower.

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Chris Brown pleads guilty to assault (www.BlasterMix.com)

Chris Brown has pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault on pop star Rihanna.

Brown entered his plea before a preliminary hearing was scheduled to start in Los Angeles on Monday.

Rihanna had been on standby to testify.

Brown will be sentenced on Aug. 5, but the terms of the plea deal call for him to serve five years of formal probation and six months — roughly 1,400 hours — of community labor. Brown will be able to complete his probation in his home state of Virginia; he will have to do either graffiti removal or roadside cleanup for his service.

A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said the terms were in line with what others receive when they're charged with similar crimes and who have no prior criminal history.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg also ordered the singer to stay away from Rihanna.

After Brown entered his plea and left the courtroom, Rihanna entered and was addressed by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg, who explained to the Barbados-born singer that she had issued a stay-away order.

Rihanna, 21, had not been seeking a stay-away order, but the judge imposed one. The order requires that Brown and Rihanna stay at least 50 yards from each, except at industry events when the distance is reduced to 10 yards.

The judge also told Rihanna it's not a one-way order and she will be in violation if she gets closer to Brown than the order allows.

Rihanna was informed of the deal about an hour she could have been called as a witness, her attorney, Donald Etra, said. He said the singer "did not object" to the terms of the deal.

Schnegg accepted Brown's plea, but expressed some concerns because Brown is not a California resident. She said Brown likely will be allowed to do his community service in his home state of Virginia. He'll have to return to California for updates every three months. He'll also be required to attend domestic violence classes.

Brown spoke softly throughout the hearing as he waived his rights and told the judge he understood the gravity of his plea.

"I think it's commendable you took responsibility for your conduct," Schnegg told Brown.

She said she hoped "the terms and conditions of your probation will have some meaning."

The deal provides an end to a case that sparked intense media interest and severe backlash against Brown. Sponsors and radio stations dropped him, and the singer had to cancel several high-profile appearances, including a performance at the Grammys.

The singer once known for his squeaky-clean image now has a substantial blemish on his record. He must now also remain out of trouble for the foreseeable future.

Lawyers for Brown and Rihanna have refused to discuss the status of the pair's relationship.

Brown was arrested Feb. 8, hours after police say he hit and threatened Rihanna after leaving a pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles. He was later charged with felony assault likely to produce great bodily harm and making criminal threats.

If convicted, the singer faced sentences ranging up to nearly five years in prison.

Brown, 20, rose to fame after the 2005 hit "Run It!" and his popularity has only grown. He was nominated for a Grammy for "No Air" with Jordin Sparks and named Billboard's top artist in 2008.

In the months since the incident, both musicians have gradually appeared in public more frequently. Lately they have been photographed separately, including at a National Basketball Association finals game between the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers.

Rihanna, 21, recorded one of 2007's most popular songs with "Umbrella" and has numerous other hits. Her looks have made her a cover girl for magazines, as well as a pitchwoman for Cover Girl cosmetics.

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Niche Ebooks

-=-=-=-=-=-=-How To Make Money From Niche Ebooks-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-
Maverick Money Makers © 1997 - 2008
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If you have the flair for writing and if you have specialized knowledge that can potentially interest online users, you will stand great chances of making huge money online by writing and publishing your own niche ebooks. Here's how:

1. Sell ad spaces. You can augment your earnings from this endeavor if you can sell ad spaces to marketers who are selling products that compliment your book topic.
Depending on the size of the ad and the projected sales of your ebook, you can charge up to $500 per ad. You can also use some of your book space to promote your own products and services.
By doing so, you can increase your sales and revenue without hurting your pockets for your advertising cost. You just have to make sure that your creations will not look like yellow pages so you can avoid annoying your readers.

2. Sell your niche ebooks. This is the fastest way to generate income from your creations.
You may write about topics that are extremely interesting to your potential clients and promote your niche ebooks online using the most effective advertising tools that are available in the internet today. You need to make sure properly build-up your offerings by highlighting their features and benefits so you can make them more valuable to the eyes of your potential clients.

3. Use them as your traffic-generating tool. If you are a marketer, you must understand the importance of driving quality traffic to your website.
You can attract interested people to give you a visit by using your niche ebooks. How? You can send your niche ebooks for free to your potential clients. Load them up with valuable information that these people will find interesting. When you are able to impress your readers and make them see that you are really good on what you do, you can be assured that they will flock your website in no time. Make sure that you post your site's URL on every page of your creations to make it much easier for these people to give you a visit.

4. Use them on your list building campaigns. You'll stand great chances of growing your ebusiness if you can effectively capture the email addresses of your potential clients.
You can boost your sign-up rate if you can reward these people with free niche ebooks that contain information that are relevant to their needs and demands.-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Maverick Money Makers is a private society that will teach you how tobuild a six-figure a month businesson the internet.
If you want to make money online, join the society before it's too late.
http://richardh09.maverick66.hop.clickbank.net/
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Money Fast

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-How To Make Money Fast Online-=-=-=-=--==-=-=-=-==-=-
Maverick Money Makers © 1997 - 2008
http://richardh09.maverick66.hop.clickbank.net-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The question has come into everyone's mind at one point or another."How do I make money fast?" Luckily for everyone who has ever had that question come to mind there is an answer! There are several ways to make money quickly online, now we will venture through the online category.

3 websites to make money online.
1. Associated Content.2. Cash Crate.3. Forum booster.
Let's begin with associated content. Associated content should be the number one stop for those people who frequently ask themselves, how I could make money fast. Associated Content requires you to write content, which in other words for those who aren't familiar with the online language, content means articles.

Associated Content requires that you write articles for them, they will pay you anywhere from $3 to $40 for your content.
Most of the time however the bids that they place on your content are for much less than $10. However, this is still a great way to make money online if you can type several articles per day. You may be surprised to see how easy it has become to earn a part time income through writing for Associated Content.

The next site that we will talk about is Cash Crate. Cash Crate is a site that pays you to take surveys. They may pay anywhere from a dollar to possibly a hundred dollars, just for you to take a survey.

Doesn't sound too bad now does it? The reason they pay you to complete surveys is that companies are willing to shell out loads of cash for in-depth information from their consumers to find out exactly what they word on the street is about their product or services.
They even have a daily survey on the homepage that is guaranteed to make you some extra income; the guaranteed survey on the homepage pays $0.80. It may not seem like much but do the math, over a 30 day time period. That is almost $30 extra dollars just for taking surveys.
Are you still asking yourself that question, how do I make money fast? Well if writing tons of articles and taking surveys doesn't really sound like your cup of tea, there is always the alternative of Forum Booster.

Forum Booster is a website that pays you $0.10 for each post you make on a forum. This is great for those of us that would be searching and posting on forums either way, why not get paid for it? If you can post sixty posts in 1 hour, you can make $6, which is not that bad for earning money online.

It may not be minimum wage, but you have the advantage of being in the comfort of your own home. You can be in your pajamas sipping coffee while working on posting on these forums. Each post should be a minimum of 12 words, which is not difficult to do at all.
Overall there are tons of ways to make money quickly online but these are just the tried and true and the best of the best.-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Maverick Money Makers is a private society that will teach you how tobuild a six-figure a month businesson the internet.
If you want to make money online, join the society before it's too late.
http://richardh09.maverick66.hop.clickbank.net
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Funny Videos

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-How To Make Money From Funny Videos-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Maverick Money Makers © 1997 - 2008
http://richardh09.maverick66.hop.clickbank.net/-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
You can easily make funny video websites, and then profit from them nicely. Many people have done it and are actually making their living off it. Here's how to make funny video websites and make money at it:

1. Getting a site.
The first thing to making a funny video website is choosing a good name. Have some fun trying to think up catchy names for your website. A catchy, unique and memorable name is key to not only getting traffic but maintaining traffic.

2. Getting the videos.
You can easily lift videos from other popular video sites. But there are also sites that allow you access to many of the popular funny videos which you can use. Many sites share with one another videos as well. So getting the videos to supply for your funny video website is relative easy.

3. Making the Money.
Making money off your site is going to consist of different forms income streams. From click on ad's, banner advertising, and actual products which you can sell on your site and receive heavy commissions from.

Start up accounts at Google and yahoo for click on ad's, and find internet products which will coincide with the type of videos you'll be showing. Many internet products will have programs for webmasters which you can sign up for and immediately start promoting products on your site. Once your site develops traffic, you can start to hit up larger business's for banner ad's which can pay very well. The combination of different income streams will bring in a steady income flow as long as your traffic is ramped up.

4. Putting your site together.
There are specific programs you can get for building sites. They will take the headache of "coding" away, and have you setting up your site quickly and fairly easily. A good "make video website" book or manual will show you exactly what needs to be done and provide inside access to sources which can make things thousands of times easier.

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Maverick Money Makers is a private society that will teach you how tobuild a six-figure a month businesson the internet.
If you want to make money online, join the society before it's too late.
http://richardh09.maverick66.hop.clickbank.net/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Your Passions

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=How To Make Money From Passions-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Maverick Money Makers © 1997 - 2008
http://richardh09.maverick66.hop.clickbank.net/-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
To make money online many people jump right in before they are properly prepared. You know that to be a rocket scientist, a doctor, a brick layer, a construction worker, an office worker, a teacher there are prerequisites, things you must learn, before you can be successful, you don't just jump right in unprepared.

The same applies to the Internet marketing industry even though there are unsavory people out there who'd have you believe it's a "Walk in the Park" and requires no more than the belief that you can just do it.
And I'll have to admit, it is a walk in the park compared to what you have to put up with in the working world punching a clock being a subordinate to someone who does not have your interests in mind, but there are still rules you have to follow and pitfalls you must avoid to actually make Internet marketing work for you.

Most people will not make a dime online and yet there are others who will make more in one month than most people make in a whole year. Why is that?
My answer begins with the age-old chicken or egg question, "what comes first the chicken or the egg"? Personally I vote for, well never mind, each argument you or I make comes back to the same old conclusion - I have no clue and I don't think many of us do either.
But one thing I do have a clue about and know for sure is that to make money online you must first have Passion for the company products and/or service of any Internet business from which you expect to make money.

Passion in this sense simply means that you've researched and like the company and products or services. It is then that you translate that like (or Passion) into the education, excitement and work that usually accompany Passion.

I will have to say that many online entrepreneurs are so good at what they do that they ignore passion because they can sell anything. But I'm concerned about those of you who are not so knowledgeable at working an online business successfully.
Now, I'm not trying to make anyone believe that Passion is the only thing necessary. Because to be successful you must also have a good website, good marketing, widespread advertising, company support, effective keywords, and etc. Those things are often learned from the company you join - but sidestep Passion and you reduce your chances for success dramatically.
It therefore follows that, if you have no Passion for the company and the products and services provided by that company, again, you won't attempt to do the work you are being taught.
Internet marketing work is typically not all that difficult or time consuming but it does take motivation caused by Passion to get you off and running with a sustained effort so that you won't stumble.

You have a great resource in the Internet search engines to search about the Internet Marketing industry for business opportunities, USE IT!
Your research should uncover a company that you like and have confidence in. It should be solid, founded on great principles, and easy to understand with great products and services that are sell-able for which you can have Passion. If you don't find it move on,You can find the right opportunity containing the attributes identified above.

Comments like, well, that one sounds good and the compensation plan is excellent so I guess I'll start that business - does not sound like a decision based on anything near Passion. And remember when you hear that an Internet "guru" does that, don't be tempted, because as I said earlier they are experienced and can sell just about anything, without being Passionate about the company products and services.

Note: By the way it's your goal to get to the point where you can sell about anything online. That end skill and goal is a worthy one indeed.
Remember, there are other steps you must make before you step into Internet Marketing but if you don't first find the right company products and services to be passionate about, all of those other steps may just cause you a lot of frustration instead of bringing you great success.
Not being Passionate about a company and products and services that has market proof that it will sell is a pitfall you simply must avoid.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Maverick Money Makers is a private society that will teach you how tobuild a six-figure a month businesson the internet.
If you want to make money online, join the society before it's too late.
http://richardh09.maverick66.hop.clickbank.net/
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Sad stories stir the web A sick girl's last wish (www.BlasterMix.com)

This past week was filled with some sad and discouraging news. Some of the noteworthy stories you may have missed: A child dying of cancer asked for (and received) a private screening of Pixar's "Up.

A child's last wish 10-year-old Colby Curtin died of cancer this week, but before she passed away, her final wish was fulfilled. The child had desperately wanted to see the new Pixar movie, "Up." Unfortunately, she was too ill to go to the theater. According to various articles within the Buzz, Pixar was told of Colby's illness. The company sent a representative to deliver a DVD for Colby to watch in her room. Though she could no longer see, her mother narrated the action. Colby died several hours after the movie ended, and searches on "up movie make a wish" and "colby curtin up" both soared.

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Ex-congressman on trial over freezer cash, bribery www.BlasterMix.com

Prosecutors say a Louisiana congressman was more than $60,000 in debt during the time he is accused of concocting a series of bribery schemes.

Opening statements started Tuesday in the trial of William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans. Federal agents found $90,000 in cash in his freezer, and he is charged with soliciting bribes, money laundering and other crimes.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lytle suggested that Jefferson's debts may have motivated him to seek bribes. In addition to $62,000 in credit card debt, Lytle said Jefferson and his wife had about $40,000 in bounced check fees and other penalties on their bank accounts.

The defense is scheduled to give its opening statement in the afternoon. The trial is expected to last about a month.

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Israeli woman mistakenly junks $1 million mattress (www.BlasterMix.com)

An Israeli woman mistakenly threw out a mattress she said had almost $1 million inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfill sites on Wednesday.
The woman told The Associated Press that she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise present on Monday — and threw out the old one.

The next day, she said, she remembered that she had hidden her life savings inside the old mattress. "I woke up in the morning screaming, when it hit me what happened," said the Tel Aviv woman, who asked not to be identified.

She went to look for the mattress, but it had already been hauled away by garbage collectors, she said. Searches at three different landfill sites turned up nothing.
She said the money was in U.S. dollars and Israeli shekels. She refused to say how she acquired such a large sum. "It was all my money in the world," she said. There was no way to verify her claims, and she refused to disclose key details.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said he was not familiar with the case and no report had been filed.

The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot published a picture of the woman searching through garbage at a dump in southern Israel. The picture shows the woman, dressed in a white top and black pants with her back to the camera, picking through a huge pile of trash that fills the frame about 10 feet in all directions.

Yitzhak Borba, the dump manager, told Army Radio that his staff was helping the woman, saying she appeared "totally desperate." He said the mattress was hard to find among the 2,500 tons of garbage that arrives at the site every day.

He said the increased security at the site to keep would-be treasure hunters away.
The woman said the money had been stashed in a mattress because she had had "traumatic experiences with banks" in the past. She would not elaborate.

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Superintendent disarmed gunman at South Orangetown Middle School, shots fired, no injuries.

A gunman entered South Orangetown Middle School this morning but was disarmed by the schools superintendent, who tackled the man and wrestled the gun away from him, police said.
No one was injured.

As many as three shots were fired, but it was not clear if those rounds came from the gunman or the massive police response, officials said. The gunman has been taken into custody, according to Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty. The man has some ties to the schools, but police were not immediately sure what they were. When police found the man inside the building, Superintendent Ken Mitchell had the suspect pinned to the ground and had taken the gun away from him.

Mitchell, 54, was not hurt. The first reports of the shooting were called into Orangetown police by a school security guard at 11:30 a.m. Students in the school, which serves grades six through eight, remained in the classroom as police searched the building. Frantic parents tried to enter the schools, but were stopped by police.

Police were setting up an information center at the Sons of Italy building on 46 Van Wyck Road., Blauvelt. "I'm scared to death," said Jennifer Gura, whose two sons, 11, and 14, were in the building, as she stood on the corner of Van Wyck and Erie Street. Students were sending text messages to parents from inside the school.

Kathy Fidlow, whose 14-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter were in the school, said she had gotten a message from her children telling her that everyone was in the school on the floor.
"The kids are terrified," she said. Nulty said the Orangetown police used an emergency plan that they had developed after the Columbine shootings 10 years ago.

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Jet's tail found; U.S. helps hunt black boxes (www.BlasterMix.com)

Brazilian searchers found a large tail section from an Air France jet Monday, one of the biggest pieces yet recovered from wreckage that could help narrow the search for Flight 447's black boxes. A U.S. Navy team is bringing in high-tech underwater listening devices to detect pings from the data and voice recorders.

Brazilian and French military ships that have so far recovered 16 bodies and large amounts of plane wreckage searched amid a sea of floating debris, finding the tail section with Air France's trademark red and blue stripes. All the wreckage has been found bobbing in the Atlantic Ocean; the Brazilians don't have the means of locating underwater debris.

Meanwhile, Le Monde in Paris reported that the French pilots' association was directing its members "refuse all flights on Airbus 330/340 unless two of its speed measuring devices —the pitot tubes — have been replaced."

The investigation is increasingly focused on whether external instruments on the Airbus A330 may have iced over, confusing speed sensors and leading computers to set the plane's speed too fast or slow — a potentially deadly mistake.

Airspeed instruments not replaced
The French agency investigating the disaster said airspeed instruments on the plane had not been replaced as the maker had recommended, but cautioned that it was too early to draw conclusions about what role that may have played in the crash.

The agency, BEA, said the plane received inconsistent airspeed readings from different instruments as it struggled in a massive thunderstorm.

On Monday, Brazilian military officials reduced the number of recovered bodies from the 17 announced Sunday, saying there had been a counting error.

What caused the Airbus A330 to crash May 31 with 228 people on board will remain a mystery unless searchers can locate the plane's black box flight data and voice recorders, likely buried deep in the middle of the ocean.

Two U.S. Navy devices that can detect emergency beacons to a depth of 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) are being flown to Brazil with a Navy team, according to the Pentagon. They will be delivered to ships that will then listen for transmissions from the black boxes, which are programmed to emit signals for at least 30 days.

16 bodies recovered
Sixteen bodies were recovered Saturday and Sunday about 45 miles (70 kilometers) from where the jet sent out messages signaling electrical failures and loss of cabin pressure.

Authorities also announced that searchers spotted two airplane seats and debris with Air France's logo, and recovered dozens of structural components from the plane. They had already recovered jet wing fragments, and said hundreds of personal items believed to belong to passengers were plucked from the water.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his nation's military would do all it can to retrieve bodies and return them to relatives.

"We know how significant it is for a family to recover their loved one," Silva said Monday on his weekly radio show.

France is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash, while Brazilian officials are focusing on the recovery of victims and plane wreckage.

There is "no more doubt" that the wreckage is from Air France Flight 447, Brazilian Air Force Col. Henry Munhoz said Sunday.

Flight 447 disappeared and likely broke up in midair in turbulent weather the night of May 31 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

The search is focusing on a zone of several hundred square miles (square kilometers) roughly 400 miles northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil's northern coast.

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SD lottery winner 'will not squander' $232M prize (www.BlasterMix.com)

S.D. – It has the makings of a Hollywood script: A young rancher struggling to eke out a living in one of the poorest corners of the nation claims one of the biggest undivided jackpots in U.S. lottery history — $232 million — after buying the ticket in a town called Winner. As he sported a black cowboy hat and a huge grin, 23-year-old Neal Wanless accepted his giant-sized Powerball check at a ceremony Friday. Wanless, who is single and lives with his mother and father on the family's 320-acre ranch near Mission, said he's going to buy himself a bigger spread, repay the kindness other townspeople have shown his family and spend his newfound fortune wisely. "I want to thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity and blessing me with this great fortune. I will not squander it," he said. Wanless bought $15 worth of tickets to the May 27 30-state drawing at a convenience store in Winner during a trip to buy livestock feed.

He will take home a lump sum of $88.5 million after taxes are deducted — an astonishing fortune, even more so in rural Todd County, the nation's seventh-poorest county in 2007, according to the Census Bureau. Arlen Wanless, the winner's father, has been buying and selling scrap metal to make a living in recent years, but his fortunes dropped with the price of iron, said Dan Clark, an auctioneer from Winner and a friend of more than two decades.

Dave Assman, who owns farmland next to the Wanless ranch, said he is happy they won't have to worry about money any more. "They've been real short on finances for a long time," Assman said. "They are from real meager means, I guess you'd say." "I hope they enjoy their money," said county assessor Cathy Vrbka, a family friend. "They work hard, backbreaking hard work."
Neal Wanless' winnings are certainly enough to set him and his family up for life, but past lottery winners have burned through vast fortunes in spectacular fashion or found that they were better off before they struck it rich. Evelyn Marie Adams won the New Jersey lottery twice in the mid-1980s but still managed to lose the entire $5.4 million. And there's West Virginia's Jack Whittaker, who won $315 million on Christmas day, 2002, and five years later was blaming the money for causing his granddaughter's fatal drug overdose, his divorce, his inability to trust and hundreds of lawsuits filed against him. "I don't have any friends," he told The Associated Press in 2007. "Every friend that I've had, practically, has wanted to borrow money or something and of course, once they borrow money from you, you can't be friends anymore." Susan Bradley, whose company in Palm Beach, Fla., the Sudden Money Institute, provides financial planning to the abruptly wealthy, said it's a good sign that Wanless took his time to come forward.

"No opportunity to buy or invest in all that is going to go away, she said. "They have plenty of time." But she said Wanless will likely experience the same sense of isolation that many other large jackpot winners do. "They've lost their peers. They are substantially different from everyone that they know," she said. Bradley said lottery winners should make sure they have enough money to live a modest lifestyle and take a year or two before deciding to buy real estate or make risky purchases. It's important that the winners communicate that strategy to others hoping to direct their financial planning, she said.

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Credit history can be used to deny you a job (www.BlaterMix.com)

IF you’ve been laid off, your hours have been cut or you’ve had a hard time finding work recently, you’re in good company. Connecticut unemployment is at its highest level in 15 years, with more layoffs happening around the state each week.

What you might not know is that when companies begin to hire again, you could get screened out of a job based on your credit history.

More employers are conducting credit checks of job applicants on the theory they can help to determine character. Forty-three percent of employers in the United States today conduct credit checks on job applicants, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. This may deny employment opportunities for many job seekers in Connecticut, and should be banned for a number of reasons.

Credit checks for hiring decisions discriminate against black and Latino job applicants, whose average credit scores are 5 percent to 35 percent lower than those of white applicants, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.

Lending practices and the foreclosure crisis likely have increased this disparity, as black and Latino borrowers were more than twice as likely as whites to receive high-cost home loans in 2006. A foreclosure can cause a credit score to drop by 250 and remains on a credit history for seven years.

For all job applicants, credit checks create an unfair downward spiral, in which those who are behind on their bills because they lost a job or had hours reduced can’t get a job or promotion because they’re behind on their bills. Using credit reports in hiring creates a permanent barrier to better jobs for a growing portion of workers who are affected by the financial system’s credit crisis.

Furthermore, credit reports simply cannot predict job performance. If your credit takes a dive because your son was in the hospital, are you less likely to be a reliable technician? If you go through a divorce that wrecks your credit, can you not be a good a cashier?

Credit reports were designed by TransUnion and other companies to predict whether a consumer would pay bills on time, not the consumer’s job performance. The definitive study on this, presented to the American Psychological Association Society in 2003, concludes there is no relationship whatsoever between credit history and job performance.

Given these reasons, together with the fact that credit scores are notoriously inaccurate and difficult to correct, we stand in support of federal legislation, HB 5521, that restricts this practice.At a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Labor and Public Employees Committee, credit reporting giant TransUnion testified in opposition to the bill, which limits a growing source of revenue for the company.

TransUnion’s testimony named hotel workers, who often are represented by our union, as a security threat to guests. Our members work hard, are honest and eager to do their part to rebuild the economy. Each day they help ensure the safety and comfort of guests, and we take offense at TransUnion’s unsubstantiated accusations.

In tough times, the last thing we need are hiring practices that promote economic segregation by denying opportunities to those most affected by the downturn. We commend the House of Representatives, which passed HB 5521, for taking a stand against employment discrimination. Please join us in urging the Senate to approve this important protection.

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Eminem 'thrilled' about pulling off Bruno stunt (www.BlasterMix.com)

Eminem says he knew full well what he was about to face at the MTV Movie Awards — including Sacha Baron Cohen's bare butt.

Enimem told the Web site RapRadar.com that the much-talked about stunt was all rehearsed, right down to Eminem's mock disgust. Says the rapper: "I'm thrilled that we pulled this off better than we rehearsed it."

Eminem says when he left the show, he went back to his hotel and laughed for three hours, including as he watched the playback.
The rapper calls himself a "big fan" of Baron Cohen, who he said approached him about the gag while he was in Europe.

At Sunday's live show, the comedian descended from the ceiling on a wire in a fake mishap that ended with his bare hindquarters in Eminem's face.

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French, Brazilians still on hunt for downed Airbus (www.BlasterMix.com)

French and Brazilian search teams have found no debris confirmed to have come from the Airbus A330 that vanished over the Atlantic, officials said Friday. Confusion broke out after Brazilian officials said Thursday that a helicopter had plucked from the sea an airplane cargo pallet from the Air France flight — only to retract the claim hours later. France's Transportation Minister, Dominique Bussereau, suggested Friday that searchers were back to square one in the hunt for Flight 447 bound from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which went down off Brazil late Sunday.
"French authorities have been saying for several days that we have to be extremely prudent," Bussereau told France's RTL radio. "Our planes and naval ships have seen nothing." A French Defense Ministry official, speaking only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said French teams "cannot precisely confirm the zone where the plane went down." Also Friday, Brazil's Air Force was flying designated relatives of victims Friday from Rio de Janeiro to the military's search command post in the northeastern city of Recife so they could tour the operation and ask questions. Recife has a large air force base where debris and any human remains will be brought after being picked up at sea. The pallet Brazilian officials initially said came from the plane pallet was made of wood, and the plane was not carrying wooden pallets, Brazilian Air Force Gen. Ramon Cardoso told reporters. He did not say where the pallet might have come from. "So far, nothing from the plane has been recovered," Cardoso said. Cardoso said a large oil slick spotted by search plane pilots was not from the Airbus, but that another slick of kerosene found may have been from the downed passenger jet.
"The oil was not from the plane because there wasn't oil of that quantity (on the plane) to cause that slick," he said. Bussereau called the false finding of debris by the Brazilian teams "bad news ... We would have preferred that it had come from the plane and that we had some information," he said. Bussereau said the search must continue and stressed that the priority was finding the flight recorders. The plane went down with 228 people on board in the world's worst aviation disaster since 2001. French officials stopped short of criticizing their Brazilian counterparts. "Brazilian authorities first indeed hoped to have found parts of the plane, then unfortunately, arriving in the area, realized it wasn't the case," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier. "Unfortunately that can happen." French Defense Minister Herve Morin and the Pentagon have said there no signs that terrorism was involved, but Morin declined to rule out the possibility. From the start of the investigation, "I've said we can't exclude terrorism," Morin told reporters Friday. "We have no element which allows us to corroborate that." "The inquiry that is taking place has never excluded this thesis," he said. Brazil's defense minister said the possibility was never considered. Investigators are looking into whether malfunctions in instruments used to determine airspeed may have led the plane to be traveling at the wrong speed when it encountered turbulence from towering thunderstorms over the Atlantic. Two aviation industry officials told The Associated Press on Thursday that investigators were studying the possibility that an external probe that measures air pressure may have iced over. The probe feeds data used to calculate air speed and altitude to onboard computers. Another possibility is that sensors inside the aircraft reading the data malfunctioned.
If the instruments were not reporting accurate information, the jet could have been traveling too fast or too slow as it hit turbulence from violent thunderstorms, according to the officials.
Jetliners need to be flying at just the right speed when encountering violent weather, experts say — too fast and they run the risk of breaking apart. Too slow, and they can lose control.
European planemaker Airbus has sent an advisory to all operators of the A330 reminding them of how to handle the plane in conditions similar to those experienced by Flight 447, which was an Airbus A330-200 version. Airbus spokesman Justin Dubon said the planemaker sent a reminder of A330 operating procedures to airlines late Thursday after the French agency investigating the crash said the doomed flight had faced turbulent weather and inconsistency in the speed readings by different instruments. That meant "the air speed of the aircraft was unclear," Dubon said. In such circumstances, flight crews should maintain thrust and pitch and — if necessary — level off the plane and start troubleshooting procedures as detailed in operating manuals, Dubon said. Meteorologists said the Air France jet entered an unusual storm with 100 mph (160 kph) updrafts that acted as a vacuum, sucking water up from the ocean. The moist air rushed up to the plane's high altitude, where it quickly froze in minus-40 degree temperatures. The updrafts also would have created dangerous turbulence. The jetliner's computer systems ultimately failed, and the plane broke apart likely in midair as it crashed into the Atlantic on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris Sunday night. But investigators will have little to go on until they recover the plane's "black box" flight data and voice recorders, now likely on the ocean floor miles beneath the surface.

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Pastor pleads not guilty to stealing $432G from Westchester church

The Rev. Patrick Dunne was solemn and silent yesterday as he entered a not-guilty plea to stealing $432,000 from his White Plains church, including money intended for Hurricane Katrina victims.

Dunne, the 63-year-old former pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, was arraigned in state Supreme Court in White Plains on an indictment charging him with second-degree grand larceny. He is accused of stealing the money over a six-year period and using it for personal expenses and recreation, including gambling. The case went to a grand jury last week after months of negotiations between prosecutors and Dunne's lawyer failed to produce a plea bargain. Dunne, pastor of the Mamaroneck Avenue church since 1991, is facing up to 15 years in prison on the felony charge. His attorney, Richard Ferrante, entered yesterday's plea. Dunne answered "yes" when Justice William A. Wetzel asked him if he realized he must make every court appearance in order to remain free without bail. Outside court, Ferrante said Dunne wanted to settle the case as soon as possible. "He dedicated his life to helping other people," Ferrante said. "He's eager to resolve this matter and move on and continue helping people. "The case was assigned to Westchester County Judge Barbara Zambelli, who will meet with both sides at a July 7 conference to discuss how much, if any, restitution will be paid, Ferrante said. The investigation began in the fall, when staff members at the church alerted the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York after noticing that undocumented checks were being cashed on church accounts. The District Attorney's Office, which learned about the missing money in February, said the thefts started in 2002. During that time, the church got a new rectory and parish center hall as part of an expansion for which parishioners contributed nearly $3 million. The money that was stolen had been donated by parishioners to different fundraising efforts by the church, such as the building fund, a collection for Katrina victims and the weekly offering used for general church expenses. It was also taken from an account that had been set up to pay clergy members who came to the church to celebrate Mass, authorities say. A spokesman for the archdiocese, Joseph Zwilling, said the archdiocese would not be responsible for repaying any of the money that Dunne is accused of stealing. Ferrante, a parishioner at Dunne's former church, has conceded that his client had a gambling addiction and said he was now in an outpatient treatment program. Zwilling said the archdiocese "continues to keep Father Dunne, and all of the parishioners of Our Lady of Sorrows Church, in our prayers."

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The Truth About Energy Drinks (www.BlasterMix.com)

Do energy drinks really rev up your body and sharpen your mind? And what, exactly, are they even made of? To help you separate the science from the sales pitch, we analyzed the claims and ingredients of five of the most popular potions on the market, and rated them from best to worst. All to answer the most important question of all: Are energy drinks safe—or should you can these beverages for good? Read on for your exclusive report, compliments of the brand new book Eat This, Not That! The Best (and Worst!) Foods in America.

Countdown of the Top 5 Energy Drinks
#5. 5-Hour Energy (2 fl oz)
4 calories
0 g sugars
(Exact caffeine content not provided by the company)

The Claim: "The two-ounce energy shot takes just seconds to drink and in minutes you're feeling bright and alert. And that feeling lasts for hours."

The Truth: Sure, it'll give you a jolt. That's because it's mainly caffeine—about the same amount that's in one cup of coffee, according to label claims. (So somewhere between 65 to 135 mg of caffeine.) And turns out, the half-life of caffeine—the time it takes for half of the stimulant to be eliminated from your body—is about 5 hours. What's more, the company touts that since the product doesn't contain sugar, you won't experience the sugar crash that comes a couple of hours after guzzling the sweet stuff. And that's true, too. Of course, you could just grab a cup of unsweetened Joe for the same effect.

Is it safe? Downing a bottle should be no problem for a regular coffee drinker. Too much caffeine, however, could cause headaches, sleeplessness, nausea, hallucinations, and a spike in blood pressure. (Sodium can also spike your BP, so be careful. Check out this list of the 20 Saltiest Foods in America.)

#4. Starbuck's Double Shot Energy and Coffee (15 fl oz)
210 calories
26 g sugars
146 mg caffeine

The Claim: "A powerful, great-tasting brew of B vitamins, guarana, ginseng, and natural proteins from milk. Charged up with coffee. That extra surge to keep you energized and alert."

The Truth: Most energy drinks laud their herbal supplements, but the science behind the add-ins is somewhat fuzzy. Ginseng, for example, won't give you an energy blast, although it might boost your brainpower. For instance, Australian researchers found that people who swallowed 200 mg of the extract an hour before taking a cognitive test scored significantly better than when they skipped the supplement. And guarana's benefit may simply be due to its caffeine content—a guarana seed contains 4 to 5 percent caffeine (about twice as much as a coffee bean). Fancy marketing ploys aside, the Double-Shot ultimately one-ups the competition by virtue of containing actual health-boosting coffee—a beverage that delivers disease-fighting antioxidants.

Is it safe? Ginseng has been shown to interact with certain medications, like the blood-thinner warfarin, potentially altering its effectiveness. And scientists at Florida's Nova Southeastern University concluded that the amount of guarana found in most energy drinks isn't large enough to cause any adverse side effects. However, there's still a question as to the safety of downing a few cans of the stuff in a brief time span.

#3. Red Bull (8 oz)
110 calories
27 g sugars
76 mg caffeine

The Claim: "With Taurine. Vitalizes body and mind."

The Truth: Caffeine certainly offers brain-boosting benefits, and the added slew of B-vitamins are conceivably helpful for a more efficient metabolism. Unfortunately, the sugar and taurine work to counteract those forces. A New Zealand study found that even the 27 grams of sugar in Red Bull is enough to completely inhibit your body's ability to burn fat. And taurine, an amino acid that works as a neurotransmitter, might act more like a sedative than a stimulant, according to researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Is it safe? Certain European countries have banned the product out of fear that its stimulant properties increase the risk of heart attack. However, a 2008 research study presented to the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology observed no negative side effects in people after the subjects quaffed one can. The best thing about Red Bull is the pre-packaged portion control. It's half the size of many other sweetened energy drinks, meaning half the calories and half the sugar of its supersized counterparts. Check out this shocking list of the 20 unhealthiest drinks in America.

#2. AMP Energy (16 oz)
220 calories
58 g sugars
142 mg caffeine

The Claim: "With its energizing blend of B-Vitamins and a specially formulated intense combination of taurine, ginseng, and guarana, AMP keeps you connected and on top of your game at all times."

The Truth: AMP is basically a hybrid between Red Bull and Starbucks Double Shot Energy, but with more calories and sugar and without the brain-beneficial coffee—rendering it a veritable witch's brew of sweeteners, herbal supplements, and suspicious-sounding additives. (Find out why additives can be so bad—here's a list of the 11 most controversial food additives).

Is it safe? Just consider it a double Red Bull. One probably won't hurt, but don't make it a habit, if only for your waistline.

The Worst Energy Drink
#1. Sobe Energy Adrenaline Rush (16 oz)
260 calories
66 g sugars
152 mg caffeine

The Claim: "Elevate your game with high performance energy for your mind and body. Bold citrus taste enhanced with a unique blend of energizing elements including D-ribose, L-carnitine and taurine. So good."

The Truth: D-ribose and L-carnitine sound exotic, but they're simply natural compounds that your body needs for proper metabolism. While research shows that carnitine supplementation may aid in recovery from exercise, there's no strong evidence to suggest either compound helps improve performance or enhances energy levels. The massive sugar load, however, will certainly spike your energy—for a price. You see, this drink quickly sends blood glucose soaring, which sets you up for a major sugar crash to follow: British scientists discovered that sleep-deprived people who consumed a sugary drink actually had slower reaction times and more sleepiness 90 minutes later.

Is it safe? Not if you're diabetic or pre-diabetic. Sobe Energy Adrenaline Rush contains as much sugar as 5 and a half scoops of Edy's Slow Churned Rocky Road Ice Cream. Additionally, taurine is probably fine in small doses, but chug too many energy drinks and the picture becomes less clear. According to a recent case report from St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, three people had seizures after drinking approximately two 24-ounce energy drinks in a short period of time. Whether the seizures were due to caffeine, taurine, or pre-existing health conditions is unclear. So, limit yourself to one—at the most.

The Bottom Line: The real truth is that most people are already consuming too much energy, which is why there's an obesity problem. (Think about it.) So adding to your energy excess by guzzling a calorie- and sugar-laden drink doesn't make a lot of sense. In fact, ask yourself this: Is it a lack of incoming sugar that's causing you to be tired—or is it that you're consuming too much of it in the first place? Chances are, it's the latter. Our advice: If you feel you need a boost, reach for unsweetened beverage that contains only caffeine—like a black coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. It has zero grams of sugar, 146 mg of caffeine, and just 20 calories—all for about 2 dollars.

For more great advice and the new no-diet weight-loss guide to the best and worst foods in America, learn about the new book Eat This, Not That! The Best (and Worst!) Foods in America!. And sign up for your FREE weekly newsletters for great diet and nutrition tips delivered straight to your inbox.

Have your own suggestions for losing weight while still eating all of your favorite foods—without dieting? Please share your secrets for taking the worry out of weight loss with the rest of us here.

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Actor David Carradine found dead in Bangkok (www.BlasterMIx.com

Actor David Carradine, star of the 1970s TV series "Kung Fu" who also had a wide-ranging career in the movies, has been found dead in the Thai capital, Bangkok. A news report said he was found hanged in his hotel room and was believed to have committed suicide.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Michael Turner, confirmed the death of the 72-year-old actor. He said the embassy was informed by Thai authorities that Carradine died either late Wednesday or early Thursday, but he could not provide further details out of consideration for his family.

The Web site of the Thai newspaper The Nation cited unidentified police sources as saying Carradine was found Thursday hanged in his luxury hotel room.

It said Carradine was in Bangkok to shoot a movie and had been staying at the hotel since Tuesday.

The newspaper said Carradine could not be contacted after he failed to appear for a meal with the rest of the film crew on Wednesday, and that his body was found by a hotel maid at 10 a.m. Thursday morning. The name of the movie was not immediately available.

It said a preliminary police investigation found that he had hanged himself with a cord used with the room's curtains. It cited police as saying he had been dead at least 12 hours and there was no sign that he had been assaulted.

A police officer at Bangkok's Lumpini precinct station would not confirm the identity of the dead man, but said the luxury Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel had reported that a male guest killed himself there.

Carradine was a leading member of a venerable Hollywood acting family that included his father, character actor John Carradine, and brother Keith.

In all, he appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby. One of his prominent early film roles was as singer Woody Guthrie in Ashby's 1976 biopic "Bound for Glory."

But he was best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin priest traveling the 1800s American frontier West in the TV series "Kung Fu," which aired in 1972-75.

He reprised the role in a mid-1980s TV movie and played Caine's grandson in the 1990s syndicated series "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues."

He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill."

The character, the worldly father figure of a pack of crack assassins, was a shadowy presence in 2003's "Kill Bill — Vol. 1." In that film, one of Bill's former assassins (Uma Thurman) begins a vengeful rampage against her old associates.

In "Kill Bill — Vol. 2," released in 2004, Thurman's character comes face to face again with Bill himself. The role brought Carradine a Golden Globe nomination as best supporting actor.

Bill was a complete contrast to his TV character Kwai Chang Caine, the soft-spoken refugee from a Shaolin monastery, serenely spreading wisdom and battling bad guys in the Old West. He left after three seasons, saying the show had started to repeat itself.

After "Kung Fu," Carradine starred in the 1975 cult flick "Death Race 2000." He starred with Liv Ullmann in Bergman's "The Serpent's Egg" in 1977 and with his brothers in the 1980 Western "The Long Riders."

But after the early 1980s, he spent two decades doing mostly low-budget films. Tarantino's films changed that.

"All I've ever needed since I more or less retired from studio films a couple of decades ago ... is just to be in one," Carradine told The Associated Press in 2004.

"There isn't anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn't do," he said. "All that was ever required was somebody with Quentin's courage to take and put me in the spotlight."

One thing remained a constant after "Kung Fu": Carradine's interest in Oriental herbs, exercise and philosophy. He wrote a personal memoir called "Spirit of Shaolin" and continued to make instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.

In the 2004 interview, Carradine talked candidly about his past boozing and narcotics use, but said he had put all that behind him and stuck to coffee and cigarettes.

"I didn't like the way I looked, for one thing. You're kind of out of control emotionally when you drink that much. I was quicker to anger."

"You're probably witnessing the last time I will ever answer those questions," Carradine said. "Because this is a regeneration. It is a renaissance. It is the start of a new career for me.

"It's time to do nothing but look forward."

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Obama wants ‘new beginning’ in Muslim world (www.BlasterMix.com)

President Barack Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims" Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East.

"This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," Obama said in a widely anticipated speech in one of the world's largest Muslim countries, an address designed to reframe relations after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

The White House said Obama's speech contained no new policy proposals on the Middle East. He said American ties with Israel are unbreakable, yet issued a firm, evenhanded call to the Jewish state and Palestinians alike to live up to their international obligations.

In a gesture to the Islamic world, Obama conceded at the beginning of his remarks that tension "has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations."

"And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," said the president, who recalled hearing prayer calls of "azaan" at dawn and dusk while living in Indonesia as a boy.

At the same time, he said the same principle must apply in reverse. "Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire."

Centerpiece of trip
Obama spoke at Cairo University after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the second stop of a four-nation trip to the Middle East and Europe.

The speech was the centerpiece of his journey, and while its tone was striking, the president also covered the Middle East peace process, Iran, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the violent struggle waged by al-Qaida.

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MTV Writer Admits 'Bruno' Stunt Was Staged

On Sunday night, when Sacha Baron Cohen's alter-ego Bruno descended from the rafters and landed fanny-first on Eminem's head, most folks figured that the rapper's rage was the real deal. Suckers! Not only was Eminem in on the joke, he and Baron Cohen rehearsed it to make sure it would all go according to plan.

Suspicions over the legitimacy of "butt-gate" had been brewing for days, but it wasn't until a writer for the MTV Movie Awards confessed that we all knew for sure. On his blog, head writer Scott Aukerman wrote that the incident was staged. "They rehearsed it at dress (rehearsal) and yes, it went as far as it did on the live show." Wow. Let it never be said that Eminem isn't a team player.

According to the New York Daily News, Eminem wasn't Baron Cohen's first choice for the joke. That honor, which was tragically declined, went to Paris Hilton. Just imagine the buzz had that happened. Still, Eminem did a great job of selling the stunt considering he "may not have been briefed on just how naked Baron Cohen's flying 'Bruno' would be when he agreed." What a pro.

Even before the writer's admission that the crash landing was planned, the searches had a suspicious slant. Throughout Monday, lookups on " was the eminem bruno stunt staged" and "eminem bruno joke" posted strong gains. Blogs, like this one from the Chicago Tribune, raised the possibility that the audience had just been played.

Now that the joke has been confirmed, queries are surging on "bruno eminem fake stunt." We'd say we feel used, but we're too busy laughing.

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Brazil confirms Air France jet crashed in ocean (www.BlasterMix.com)

FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil – Brazilian military planes found a 3-mile (5-kilometer) path of wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean, confirming that an Air France jet carrying 228 people crashed in the sea, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said Tuesday. Jobim said the discovery "confirms that the plane went down in that area" hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha. He said the strip of wreckage included metallic and nonmetallic pieces, but did not describe them in detail. No bodies were spotted in the crash of the Airbus in which all aboard are believed to have died. The discovery came just hours after authorities announced they had found an airplane an airplane seat, an orange buoy and signs of fuel in a part of the Atlantic Ocean with depths of up to three miles (4,800 meters).

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Sarkozy: Prospect slim of finding plane survivors (www.BlasterMix.com)

PARIS – French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the prospects of finding any survivors from an Air France jet that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean carrying 228 people are "very small."
Sarkozy says "no hypothesis is excluded" in the search for causes of the disappearance of the Rio to Paris flight. Sarkozy met Monday at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport with some of families of those aboard the plane, including "a mother who lost her son, a fiance who lost her future husband. "Sarkozy said, "I told them the truth. The prospects of finding survivors are very small."He said finding the plane "will be very difficult" because the search zone "is immense."

He said France has asked for help from U.S. satellite equipment to locate the plane.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. SAO PAULO (AP) — A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into a tower of thunderstorms and heavy turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday, fearing that all aboard were lost. The area where the plane could have gone down was vast. Brazil's military searched for the plane off its northeast coast, while the French military scoured the Atlantic off the West African coast near the Cape Verde Islands. Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said "it is possible" the plane was hit by lightning, but aviation experts expressed doubt that a bolt of lightning was enough to bring the plane down. Air France Flight 447, a 4-year-old Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. local time (2230 GMT, 6:30 p.m. EDT) with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, said company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand. The plane left Brazil radar contact, past the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, about three hours later (10:48 Brazil time, 0148 GMT, 9:48 p.m. EDT), indicating it was flying normally at 35,000 feet (10,670 meters) and traveling at 522 mph (840 kph). About a half-hour after that, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said. The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday) and an automatic message was received fourteen minutes later reporting electrical failure and a loss of cabin pressure. That was the last communication sent from the plane, when it was about 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of the Cape Verde Islands, according to the Brazilian Air Force.
Meteorologists said tropical storms are much more violent than thunderstorms in the United States and elsewhere. "Tropical thunderstorms ... can tower up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters). At the altitude it was flying, it's possible that the Air France plane flew directly into the most charged part of the storm — the top," Henry Margusity, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather.com, said in a statement. Brazil's air force was searching near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, about 180 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of the Brazilian coastal city of Natal. The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio. Portuguese air control authorities say the missing plane did not make contact with controllers in Portugal's mid-Atlantic Azores Islands nor, as far as they know, with other Atlantic air traffic controllers in Cape Verde, Casablanca, or the Canary islands. In Washington, a Pentagon official said he'd seen no indication that terrorism or foul play was involved. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject. Sobbing relatives of people aboard the plane arrived at an airport in Sao Paulo to fly onto Rio de Janeiro, where Air France was assisting relatives. Andres Fernandes, his eyes tearing up, said a relative "was supposed to be on the flight, but we need to confirm it," Globo TV reported. At the Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris, family members who had arrived to meet passengers refused to speak to reporters and were brought to a cordoned-off crisis center.
Air France said it expressed "its sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew members" aboard Flight 447. The airline did not explicitly say there were no survivors, but no sign of the plane had turned up more than 12 hours after it disappeared.
Air France-KLM CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, at a news conference, said the plane's pilot had 11,000 hours of flying experience, including 1,700 hours flying this aircraft. "We are without doubt facing an air catastrophe," Gourgeon said. Aviation experts said the risk the plane was brought down by lightning was slim. "Lightning issues have been considered since the beginning of aviation. They were far more prevalent when aircraft operated at low altitudes. They are less common now since it's easier to avoid thunderstorms," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of Flight Safety Foundation, Alexandria, Va. He said planes have specific measures built in to help dissipate electricity along the aircraft's skin, and are tested for resistance to big electromagnetic shocks and equipped to resist them. He said the plane should be found soon, because it has backup locators that should continue to function even in deep water. Experts said the absence of a mayday call meant something happened very quickly. "The conclusion to be drawn is that something catastrophic happened on board that has caused this airplane to ditch in a controlled or an uncontrolled fashion," Jane's Aviation analyst Chris Yates told The Associated Press. "Potentially it went down very quickly and so quickly that the pilot on board didn't have a chance to make that emergency call." Air France crisis center said 60 French citizens were on the plane. Italy said at least three passengers were Italian. If all 228 people were killed, it would be the deadliest commercial airline disaster since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines jetliner crashed in the New York City borough of Queens during a flight to the Dominican Republic, killing 265 people. On Feb. 19, 2003, 275 people were killed in the crash of an Iranian military plane carrying members of the Revolutionary Guards as it prepared to land at Kerman airport in Iran. The worst single-plane disaster was in 1985 when a Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashed into a mountainside after losing part of its tail fin, killing 520 people. Airbus would not further comment until more details emerged. "Our thoughts are with the passengers and with the families of the passengers," said Airbus spokeswoman Maggie Bergsma. She said it was the first fatal accident of a A330-200 since a test flight in 1994 went wrong, killing seven people in Toulouse. The Airbus A330-200 is a twin-engine, long-haul, medium-capacity passenger jet that is 190 feet (58.8 meters) long. It is a shortened version of the standard A330, and can hold up to 253 passengers. There are 341 in use worldwide today. It can fly up to 7,760 miles (12,500 kilometers). Rick Kennedy, a spokesman for GE Aviation, expressed doubt that the engine was at fault. He said the CF6-80E engine that powered the Air France plane "is the most popular and reliable engine that we have for big airplanes in the world." He said there are more than 15,000 airplanes flying in the world with that engine design. watch the video here http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/index.php?cl=13758207

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MTV Movie Awards 2009 Bruno falls on Eminem

MTV Movie Awards 2009 Bruno falls on Eminem 69 position, Eminem gets so pissed off that he leaves the place, this is so hilarious. Please leave a comment

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