The Saturdays' Frankie Sandford: I wouldn't like a random man's willy poking me in the face

The Saturdays' Frankie Sandford: I wouldn't like a random man's willy poking me in the face

Strippers don't appeal to Frankie Sandford

Frankie Sandford dates footballer Wayne Bridge

Frankie Sandford doesn't want things to get too raucous on her Saturdays band mates' hen dos.

Rochelle Wiseman, 22, and Una Healy, 30, both got engaged last year - and Frankie's excited about the girly celebrations.  

'I definitely hope there'll be some stupid willy things that we can wind them up with!' says Frankie, 23.

But Frankie doesn't fancy getting up close and personal with any strippers.

'I don't think I'd like a random man's willy poking in me face!' says Frankie.

'Although it could be funny.'

SEE PICTURES The Saturdays return to the UK - but where's Frankie Sandford?>>

SEE PICTURES The Saturdays dress up for Frankie Sandford's 22nd birthday party>>

SEE PICTURES The Saturdays launch the Marie Curie Cancer Care Daffodil Appeal>>

SEE PICTURES The Saturdays launch the annual Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal>>

SEE PICTURES The JLS boys join The Saturdays for a night out>>

Esme Riley

VIDEO: Harry Styles supports Cancer Research UK

 
VIDEO: One Direction coming soon

VIDEO: Teen Now meets One Direction part 1

  

VIDEO: Teen Now meets One Direction part 2

 

VIDEO: Capital FM Jingle Bell Ball part 2 with One Direction

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Morning Watch: Hour-Long Damon Lindelof Interview, Great Getty Images Ad, and Roman Polanski Short

Morning Watch: Hour-Long Damon Lindelof Interview, Great Getty Images Ad, and Roman Polanski Short

In case you haven't had a chance to watch this fantastic Damon Lindelof interview yet, take some time off today and give it a shot. From The Verge, Lindelof discusses lots, including almost 30 minutes on the Lost finale. Definitely a must watch for fans of the writer and his shows/movies.

Here's a wonderful Getty Images ad made up of 873 Getty images. The amount of painstaking research that must have went into this kinda blows our minds.

Finally, Roman Polanski shot a short film for Prada called A Therapy, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley. 

Movies.com | Movie News

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Was IPO a bust?

Was IPO a bust?

By Steve Blank, Special to CNN

May 23, 2012 -- Updated 1555 GMT (2355 HKT)

Facebook IPO is announced on a screen outside the NASDAQ stock exchange in Times Square in New York City on May 18.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• On Tuesday, Facebook's stock has plunged nearly 18% from its IPO price
• Steve Blank: It's too early to judge Facebook based on its initial performance on the market
• Despite its IPO process mess, Facebook just needs to prove its long-term worth, he says
• Blank: Facebook IPO could change the investing culture of Silicon Valley forever

Editor's note: Steve Blank, a former Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, teaches at Stanford University, Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of "The Startup Owner's Manual."

(CNN) -- After an astounding debut on Friday, Facebook's shares have tumbled for the most part. Is the most highly anticipated technology IPO in recent years a failure?

It's too early to know.

As we probe every aspect of Facebook's initial public offering, we should remember that the long-term performance of a company or its stock bears virtually no correlation with its first week's or month's market performance. In fact, the early days of Amazon.com's stock chart looked similar to Facebook's. Amazon's stock has done just fine since then.

Steve Blank

Facebook has smartly capitalized on new market forces on a scale never seen in the history of commerce. But the jury's still out -- and will be out for a while -- on whether Facebook is a "phenom" or a real, growing company.

Facebook and its bankers did their jobs superbly well. They extracted the maximum amount of money possible from Wall Street and Main Street investors, raising $ 16 billion at eye-popping valuations and making it one of the largest IPOs ever. Some observers wondered, "what's it worth?" while others yammered about the market-cap-per customer calculus, knowing full well that no one really knows what that number is today or in a few years.

With all the hoopla surrounding Facebook's IPO, is it surprising that something went wrong? Facebook's IPO process is now being scrutinized closely, with regulators looking into impropriety on the part of the banks. There were "leaked" upbeat memos about the company. There were last-minute reductions in revenue forecasts while the bankers were pumping the price higher and higher. Some investors may have had more information than others. There were even technical glitches with NASDAQ's systems that disrupted trading. More "innocent" mistakes than a toddler makes in years.

Maybe the IPO was mishandled. If we had a more functional Securities and Exchange Commission, perhaps it would have made Facebook redo its IPO filing documents, which would have given some investors pause, and might have forced further tuning of a variety of key accounting metrics, all in full public view.

Moving forward, Facebook needs to do one thing right: Mature into a great company that constantly innovates based not on just Mark Zuckerberg's vision alone, but with lots of help, feedback and direction from its nearly 1 billion users. Ask Rupert Murdoch and MySpace about the importance of staying exciting, compelling and relevant to customers. Or Yahoo, or dozens of other companies that were so focused on their quarterly numbers and stock prices that they lost focus of their users and watched them drift away. Was a $ 38 FB share a great deal? Don't ask me this week -- ask me a year or two from now.

The Facebook IPO is remarkable for another reason, though: It could change the investing culture of Silicon Valley forever.

Startups can now think about a "total available market" in the billions of users (smart phones, tablets, PCs, etc.) and try to reach a customer base that was unimaginable even decades ago. And as more people use their devices/apps 24/7 -- possibly in some sort of social way -- the potential revenue that can be generated would be enormous.

For that reason, investor money is suddenly racing toward social media. Years ago, a great venture capitalist could make a solid return on an investment in about a decade or less. Now, a simple photo-sharing app like Instagram can be valued at $ 1 billion in less than three years.

But what's great for making tons of money may not be the same as what's great for innovation or for our country. In Silicon Valley, the investor flight to social media marks the beginning of the end of the era of venture capital-backed big ideas in science and technology.

Social media is the pot of gold that everyone wants a piece of right now. Will it change the way people interact? Stay tuned. Will it make the world a better place? Hard to say.

In the meantime, there isn't a whole lot to be learned in Facebook's first week or month of trading. We'll just have to see if this social media giant grows into a solid and profitable company over time.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steve Blank.

CNN.com

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Nvidia Quad Core Tablets For $199. Focus On Android & Windows 8

Nvidia Quad Core Tablets For $199. Focus On Android & Windows 8

 

Back in September of 2011, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang stated we might see quad core tablets running Android 4.0 this summer for the very low price of $ 199, and apparently the man meant business. Last week, Nvidia introduced an Android tablet platform code called Kai, and walked investors through their plans for using “the secret sauce” inside Tegra 3 to create a quad core tablet by the end of this year that could match the price of Amazon’s popular Kindle Fire tablet. According to the Verge, those tablets are already being produced and could hit the market sooner than you think. But it's not just Android that Nvidia's Kai could do wonders for, but Windows 8 tablets as well. 

Nvidia’s vice president of investor relations Rob Csonger unveiled their strategy for not only Android tablets, but for Windows 8 tablets as well:

"So first of all, our strategy on Android is simply to enable quad-core tablets running Android Ice Cream Sandwich to be developed and brought out to market for a $ 199 price point. The way we that we do that is with a platform that we've developed called Kai. So this uses a lot of the secret sauce that's inside Tegra 3 to allow you to develop a tablet at a much lower cost by using a lot of innovation that we've developed to reduce the power that's used by the display and to use lower cost components within the tablet."

"Probably the most exciting opportunity for us, however, in the tablet space is a discontinuity and a disruption that's going to occur in the PC world, which is the end of the Windows and Intel, or Wintel monopoly. At the end of the is year, Microsoft is releasing Windows 8 with a new capability, Windows RT, and the ability here to run Windows on ARM is a very big opportunity for Nvidia. Whereas in the phone space, we are moving into the phone space and there are incumbents there, when it comes to Windows and PCs, welcome to Nvidia's home court. This is something we know very well and have done for many years."

This is naturally great news for anyone wanting to get their hands on a high end tablet for a low cost, but I have to wonder, how great can a 199 dollar quad core tablet be? If “lower cost components” will be used in building it, will it physcially feel cheap, or will the lower cost materials be components that are hard to notice when using it?

I also have a feeling that Nvidia’s focus on Windows 8 will be one of their main projects, as it does indeed open up new possibilities for them as a company. I just hope I’m wrong in thinking that Windows 8 tablets could potentially take over the tablet market. Lets just hope Google has something up its sleeve with the upcoming Nexus tablet. 

But one thing is certain: 2012 is certainly shaping up to be a great year for tablets.

Picture credits: www.technologytell.com, cdn1.sbnation.com (edited by myself)

AndroidPIT Blog

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Barcelona FC backs bid to send one million e-books to Africa

Barcelona FC backs bid to send one million e-books to Africa

Deborah, a participant in Worldreader's pilot program in Ghana, reads with her mother. Students are encouraged to take home their e-readers to share the benefits of the device with their families.

E-readers in African schools

E-readers in African schools

E-readers in African schools

E-readers in African schools

E-readers in African schools

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Football giant FC Barcelona is supporting a project to distribute 1 million e-books in Africa
• The project will see e-readers given to children in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda
• It is believed the devices encourage literacy by providing students access to more titles
• Younger students in an e-reader pilot project in Ghana performed better in reading tests

London (CNN) -- Stars from one of the world's great soccer teams will be encouraging reading as part of a new project to put one million digital books in the hands of African children.

Spanish football team FC Barcelona -- home to stars Lionel Messi, Xavi, Eric Abidal and Seydou Keita -- joined forces Thursday with the non-profit organization Worldreader in a campaign to inspire a wave of literacy in sub-Saharan Africa through the use of e-readers.

Founded by David Risher, a former executive at Microsoft and Amazon, Worldreader works on the premise that e-readers, like Amazon's Kindle, could help children in developing countries to "awaken their passion for reading, and improve their lives."

"Worldreader is committed to putting a digital library in the hands of all children throughout the world's developing countries, and we're thrilled with the support of FC Barcelona to send one million e-books to students in Africa," said Risher, Worldreader's CEO.

The campaign is appealing for one million donors to each make a $ 5 contribution to help them reach their target of distributing one million e-books to 10,000 children in Africa. Because students bring home the devices and typically share their use with family members, friends and neighbors, it is expected the initiative will help put e-books in the hands of 50,000 people.

The e-readers will be distributed to children in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, where the non-profit is already operating, and soon in Rwanda, which is to become the next focus for the organization.

Football giant Barcelona will lend its weight to the campaign, with its stars sending messages via the e-readers to encourage students to read more and achieve their goals.

Worldreader believes technology can provide the best approach to encouraging literacy in parts of the developing world where books are otherwise scarce.

The program has motivated my students and instilled a joy for reading that never existed before
Jacqueline Abiso Dzifa, teacher, Kade, Ghana

Unlike traditional books -- which had to be physically imported, one title at a time -- a single e-Reader could provide a child with a vast array of current, relevant titles at a low distribution cost.

The increased access to reading material, it was believed, could broaden the way students think and develop their creativity by allowing them to go beyond the syllabus to follow their reading interests.

A year-long pilot of the program to 350 students in six schools in Ghana yielded promising results. Reading test scores for primary students participating in the program increased by 4.8% to 7.6% more than their peers who were not taking part, although benefits for older students were less clear.

The e-readers gave students access to a much greater variety of titles: 107, on average, as opposed to the between 3 to 11 books the average student had access to at home without the devices. They swiftly learned how to use the e-readers, despite 43% having never used a computer before.

Read also: The Himba, Namibia's iconic red women

"Worldreader has not only given us unparalleled access to books, the program has motivated my students and instilled a joy for reading that never existed before," said Jacqueline Abiso Dzifa, a teacher at Presbyterian Primary in Kade, Ghana, whose students participated in the pilot.

The students relished their access to "a wide variety of classic and cutting-edge literature by renowned authors," she said.

As e-readers provided a pathway into the digital world, many students also used them to read international news sites that would have been inaccessible previously.

Just one of the collateral benefits to the program was that students gained greater exposure to African writers, said Worldreader managing director and co-founder Colin McElwee.

The program was working with African publishing houses to digitize their titles and provide students with local, relevant content -- which had positive impacts on local literary cultures.

"We want to digitize the curriculum, there's a whole catalog of books you can digitize," he said. "Once you digitize them, you can't just sell them in Ghana or Kenya -- you have a global market. So this is the first time African culture can be exported seamlessly, globally. That has an enormous impact on the potential of Africa over time."

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Will Obama's attacks on Romney backfire?

Will Obama's attacks on Romney backfire?

Obama: Romney learning the wrong lessons

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Gloria Borger: President Obama's argument about Bain Capital is about experience
• She says he suggests Mitt Romney lacks background, values to be president
• She says Obama would be better off focusing on his record or Romney's as governor
• Borger: Obama's image could be tarnished by questionable attacks

Editor's note: Gloria Borger is CNN's chief political analyst, appearing regularly on shows such as "AC360°", "The Situation Room," "John King, USA" and "State of the Union."

(CNN) -- As the presidential campaign veers off onto the Bain Capital ramp, the predictable arguments ensue: Is the turn simply a political attack meant to distract from bad economic news? (So says Mitt Romney). Or is it an important, valid argument at the heart of the contest? (So says President Barack Obama.)

'Other-ness': What Obama and Romney have in common on religion, race

Distill all the arguments down to an essential core, and they're really about one thing: experience. As in, does past experience matter? Is it an indicator of future behavior? Or of your values? And if you behaved one way at another job in your past, what does that tell us about how you would behave as president? Finally, should your previous experience (or lack of it) in any way disqualify you from the presidency?

The arguments over experience are hardly new. In fact, back in the day when then-candidate Obama was a tad short on the experience side, Hillary Clinton made the case that she was the best-equipped to handle foreign policy disasters as president (See: ad with red phone ringing at 3 am.) Obama's response: "I have shown the judgment to lead."

Gloria Borger

Which seemed a fair enough retort. So let's apply that standard to the Bain Capital fight: Romney's job was to make money for investors. Bain Capital claims that revenues grew in 80% of the more than 350 companies in which it has invested. It also makes the case that the Obama campaign's cause-and-effect simplification of the eventual failure of a paper company -- such as Ampad -- was completely overblown and unfair: Bain bought the company in 1992, and it grew. Its control ended in 1996, four years before it folded, although Bain did retain some stake in the company. And it folded, Bain says, because the marketplace changed.

It's more Dunder Mifflin than Darth Vader.

And, um, where was the Romney judgment call in this episode?

To be clear: This is a political campaign. Romney's experience at Bain is certainly relevant. After all, Romney often brags about creating 100,000 jobs, so digging into what happened there under his watch is only natural. The problem with campaigns is that issues and events and results need to be either black or white -- especially in 60-second spots that liken companies such as Bain to vultures.

None other than the president himself conceded that there's some complexity here, as The Washington Post points out in an editorial, which says the president is trying to argue all sides. "I think there are a whole lot of folks who do good work in that area and there are times where they identify the capacity for the economy to create new jobs or new industries," the president said at the NATO summit.

Indeed, this is a president who has friends in private equity, who raises money from private equity and is making a pitch to the same folks this time around. (Full disclosure: A member of my family works in private equity.) The issue, the president told us, is that the goal of "maximizing profits" is way different from what a president does, which is making sure that "everybody in the country has a fair shot."

And Romney, he would argue, has no experience at doing that.

Understand this: It's not really just about business. It's about values. The president may be broader in his approach, but his ads argue a more simple point: that Romney doesn't have the right values to be president; that he does bad things to good people.

It might be more lucrative for Obama's re-election prospects to go after Romney's actual record -- as a less-than-outstanding job creator as Massachusetts governor. Or as a politician with "evolving" views on issues ranging from abortion to immigration. Or to remind independent voters that during the primaries Romney called himself "severely conservative," whatever that means. Some of this is surely in the works.

And what about the Obama campaign starting to talk about its own record? Team Obama may want to turn this into a choice election, but when incumbents run for re-election they have to explain why they should be rehired. "The Obama people believe they can win this election by criticizing Romney," says Bill Galston, a former Clinton administration domestic policy adviser. "But they're going to lose this election if American people don't think they have done a good job."

One more thing: Obama's consistent strength is that more than half of Americans really like him. They see him as in touch with their lives and their aspirations. And his poll numbers only increased last year, for instance, when he shared America's disgust during the distasteful debate over extending the payroll tax cuts. House Republicans seemed in desperate need of day care; Obama was the adult in the room.

That's what people want. When a president who wants to be transformational runs a campaign that wants to deliver transparent caricatures, there's a downside. The candidate starts looking like all the other pols.

And nobody likes them.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gloria Borger.

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14 Extreme Campers Built for Off-Roading

14 Extreme Campers Built for Off-Roading

Since 2008, Global Expedition Vehicles (GXV) has been building some of the most incredible trucks in the overland world. This 2010 Freightliner began as a 2WD model with a 300-inch wheelbase. The team converted it to 4WD, took the wheelbase down to a more manageable 230 inches, and converted it to be nearly bulletproofâ€"the bodywork is an insulated 2.5-inch composite sandwich of many marine-grade components. Even the windows are made of thick dual-pane construction and stainless-steel hardware.

You can get a GXV but not for cheap. The most extreme and luxurious lifting roof model, the Patagonia, sells for more than $ 500,000.

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No 'Avenger' in sight for America

No 'Avenger' in sight for America

By Dean Obeidallah, Special to CNN

updated 4:59 PM EDT, Wed May 23, 2012

Mitt Romney (above) and Barack Obama might talk like superheroes, says Dean Obeidallah, but they must be straight with voters.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Dean Obeidallah: America's economy in trouble, needs an "Avenger" superhero
• Captain Economy, Deficit Reduction Man would be nice; reality is Obama, Romney
• He says Romney promises government cuts, but where has austerity worked?
• Writer: Candidates, level with voters: There's no superhero plan for recovery' it'll be a slog

Editor's note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog "The Dean's Report" and co-director of the upcoming documentary, "The Muslims Are Coming!" Follow him on Twitter.

(CNN) -- America is in trouble. And we know it.

Just look at recent polls: 70% of Americans would describe the nation's economy as bad. Some 61% think our country is on the wrong track. Only 24% of Americans think the economy has actually improved in the past few years. And almost two-thirds of Americans are concerned about being able to pay for their housing.

We could use Captain Economy to help us create jobs. Plus we need Deficit-Reduction Man and Five-Percent-GDP-Growth-a-Year Dude. Or maybe we can just let The Hulk loose in Congress and tell him: "Hulk: Smash!"

(I'm not sure how Hulk smashing Congress helps the economy, but I think most of us would pay to see it.)

But, alas, there's no superhero in no sight. There's only President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.

I must admit that there was a time in 2008 that I thought Obama could have been a superhero, but I was wrong. We have seen his campaign theme morph in four years from "Yes We Can" to "It Could Be Worse."

In Obama's defense, his economic plan has helped the nation. Unemployment was at 10% in October 2009 and has fallen to 8.1%, and we have seen moderate job creation. But still the economy has a long way to go to match the booming growth years of the mid-2000s. We had a 4.6% unemployment rate just five years ago.

So here comes superhero wannabe Romney. This silver-spooned crusader has attacked Obama by stating, "We are enduring the most tepid recovery in modern history."

Romney essentially admits the economy has improved since Obama took office but claims that he has the super powers that will launch our nation to infinity and beyond. Or at least, as he promised this week, his economic plan would lower the nation's unemployment rate to 6% in four years.

What's Romney's solution? His website outlines a proposal for economic recovery, promising a five-point plan that he will submit immediately upon taking office, then "demand that Congress act on the package within 30 days."

But I think Romney might find that Congress won't be pushed around as easily as a blonde-haired kid in high school. All the "demanding" in the world might not get Congress to do what he wants.

Romney: I'll get unemployment down to 6%

Romney calls for tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, but his big push to revitalize the economy is to reduce the deficit by cutting government spending. Here is my question for Mr. Romney: Can you please show us where this type of austerity has worked before? I'm all ears.

The most recent example is the United Kingdom, where conservative Prime Minister David Cameron slashed government spending in 2010 with the promise of economic growth. The result? The unemployment rate rose in 2011, and GDP contracted for the past two quarters, meaning that the nation is now back in a recession.

In contrast, last week we learned that Japan's economy grew by an annualized rate of 4.1% in the first quarter this year.

Was Japan's growth spurt caused by cutting government spending as Romney wants? Nope. Quite the opposite. The Japanese government increased expenditures. While the government spending did increase the deficit, it sparked much-needed economic growth.

If either candidate is going to make super promises about revitalizing the economy, he'll have to prove his ideas have worked in the past. And if he can't do that, he should at least be brutally honest and tell us there are no easy answers.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah

CNN.com - U.S.

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Official: Dacia rolls out Dokker vanlet in Casablanca

Official: Dacia rolls out Dokker vanlet in Casablanca

Dacia unveils Dokker and Dokker van in Casablanca, Morocco

Dacia has profited from the Casablanca Show to introduce two models which are poised to join the Dacia line-up this year, namely Dokker, a versatile crew van, and Dokker Van, a practical small van.

The wraps came off the latest additions to the Dacia line-up â€" Dokker and Dokker van â€" in Casablanca. Both models are made in Tangiers and will go on sale initially in Morocco, before the end of June.

Dokker is a practical and versatile five-seat crew-van which can be ordered with either one or two sliding side doors. Thanks to its generous boot space and straightforward, modular interior, it is ideal for customers who need a vehicle that is just as capable of carrying bulky loads as it is of transporting a family in comfort.

Dokker van, the small van version of the same model, can be specified with eithe r one or two wide, sliding side doors and chiefly targets the needs of business customers, tradespeople and traders. In addition to being reliable and robust, its carrying capacity is among the segment's best, while it also benefits from a carefully thought-through modular interior and economical fuel consumption.

The name Dokker is a play on the word 'dockworker' and expresses the high carrying capacity of the two models, as well as their modular interior layout and robustness.

Further information concerning these two new models will be available shortly as a function of their presentation in their different markets.

Dacia: the 'smarty buy' brand...

In the eight years since its relaunch with the introduction of Logan in 2004, Dacia, which belongs to the Renault Group, has established itself as a top player in the automobile industry. The clear values championed by the brand lost no time winning over the confidence of customers

- Generosity: the market's best cabin space for its price,
- Simplicity: equipment specifications which focus on what customers really need,
- Reliability: thanks to the employment of technical solutions proven on other Renault Group vehicles.

The full range now features nine vehicles:
- Logan, three-box saloon
- Logan MCV (estate)
- Logan Van (LCV)
- Logan Pick up
- Sandero, hatchback and Stepway versions
- Duster, SUV (4x2 or 4x4 transmission)
- Lodgy, family MPV (five or seven seats)
- Dokker, a versatile crew van
- Dokker Van, a practical small van

Autoblog

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Hip-Hop Rumors: Man Shoots Up The Block For Meek Mill? Then Tweets?

Hip-Hop Rumors: Man Shoots Up The Block For Meek Mill? Then Tweets?

People are losing their minds. I almost made this an epic fail, but it would seem that they already have that today in the form of “Trayvoning,” which I think is very sick.

[Click here: Signs The World Is Coming To And End: Trayvoning]

Anyway, there is another fail on deck with a slice of signs the world is coming to an end. So, there is a rumor that a man reportedly shot up the block as he listened to Dreamchasers 2 by Meek Mill. As the story is told, he is so amped up that he goes shoots up the block and then turns around and decides to see “who got hit.” So, dude got so amped up over listening to Meek, dude airs out the block, trying to kill somebody, and then also wants to see who got shot. Got it? Right.

Here is the real foolishness.

Dude tweets it and then, on top of that, he @’s Meek Mill. Meek proceeds to add it to his Instagram, which then leads to everybody calling him an idiot. I have not been able to determine if he was just poppin’ junk or actually did shoot up the block and tweet a crime to a rapper that then sent it to his network of 1.2 million followers on Twitter.

Whoa!

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Dollar trades at 97 cents

Dollar trades at 97 cents

UPDATE: THE Aussie dollar is slightly lower, trading in a tight range throughout the morning, ahead of the release of Chinese economic data.

At noon, the dollar was trading at 97.56 US cents, down from 97.74 cents yesterday.

Last night, the Australian dollar fell as low as 96.90 US cents, its lowest level since November 28.

CMC markets foreign exchange dealer Tim Waterer said there was not much of a reaction in currency markets after a summit of EU leaders ended.

The meeting showed that France and Germany are divided on how to resolve the euro zone debt crisis, particularly on the issue of the European Central Bank issuing its own eurobonds.

"We had a marginal rise in Asian equity markets, which is helping support the currency," Mr Waterer said.

"We're still having no buying impetus for the currency today, that may come if we happen to get a good reading in the Chinese PMI."

This afternoon, the May HSBC purchasing managers index from China will be released.

"Given the market is still very much risk averse due to the situation in Europe, if that number is below expectations tha t could send the Aussie retreating towards the 97.00 cents," he said.

Meanwhile, the Australian bond market was stronger at noon.

At noon, the June 10-year bond futures contract was trading at 96.915 (implying a yield of 3.085 per cent), up from 96.890 (3.110 per cent) yesterday.

The June three-year bond futures contract was at 97.630 (2.370 per cent), up from 97.620 (2.380 per cent).

In overnight trade, early on Thursday morning, the three-year contract hit an all-time high of 97.700.

ForexNews.com

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Jermain Defoe denies 'threesome' claims by nurse but Alexandra Burke dumps him

Jermain Defoe denies 'threesome' claims by nurse but Alexandra Burke dumps him

Once a cheat...

Alexandra Burke kicked Jermain Defoe to the kerb

Alexandra Burke, 23, has dumped Jermain Defoe, 29, after ?a nurse from Somerset claimed she slept with him in March.

Kirsty Crummey, 26, alleges the footballer wooed her on Facebook and even asked her to take part in a threesome.

Jermain's denied Kirsty's claims, Tweeting: 'I've allegedly been having a relationship with Peter Kay. Here again is an example of someone trying to make money off my back.'

Read more celebrity gossip in Now magazine dated 28 May 2012 - out now!

SEE PICTURES The X Factor judges launch the 2011 show>>

SEE PICTURES The X Factor: Where are they now?>>

SEE PICTURES Alexandra Burke in The X Factor final 12 get star makeovers>>

Now Celebrity News

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European leaders put off key decisions

European leaders put off key decisions

By Peter Spiegel and Hugh Carnegy, FT.com

May 24, 2012 -- Updated 0146 GMT (0946 HKT)

French President Francois Hollande arrives for a press conference after a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels early May 24 2012.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• European leaders put off any decisions on shoring up the region's banks
• Heads of the EU's main institutions will make plans for closer fiscal co-ordination
• Could include path towards a Europe-wide deposit guarantee and, later, eurozone bonds
• Officials: Guarantee needed to prevent bank runs that could follow a Greek exit

(CNN) -- European leaders put off any decisions on shoring up the region's banks at a late-night summit on Wednesday despite rising concerns that instability in Greece was undermining confidence in the eurozone's financial sector.

Instead, the heads of the EU's main institutions were given the task of drawing up proposals for closer fiscal co-ordination in time for another summit next month, plans that could include a path towards a Europe-wide deposit guarantee scheme and, in the longer term, commonly-backed eurozone bonds.

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, cautioned that even the June plan would be limited to "building blocks" and "working methods" towards economic integration and not specific proposals towards a banking union or mutualisng eurozone debt.

"These ideas on stronger, stricter banking supervision and resolution were only mentioned, we did not have a real discussion on it, but we will work on them in the upcoming weeks," said Mr Van Rompuy.

Support appeared to be building for deposit guarantees commonly backed by all 17 eurozone members, which some officials believe are needed to prevent bank runs that could follow a Greek exit. François Hollande, the new French president attending his first EU summit, said he backed his Italian counterpart, Mario Monti, who has proposed such a plan.

And Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister, said there was also "strong support" for using the eurozone's new €500bn rescue fund to inject capital directly into teetering banks, a proposal opposed by Germany but considered by many as essential for helping cash-strapped sovereigns shore up their financial sectors.

Instead of firm decisions, leaders voiced repeated assurances that they wanted Greece to remain in the eurozone, but emphasised any new government in Athens had to live up to the terms of its €174bn bailout.

"If I were to talk about the hypothesis of a Greek exit from the eurozone it would send a signal to Greece and to the markets," said Mr Hollande. "I would rather say that France and Europe want Greece to stay in the eurozone. We want you to respect your commitments but we want to take steps to show you that we want to restore hope. That is in the interests of Greece, the eurozone and the global economy."

The failure to decide on a clear path forward for Greece, Europe's banks or eurozone bonds reflects continued, deep divisions over how to respond to the mounting crisis caused by the possibility of a Greek exit. Officials said there had not been any in-depth discussion about Greece during more than six hours of deliberations.

Instead, most of the session focused on a "growth compact" consisting of ways to spur investment in large-scale infrastructure projects. But even there, no decisions were made on such proposals as injecting €10bn in new capital for the European Investment Bank.

Mr Hollande gained most of the attention by continuing his surprisingly aggressive push for eurozone bonds, making clear his disagreement with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, at a post-summit press conference.

"For now, Germany's line of thinking is that euro bonds, if I give the most optimistic version, could only be an end point, whereas for us they are a starting point," he said. "It's true that there is there a difference."

Additional reporting by Joshua Chaffin and Alex Barker

CNN.com

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Apple: Oh, FYI, We Store and Sell What You Say to Siri

Apple: Oh, FYI, We Store and Sell What You Say to Siri

This shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone, but what happens between you and Siri doesn't stay between you and Siri. The ACLU just published a report on their website about how Apple's personal assistant sends our personal voice and user info to Apple to stockpile in its databses. While Apple maintiains that this "Voice Input Data" is used to help Siri perform better, it's also used for "other Apple products and services." 

So what might Siri be storing? Oh, you know: your name, your parent's names, their addresses and phone numbers, song titles and playlists...anything really.

 If you're telling yourself "well, duh," I agree. This is the kind of thing I always figured was happening with a service like Siri. That said, I am surprised that not only is information sent to Apple but that Apple STORES this information and then (possibly) sells it to ANYONE.Now, unlike Google, Apple is NOT in the advertising business, primarily, so they have less of an incentive to sell your data than a company like Google. That said, they could really be doing anything with this data.

Given that the ACLU's report has made the front page of Reddit, I'd say it's pretty likely that a lot more people are going to be talking about what's going on with Siri and I'd expect Apple to respond in the coming days as well.

(Photo: CultofMac.com)

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Administration officials offered access to bin Laden filmmakers, documents show

Administration officials offered access to bin Laden filmmakers, documents show

Actress Jennifer Ehle is seen on the Chandigarh, India, set of Kathryn Bigelow's forthcoming film on Osama bin Laden.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Filmmakers are making a movie about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden
• Newly released documents recount access granted to the filmmakers
• A congressman says the offer of access raises "very serious questions"
• Rep. Peter King questions whether operational secrets are being adequately protected

(CNN) -- Newly released documents have reignited the debate in Washington over whether Obama administration officials granted too much access to filmmakers making a movie about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden -- and whether national security was compromised in the process.

The documents show, for example, that a defense official offered the filmmakers access to a planner from SEAL Team Six, the super-secret special ops division that successfully executed the high-stakes raid in Pakistan last year.

It is not clear if any such access eventually took place. But according to a transcript from the meeting, in July of last year, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers told screenwriter Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow that the defense department would offer up a plum interview.

"They'll make a guy available who was involved from the beginning as a planner; a SEAL Team 6 Operator and Commander," Vickers said, according to the transcript.

The name of that man is blacked out in the transcript that was released, and Vickers tells the filmmakers not to reveal the man's identity.

"He shouldn't be talking out of school," Vickers says, but "he knows what he can and can't say."

"That's dynamite," says Boal, according to the transcript.

"That's incredible," says Bigelow.

"You're going to get a little bit of operational stuff," Vickers says, "but more really policy -- like how did we make the decision, the risks, that kind of stuff."

It was not clear whether the SEAL team commander ever met with the filmmakers. A Pentagon spokesman said the Defense Department gave them no access to classified information about the raid.

But Rep. Peter King, R-New York, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, says the offer of access looks like a "potentially dangerous collaboration" and raises "very serious questions" about whether the administration is sufficiently protecting operational secrets.

"If this is too sensitive for the average person to know about," King said, "did Kathryn Bigelow have security clearance? Is she cleared to go in there?"

Fran Townsend, former White House homeland security adviser under President George W. Bush and a CNN contributor, called the revelations "troubling." She said revealing too much information about how the bin Laden raid was planned and executed could help other terrorists escape attempts to capture them.

"The understanding of how that happens is really very important to our enemies because then they know which information to withhold from us," she said. "We don't want to make that mission -- attacking or targeting future al Qeada leaders -- any more difficult than it already is."

"There's a real downside to giving too much access to Hollywood," she said.

The records were released to the Washington watchdog organization Judicial Watch, after it filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

According to e-mails among the documents, the filmmakers also met with acting CIA Director Michael Morrell, National Security Council Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, and White House Counterterrorism Adviser John Brennan. The records also suggest that they were given a walk-though of the "vault" room used by the CIA when planning the raid.

Doctor linked to raid sent to prison

A CIA spokesperson confirmed that CIA officers sometimes to meet with writers and filmmakers to help make the portrayal of the CIA more accurate, but called those meetings unclassified. The spokesperson added that "the 'vault' in question, that had been used for planning the raid, was empty at the time of the filmmakers' visit."

Likewise, White House officials have said they did not give the filmmakers anything that was not also provided to journalists.

"The same information was given to the White House press corps," said National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor. "We do not discuss classified information."

Administration officials have also rejected suggestions that they were hoping that a movie recounting the daring and successful raid ordered by President Barack Obama would burnish his image just when the presidential campaign reached its height.

The released documents show that the political strategy firm Glover Park Group, which has ties to Democrats, helped the filmmakers arrange meetings in Washington.

"To have Democratic consultants, lobbyists, having access with Hollywood producers to inner workings of the CIA, of the military, raises very serious questions," said Republican Rep. King.

But the filmmakers, whose representatives declined to comment Wednesday, have said in the past that the film would be about a nonpartisan American triumph without regard for political affiliation.

And while the release of the film had once been anticipated for October, just weeks before Election Day, its release is not expected until December.

CNN's Suzanne Kelly, Brianna Keilar, and Larry Shaughnessy contributed to this report.

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Balcony BBQ: We Test 5 Hot Outdoor Electric Grills

Balcony BBQ: We Test 5 Hot Outdoor Electric Grills

Nothing says summer like having friends over for a backyard barbecue. But with more families in the U.S. choosing apartment living over home ownership, they quickly find this American pastime off-limits to them. However, outdoor electric-grill technology has come a long way in recent years, making these corded contenders a viable option for balcony barbecuers.*

To test the best, we gathered five outdoor electric grills and put them through their paces. We grilled corn on the cob (still in the husk), whole red peppers, veggie kebabs consisting of 1 to 2-inch slices of zucchini, yellow squash, and red onion, 1/4-lb. hamburger patties (80 percent lean), and boneless chicken breasts. We opted to keep it simpleâ€"using only salt, pepper, and extra-virgin olive oil as seasoningsâ€"and let the grills speak for themselves.

* Please check with your property manager to learn the requirements and fire codes for using an outdoor electric grill in your apartment complex. Use only as allowed.

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Video: Man creates DIY Lexus LS 400 convertible with Sawzall

Video: Man creates DIY Lexus LS 400 convertible with Sawzall

We love four-door convertibles, reciprocating saws and watching other people make bad decisions, so the video seen here is a bit like our perfect YouTube cocktail. In it, the owner of a slammed Lexus LS decides he's had enough of living under the oppressive shadow of his sedan's roof. While at StanceWars Belgium 2012, he decides to fire up a generator, plug in his trusty sawzall and go to town. Not surprisingly, the sheetmetal on the roof gives up quickly, and the whole extraction takes less than eight minutes from start to finish.

Hilariously enough, it starts raining just as the owner makes the final cut. How's that for a sign from the universe? Scroll down to check out the carnage... just be prepared for the painful sound of shredded metal.

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Hip-Hop Rumors: Lil Wayne Expecting Another Kid?

Hip-Hop Rumors: Lil Wayne Expecting Another Kid?

(Rumors) Lil Wayne is expecting another lil’ one, according to MTO. I don’t know if this is the case, but take it for what is worth. According to this rumor, dude has put another bun in his girl’s oven.

Here’s the luckier lady:

Now, her name is Sarah Vivian and she has already given birth to one of Wayne kids. The rumor is relatively basic, all things considered. Water is wet. The sun is hot. And Lil Wayne has kids.

If the rumor is true, this makes five for Weezy. Now, that’s an ill seed!

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UK Pound Starts To Strengthen Against The Australian Dollar

UK Pound Starts To Strengthen Against The Australian Dollar

The suggestion that the reserve Bank of Australia may make further interest rate cuts in the months ahead is weighing on the value of the Australian Dollar. So too is the slowdown in Chinese economic activity.

Also influential is the change of heart amongst international investors who are less inclined to buy into the high yielding interest rates that Australia offers because they are fearful of events in Europe undermining the Aussie Dollar and causing them to lose money in exchange rate movements.

In essence, having driven the weakening Aussie Dollar to the highest level since last October, the Pound lost some of that momentum and dropped three cents. It looks set to fall a little further and we are likely to see A$ 1.56 before any turnaround in this short term decline.

Events in Europe are strengthening the Pound but the Aussie Dollar is largely powered by investor sentiment and investors are fickle beasts so we should not be convinced by any of these spikes and troughs until they breach significant technical levels.

That hasn’t happened on either the upside or downside in the Sterling â€" Australian Dollar exchange rate so, it is best to plan using A$ 1.56 and A$ 1.62 as your outer limits in the short term.

Thanks to the folks at halofinancial for providing this analysis

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Copy of Made In Chelsea to end because Hugo Taylor and Spencer Matthews are moving to LA?

Copy of Made In Chelsea to end because Hugo Taylor and Spencer Matthews are moving to LA?

There may not be a 4th series of MIC

Hugo Taylor devised Made In Chelsea

Made In
Chelsea may end after the 3rd series finishes on 4 June because 2 of its stars are leaving the UK.

Hugo Taylor, 26 - who also devised the show - and Spencer Matthews, 24, are moving to LA together because Hugo wants to study drama.

'It's been Hugo's show right from the very beginning,' says a source.

'Now he's leaving the country, which could mean curtains for Made In Chelsea.'

Even if MIC survives, there's a chance it could lose some of its female characters - Millie Mackintosh, 22, is yet to confirm that she'll be back for a 4th series while Rosie Fortescue, 21, says her return depends on 'what she's up to in her life'.

But Hugo is sure that making the move Stateside is the right choice for him.

'I'm a bit older than everyone else on the show,' Hugo tells the Mail On Sunday.

'At 26 it's time to find a new adventure.'

SEE VIDEO Millie Mackintosh and Caggie Dunlop's make-up masterclass>>

SEE PICTURES Made In Chelsea girls show TOWIE cast how to dress at London party>>

SEE PICTURES Millie Mackintosh attends InStyle's 10th anniversary party in London>>

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO Behind the scenes at Caggie Dunlop and Millie Mackintosh's photo shoot>>

Anna Duff

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A Navy SEAL's wise advice

A Navy SEAL's wise advice

Eric Greitens gives the commencement speech at Tufts University on Sunday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens was commencement speaker at Tufts
• William Bennett says Greitens' message was unusual and important
• He says Greitens stressed service to others rather than self-seeking pursuits
• Bennett: The message was to sacrifice, to serve one's country and to live magnanimously

Editor's note: William J. Bennett, a CNN contributor, is the author of "The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood." He was U.S. secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 and director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George H.W. Bush.

(CNN) -- Each spring, I monitor the list of commencement speakers at our nation's leading colleges and universities. Who is chosen, and who is not, tells us a lot about academia's perception of the most important voices in America.

Two of this year's most popular speakers were CNN's Fareed Zakaria, who spoke at both Harvard University and Duke University, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who spoke at both Tulane University and the University of Washington. Perhaps one of the most original choices, and the one who certainly stood out from the rest, was U.S. Navy SEAL Eric Greitens, who addressed the 2012 graduating class of Tufts University Sunday.

It's not often that elite universities honor military service members with commencement addresses. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower once spoke to a graduating class at an Ivy League university and remarked, "Your business is to put me out of business." So I applaud Tufts University for inviting Greitens.

William Bennett

He is not a household name, but he should be. The 38-year-old Rhodes scholar and humanitarian worker turned U.S. Navy SEAL served multiple tours overseas fighting terrorist cells and received several military awards. Today, he is the CEO of the Mission Continues, a nonprofit foundation he created to help wounded and disabled veterans find ways to serve their communities at home.

To the graduates of Tufts, Greitens issued a unique challenge, one rarely heard at commencements today: to sacrifice, to serve one's country and to live magnanimously. He called students to think above and beyond their own dreams, their own desires, and to be strong. Aristotle called this megalopsychia, greatness of soul, and considered it one of the greatest moral virtues.

" 'What kind of service can I provide? What kind of positive difference can I make in the lives of others?' If you work every day to live an answer to that question, then you will be stronger," Greitens declared.

After dodging bullets, withstanding IED explosions and going days without sleep, Greitens realized the strength he needed to excel as a SEAL was found outside his own physical abilities. In his weakest moments, Greitens was able to find his greatest strength in service.

"The more I thought about myself, the weaker I became. The more I recognized that I was serving a purpose larger than myself, the stronger I became," he told the students at Tufts. He served his country and defended the weak against the rapacity of the wicked.

Fifty years ago, Greitens' remarks would have been the norm. But through the years, the focus of education, particularly higher education, has shifted from selflessness to self-obsession. Many commencement speakers today tell students to "Dream big" and "Do what you love." It may be feel-good career advice, but it's incomplete life advice. Philosopher Martin Buber wrote, "All education 'worthy' of the name is education of character." Greitens gave the Tufts student an eloquent firsthand example.

Greitens said it this way: "The best definition I have ever heard of a vocation is that it's the place where your great joy meets the world's great need. ... We need all of you to find your vocation. To develop your joys, your passions, and to match them to the world's great needs."

Not all men are meant to be Navy SEALs, or even serve in the military, but all men can serve. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recognized, "The life of man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams but in active charity and in willing service."

We ask our students, what do you want to do when you grow up? Instead, we should ask them, whom or Whom, and what ideals do you want to serve when you grow up? That is a worthy thing to consider at graduation. Good for Greitens; good for Tufts.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of William J. Bennett.

CNN.com - U.S.

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Discuss: What One Book Do You Hope is Never Made Into a Movie?

Discuss: What One Book Do You Hope is Never Made Into a Movie?

It's a contentious week for adaptations of classic books. The trailer for Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby is dividing fans. News of another attempt at filming A Confederacy of Dunces has been met rather cynically (will it really happen?). And Walter Salles' take on Jack Kerouac's On the Road just premiered at Cannes, where it seems to have un derwhelmed most critics (at least the experts at San Francisco's Beat Museum love it). And let's not even get into the disappointment of What to Expect When You're Expecting. 

Debates on adaptation are as old as cinema itself, I think, and the issue will always be circumstantial. But while we all have favorite books we'd like to see translated for the screen, we also have favorite books we'd rather never be made into a movie. This might be because the book is considered unfilmable [most of Vonnegut, for me] or because it would go against the wishes of an author and/or a character (a la The Catcher in the Rye] or simply because it would ruin our imagined picture of the characters and story. 

I'm a big proponent for storytellers choosing the best medium for each story and sticking to it. That doesn't mean some stories can't exist on page and screen, especially if they take advantage of each medium employed for something independently necessary and appreciable. But for the most part I tend to like books that don't make great movies (Lolita; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series) and movies that don't make great books (silent comedies; anything with visuals too spectacular to put into words). 

My pick for the one book that should never be adapted is the popular choice: The Catcher in the Rye, which I don't even like as a book. I'd like it even less as a movie. 

Here's a recent video of BBC critic Mark Kermode going through unfilmable novels, which Twitter follower @SongWarmonger sent me in response to this discussion topic:

And here are some other answers I received on Twitter:
 

On The Road :(   - @Emerald1234S

Dark Tower. Just leave it the f*ck alone. - @TheTrueBrendanF

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt - @johnneyred

It's a toss-up: The Catcher in the Rye or A Confederacy of Dunces. - @jbdcampbell

Blood Meridian - @Clumsy_Monster

House of Leaves - @BradMcHargue

Tietam Brown by Mick Foley - @JoeyMagidson

The Devil to Pay in the Backlands, from Guimarães Rosa, a brazilian author that should NEVER be TRANSLATED. If u allow me a poor comparison, it's like someone tries to make a movie out of James Joyce's Ulysses. It's a pathetic effort. - @rkatyara

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. And/or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. - @jessecarp

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. - @kateyrich

Follow me on Twitter @thefilmcynic for the next discussion poll. 

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Prosecutors seek death for Ben Ali

Prosecutors seek death for Ben Ali

By the CNN Wire Staff

May 23, 2012 -- Updated 2302 GMT (0702 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Ben Ali has been in exile in Saudi Arabia since his overthrow
• He is being tried in absentia on charges he ordered police to fire on demonstrators
• Several former officials in his government are awaiting a military court's verdict

(CNN) -- Tunisian prosecutors say they'll seek a death sentence for ex-strongman Zine El Abedine Ben Ali, now charged in absentia with ordering the killings of anti-government demonstrators.

Ben Ali has remained in exile in Saudi Arabia since the January 2011 uprising that forced him from office. He is being tried in absentia in the deaths of dozens of anti-government protesters during the revolt, and the state news agency Tunis Afrique Presse reported Wednesday that prosecutors asked a court to impose a death sentence in his case.

In addition, the prosecutor's office said former Interior Minister Rafik Kacem and dozens of other former officials now awaiting a military court's verdict should get the "maximum" sentence short of death, according to TAP.

Ben Ali already has been convicted in absentia and sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a 1991 case in which 17 servicemen were accused of plotting a coup against his regime.

Tunisia's revolt touched off the Arab Spring movements in several other countries that ultimately toppled three other longtime Arab rulers. One of those, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, also faces a possible death sentence on charges he ordered police to fire on demonstrators who demanded his ouster, but lawyers familiar with the case have said it was unlikely the ailing Mubarak would have to face the gallows.

Journalist Houda Zaghdoudi contributed to this report for CNN.

CNN.com

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Ten Things You Could Buy For The Price Of A Samsung Galaxy S3

Ten Things You Could Buy For The Price Of A Samsung Galaxy S3

 

800 dollars...let me write that again..eight...HUNDRED...dollars. That’s the current Amazon pre-order price of the newly arrived Samsung Galaxy S3. However badly you want the device, one thing is certain: 800 dollars is no small chunk of change folks. I know that most people will get it subsidized on a contract, but the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of people that are prepared  to (and will) spend this amount of money on the phone. Now make no mistake, I LOVE Android phones and Android tablets, and I love playing with new electronic toys that hit the market. I threw money at Samsung for my G alaxy Nexus and for my recently retired Galaxy Tab 10.1, and I can say without hesitation that their products are top notch. That being said, do you actually know what you can buy for 800 dollars? Can anyone really justify shelling out almost a GRAND for a phone?

This article is for anyone who is currently debating on paying that price for this device, and before you do that, I urge you to have a look at 10 things I have found that you can get for the same price (and cheaper) as the Galaxy S3 off contract. After reading it, let me know in the comments if you still feel that this phone is worth this amount of bank.

CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme Computer - Price: $ 768.00

For even less than the price of a Galaxy S3, you can get your hands on this beastly gaming computer. Intel I5 quad core processor, GeForce GTS 430, 8 gigs of DDR RAM, 1 Terabyte hard drive, and Windows 7 included. This computer would certainly bring lots of joy to gamers, and you could always upgrade by simply replacing the parts (PC can be purchased here). Speaking of gamers...

Xbox 360 with Kinect + PS3 with Call of Duty 3 + Nintendo Wii Black Edition with Mario Kart - Total Price for all 3: $ 768.22

You’re reading that right. For LESS than the price of a Galaxy S3, you can buy ALL THREE consoles with games and accessories and still have cash left over. That’s EVERY home gaming console on the market for the price of 1 phone. A gamers dream I tell you (PS3 here, Xbox 360 here, Wii here)...But what if gaming isn’t your thing?...

PRS SE "Tremonti" Paul Reed Smith - Price: $ 565.00

Mark Tremonti has been recently voted one of the greatest guitarists of all time (Creed & Alterbridge lead guitarist) and this is a verion of his guitar with Mark's stamp on it. More than 200 dollars cheaper than the phone, and something that will last you for life. I play the guitar myself, and I can tell you that for this price, you are getting a seriously good electric guitar. If you're interested, it can be purchased here for a limited time. 

Three Day Trip To Las Vegas For 2 People With Flight And Hotel Included - Total Price for 2 People: $ 765.15

Oh yeah. Vegas baby. As you can see from this offer on Expedia, you get a package for 2 people including flight and hotel for a weekend trip to the City of Sin. You will naturally require additional funds for all the corruption Vegas has to offer, but the fact that the flight and accommodations for this trip for 2 are covered for almost 40 dollars cheaper than the phone really makes you put things in perspective a bit.

ROLEX TUDOR SOLID 9CT GOLD 15 RUBIES - Price: $ 513.44

If you’re a watch lover, then you could be the proud owner of this Rolex made watch for almost 300 dollars cheaper than what you would pay for  the GS3. A great gift from a company with a hell of a reputation for quality. If you're interested, it can be purchased for a limited time here. 

Jacuzzi 7263959WH Nova 6 Acrylic - Price: $ 733.57

This one is pretty crazy as well. For almost 70 dollars less than the S3 (minus installation of course), you and your lady could get this beautiful Jacuzzi installed in your bathroom, which would provide you with a LIFETIME of romance and relaxation. It also looks pretty freakin BOSS as well. If you're interested, it can be purchased here.

NEW A-10 Warthog Remote Control Electric RC Fighter Jet - Price: $ 645.95

I had to laugh at this one, but it’s just too cool for my immaturity to ignore. For less than the price of a Galaxy S3, you can own a freakin twin engine remote controlled fighter jet. Baller? Indeed it is. These things are so much fun to fly, and are not only a blast for adults, but are a great way for dads to bond with their teenagers :-) Twin engine remote control fighter jet = WIN. If you're interested, the jet can be found here. 

2010 Coolster Atv's Mountopz 110 - Price: $ 685

SCORE! Took me a while to find this one, but for over 100 dollars less than an S3, you can have your very own 2010 Coolster quad. It’s used, but this particular model is known for being a great beginner ATV. Fun? You have absolutely no idea....The ad for it can be found here.

HTC One X - Price: $ 584.76

Naturally, if you’re looking for a quad core phone, there’s always the HTC One X. Packing a Tegra 3 processor, a beautiful display, very solid build quality, and the best camera I have ever used on a smartphone, it will cost you over 200 dollars LESS than the quad core Galaxy S3. You can get your hands on it for this price here. 

LG 32LM6200 32-Inch Cinema 3D Smart TV - Price: $ 649.99

This one is a whammy. For 150 dollars less than a Galaxy S3, you could have a new LG 32 Inch 1080P Full Hd Smart TV including 6 pairs of 3D glasses. Do I need a 3D TV? No. Do I want one? Hell yes. If you're interested, you can pick it up at that price here. 

Bottom Line

So there it is folks. Whether you love phones, gaming, computers, musical instruments, outdoor fun, traveling, luxury items, or TV's, there certainly are lots of cool things you can buy for 800 dollars. That being said, that 800 bucks would also get you one of the best and most powerful smartphones in the business, and it will without a doubt be the Android phone to have in 2012. Is it expensive? Umm...yeah. Will I still get one? Well...yeah. :-)

Either way, if you do decide to get it, I'm sure Sammy and all the carriers working with them will give you plenty of options to get this powerful device very cheap on a subsidized plan. Gotta love subsidization and monthly financing, right? :)

Bring on the S3!!!

Picture credits: Amazon, Ebay, Expedia, and carsunder1000dollars.us

(Prices and availablity of these items are subject to change, but were for the quoted prices when I researched the article today).

AndroidPIT Blog

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Gallup poll: 'Pro-choice' at a record low

Gallup poll: 'Pro-choice' at a record low

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 8:01 PM EDT, Wed May 23, 2012

Anti-abortion activist Maribeth Kelly of Front Royal, Virginia, prays during a 2010 event in Washington.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• 41% of Americans say they're "pro-choice," the lowest number in Gallup poll history
• Most polled say abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances
• 20% said it should be illegal in all cases; 25% said it should be legal in all circumstances
• Advocates on both sides of the issue take heart in the findings

(CNN) -- The percentage of Americans who self-identify as favoring abortion rights has hit a record low of 41%, while those who consider themselves "pro-life" reached 50%, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday.

The prior record low for people who considered themselves "pro-choice" was 42% in 2009; that year 51% identified themselves as "pro-life," according to Gallup.

First established in 1975, the survey asks if "abortion should be legal in all circumstances, legal only under certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances."

Since 2001, the middle category has been chosen by about half of poll respondents, who far outnumber those who took either of the absolute choices. About 52% of those currently polled believe abortion should be legal under certain circumstances, a slight increase from last year's findings of 50%.

About 20% want abortion to be made illegal in all cases, while about 25% want it legal in all cases, the poll found.

Anti-abortion groups were quick to hail the new findings.

"I think medical technology has a lot to do with it," said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, a Washington-based anti-abortion organization. "People are seeing ultrasound images of their unborn babies and it's changing perceptions."

But abortion rights groups downplayed the labels' significance while also pointing to an apparently increased U.S. willingness to allow abortions in some circumstances.

"The survey shows Americans still strongly support keeping abortion safe and legal," said Ted Miller, a spokesman for NARAL Pro-Choice America. "Pro-choice victories on ballot measures in states like Mississippi and South Dakota in the last few years, combined with the backlash against recent attacks on women's reproductive rights, are a clear sign that voters want to protect a woman's right to choose."

CNN's Chris Boyette contributed to this report.

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