Porn Star Prom Date

OAKDALE, Minn. (FOX 9) - We hear it in the news all the time -- people asking celebrities to dances or fundraisers. The same is true for one Oakdale, Minnesota teen looking for a date to his high school prom.
His choice? An adult film actress.

Michael Stone used Twitter to ask just about every porn star he could think of to help him out. After around 600 tweets, he got a date.

The lucky lady is Megan Piper, who accepted on the condition Stone covers her travel costs from Los Angeles. So now the 18-year-old is on a mission to raise $400 to get his date a plane ticket to Minnesota for the Tartan High School prom on May 12.

Piper, 19, says she was not able to attend her unsecured loans own senior prom and was excited about the possibility.

She's been responding to a flood of questions on Twitter from followers asking if she’s serious about going. Piper said she “fully intends” on going, bad credit loans looks forward to meeting Stone and thinks it will be “a really cool experience for both of us.”

Stone started his prom date quest back in February.
Among the others he asked to prom over Twitter: Kim Kardashian, actress Megan Fox, Jersey Shore stars Snooki, Sammi and Deena, rapper Kreayshawn, former Charlie Sheen “goddess” Bree Olson and former Playboy model and Hugh Hefner girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson.

jason russell

Perhaps by now you’ve heard about the trouble Invisible Children founder Jason Russell found himself in last week: Amidst all the controversy and criticism surrounding his “Kony 2012″ video, Russell was detained on Friday, after witnesses spotted him naked and masturbating on a street corner in downtown San Diego in the middle of the day.

Russell was taken into custody and placed in an involuntary 5150 mental health hold (the same one Britney Spears was placed in) after several callers reported him dancing and pounding his fists on the ground, beating on cars, screaming and yelling incoherently. No charges have been filed against him.
Given the spate of criticism and discussion around Invisible Children and the KONY campaign, we thought we’d see what we could find out about Russell himself.

1. Invisible Children is thus far standing behind him. On Friday, after word of his arrest spread, they released the following statement:

“Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition. He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday. Jason’s passion and his work have done so much to help so many, and we are devastated to see him dealing with this personal health issue. We will always love and support Jason, and we ask that you give his entire family privacy during this difficult time.”

2. His wife Danica Russell is standing behind him, too. She claims he has “never had a substance abuse or drinking problem, and this episode wasn’t caused bad credit loans by either of those things. … Because of how personal the film is, many of the attacks against it were also very personal and Jason took them very hard,” she said in a statement.

3. She also claims that she and Jason had no idea the film was going to become a worldwide sensation. Despite the fact that the film’s stated goal is to become a worldwide sensation. “Jason has dedicated his adult life to this cause, leading to [the] KONY 2012 [video]. …We thought a few thousand people would see the film, but in less than a week, millions of people around the world saw it.”

4. He has two kids. Besides his son, unsecured loans named Gavin Danger (seriously) who was featured heavily in the “Kony 2012″ video, he has a daughter named Everly Darling.

5. He comes from a religious Christian background. His parents run San Diego’s Christian Youth Theater.

6. He has a rather grandiose vision of himself. When asked who his biggest hero is, he replied, “If Oprah, Steven Spielberg and Bono had a baby, I would be that baby.”

7. Actually, he sounds a lot like Kanye. When asked what he wants to do with his future, he replied. “I am going to help end the longest running war in Africa, get Joseph Kony arrested & redefine international justice. Then I am going to direct a Hollywood musical. Then I am going to study theology & literature in Oxford, England, and then move to New York to start ‘The Academy’ – which will be a school where the best creative young minds in the world attend.”

8. This is his bio on the pages of Invisible Children. Enjoy.

Jason “Radical” Russell is a co-founder of Invisible Children, as well as our grand storyteller and dreamer. His sparks of creative intelligence and insanity have propelled IC to redefine the concept of humanitarian work, offering new life to old hope. A filmmaker by trade, Jason graduated from the University of Southern California’s film school with a degree in Cinema Production. He admires Oprah, Bono, Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Baz Luhrmann, and Dan Eldon and believes wholeheartedly in magic and the impossible. Already a proud papa to Gavin Danger and Everley Darling, Jason wants to have nine more children with his beautiful wife Danica‚ the girl who has been his best friend for over 23 years.

Equinox

TimeAndDate.com has a scientific look at what the Vernal Equinox is:

The March equinox will occur on March 20 in 2011,(March 20, 2012) marking the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and fall (autumn) in the southern hemisphere from an astronomical viewpoint. The March equinox will occur at (2012: 12:14 AM EST, or 5:14 AM UTC) 23:21 at Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on this date.

Twice a year, around March 20 or 21 and September 22 or 23, the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night are nearly equal in all parts of the world. These two days are known as the March(vernal or spring in the northern hemisphere) equinox and the September equinox.

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The word “equinox” derives from the Latin words meaning “equal night” and refers to the time when the sun crosses the equator. At such times, day and night are everywhere of nearly equal length everywhere in the world.

March Equinox Explained

The March equinox is the movement when the sun crosses the true celestial equator – or the line in the sky above the earth’s equator – from south to north, around March 20 (or March 21) of each year. At that time, day and night are balanced to nearly 12 hours each all over the world and the earth’s axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the earth and the sun.

Astrological Musings takes a look at what this means from the astrological perspective:

This Full Moon is at the end of Virgo which requires an orderly and methodical approach to the realm of feelings.  There is an attention to detail here, and a need to care for the details of life in a body, even as the Pisces Sun urges us to transcend this wordly life for something more magnificent.

But another energetic element is at work in the chart for the Full Moon – the incongruity between the Aries influence (Uranus, Jupiter and Mercury) of aggression and defense combined with the Pisces influence (Sun, Mars and Chiron) that seeks harmony and flow.  Under the influence of this Full Moon we are being called not only to honor the daily rituals and routines (Virgo) of life and self-care, but also to remain strong and vigilant (Aries) while maintaining a grounded (Virgo) attunement to the spiritual forces (Pisces) that keep us evolving as spiritual beings having a human experience.

Sacred Spirituality looks at the balancing aspect:

In the Wheel of the Year, Spring Equinox falls halfway unsecured loans between Winter Solstice and Summer Solstice. Therefore, it is a Ceremony of Balance. All Equinoxes are a time of balance, like Libra and the Scales, whose dates encompass Autumn Equinox.

What this means to us is that it is a time to release the old, and to embrace the new, and finding the balance between the two. We cannot move forward until we release the old, so this is the first step in an Equinox Ceremony. 

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Spring is also about Fertility and New Life. We can't fully embrace New Life, until we let go of the old. Nor can we be fertile, when we have blockages bad credit loans from our pasts holding us back. Spring Equinox is the time to release everything that is not productive in your life, so that what is productive, can move forward, unfettered.

They also have a ceremony written up to help release the old:

Fire feeds our creativity and our passion, therefore Fire is the best way to release the old. It burns it away. My favorite method to release the old involves writing what I want to release on scraps of paper. Then I sit facing South - the direction of Fire - and, using a fire-proof bowl, light each scrap of paper, reading it aloud before burning it, and acknowledging it's release. The ashes can be placed in the Earth, for Mother Earth to heal, or scattered on the Wind, letting the Wind Brothers take it away. Wind, being a component of Air, helps to clarify our mental processes.

Interflora v M&S

Yesterday morning, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its eagerly awaited ruling on questions referred by the High Court in relation to the keyword advertising dispute between Interflora and M&S.

Brand owners (particularly those with a reputation) are likely to be happy with the decision, which opens up new lines of attack against competitors bidding on their trade marks as keywords.  However, advertisers need not be too disheartened:  though the door may have opened a little further for these types of claims, the CJEU has taken care not to let it swing open too widely.

In the High Court, Interflora, the world’s largest flower delivery network, claimed that M&S was infringing its registered trade marks by purchasing several keywords containing the mark INTERFLORA. Consumers searching on the internet using these keywords would be directed to a sponsored link to M&S’s online flower-delivery service.  Questions were referred to the CJEU to determine whether Interflora could prevent M&S from using Interflora as a keyword even though it did not appear in the sponsored link, and whether M&S’s actions took unfair advantage of Interflora’s reputation and diluted its distinctive brand.

The CJEU’s judgment builds on the foundations laid down in the Google France decision, which focused on whether keyword advertising will have an adverse effect on the ability of the trade mark to act as a badge of origin.  Applying this test in Interflora, the CJEU said that the High Court will need to establish whether the reasonably well informed internet user is deemed to be aware, on the basis of general knowledge of the market, that M&S is not part of Interflora’s network.

The CJEU then extended the Article 5(1)(a) test set out in Google France, meaning that brand owners will now be able to argue infringement where the use of a trade mark as a keyword “substantially interferes with the proprietor’s use of its trade mark to acquire or preserve a reputation capable of attracting consumers and retaining their loyalty” (described as the mark’s “investment” function). 

However, the CJEU has not made it easy for Interflora, stating that neither a switch of “some consumers” to M&S (prompted by the sponsored link), nor evidence that Interflora has unsecured loans had to adapt its efforts to maintain the reputation will be sufficient to show that the investment function has been adversely affected.  So what will be sufficient?  How is a trade mark owner to demonstrate an adverse effect on the investment function?  It will be interesting to see Interflora’s position on this when the case returns to the High Court.

The CJEU has also said that Article 5(2) applies in “double identity” cases, thereby paving the way for claims that keyword advertising takes unfair advantage of the reputation of a trade mark, and/or dilutes its distinctive character, and/or tarnishes its reputation.  Interestingly (although perhaps not surprisingly), the question of whether internet users can easily tell whether the advert is that of the competitor and not that of the trade mark owner or an economically bad credit loans linked undertaking (i.e. the Google Francetest) will be relevant in assessing whether there is unfair advantage or dilution.  In broad terms, if internet users are not confused as to the origin of the advert, this could satisfy the “due cause” test, leaving the competitor better placed to resist a challenge of infringement under Article 5(2).

On the face of it, the judgment appears to give brand owners more ammunition in their locker to aim at their competitors in the context of keyword advertising.  However, in practice the fact that the Google Francetest may make or break other elements of the claim means that brand owners’ rights may not have been extended as far as it first appears.  

It remains extremely important for advertisers bidding on trade marks as keywords to make clear to the informed internet user that their advertisement does not originate from the trade mark owner or an economically linked undertaking.  Advertisers should review their keyword advertising strategy in the light of the CJEU decision, but do not need to dive for cover just yet.

Charles Bronson

Death Wish 4 provides Charles Bronson with employment in his customary line of work: He loads himself down with ammunition and sets out to do justice in the world, without the intermediary of the judicial system. This time out, the target is drugs. Since, as one character puts it, “Everybody does drugs these days,” Bronson has quite a task.

As the film opens, it looks as though Bronson is preparing to ease into his golden years. He’s got a new girlfriend (Kay Lenz) and a flourishing business as an architect. Lenz has an adolescent daughter who is perky and lovable and full of life. This means that she is, of course, marked for death, since most people who get close to Bronson in these movies wind up getting wasted.

He takes revenge on the pusher who sold her some deadly drugs. Then Bronson is hired by a rich newspaper man (John P. Ryan) who seeks to destroy the two main suppliers unsecured loans of drugs in Los Angeles. Bronson opens up the ammo arsenal that he keeps behind his refrigerator and goes to work.

It’s formula action, although this sequel is slightly better than the last two Death Wish movies. J. Lee Thompson brings at least some professionalism to his direction, though the movie never blinds you with its speed. Bronson, who looks more than ever like a large, grizzled otter, goes through his usual paces. He begins the film with a dream about his favorite haunt, a dimly lit parking garage, and he remains all but asleep throughout the rest of the movie.

First published in the Herald, November 1987

A crap remake of Bronson’s Mechanic opens this week, so it seemed time to drag out another of that fine star’s desultory outings from the Eighties. And yes, if memory serves, this one was marginally superior to the previous sequels in the series; but J. Lee Thompson would stick with Charlie B. for two subsequent pictures, Messenger of Death and Kinjite—Forbidden Subjects, which were really grueling and ugly. And that was it for the directing career of the man who made The Guns of Navarone and Cape Fear. I don’t need to tell you that Kay Lenz was a mainstay of Seventies and Eighties TV, and played the lead in Clint Eastwood’s Breezy, a nice bad credit loans movie that had an incredibly maddening and unavoidable four-wall ad campaign. (I wasn’t old enough to go to the movie when it came out, but logging twelve hours of television a day, the commercials would drive you insane.) It was the kind of thing to make you never forget Kay Lenz.

6 places to spend the dog days

It’s late August, which means bad credit loans all you want to do is lie down, prop open a book, and wile away the hours until the temperature takes a nosedive. For the intrepid crowd at unsecured loans, these getaways are the perfect places to kick back over the dog days. Think of them as your own little patches of sun on the carpet.

1. Stone Island, Mazatlan, Mexico. Let it all hang out in a hammock shaded by palm leaves. Huck Finn would be proud.
2. Gran Canaria, Spain. Not too hot but still warm. The Gloria Palace Amadores hotel looks, as photographer kevin36 says, like bliss.
3. Great Siege Memorial, Valleta, Malta. Find a stone bench. Sit down and lean back. Watch as the ships go by.
4. Sabino Canyon, Tucson, Arizona. At the end of a long trail, you’ll find an oasis of pools to dip your feet or swim in. Trust us—it isn’t a mirage.
5. Ocho Rios, Jamaica You can get spa services on the pier. It’s like a cruise, minus the high costs and seasickness.
6. Adelaide Botanic Garden, Adelaide, Australia. This Eden down under has more than just flowers — visitors can check out hundreds of plants taken from around the world.

The Walking Dead mega shocker!!!

Last night was the second to last episode of AMC's hit show "The Walking Dead."  Seriously, this show is so popular that it has a half hour show devoted to talking about it.  This season will have a total of thirteen episodes, which is a vast expansion from the six that the first season features.  Once again, fans will have to wait till October to see their favorite zombie apocalypse survivors in action again.
The show has remained relatively faithful to the comic, keeping most of the important characters and plot points (the CDC explosion in the finale of season one was a deviation).  Perhaps the reason for this is that Robert Kirkman is a driving force behind both of them.  One event unsecured loans that I have been looking forward to, but that was different in the show than in the comic, was Shane's death.  I have been against Shane ever since I read in the comic that he started a relationship with Lori.  Even if he honestly thought Rick was dead, sex is not something that should be on your mind in a zombie apocalypse.  The relationship stops when Rick miraculously comes out of his coma, and ends up finding the group that Lori, Shane, and Rick's son Carl are a part of.  In the show, Shane slowly starts to go crazy after Rick's return, and especially after he finds out that Lori is pregnant.  I personally think the baby is his, but he keeps pestering her about it and about them being a "family," despite her repeated talks with him about how there is nothing between them.
At the start of the episode, Shane sneaks into the barn, bad credit loans presumably to mess with or torture Randall, who the group has been keeping captive.  We are shown glimpses of Shane's inner thoughts, which are definitely the inner thoughts of a crazy person.  He ends up killing Randall and pretending that Randall attacked him and ran into the woods.  Thus a majority of the men in the group split into small groups and go searching for Randall.  Rick and Shane are teamed up, and they end up in the meadow just outside the barn's fence, where Shane pulls his gun on Rick.  He goes on about how much better he is in every respect than Rick, and when Rick refuses to pull his gun on him, Shane lunges at him.  He shoots, but it misses and Rick stabs him in the heart, killing him.
Carl arrives shortly after, and clearly sees that Rick killed Shane.  Meanwhile, we are being shown intermittent clips of zombie mouths and faces, with gruesome zombie noises.  Carl raises his gun, seemingly at Rick, but then shoots Shane, who has risen back up as a zombie, or walker as the series calls them.  The episode ends with a horde of zombies running out of the woods, and Rick and Carl hauling it back to the barn, to get ready for the big showdown in the season finale.  See you then!

kate middleton preggers?

LONDON – Just five days into her marriage with Prince William – Kate Middleton announced that she is pregnant!

Kate Middleton is pregnant with Prince William’s first child.   The announcement was made by Kate with her friend Victoria Beckham standing at her side.

Beckham reportedly encouraged Kate to have a baby as soon as possible because “it is   one of the best things in the world.”

Royal insiders believed that Kate would get pregnant within the first year of her marriage to Prince William, but everyone was surprised at how fast it happened.

“Prince William and Princess Kate spent over fifteen hours in the Royal Wedding Suite,” said Royal butler, Thomas Hillstrom.  “They spent quite a lot of time ‘enjoying’ each other’s company.”

Many in England are now speculating that Kate was pregnant at the time of the wedding, but Royal gynecologist, Dr. Fritz Barnwell, said “Kate was not pregnant last Friday, unsecured loans the Queen had us test her to ensure that she was without child.  But today, at Prince William’s request, we performed advanced pregnancy tests on Kate and we can confirm, decidedly, that she is five days pregnant.”

Queen Elizabeth is thrilled to learn that she will have her first great-grandchild.  Prince Charles, however, is not so happy.  “What’s the point of having a baby, when the world is about to burn up.  We must all stop using fossil fuels, we must kill all the cows, and we must plant as many trees as possible,” Prince Charles said before getting onto his private jet in Los Angeles with twenty-five members of his staff.

Princess Kate said that she and Prince William will continue to bad credit loans enjoy each other’s “company” in the Royal Wedding Suite, even though she has already made Her Majesty happy with her pregnancy.  “Prince William is a Royal stud. That’s all I can say.”

The happy couple has not been seen for the last ten hours – but there’s been a lot of moaning coming from the Royal Suite.

How to get free cinema tickets

The cost of going to the cinema seems to have increased recently. Ticket prices are not just expensive in the big multiplexes. Even the local movie houses are starting to  unsecured loans charge high prices so that you can go and enjoy the experience of watching the latest blockbuster on the big screen and in the company of 200 -300 other people.

At some movie houses, you can feel that the price is justified because you can see exactly where the money is being spent. The place is clean, the chairs are big and comfortable and there is a lot of staff on hand to help you out.

If you enjoy going to the cinema but would like to find ways to cut down on the cost you could try implementing one of the following methods to either get free cinema tickets or cheaper tickets.

Compare Ticket Prices For Different Days

You may be surprised to find that you can purchase cinema tickets at different prices depending on the day or time of day that you choose to go. These prices are not necessarily limited to children or seniors. There are some places that offer tickets for up to 25% of the normal price. This will be due to the fact that not that many people are free to go to screenings in the afternoon. If you can make one of these times, you can make a great saving.

Register With Free Preview Movie Ticket Websites

Another great way to make savings on cinema tickets is to sign up to different websites that offer free preview tickets. All you have to do is to register by filling in your email address and your location. Most of these sites will either send you an email alert whenever they receive ticket offers and it is usually a first come first serve basis so you have to be quick to respond if you want to get a free ticket. There are other sites where you have to take the responsibility to check in daily to see if they have any new offers or preview screenings coming up.

Orange Mobile 2 for 1 Ticket Offer

If you have an orange mobile phone, you can get 2 tickets for the price of 1 for any of the participating theatres. The promotion is called OrangeWednesday and all you have to do is send a text to receive a code. Once you get this code, you can turn up at the cinema and get your orange cinema bad credit loans tickets by showing the code to the ticket seller. This is a lovely way to cut down on the cost of going to the cinema. If your mobile phone is not on the orange network, there is still a way that you can benefit from this ticket offer.

Joseph Kony Joseph Kony

The year 2001 saw no cessation in the magic wars fought on the African Continent. The Twenty-First Century's arrival witnessed yet another tribal revolt, fueled by magical belief, raging in Nigeria's Oil Delta. In the Delta, members of the Egbesu Cult, (the war god of the Ijaw People), battled the Nigerian Army, with rebel fighters believing they had immunity to bullets.[1] The war god's priests convinced Ijaw teenagers that all bullets fired at them would turn around in mid air and return to their origin--hapless government soldiers![2] Not surprisingly, hundreds of Ijaw men were soon killed by the military. However, despite the serious casualties inflicted on the Ijaw fighters by the army, Nigeria's oil delta region still remains a bastion of magical thinking and the Egbesu Cult shows no signs of vanishing soon. The Ijaw revolt lasted four years, but it certainly wasn't the longest running magic war in African history. That dubious honor goes to the rebellion of the LRA, (the Lord's Resistance Army), being waged on the nation of Uganda, by a shadow figure dwelling among the Acholi People. This fifteen year old war, with its magic spells and kidnapped child soldiers, has as its architect a former illiterate altar boy named "Joseph Kony."

No longer an Acholi boy but a man of forty years, Kony is the self-appointed successor to his aunt, Voodoo Priestess, "Alice Lakwena." (Lakwena is "messenger"in the Acholi tongue.)[3] It was this charismatic woman, the reputed channeler of a deceased, World War I Italian army officer, who led thousands of Acholi fighters to their deaths in one-sided battles with President Yoweri Museveni's military.[4] During the tribal revolt, from 1987 to 1988, Lakwena's ill-fated Holy Spirit Army tried to storm Uganda's capital city of Kampala, armed with sticks, stones, and voodoo toys. Alice promised her followers that stones thrown at the enemy would explode like grenades.[5] In the bloody battles that followed, with only a few rifles in their possession, the Holy Spirit Army bad credit loans was completely routed by heavy machine gun and artillery fire. Magical belief proved no substitute for the Acholi lack of military arms and training. Having suffered battlefield losses of several thousand dead, the survivors of the Holy Spirit Army scattered to the hills. The bloody losses sustained by Lakwena's rebel army were the heaviest loss of African life, involving magical belief and warfare, since the Maji-Maji Revolt of 1904-05. However, the remaining Holy Spirit Army survivors rallied to form a new rebel army, the Lord's Resistance Army--enter Joseph Kony center stage.

In 1989, the twenty-five year old Joseph Kony rose to the forefront of the Acholi People's struggle against Museveni's government. Kony's rebels managed to curb atrocities committed against the Northerners by Uganda's military, but soon the rebels began committing their own war crimes. Not surprisingly, Mr. Kony had been tutored by his aunt, the Acholi Priestess, Lakwena, who herself had engaged in brutal kidnappings (forced conscriptions) into her Holy Spirit Army.[6] From the start, Joseph Kony exhibited a ruthlessness in war noted for an arrogant flaunting of the 1949 Geneva Convention. In one decade alone, over 8,000 children were kidnapped by the Lord's Resistance Army. Most of these unfortunate children are now presumed dead, killed either in combat or in the murderous crossfire of warring sides. Tragically, these prisoners of war are transported, tied in columns by rope as slaves, to LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) camps.[7] When shooting breaks out, the conscripts often are unable to escape. If the kidnapped children survive the long journey to the LRA camps, they are forcefully indoctrinated into the LRA's grand vision of an Acholi nation based on the Ten Commandments--savage beatings are meted out to all nonbelievers. The child captives are taught the rebel leader's belief in an apocalyptic arrival of "The Silent World." Joseph Kony believes there will be a time in history when all guns worldwide will fall silent and only those knowing how to use crude weapons, like stones, spears, and machetes, will prevail against their enemies.[8] (LRA members are obsessed with the idea of supernatural intervention and battlefield odds favoring the use of primitive weapons.) LRA military indoctrination consists of beatings, rapes, and the severing of limbs by machete--all based on selected Biblical passages--no doubt some of the harshest found in the pages of the Old Testament. Joseph Kony subjects his child soldiers to an odd blend of Christianity, primarily the fundamentalist kind, mixed with African animistic beliefs which include the practice of witchcraft. Of course, the Biblical passages forbidding engagement in witchcraft are overlooked by Mr. Kony and his entire LRA command structure. Anyone who resists LRA indoctrination, or who attempts to escape, is executed--often savagely beaten to death by those newly abducted into Kony's Spirit Army.

Just what motivates these young fighters of the Lord's Resistance Army? Mr. Joseph Kony, with his syncretism of religious beliefs, has thoroughly convinced many of his young warriors that the Holy Spirit can shield them in battle if the proper belief, the proper application of Holy Oil, the proper number of signs of the cross, and the proper recitation of prayer songs, are displayed in combat.[9] But that's not all! LRA fighters are told to sew a stone into their clothing so a mountain may be projected in front of them as they advance toward enemy positions--all the better to shield them and absorb enemy fire.[10] Child soldiers are given a bottle of water for protection against Ugandan soldiers. LRA fighters must dip a stick inside the bottle and then empty the bottle's contents to magically create a river that will drown any bullets fired in their direction.[11] And where is Joseph Kony during the battlefield melees? Safely in the rear area sitting out the firefights in a white robe! In the heat of battle, child soldiers are unsecured loans ordered not to take cover, but to stand tall when the shooting starts.[12] They have been told, by their officers, these are the orders of the Holy Spirit, as revealed personally to Mr. Kony. Why doesn't the LRA commander exhibit the same belief in the Holy Spirit's protection and expose himself to enemy fire? Perhaps he believes that malevolent spirits (called joks) will maliciously retaliate against him. Joseph Kony's belief in "joks" is strong and because of his superstition the LRA has executed Ugandans, primarily women, believed to be in league with spirits.[13] Strangely, Mr. Kony's own consultation of a spirit council, a disembodied panel of two Chinese, two Sudanese, three Americans, and one Congolese, aren't grounds for the same LRA death penalty![14] I guess it pays to be the leader.

Currently, the Lord's Resistance Army launches operations from the Sudan. Over the past few years, lorries full of weapons and ammunition arrive, from Sudan's regular army, at Kony's main encampment. Young teenagers engage in spiritualistic regimens at the training sites, but they are now given military training with automatic rifles and machine guns[15]--certainly a deviation from Alice Lakwena's earlier military strategy. The decision toward heavier armaments seems to point to uncertainty about the imminent coming of the Silent World.[16] Perhaps Joseph Kony's spiritual beliefs are changing, influenced by his Muslim protectors. Maybe the appeal of seventy-two virgins, in Allah's heaven, feeding pomegranates to zealous warriors is a better vision of Paradise for Joseph Kony and his holy warriors. Sudanese support seems to have had a profound impact on the LRA's main persona. He has now even incorporated tenets of the Islamic faith into his religious practices! According to eyewitness reports, LRA soldiers use rosaries to pray, yet also bow towards Mecca as Muslims.[17] While faithful Muslims turn a blind eye, Kony's rebels observe the two Sabbaths they have created, on Friday and Sunday.[18] Restrictions of the Muslim faith are ignored; the traditional Acholi religion is still practiced by the LRA's leader with a heavy dose of divination and magic ritual. (Divination is a dying offense in parts of the Muslim world.) It has been reported that Mr. Kony keeps an ample stock of snakes, turtles, and lizards, for just such mediumistic purposes.[19] Not having the benefit of being tutored at a military academy, Mr. Kony deduces a battle's outcome by setting toy guns, and helicopters on fire to see how the models will burn; thereby foretelling victory or defeat in an upcoming battle. LRA casualties are simply predicted by placing a finger in a glass of water.[20] And if Joseph Kony's spirit panel isn't giving him good military advice, the LRA leader can always count on "angels" for divine guidance on campaign strategy. The LRA's child soldiers are told that commands come from these angels, who commune regularly with Mr. Kony.[21] It must have been one of these heavenly messengers who provided Mr. Kony with the holy advice to expand the Ten Commandments to Eleven Commandments--the Eleventh Commandment being "Thou shall not ride a bicycle." It is common practice for civilians in the Acholi heartland to be punished when caught riding a bicycle, the main form of transport in the remote rural areas of Uganda. (Automobiles are out of the price range for many Ugandans.) Hundreds have had their buttocks slashed with a machete by LRA rebels for disregard of the Eleventh commandment.[22] The offending bicycles are put to the ax, with extreme prejudice by the Spirit warriors. I hope Mr. Kony will remember when a bicycle was auntie Alice Lakwena's only mode of escape from Uganda, after her military defeat of 1988. Perhaps, in one of his many spirit trances, he will see the wisdom of keeping this two wheeled escape device on hand in the event his bloody revolution some day comes to an inglorious end.

Tragically, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni can't seem to deal a knockout blow to Kony's rebels. Such a blow would mean an invasion of Southern Sudan, and that could lead to a war Uganda can't presently afford. Mr. Museveni will need to find a remedy for this tribal rebellion, not with bullets, but by spending state treasure on social programs for Uganda's Northerners, "The Acholi People." Uganda's President must win a war of hearts and minds. Heavy-handed tactics often fail to stop rebellions. The present political climate, which gives birth to self-proclaimed messiahs, must change to one conducive to peace. Presently, the LRA leader's edicts are becoming more bizarre, perhaps an indication that Joseph Kony is himself becoming unhinged from reality. Recently, the LRA has declared war on the owners of white chickens and pigs, killing them where they are found. (His rebellion now shares a commonality with the magic-based Bambata Revolt of 1906. During that revolt, owners of white pigs and fowls were killed by rebels.)[23] Despite the failure of Joe Kony's magic for his troops, the LRA rebel leader's faithful fight on with several thousand fighters in the bush. Mr. Kony's forces have killed more than five thousand civilians in Northern Uganda and the body count is still rising. I can only hope that one day this Acholi madman will be brought to justice for crimes against humanity.

In Africa, however, so many of those who have manipulated others for power escape justice. One has only to study the example of Liberia's "General Butt Naked," Joshua Milton Blahyi, who led hundreds of young men to their deaths in that West African nation's bloody civil war. The infamous general, often sporting only his birthday suit and sneakers in battle, promised his loyal fighters supernatural protection in war.[24] He believed in magical protection from physical danger because of the ritual killings of children he conducted for himself and his forces. Despite the pain he brought to the Liberian people, Mr.Blahyi now lives peacefully in Monravia, Liberia, as a "born-again" Christian minister![25] If not brought to justice soon, perhaps we may soon witness Mr. Kony's Traveling Salvation Show? In Africa almost anything is possible.

---

Works Cited:

[1] Hillary Andersson, (Akassa), "Nigerians Turn To Magic In Fight Against Oil Firms," The Independent, Nov.06, 1998. Accessed on May 27th, 2001 at http://millenium-debate.org/ind6nov.htm

[2] "Locals Want A Piece of Nigeria's Oil Wealth: Squalor Amid the Flow Stations" Reuters, Oct. 07, 1998. Accessed on May 27th, 2001 at http//:more.abcnews.go.com/sections/business/Daily/oil_nigeria981007/

[3] "The Scars of Death: Children Abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda," Human Rights Watch/Africa/Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Project, New York, 1997. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/uganda

[4] ibid.

[5] "Magic Gone For Jailed Priestess: Suicidal Crusade Against Uganda Appears At End" Chicago Tribune, Jan.02,1988. Accessed at http://infoweb8.newsbank.com/bin/gate.exe?f=doc&state=bh3g69.49

[6] "The Scars of Death: Children Abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda," Human Rights Watch/Africa/Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Project, New York, 1997. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/uganda

[7] ibid.

[8] Ayebare Adonia, (Kampala) "Leaving It To Fate," The World Paper Online, Sept. 1998. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.sn.apc.org/wmail/issu.../NEWS47.htm

[9] "The Scars of Death: Children Abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda," Human Rights Watch/Africa/Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Project, New York, 1997. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/uganda

[10] ibid.

[11] ibid.

[12] ibid.

[13] ibid.

[14] Ayebare Adonia, (Kampala) "Leaving It To Fate," The World Paper Online, Sept. 1998. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.sn.apc.org/wmail/issu.../NEWS47.htm

[15] "The Scars of Death: Children Abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda," Human Rights Watch/Africa/Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Project, New York, 1997. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/uganda

[16] ibid.

[17] ibid

[18] ibid.

[19] ibid.

[20] Ayebare Adonia, (Kampala) "Leaving It To Fate," The World Paper Online, Sept. 1998. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.sn.apc.org/wmail/issu.../NEWS47.htm

[21] "The Scars of Death: Children Abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda," Human Rights Watch/Africa/Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Project, New York, 1997. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.hrw.org/reports/1997/uganda

[22] "Thou Shalt Not Ride A Bicycle" Weekly Mail & Guardian, Oct., 1997. Accessed on Nov. 30th, 2001 at http://www.worldpaper.com/Archivew.../adonia.htm

[23] K.G. Gillings, JCD "The Bambata Rebellion of 1906:Nkandla Operations And The Battle Of Mome Gorge, 10 June, 1906" Military History Journal Vol. 8 No. 1, published by The South African Military Society. Accessed on May 27th, 2001 at http://millenium-debate.org/ind6nov.htm

[24] Tina Susman, "Out of Africa: Butt Naked Battalion" (Associated Press) Sun Tzu's Newswire Release-9753, Aug. 18, 1997. Accessed on August 31st, 2000 at http://www.expotimes.net/issue0000802/voodoo.htm

[25] ibid.

Tethering hack for you jailbroken iphone 3gs

Late last night, BigBoss released a new package on Cydia called SemiTether, which allows you to reboot your jailbroken iOS 5 device without the need to connect it to the computer.

However, BigBoss's solution had some limitations and number of users reported issues after using it. BigBoss has released a new version of SemiTether to fix some of the issues.

BigBoss writes:

I updated to 0.7.9. This version will take bad credit loans about 90 seconds after it first boots up and then your device will respring again. This timing was the only way to get some of the launch daemons to properly relaunch.

BigBoss has mentioned that SemiTether 0.7.9 should fix issues for some of you where:

1) Device does not sync with itunes and only errors. Hopefully solved. 2) Device reboots after 2-3 minutes.

He also goes on to add:

Note, Saurik is working on an update to mobile substrate that will solve many of the issues with the semi-tether package. Hopefully this will be out in a day or two. At this time, we can finalize beta testing. I plan to hold further updates until after Saurik has released his mobile unsecured loans substrate update. Saurik’s updates will eliminate the need for the long 90 second respring on boot also.

This update was only tested on iphone 4. After saurik’s mobile substrate changes, more devices will be tested. Next updates coming in next 2-3 days.

Semi tethered mode will allow users, especially iPhone users who want to jailbreak their iPhone to at least use it for some of the basic functionalities of the iPhone, instead of the tethered mode where if you reboot the iPhone for any reason it is stuck at the Apple logo, until you don't tether it to the computer and use Redsn0w's Just Boot option. Here's a summary of what you can and cannot do in semi tethered mode.

1) Can use phone, sms (text messages) 2) Can use every other stock app on iphone. 3) Cannot use mobile safari 4) Can use other appstore web browsers such as atomic web browser 5) Cannot use mail app. You could install a gmail app from appstore or such instead. 6) You cannot use any jailbreak tweak, app, cydia until you boot tethered. 7) While in the semitether booted state, you should not add a jailbreak ios5 notification such as sbsettings to notifications during this state or your device will be stuck in a respring loop until you get home to “boot tethered”.

Please also note that your jailbroken iOS 5 device in semi tethered mode will take 90 seconds to reboot.

SemiTether is currently available as beta so please proceed with caution or wait until Jay Freeman a.k.a saurik releases a new version of Mobile Substrate that will fix most of the issues and make it a lot more stable.

Please don't forget to let us know how it goes in the comments.

This means war!

"Let's talk about Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock, that is, unsecured loans the film director. Surely you've heard of him. Haven't you? Most people have heard of him. But allow me to recommend one of his motion pictures for you to watch on the telly: The Lady Vanishes. Most people have never heard of it, but I tell you, you'll have a smashing good time watching it, I'm sure!"

The above represents my attempt to replicate the "humor" involved in This Means War, a "film" that plays more like a pilot for a cancelled television series, directed by the man who calls himself McG. If you read the opening paragraph and thought it was not funny at all: I agree with all my heart. I am completely unsuited to write humorous articles or to pen sparkling dialogue for three attractive people involved in a romantic triangle.

But, then, so are the people who were actually paid (presumably) handsome amounts of money to write This Means War. The screenplay is credited to Timothy Dowling and Simon Kinberg, and the story credit goes to Dowling and Marcus Gautesen. Dowling's resume includes Role Models and Just Go With It, while Kinberg's past credits include Mr. and Mrs. Smith, X-Men: The Last Stand, Jumper, and Sherlock Holmes; he's listed as a producer for this film as well.

Now it's always difficult to ascertain who, exactly, is to blame when a romantic comedy is a dud, and the responsibility does not rest entirely on the screenplay. Director McG has established himself as a journeyman director, capable of dealing with larger budgets and big stars, yet delivering films that are near the nadir of the talent involved. (Charlie's Angels, Terminator Salvation.) He seems better suited to bad credit loans television, where he has helped produce multiple shows that have run multiple seasons.

Without the distraction of regular commercial interruptions, however, his feature films are shown to be flat and colorless, never building momentum or moving forward in a perceptible manner. They're ideal for channel surfing, for peaking in at random moments before returning to your regularly scheduled programming.

As for the stars, This Means War will prove to be an embarrassing lapse of judgment for Tom Hardy, who was, perhaps, looking to show that he could do light comedy and romantic fare, as well as the heavy-duty dramatic performances for which he has become known. Likewise, Chris Pine has abilities far beyond what he shows here, with sub-par material that is too soggy to escape without drowning in its mediocrity.

Reese Witherspoon is another story. It's become increasingly clear that her Academy Award-winning turn in Walk the Line was an aberration, that she prefers to do inconsequential films that don't require much more than walking on set and assuming her sweet-and-sassy on-screen persona, dishing out lines with her characteristic snap.

Which might be satisfying if she chose better material, or at least material that was better-suited to her talents. Like McG, however, she is most comfortable within a narrow range, and when the material is as sit-com worthy as it is here, she might as well make the transition to television, where the pay is pretty good and the hours are better.

Regarding the plot: Witherspoon plays a lonely product designer who ends up dating best friends Hardy and Pine simultaneously. The two men are government agents and try to disrupt the other's relationship in a "Spy Vs. Spy" setup. Witherspoon's best friend, Chelsea Handler, is married and periodically gives her advice, such as "go for it!" Hardy and Pine utilize the resources of the government agency, including considerable manpower from their agent buddies, to track Witherspoon.

And to circle back around to my opening paragraph about Hitchcock, that's a gambit used by Pine to pick up Witherspoon at a video store. She ends up telling him that The Lady Vanishes is good, but not as good as any of the films that Hitchcock made from 1960 to 1972. (Namely, Psycho, The Birds, Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy.) That's a perverse opinion, and if it defined Witherspoon's character in the movie -- perhaps as someone who preferred to hold her own strong views on everything from movies to marriage -- we might be getting somewhere. But, no, it's just tossed out there as "cute" and dies of loneliness in the avalanche of stereotypical behavior that follows.

In short, This Means War is a date movie for couples who can't stand each other.

Oscars 2012

After years of trying to jazz up the Academy Awards with flashy, hip hosts, emcee Billy Crystal is returning for a ninth time in 2012, bringing what Oscar watchers say is a level of predictability bad credit loans and comfort to the show.

Frontrunner films -- silent romance The Artist, civil rights story The Help and drama The Descendants among them -- bring familiarity, comedy, love, humanity and a triumph of spirit that contrasts to recent years of darker, best film winners such as The Hurt Locker or No Country for Old Men.

 

IBNLive

This year could even see some history-making events in acting categories.

It seems Oscar voters took a lesson from last year's winner, feel-good film The King's Speech, or maybe from audiences who at box offices have favored escapist fare like Avatar over tales of woe and war amid the gloomy economy and world conflict.

Whatever the reason, voters at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences appear in sync with movie fans' appetite for entertainment, and there is no one better suited to celebrate Hollywood than Crystal, the 63-year-old comic and star of 1980s and 1990s films like When Harry Met Sally and City Slickers.

"Billy is the emcee version of comfort food, tasty and familiar, but not very spicy" said Entertainment Weekly movie writer Dave Karger.

Exactly what Crystal has in store on Oscar night is still anybody's guess. The producers and host are notoriously tight-lipped. But it's likely Crystal will start as he has in past years, comically editing himself into a video reel of scenes from major movies.

Co-producer Don Mischer gave one interview and was asked to compare Crystal to Ricky Gervais, the acerbic comedian who hosted the Golden Globes. Mischer said "Ricky is entertaining and all that, but I don't think the Oscars is a place for being mean-spirited, or taking real brutal shots at people."

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the races.

Artist vs Help

Silent film The Artist, which is set in the period when Hollywood was moving into the talkies and tells of a fading star who finds redemption through love, heads into Sunday night as the clear frontrunner for the top prize, best film.

It has 10 nominations, overall, second only to 11 for Martin Scorsese's Hugo, the tale of a lost boy trying to find his way home that also is an homage to the early days of filmmaking.

But many nominations for Hugo are in technical categories like editing, opposed to major awards such as actors. The Artist, by contrast, has nods in top categories out of the 24 possible awards, including best actor for Jean Dujardin, supporting actress for Berenice Bejo and directing and writing for Michel Hazanavicius.

"It's fun, it's emotional, it's about the industry, and the artist, and all those things appeal to people," said David Poland, veteran Oscar watcher and founder of MovieCityNews.com. "This is the movie that made people feel good."

If Artist is the film to beat, The Help, a tale of black maids working for white southern families in the 1960s, is the movie to do it. It wooed academy members with a tale that ultimately is triumphant, and it has two frontrunners for acting Oscars. Actors are the biggest group of academy voters.

Help star Viola Davis, who plays a maid, is locked in a close battle with Meryl Streep as former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Davis won at the Screen Actors Guild Awards this year, and that has her tipped for Oscar victory over Streep, a two-time past winner and 17-time nominee.

"In a tight race, the academy goes to the performance that moved them more," Karger said. "Yes Meryl put in a great performance, but it's Viola Davis who has the emotional pull."

Michelle Williams has an outside chance with her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn, but most pundits see her fading fast. The other nominees are newcomer Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Glenn Close in little-seen, gender-bending Albert Nobbs.

The other big boost for Help is in the supporting actress category where Octavia Spencer is widely expected to win over Artist star Berenice Bejo. If both Spencer and Davis take home the gold for The Help, it will be the first time in Oscar history two African American women in the same film have won.

Actors and Directors

Among actors, Artist star Jean Dujardin has been claiming most of the movie trophies this year for his performance as the film's lovable, fading star who turns his life around.

His stiffest competition comes from Mr. Hollywood, George Clooney, as a father trying to keep his family together at a time of crisis in The Descendants and from Brad Pitt as a math-minded baseball executive in Moneyball.

But as well-liked as Clooney is, Descendants has not worked the magic with the academy that Artist has, experts say, and Moneyball just isn't a real contender. Other best actor nominees are Gary Oldman in British drama Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Demian Bichir in little seen A Better Life.

Supporting actor is the night's other shot at Oscar history. If Christopher Plummer, 82, or Max Von Sydow, 82, bring home the gold, either one will be the oldest Academy Award winner ever.

Finally, there is a close race in the director category where Hugo maker Scorsese and Artist dreamer Hazanavicius square off against Descendants helmsman Alexander Payne. Hazanavicius has the upper hand, having won the award from the Directors Guild of America earlier this year, but Scorsese is a perennial favorite and Payne is no slouch.

For clues to a winner, experts say, tune into early categories and if Artist begins to claim victory in technical areas like costume design or cinematography, it could portend a clean sweep for the silent film. If not, the race for best movie will remain up in the air until the final envelope is opened. unsecured loans

In 2006, gay romance Brokeback Mountain won early awards for writing, directing and music, but lost in acting categories and finally succumbed to race drama Crash for best film.

"It could be an interesting year," said Poland. "The other thing is, it could be exactly what everybody is expecting."