|  |  |  | | | | The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | The Czech Republic has fought back after the European Commission once again alleged the government was continuing to implement a bizarre method of determining whether homosexual asylum seekers are legitimately gay. As the Czech News Agency is reporting, European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom slammed the nation for continuing to use "phallometric testing," which measures the flow of blood to a man's penis to determine the physical reaction to pornography, as part of local screening procedures for men who apply for asylum on the basis of their sexual orientation. If the device determines that the applicant became aroused while viewing heterosexual pornography, he will be denied asylum. "This is a pure medieval method and a huge violation of the individualâs right to privacy," Malmstrom wrote on her blog, before noting the commission had tried to contact Czech authorities in regard to the practice but had yet to receive a sufficient response. "There is no question that this is politically unacceptable." Read More... More on Civil Rights  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | Watch the press conference for yourself. Don't blindly believe anyone who tells you that his words were taken out of context or that he made an ill-conceived joke. Amidst the sarcastic humor and careless arrogance, Lars Von Triers venomous Anti-Semitism and callousness is deadly serious, frighteningly self-assured, and stunningly ignorant. For those of you who haven't read about it or seen it yet, film director Lars Von Trier revealed the true darkness in his soul at a press conference in Cannes when he announced, "I'm a Nazi," "I understand and sympathize with Hitler," [but I am] not against the Jews... as much as Israelis are a pain in the ass." Later, after pressure from the festival, he released a non-apology apology. One of those "If I've hurt someone, I'm sorry" statements. As Von Trier was crapping his pants, he continued to look over at Kirsten Dunst, who squirmed uncomfortably while Herr Director rambled on and on about his respect for the fuhrer, the demon that most people consider the most abhorrent, bloodthirsty fiend of the 20th century. Read More... More on CANNES  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | McDonald's is changing the recipe for its grilled chicken sandwich, in order to give it a "more neutral flavor profile." Neutral apparently means less Italian in flavor (not to be confused with the McItaly, however, which is in fact, more Italian in flavor). The new chicken will be made with mirepoix (sautéed carrot, onion and celery), salt and pepper and maybe a little garlic and herbs. The ingredients in McDonald's Premium Grilled Chicken Classic Sandwich include: honey wheat roll, grilled chicken breast filet, mayonnaise dressing, leaf lettuce and tomato slice. So we're a little stumped about where the "Italian" flavor emanates from.
Read More... More on Fast Food  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | Her bitterly unhappy character in "Blue Valentine" aside, it's hard to imagine Michelle Williams with a mean bone in her body; especially while sporting last fall's short, pixie haircut, the Oscar nominee has a sort of cherubic quality to her. Fitting, then, that she's just won the role of perhaps the most iconic guardian angel in film history. Williams has joined the cast of Disney's "Wizard of Oz," prequel, "Oz: The Great and Powerful," Variety reports. Winning the role places her in a star-studded cast that includes James Franco as the salesman who becomes the Wizard; Mila Kunis as Theodora, a pre-wicked Witch of the West; and Rachel Weisz as Evanora, an already wicked witch. Competition for the Glinda role was stiff; as Vulture reported, there was a standoff between Disney and director Sam Raimi over the spot, as Raimi wanted Hilary Swank for the part, while Disney was firm on Williams. Obviously, the studio won out. Read More... More on Celebrities  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | The FBI considers them one of the nationâs top domestic terror threats. Their members include cop killers and a convicted Oklahoma City bomber. They call themselves âsovereign citizens,â and have taken various measures to fight the U.S. government. But now, the government is fighting back. Sovereign citizens are a loosely organized group of people who claim they are not subject to government laws. Estimates suggest there are as many as 300,000 sovereign citizens in the U.S. Sovereign citizens have been known to oppose taxes, file liens against public officials, sign documents with a red thumbprint, and use homemade license plates. Some sovereign citizens focus on the role of government, a relatable, much-debated issue in the U.S. Alfred Adask told â60 Minutes,â"I think the government has gone far beyond its Constitutional limits.â The problem is where they draw the line. Adask once said, âWe have the right to keep and bear arms in order to shoot our own politicians." The violence used by some sovereign citizens is cause for serious concern. Read More... More on Video  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | NEW YORK -- Police cut out a piece of carpet from a hotel room in a search for DNA evidence in the attempted-rape case against IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. New York Police Department detectives and prosecutors believe the carpet may contain Strauss-Khan's semen spat onto the carpet after an episode of forced oral sex, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. That would be crucial forensic evidence to back up the victim's story, the officials said. Read More... More on NY News  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | Patch.com received two emails yesterday claiming to be from persons who were riding on the MTA bus damaged yesterday by an explosion in an underground vault on Westwood Boulevard and Weyburn Avenue. Patch later spoke with the writer of one of those emails, Jeffrey Countryman, who works at UCLA Extension. Countryman said that he heard the explosion coming from the front of the bus, even though the fire was at the back. Read More...  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | WASHINGTON -- Often maligned, the french fry is fighting back. The spud has had a tough time lately. In the last year, it has been marginalized by new school lunch rules, demonized by a popular television program and blamed for the nation's obesity epidemic. Health advocates and government officials have pushed to take them off lunch lines, where kids often reach for the crispy treats instead of greener vegetables. Read More... More on Childhood Obesity  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | Perhaps you've heard of a game called "fetch." Most dogs are into it, but not Purin the Beagle. No, Purin has way-too-skilled paw/eye coordination for such trivial puppy games. Purin prefers to play the previously humans-only game of "catch." OK, so he can't exactly throw the ball back, but this dog is seriously talented (and adorable) at catching a ball in his paws. Don't you agree? Read More... More on Cute Animal Videos  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | LONDON -- Opposition lawmakers called on British Justice Secretary Ken Clarke to resign Wednesday after he suggested that some types of rapes are more serious than others. Clarke, a former lawyer and Treasury chief, refused to apologize for comments that muddled the issues of date rape and underage sex. He was later forced to release a statement describing all rapes as serious crimes, regardless of the circumstances. Read More... More on David Cameron  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | WASHINGTON -- The White House said on Wednesday that there is no âPlan Bâ if Congress does not vote to increase the debt limit by August. The debt limit, which is currently set at $14.29 trillion, was reached on Monday, but Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress the government can continue to pay its debts until about Aug. 2 by using "extraordinary measures." If Congress does not raise the debt ceiling by then, there is no plan in place for dealing with the resulting defaults, a senior administration official said in a briefing with reporters. Read More... More on Paul Ryan  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | It's not easy topping Angelina Jolie, and Jack Black knows that first hand. The funny man recently revealed that Jolie gave his wife, Tanya, the gorgeous green gown she wore while pregnant and promoting the first Kung Fu Panda flick at Cannes in 2008. (Tanya was also expecting at the time.) Read More... More on CANNES  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | Melissa Arlio is an upbeat, healthy 26-year-old from a big Italian family in Wayne, NJ. She grew up playing sports and ran her first marathon in 2009. With nothing to gain and a good deal to lose (namely, her job) Arlio elected to undergo surgery and donate one of her kidneys to a complete stranger last March. She did so in order to start an altruistic kidney chain through the National Kidney Registry. "I've always been probably overly empathetic to a fault," Arlio said the other day, now a little over two months into her recovery. "God gave me a healthy body, how could I not share that with someone who needs it, at very little detriment to myself?" Family and friends aren't always a perfect match for the sick loved ones they want to help, so these chains incentivize strangers to help one another. Read More... More on Greatest Person Of The Day  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | WASHINGTON - Rep. Michele Bachmann met in New York with four or five major book publishers Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a source with knowledge of the meetings. The Minnesota Republican talked in one meeting of launching a campaign for president soon. The publisher asked if she could deliver a manuscript by August, in time for a September publication. Bachmann was reportedly accompanied to the meeting by John Fund, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal. Fund has not responded to a request for comment. Publishing a book to lay out one's political values is now an established rung on the ladder most politicians feel they must climb to make a serious run for president. It's a move Bachmann seems increasingly likely to take: Since March, the conservative firebrand has said that she might form a committee in June to explore seeking the GOP nomination, but Tuesday on Fox News she said that a decision could come sooner. Read More... More on Sarah Palin  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | Although Sudhir Kandula did not win the first season of America's Next Great restaurant, he did reach the finale, and impressed the judges with his mission to bring fast-casual Indian food to American consumers. Kandula might be onto something big, as Asian eateries throughout the United States are growing both in concept and units. With the upcoming opening of Chipotle's new eatery, ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, fast-casual companies are increasing focus on less familiar ingredients. Currently, among the top 500 chains in the U.S., only about 1.7% of sales are from Asian chains, but last year, according to Technomic, fast-food and fast-casual Asian chain sales among the top 500 grew 9.3%. Read More...  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | CHICAGO -- As Rahm Emanuel begins his term as Chicago mayor, one daunting challenge he inherits from his predecessor has barely been mentioned: how to finish nationally watched public housing reforms while the city is drowning in debt. A half-century ago, Mayor Richard J. Daley built miles of concrete high-rises to house – or, as critics said, warehouse – the city's poor. Decades later, his son tore most of them down in an ambitious improvement project. Read More... More on Rahm Emanuel  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | Not even the Secret Service is immune to Twitter overshares. The Secret Service Twitter account, which launched May 9, posted a tweet, since deleted, blasting Fox News. According to retweets by other users and screenshots of the tweet posted to Twitter, the Secret Service tweeted on Wednesday afternoon, "Had to monitor Fox for a story. Can't. Deal. With. The. Blathering." (See screenshot below) Read More...  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | It's been said that the only people who know what goes on in a marriage are the two people who are in it, and sometimes, even they're not sure. The news that the Arnold Schwarzenegger-Maria Shriver 25-year blissfest ran afoul of the former governor's decade-old dalliance and subsequent child from said dalliance makes the pair likely headed toward an uncertain hell. Read More... More on Arnold Schwarzenegger  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | There are few movie roles that offer instantly as massive a fan base as do the lead heroines in big screen adaptations of Young Adult novels. To wit: Emma Watson, "Harry Potter's" Hermoine, is an icon of screen and style, while Kristen Stewart, the embodiment of Bella in "The Twilight Saga," has her every moody move tracked by jealous fans as she makes her way through new big screen epics and dating co-star Robert Pattinson. Having won the next massive book-to-film role, Katniss Everdeen in Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games," Jennifer Lawrence knows what's in store for her. Being ready is another thing. In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lawrence discussed her sudden rise to fame -- on the back of an entirely different type of film, the indie "Winter's Bone," for which she earned an Oscar nomination -- and her mental preparation to play such a highly sought role (she won the part over fellow Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld). Read More...  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | 
How much money do chefs make? According to Nation's Restaurant News, the leading U.S. food-service trade magazine, the average annual salary for an executive chef at a stand-alone restaurant in 2010 was $71,063. All together, now: Do you think that's what Mario Batali takes home? Do you reckon that's how many bucks Guy Fieri pays taxes on each year? Yeah, sure. The rules are different for celebrity chefs -- first of all, simply because they're celebrities and hence demand the big bucks, but also because, without exception, the most financially successful ones do lots of things at once. In fact -- spoiler alert -- very few of them ever actually cook in their own kitchens anymore. They're far too busy thinking up and launching new restaurants (and even, like Charlie Palmer, hotels), writing cookbooks, developing (or lending their names to) products of various kinds, and of course appearing on TV... The most successful chefs in America aren't just chefs -- they're entrepreneurs, they're brands. Sometimes they're virtually whole industries. Being Wolfgang Puck, Tom Colicchio, or José Andrés isn't just a job: It's a way of life. Read More... More on Photo Galleries  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | The New York Times produces more than a hundred videos each month for its website and other digital offerings. Some of those videos will reach a targeted television audience starting next week, with the premiere of "NYTV." The half-hour show will air Mondays at 8:30 p.m. on New York's flagship local station, NYC life (that's channel 25 in and around the five boroughs; lowercase spelling intentional), under the banner of NYC Media, the city's official TV, radio and online network. Read More... More on New York Times  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | WASHINGTON â" You've seen President Barack Obama's birth certificate. Now you can wear it. The Obama campaign is selling T-shirts on its website that show Obama's face on the front along with the words "Made in the USA." On the back is an image of the president's long-form birth certificate from Hawaii â" the one the White House finally produced in April in an attempt to squelch the "birthers" who claim Obama is not a natural-born U.S. citizen, and therefore ineligible to be president. Read More... More on Barack Obama 2012  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | The Oklahoma-raised star is also going back to her country roots this fall with a new show on ABC, Good Christian Belles, which co-stars Leslie Bibb and Annie Potts. Chenoweth, 42, talked to Parade.com about her new series, her cameos on Glee, and the role religion plays in her life. Read More... More on Christianity  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | We may be on the brink of stopping the U.S. nuclear industry from building new reactors. We ask you to help make this happen. The atomic industry desperately needs $36 billion in federal loan guarantees. Read More... More on Barack Obama  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday urged bishops in China to remain loyal to Rome, speaking out in the latest round in the Vatican's struggle to obtain a church free of official interference. Benedict at his weekly general audience also asked for prayers for the Chinese faithful, saying they want "unity with the universal church, with the supreme pastor, with the successor of Peter." Read More... More on Catholic Church  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | On Friday morning, I'll be taking part in that annual rite of passage -- the commencement speech. I'll be delivering mine at Sarah Lawrence, one of the great colleges in America. My speech, of course, will be imbued with all the optimism and hope about the future that the occasion is steeped in. But, after looking at all the data, there is no question that "commencement" has taken on an ironic twist. For many of the graduates spilling into the job market throughout the nation, there isn't going to be much to commence. Economically at least, this is an especially rough time to be graduating from college. Consider: the average graduate will enter the job market with a debt load of over $27,000. And the unemployment rate for those 16 to 24 is the highest it's even been. There is, however, a silver lining to graduating in such tough economic times... Read More... More on The Recession  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | WASHINGTON -- The Senate has rejected a GOP bid to speed up and expand offshore oil drilling in the face of $4-a-gallon gasoline prices. A procedural vote failed Wednesday, 57-42, on a GOP bid to speed decision-making on drilling permits and force the government to conduct previously scheduled lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and off Virginia's coast. The sales were suspended after the BP oil spill. Read More... More on Energy  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | Tina Fey studied drama at the University of Virginia. But that genteel Southern collegiate pedigree would hardly suit Liz Lemon, her â30 Rockâ alter ego. Instead, we are told that Lemon â" Northern and cerebral, but also middle-class and hopelessly dorky â" attended Bryn Mawr College and the University of Maryland, âon a partial competitive jazz dance scholarship.â Read More... More on The Simpsons  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | 
WASHINGTON (Dave Clarke) â" The new consumer financial products agency is testing out slimmer and clearer mortgage disclosure forms, to make borrowers aware that loan payments may skyrocket and give them greater power to shop around for mortgages. Two prototype mortgage documents released on Wednesday are some of the first products to come out of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created by last year's Dodd-Frank financial reform law and is scheduled to formally open its doors on July 21. Read More... More on Elizabeth Warren  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | There's no way you could see this coming. When Bryant High School (blue) faced against Conway High School (white) in Arkansas, few expected a play of this magnitude. Misdirection is an understatement. Read More... More on Soccer  
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |  |  |  | | | | | SALT LAKE CITY -- It's late May but snow keeps falling in the Rockies, adding to record snowpack that could mean major flooding come spring melt. Northern Utah mountains could see up to a foot of fresh snow this week with a weather system that is dropping rain elsewhere and will soon head toward Colorado and Wyoming. A slew of flood warnings have already been issued there. The National Weather Service says up to 3 inches of rain is predicted in parts of southeast Wyoming, while up to a foot of snow is forecast for the mountains. Read More... More on Denver News  
| | | | | | | |  |  |  |  |  | |
No comments:
Post a Comment