- You’ve heard of no-fly zones, now you’ve hard of no-fly lists. And if someone is restricting the rights of non-criminals and non-terrorists when it comes to taking to the friendly skies, want one guess as to which communist, totalitarian regime it would be? For those who guessed anything other than China……you are a moron. Of course the Chinese would detain a renowned Chinese artist and human rights advocate as part of its ever-expanding quest to prevent prominent guests from attending this year's Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony. What a scene it must have been as police officers stopped Ai Weiwei at his gate at the Beijing airport Thursday night, shortly before he was to board a flight to Seoul to plan an upcoming exhibition. "They showed me a handwritten note that said my departure would endanger state security," Ai explained. "This has never happened to me before -- and it was such a barbarian act that disrespected the law. It only highlighted China's abysmal human rights record and reinforced the message why Liu Xiaobo deserves the peace prize." Well, those comments certainly aren’t going to help Ai get on board any plane out of China any time soon. Ironically enough, he also said that he had declined to attend the ceremony due to a scheduling conflict. For the uninformed, Liu, a writer and pro-democracy activist, is serving an 11-year sentence for "inciting subversion of state power." Because of his efforts, the Norwegian Nobel committee awarded him this year's peace prize, which is scheduled to be presented at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10. The decision has been ridiculed by the Chinese government as “part of a Western plot to demonize China.” Those claims have been accompanied by warnings to other nations not to attend the ceremony. "European nations are facing these choices now -- do they want to be part of the political game? Or do they want to act responsibly and develop friendly ties with the Chinese government and people?" Cui Tiankai, a vice foreign minister, said last month. "It they make the wrong decision, they will have to take responsibility for the consequences," he added. Whoa there……that sounds an awful lot like a threat to blow them right off the face of the planet or start World War III. Adding to the drama, Liu Xia, Liu Xiaobo's wife, has been under house arrest since the Nobel announcement on October 8 and police have completely cut off her communication with the outside world and from even contacting her husband's lawyers. Police have also begun monitoring prominent citizens who might have the gall to attend the Nobel ceremony. Besides Ai, prominent economist Mao Yushi was stopped at the Beijing airport Wednesday and barred him from going to Singapore for a meeting. Mao was one of the first people to sign Charter 08, a manifesto calling for political reform and human rights in China co-authored by Liu that landed him in prison. Thanks for reinforcing the fact that in China, human rights are an absurd pipe dream that the average man will be beaten down for aspiring to, Chinese government………
- When your movies make as much money as Robert Downey Jr.’s do, you can probably afford to do a little singing, dancing and show-tuning on Broadway and not catch too much flak for it. Sure enough, the Iron Man star has signed on for an untitled Warner Bros. musical about a pair of Broadway songwriters who end up taking a job at theater camp when their breakthrough musical flops. The project has no title yet, but its
Iron Man is putting on his top hat. spokesperson confirms to EW that the actor The film’s music will be written by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt, the Pulitzer and Tony-winning team behind Broadway musical Next to Normal. Oh, and Downey starring in the show might also have a little something to do with the fact that Susan Downey, his wife, will produce. Agreeing to bring your talents and name value to an unheralded musical that your wife is producing will definitely score some major points on the home front and if this one fails, Downey can just go back to blowing sh*t up with Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man 3, so no big loss there. Plus, something tells me that his considerable female fan base will enjoy Downey making a foray into theater and buy more than a few tickets to see him sing, dance and do his thing on Broadway whenever this project gets up and running………
- Having long suspected that Barbie and her friends were up to no good, this next bit of news comes as no surprise to me. Body proportions that are anatomically impossible, a wealth of cars, clothes, shoes and homes with no possible means to earn enough money to pay for all of them……something shady was going on. The FBI agrees with me and that’s why the bureau is now warning law agencies about potential dangers posed by the new Barbie Video Girl Doll. The FBI believes that the doll could be used as a tool by pedophiles to make child pornography. So alarmed are the men in black that they posted an alert entitled "Barbie 'Video Girl' a Possible Child Pornography Production Method," in which the bureau said the doll has a built-in hidden camera in the chest and a small LCD screen for video display in her back that could be used by kiddie porn freaks. It is important to note that the FBI "cyber crime alert" doesn't cite any misuse of the doll and given that it has been on the market since July, one has to wonder how much danger truly exists. After all, kiddie porn freaks are a depraved and desperate lot and if there is a way to feed their perverted, sick, twisted fetish, then they probably would have made use of it by now. "FBI investigation has revealed instances where an individual convicted of distributing child pornography had given a Barbie doll to a 6-year-old girl," the alert said. Also in the document were findings of another investigation that found "examples where a concealed video camera had recorded child pornography." That incident didn’t involve a doll, but the FBI did its own math, put two and two together and came up with whatever result would make its case look better. “Law enforcement is encouraged to be aware of unconventional avenues for possible production and possession of child pornography, such as the Barbie Video Girl," the alert said. The alert is standard practice for the FBI, which regularly distributes such messages to help investigators improve policing. Why are they so alarmed about a stupid Barbie doll? Well, the doll's camera can capture 30 minutes of footage, and the video can be downloaded and streamed live to a computer, so some child-porn-loving perv could easily find a way to deflect that onto the Internet, even though the FBI pointed out that but there is no indication it can be streamed directly to the Internet from the doll. The alert was intended for law enforcement agencies only, but someone at the FBI “mistakenly” sent it to media outlets in Seattle. For those of you getting into the heart of your Christmas shopping at this point, the chance to purchase a $49.99 child porn tool has to be enticing, so adjust your gift list accordingly…….
- How can you know that your team views you as completely and totally expendable? When they offer the 42-year-old closer of their biggest rival a two-year, $30 million deal and were prepared to non-tender you if that offer as accepted, that’s how. Welcome to Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon’s world. Just two years ago, Papelbon was considered a rising phenom and a “can’t miss” stud who would fill the closer’s role in Boston for the next decade. Two years, numerous injuries and meltdowns later, he’s just a so-so reliever the team was willing to toss aside if it could sign Mariano Rivera away from the New York Yankees. Never mind that Rivera is 42 years old and that he has pitched his entire career for Boston’s biggest rival; just imagine what a traitor he would have been to jump ship at this point. He would have ruined his own reputation in New York and trashed Papelbon’s career in Boston with one swipe of a pen. As is, the Yankees matched Boston’s offer and Rivera turned down the Red Sox to return to the Yankees and now it’s only Papelbon’s relationship with the Red Sox that is ruined. Sure, the Sox on Thursday night tendered a contract to Papelbon, who was paid $9.35 million last season and is arbitration-eligible, which will elevate his salary into eight figures. Still…..how on Earth can this guy go back and pitch for Boston as if none of this ever happened? He has to be hurt, pissed livid and feeling more than a little betrayed. Even coming off the worst season of his career in 2010, with a 3.90 ERA and eight blown saves, there’s no way Papelbon could have expected this situation to progress the way it has. Should be an interesting time next season, watching the strained relationship between he and the Boston front office move forward……….
- The amount of spam in your email inbox may be a little less going forward now that a Russian man the FBI believes has been responsible for one-third of the spam on the Internet has been arrested and is scheduled to be arraigned in a Milwaukee, Wisc., court Monday. The tool who stands accused of flooding us all with unwanted emails for Viagra, insanely low mortgage rates and messages from Nigerian princes who need $5,000 from us to gain access to a multi-million-dollar fortune is Oleg Nikolaenko, the alleged mastermind of the "Mega-D" spam automated botnet that FBI researchers have been investigating for months as a prime source of selling counterfeit goods. According to court documents and FBI affidavits, "'Mega-D" was likely the largest botnet in the world, accounting for 32 percent of all spam, court documents said. "Security researchers estimated that the botnet was capable of sending ten billion spam email messages a day,” the documents claimed. Sifting through the court documents paints a disturbing picture of just how wide the scope of the alleged counterfeit ring was. For example, the documents allege that Nikolaenko received a payment of $459,098.47 between June 4 and December 5, 2007, resulting from e-mails for those pimping everything from erectile dysfunction drugs, counterfeit prescriptions and "herbal remedies" to fake Rolex watches. The watches provided a major break in the case when a seller of counterfeit Rolexes told authorities after he was arrested that he paid more than $2 million working with spammers to sell his product. He rolled on Nikolaenko and provided police with information that resulted in a trail of information that led officials across several continents, to different e-mail addresses and websites and, eventually, back to Nikolaenko. The joint FBI-Federal Trade Commission investigation into Nikolaenko’s operations dates all the way back to at least 2007, according to documents. His fatal mistake came on Nov. 4, when he was arrested in Las Vegas while visiting Sin City for an auto show. Predictably, Nikolaenko already has a high-priced lawyer fighting for him and Christopher Van Wagner, Nikolaenko's lawyer, insisted that the charges against his client are only accusations. "We're prepared to present a rigorous defense," he said. Whatever you say, C………
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