Apparently Mila Kunis had an issue showing off her butt in her upcoming movie with Justin Timberlake, Friends With Benefits. But unfortunately for her, the script called for nudity. So how was she allowed to sign on for a movie without agreeing to flash her butt?Well it's quite simply, actually - she hired a butt double for those up-close booty shots!
Kunis was on Ryan Seacrest's radio show and admitted that although she's not showing off her own body, that doesn't mean she's won't be giving viewers an above-the-belt peep show. Mila explained to Ryan, "I showed side boob and I figured I can't just give away everything all at once ... I gotta let it all out in little pieces here and there." I guess it's an idea I can get behind...don't want to give up the goods too early. And even though she wasn't baring all of herself in the film, that doesn't mean she didn't have a hand in picking out who the lucky butt double would be. The actress, along with the director and make-up artist held a casting call to select the right candidate for the job -- a Butt Audition if you will. Bottom line...they got to see Alot of ass. Well now I have to go see this movie to see who the lucky winner is.
London, July 23: British singer Amy Winehouse, whose hit single Rehab became the anthem for troubled celebrity culture, has been found dead at her home in north London.
Police confirmed finding a 27-year-old woman’s body at a home in Camden Square, north London, after being called by ambulance services around 3pm. The cause of death was not immediately known.
London Ambulance Services said Winehouse died before the two ambulance crews it sent arrived at the scene. A spokesperson for the singer could not immediately confirm she had died.
Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983, to Jewish taxi driver Mitch Winehouse and his pharmacist wife Janis, but the family had a history of jazz musicians. Soul singer Tyler James discovered her at the age of 16 and in 2003, her debut album Frank was released to general acclaim.
Winehouse shot to fame with the October 2006 release of her second album Back to Black, whose blend of jazz, soul, rock and classic pop was a global hit. It won five Grammys and made the singer — with her black beehive hairdo and old-fashioned sailor tattoos — one of music’s most recognisable stars.
The album’s hit single Rehab contained the line: “They tried to make me go to rehab. I said ‘No, no, no’.”
“I didn’t go out looking to be famous,” Winehouse said at the time. “I’m just a musician.”
But in the end, the music was overshadowed by fame, and by the diva’s demons. Tabloids lapped up the erratic stage appearances, drunken fights, and the stints in hospitals and rehab clinics. Her performances became shambling, stumbling train wrecks, watched around the world on the Internet.
Winehouse’s health often appeared fragile. In June 2008 and again in April 2010, she was taken to hospital and treated for injuries after fainting and falling at home.
Her father said she had developed the lung disease emphysema from smoking cigarettes and crack, but her spokeswoman later said Winehouse only had “early signs of what could lead to emphysema”.
She left the hospital to perform at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday concert in Hyde Park in June 2008, and at the Glastonbury festival the next day, where she received a rousing reception but scuffled with a member of the crowd. Then it was back to a London clinic for treatment, continuing the cycle of music, excess and recuperation that marked her career.
Winehouse grew up in the north London suburbs and was set on a showbiz career from an early age. When she was 10, she and a friend formed a rap group, Sweet ’’ Sour — Winehouse was Sour — that she later described as “the little white Jewish Salt ’’ Pepa”.
She attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School, a factory for British music and acting moppets, later went to the Brit School, a performing arts academy, and was originally signed to Pop Idol Svengali Simon Fuller’s 19 Management.
Music critic John Aizlewood attributed her trans-Atlantic success to a fantastic voice and a genuinely original sound.
“A lot of British bands fail in America because they give America something Americans do better — that’s why most British hip-hop has failed,” he said. “But they won’t have come across anything quite like Amy Winehouse.”
Winehouse’s rise was helped by her distinctive look — black beehive of hair, thickly lined cat eyes, girly tattoos — and her tart tongue.
She was famously blunt in her assessment of her peers, once describing Dido’s sound as “background music — the background to death” and saying of pop princess Kylie Minogue: “She’s not an artist... she’s a pony.”
The songs on Back to Black detailed break-ups and breakdowns with a similar frankness. Lyrically, as in life, Winehouse wore her heart on her sleeve.
“I listen to a lot of ’60s music, but society is different now,” she said in 2007. “I’m a young woman and I’m going to write about what I know.”
Even then, Winehouse’s performances were sometimes shambolic, and she admitted she was “a terrible drunk”. Increasingly, her personal life began to overshadow her career. She acknowledged struggling with eating disorders and told a newspaper she had been diagnosed as manic depressive but refused to take medication.
Although she was often reported to be working on new material, fans got tired of waiting for the much-promised follow-up to Back to Black.
Occasional bits of recording saw the light of day. Her rendition of The Zutons’ Valerie was a highlight of producer Mark Ronson’s 2007 album Version, and she recorded the pop classic It’s My Party for the 2010 Quincy Jones album Q: Soul Bossa Nostra.
She was investigated for smoking crack cocaine in 2008 and fined for assault in 2010. In May 2007, she married music industry hanger-on Blake Fielder-Civil, but he went to jail for assault six months later. They divorced in 2009.
The Senate is set to vote Friday on the "cut, cap and balance" deficit reduction plan backed by tea party conservatives but dismissed by President Barack Obama.
This plan, which calls for cutting the nation's debt by about $3.7 trillion over the next 10 years, was passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives on Tuesday. "Cut, cap and balance" is widely acknowledged to have virtually no chance of clearing the Senate or overcoming a promised presidential veto. Voting on it, however, allows Republicans to demonstrate their preference for steps favored by many in the tea party movement. The plan includes the requirement that Congress pass a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution before agreeing to extend the federal debt ceiling.
The vote will happen some time Friday, said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. 'This is no time to compromise' Consequences of not raising debt ceiling Is Congress less partisan than we think? Zakaria: Cutting too fast slows growth
Obama was continuing Thursday to pursue a different plan that White House Press Secretary Jay Carney called the most "significant deficit reduction package possible." The president and Vice President Joe Biden met for almost two hours Thursday with Democratic leaders from the House and Senate as sources indicated the negotiations were focusing on a deal to cut $3 trillion in federal deficits over the next 10 years that would be accompanied by a debt ceiling increase.
According to the congressional aides who spoke on condition of not being identified, the possible deal remains in limbo over a disagreement on whether to extend Bush-era tax cuts for families earning more than $250,000 a year. Nothing has been agreed to yet, they noted. The possible deal would include spending cuts expected to total $1 trillion or more agreed to in earlier negotiations led by Biden, the sources said. It also would reform entitlement programs by changing the eligibility age for Medicare over time, and using a more restrictive inflation index for Social Security benefits, according to the sources.
On taxes, it would permanently extend the Bush tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 while allowing the cuts to expire at the end of 2012 for those with income above that, the aides said. At the same time, the deal would include a commitment to reform the tax code next year, which is expected to lower all tax rates and eliminate loopholes and subsidies, the sources said. However, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, wants the deal to make all of the Bush tax cuts permanent while keeping the commitment to tax reform, the sources said. Republicans oppose any tax hikes, and their resistance has been a major obstacle to any deal in the negotiations so far. Some sources said the deal would work in two stages, with spending cuts and a debt ceiling increase occurring right away while entitlement reforms and tax reforms would occur later. Earlier, Carney denied a report by the New York Times that Obama and Boehner were close to reaching a deal. "There is no deal. We are not close to a deal," Carney told reporters. "There is no progress to report."
A spokesman for Boehner's office echoed Carney, denying any reportable progress. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, told reporters he was "unaware of any deal that has been struck." Other signs pointed to possible movement in the talks. Carney signaled to reporters earlier in the week that Obama may now be willing to sign a short-term debt limit extension if Democratic and Republican leaders are close to agreement on a broader deficit reduction deal that includes both tax hikes and spending reforms.
Obama previously indicated he would veto any short-term extension. Boehner huddled with some Republican freshmen after meeting with Obama on Wednesday night, and is set to hold meeting with the entire House GOP caucus Friday. He told reporters Thursday that while some House Republicans wouldn't compromise, he didn't believe they "would be anywhere close to the majority."
The highly contentious negotiations -- reflecting the core ideological beliefs of both parties -- have now become a race against the clock. If Congress fails to raise the $14.3 trillion limit by August 2, Americans could face rising interest rates, a declining dollar and increasingly jittery financial markets, among other problems. The seriousness of the overall situation was reinforced last week when a major credit-rating agency, Standard and Poor's, said it was placing the U.S. sovereign rating on "CreditWatch with negative implications." Another major agency -- Moody's Investors Services -- said it would put America's bond rating on review for a possible downgrade.
"Even if Washington did raise the debt ceiling after just a few harrowing days following a default ... we envisage that the economy could fall quickly back into recession," Standard and Poor's said in a report Thursday Lawmakers are also continuing discussions focused on the $3.7 trillion debt reduction blueprint put forward by the "Gang of Six," a group of three Democratic and three Republican senators. Under the group's proposal, $500 billion in budget savings would be immediately imposed, with marginal income tax rates reduced and the controversial alternative minimum tax ultimately abolished.
The plan would create three tax brackets with rates from 8% to 12%, 14% to 22%, and 23% to 29% -- part of a new structure designed to generate an additional $1 trillion in revenue. It would require cost changes to Medicare's growth rate formula as well as $80 billion in Pentagon cuts. Obama has praised the plan, calling it "broadly consistent" with his approach to debt reduction because it mixes tax changes, entitlement reforms and spending reductions. Congressional leaders, however, have warned that there is most likely not enough time to translate the Gang of Six plan into legislation, tie it to a debt ceiling hike and pass it by August 2. In addition, the proposal has been hit with a barrage of criticism from both the right and the left. Conservatives have complained about some of the plan's tax changes, while liberals have warned it would cut entitlement benefits too deeply.
A Southern California woman accused of cutting off her husband's penis and throwing it into a garbage disposal was scheduled to be arraigned Friday on torture and aggravated mayhem charges in an Orange County court.
Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, who is also known as Que Anh Tran, is also facing special allegations, or sentencing enhancements, for great bodily injury and personal use of a deadly weapon, specifically a knife, according to the felony complaint.
If convicted on all counts, she faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole, prosecutors said.
Becker, of Garden Grove, California, is being held without bond, said Farrah Emami, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney's office.
An initial police investigation alleged Becker put a drug or poison in her 60-year-old husband's dinner Monday evening to make him sleepy.
Prosecutors have said they are waiting on toxicology reports about the alleged drugging.
Becker told authorities he "deserved it" when they arrived at the scene after she called 911, the police report said. Becker and her husband are going through a divorce.
On the night of July 11, Becker and her husband argued about friends staying at their Garden Grove residence, prosecutors said in a press release.
Becker served her husband dinner, and after feeling tired at about 9 p.m., he went to bed, authorities said.
Becker allegedly tied her husband's legs and arms to the four corners of the bed with nylon rope, according to the district attorney's office. As he woke, she pulled down his pants, grabbed his penis and severed it with a knife, prosecutors said.
Becker then took the penis to the kitchen, threw it into the garbage disposal, and turned it on, "mutilating the organ," the prosecutors' statement said.
The husband underwent emergency surgery at UC Irvine Medical Center, authorities said.
On Thursday, Emami said prosecutors weren't commenting on the husband's condition out of respect for his privacy.
The Orange County case has been widely compared to the 1993 attack against John Wayne Bobbitt by his then-wife, Lorena, who cut off his penis with an 8-inch carving knife while he slept.
Lorena Bobbitt then drove away, tossing the penis out her car window. The penis was eventually found and surgically reattached.
Lorena Bobbitt was later found innocent by reason of insanity. During her testimony, she tearfully described her life at the hands of her abusive husband.
In a separate trial, Bobbitt was acquitted of sexually assaulting his wife. After successful surgery to reattach his penis, Bobbitt made appearances on "The Howard Stern Show." He also made a number of adult films.
Nitin Sagar was at his New Delhi office, tweeting about needing a girl to fondly run her fingers through his hair, when he saw the posts about three deadly blasts many miles away in Mumbai.
He noticed many people were tweeting offers to help victims and knew that in no time, they would go viral.
"Someone in Bombay please create a Google Doc with numbers/addresses of people willing to help," he posted on Twitter, using the old name for Mumbai.
He thought aggregate information could help a person bleeding on the street or a relative desperately searching for a loved one.
Before he left the office, Sagar created a Google docs spreadsheet. He inserted five names and phone numbers. That was about 8 p.m., an hour after the attacks.
"Have compiled numbers and areas where help is available from the time," he tweeted. "Add and share please."
By the time Sagar reached home a half hour later, the site had compounded to hundreds of names of people who wanted to donate blood, provide shelter, help transport people or help in any way they could.
Mumbai bomb blasts kill 21 India: 'Coordinated terror attack' Heightened security after Mumbai blasts
"You have no idea how fast it grew," he said. "I still don't know why I did it. It was all happening so fast."
With a few swift clicks of the mouse, Sagar, a 26-year-old Indian techie, had become an accidental hero of the Mumbai tragedy.
The spreadsheet was viewed by thousands. Tweeted by even more. And used by people who finally found an avenue to help.
Mumbai architecture student Pranali Patel inserted her phone number and said she was willing to donate O+ blood.
"I was looking for a way to help but I thought I would just be adding to the chaos," she said.
Then her sister told her about the spreadsheet. With memories of the 2008 terrorist siege on Mumbai still painfully raw in her mind, Patel thought the least she could do would be to donate blood.
"I forwarded the link to a lot of my friends and they added their names to the list," she said.
In the same vein, Anirubh Sharma, a tech worker in Bangalore, saw the spreadsheet link on Twitter. A friend's relative was killed at the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel when it came under attack in 2008. Sharma thought he should step up and offered an airline coupon for a free ticket to anyone who needed to travel in or out of Mumbai.
In the middle of the madness, he received a call from a man who wanted to take him up on the offer.
"It's easy to make noise," he said. "But instead of just ranting on Facebook and Twitter, why not do something good?"
Sagar said thousands of people accessed the spreadsheet. He does not know exactly what came of it all but he didn't think there had been such a centrally organized online disaster effort before in India.
He took the site down Thursday once emergency needs dissipated. But the last 24 hours have shaped his future goals.
Sagar, who works at a digital mapping firm, said he plans to keep working on establishing such databases. If and when the need arises again, maybe there will already be a relief database in place.
"So I've the go ahead to build a disaster relief management system from bosses. You have inputs?" he tweeted Thursday.
In the meantime, he said he wanted to try and shed the good Samaritan label.
"Let's face it, I was not there on the ground," he said. "I did not lift a single dead person or an injured person. All I did was make a few clicks. It was convenient. There was no effort at all."
He was not liking the hero worship. And as he does most everything else, he posted it on Twitter.
Casey Anthony walked free from a Florida jail early Sunday morning, three years and one day after she was first arrested for her role in the disappearance and, eventually, death of her 2-year-old daughter. Anthony walked out of the front door of the Orange County Jail at 12:09 a.m. with her lawyer by her side and two Special Response Team officers with green vests. Sheriff's deputies had two contingency plans laid out, but in the end opted to go with a public release. "We have made every effort to not provide any special treatment for her," said Allen Moore, the spokesman for the Orange County Corrections Department in a statement. "She has been treated like every other inmate in her custody class." Anthony had not received threats against her at the jail, but "this release had an unusual amount of security. So therefore, in that sense, it would not be a normal release," Moore said. Gallery: Evidence in Casey Anthony trial Was Casey an incest victim? Nancy Grace: 'Tot mom' caught on tape With $537.68 from her inmate account handed to her, Anthony offered a quick thanks to a Special Response Team sergeant. She then walked out of the jail building doors and into a dark-colored sport utility vehicle. Her hair was pulled up in a tight bun and she had on a bright pink V-neck T-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers. She did not show any emotion. Given the threats against her life by those furious at the not-guilty verdict, Anthony's lawyers have not said where she will go next. News helicopters that tracked the SUV showed it head to downtown Orlando and into the parking garage of her lawyer Cheney Mason's office. Throngs of television camera crews and a crowd of about 1,000 people were at hand outside the jail to witness the release. Most of those who waved placards in the jail parking lot were there to voice their opposition to Anthony's release, but they did so peacefully. Police, some on horseback, kept a wary eye. As Anthony left, some demonstrators shouted and jeered. Some screamed, "Killer!" The Orlando woman's release comes 12 days after a jury acquitted her on murder and child neglect charges. That verdict brought an abrupt end to a six-week trial that drew intense media hype for its elements of family drama and mystery over what happened to young Caylee Anthony. While Anthony was cleared on the more serious charges, the jury of seven women and five men did convict her on four counts of misleading law enforcement agents who were investigating Caylee's whereabouts. Orange County Superior Court Chief Judge Belvin Perry Jr. gave Anthony credit for time served in determining the release date. She was initially taken into custody on July 16, 2008, and had been jailed -- with some brief exceptions, having been freed on bail on multiple occasions -- for most of the past three years. Her toddler girl's skeletal remains were eventually found in a wooded field not far from the home of Casey Anthony's parents in December 2008, seven months after she was last seen. Prosecutors tried, unsuccessfully, to convince jurors that the mother used chloroform to render her daughter unconscious and then duct-taped her mouth and nose to suffocate her. Her defense lawyers, meanwhile, painted Caylee's death as an accident, claiming that she'd drowned accidentally at the family pool and that Casey and her father George Anthony both covered it up. The questions about how Caylee died, and who was responsible, remain open. But a more immediate issue is what happens next to the girl's mother, who attracted intense anger, revulsion and even sympathy from a public that she will once again be a part of. While there have been cash donations to her jailhouse account, the more widespread sentiment is against Casey Anthony, with many believing she got away with killing her daughter. This fury has led to speculation that the polarizing subject of the "I Hate Casey Anthony" Facebook page -- and the source of ire for its more than 40,000 fans -- might change her name and appearance, and move someplace far away. Deposition pushed back Social media influenced Anthony trial? RELATED TOPICS Casey Anthony "If her attorneys are doing the right thing and are doing their jobs, they're going to have to explain to her that there is real hatred out there for her, that there have been death threats, that she cannot just walk amongst the population," HLN legal contributor Sunny Hostin said. "That is not just going to happen."
Florida corrections officials, and Anthony's lawyers, have offered few details. That's in part likely due to the intense emotions Anthony's release has generated. "I know it's bad God Forgive me but i hope someone wipes that smirk off her face. With a mack truck," one poster on the "I Hate Casey Anthony" Facebook page wrote. Visiting the Orlando site where Caylee's remains were found, Rebecca Stone said she believed her mother "put her here" -- even if the jury did not reach the same conclusion. When asked about what's next for Casey Anthony, the Flowery Branch, Georgia, mother of two told CNN, "I don't think she will be alive for long." An Oklahoma woman said she has already faced the kind of ire Anthony may face when she's no longer behind the protective walls of the Orange County Jail. Sammy Blackwell told CNN affiliate KOTV that a woman who mistook her for Anthony on July 8 rammed her car twice, flipping it over. "She said that I was trying to hurt babies, I was killing babies and she was going to stop it before it happened again," Blackwell told the station. As it happens, Blackwell has a daughter named Caylee too, but that's the end of the similarities. She says she really doesn't even look that much like Anthony and worries for women who do. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Tuesday that investigators are assessing threats to Anthony's safety. While he said the department was not aware of any credible threats to her life, it's a concern that was clearly on his mind. "Nobody has a right to take the law in their own hands," he said. "Casey Anthony had her day in court and the jury made a decision. I would hope people would step back and would not go out and commit another crime." It's also a concern for her attorneys. "Myself and other members of the team are concerned for her safety, very much so," one of her attorneys, Dorothy Sims, told HLN. What Anthony will do now is unclear. "If I knew at this point, I'm sure you can appreciate that I wouldn't tell you," Sims said. "I don't believe that that has been resolved. My hope for her would be that she would be left alone and her privacy would be respected." Hostin said on CNN that she's heard reports that Anthony will go into hiding, live under an assumed name or get plastic surgery. "But I think we are going to hear her story, because people have offered her a million dollars already for her story," she said. Anthony also still has legal issues to deal with. Her criminal team is appealing her convictions for misleading police, and she is being sued in two separate actions in civil court. One is filed by a woman with the same name Anthony gave to investigators as the name of her daughter's fictitious nanny. The other involves a search group that wants Anthony to repay expenses they incurred looking for Caylee. Anthony may be offered money for book and movie deals, but one offer won't be on the table. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner told CNN's Piers Morgan that the magazine won't be offering Anthony a pictorial. "I wouldn't reward someone like that for what has happened," Hefner said. Defense attorney Mason, who once said he thought of Anthony as a granddaughter, said he doesn't know what life holds in store for his client, but has hopes.
Nazi dictatorAdolf Hitlerhad ordered sex toys for his troops as many of them were contracting sex diseases from French prostitutes, records have revealed. While researching thehistory of Barbie, which was based on a post-war German sex doll, author Graeme Donald uncovered Hitler's secretive "Borghild Project". Under theWorld War IIproject that began in 1940, Nazi scientists developed the "synthetic comforters" for the German soldiers who were enjoying themselves a bit too much in Paris. The problem was so bad it was keeping many of the troops from their frontline duties, the Sun reported. Hitler conceived the project following a report from SS chief Heinrich Himmler, who wrote: "The greatest danger inParisis the widespread and uncontrolled presence of whores, picking up clients in bars, dance halls and other places. "It is our duty to prevent soldiers from risking their health for the sake of a quick adventure." According to Donald, Hitler personally approved the plan for the blonde and blue-eyed "gynoid" dolls, which were small enough to fit into a backpack. They were tested by soldiers in Nazi-occupied Jersey. Himmler was so impressed that he ordered 50 for his own troops, Donald found from the records. But in 1942 the project was axed when German soldiers refused to carry the dolls because of the potential embarrassment if they were captured by the British. "In the end the idea fizzled out and the place where they were made and all the dolls were destroyed in the bombing ofDresden," Donald said.
SuperstarRajnikanthis likely to return to the country on July 13 after over six weeks of treatment for kidney-related ailments in Singapore. Sources close to the actor's family remained tight-lipped about the star's return, while airport sources said flight tickets have been blocked for him and family members for Wednesday in an international carrier. Rajnikanth, 61, is likely to arrive late Wednesday evening, amidst expected euphoria among his fans who have been praying for the good health of the actor. In a recent letter, Rajni had acknowledged in a recent letter to them that it was their prayers and love which saved him. After suffering from exhaustion on April 29, the first day of the shoot of his period flick 'Rana', the actor was hospitalised here twice. He was flown toSingaporein the last week of May for treatment of reported kidney ailment.
For the first time ever, U.S. Web surfers visited the social networking site more than any other site in 2010, beating the world's best search engine GOOGLE, according to a report from Hitwise, an Internet analytics firm.
Facebook, which had good and bad publicity last year, grabbed 8.93% of all U.S. visits between January and November 2010. And google which had been in the top spot in 2009, slipped to the No. 2 position with 7.19% of all visits.
The analytics firm also reported that Yahoo! Mail came ranked third with 3.52% of all visits, while the main Yahoo! site was fourth with 3.3%. YouTube rounded out the top five with 2.65% of all site visits.
Facebook had been creeping up on Google during the last several months.
While Google has been at the top of the heap when it comes to grabbing the most visitors But now Facebook began to make its mark.
In September, Online researcher comScore reported that for the month of August, Facebook edged out Google in terms of how much time U.S. users spent on a Web site. U.S. users spent a total of 41.1 million minutes on Facebook in August, compared with 39.8 million minutes on Google's various sites, including Google News and YouTube.
And last March, Facebook hit another milestone when the social networking site replaced Google as the most visited Web site in the U.S. for a full week.
Hitwise reported over the weekend that Facebook marked another small victory for the year. After analyzing the top 1,000 search terms for 2010, Hitwise calculated that the word "Facebook" was the top search term for the year.
"This is the second year that the social networking Web site has been the top search term overall, accounting for 2.11% of all searches," Hitwise reported. There actually were four variations of the term "Facebook" in the top 10 searched-for terms of 2010: facebook; facebook login; facebook.com, and www.facebook.com.
Facebook is one of the biggest and is worth $50 billion.
Los Angeles News -- Two years after his death, music legend and celebrity icon Michael Jackson's legacy remains clouded by the debate over how he died and who, if anyone, is to blame. A Los Angeles coroner ruled that a surgical anesthetic called Propofol killed the then 50-year-old Jackson, in combination with several sedatives found in his blood, on June 25, 2009. Ever since, there have been ongoing efforts -- from awards to statues to new songs -- to keep his memory, and music, alive. Still, much of the talk about one of the world's most celebrated singers has occurred in courtrooms, centered around a host of cases related to his untimely death. Authorities claim that his personal doctor, Conrad Murray, administered the fatal dose. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death. The doctor's defense attorney, Ed Chernoff, contends Jackson was "a desperate man in many respects" and gave himself the fatal dose of surgical anesthesia while the doctor was not watching. One of Michael's sisters, LaToya Jackson, told CNN's Piers Morgan this week that her brother "told me that they were going to murder him" -- identifying "they" only as "the people involved in his life, the people that were controlling him." The late singer's father, Joe Jackson, also fingered unidentified individuals in an interview with CNN on Saturday. "We're striving for justice, because there's more to it than they're claiming," said Joe Jackson, who has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Murray and also said he's still fighting over who controls his son's estate. "There is somebody else involved." The singer's mother, Katherine Jackson, has filed a lawsuit accusing AEG Live of causing her son's death by pushing him to rehearse for his comeback concerts despite poor health. In the suit, she described Jackson in his last months as "confused, easily frightened, unable to remember, obsessive, and disoriented." Yet for all the legal entanglements, the last 24 months has also been marked by numerous attempts to celebrate, give new life to and capitalize on the singer's historic career. According to Forbes, Jackson's estate brought in a whopping $275 million between October 2009 and 2010. The singer's good fortune is due in large part to licensing deals cut by executors of his estate, a surge in sales of his music catalog and the $250 million box office of the Sony Pictures film, "This Is It." That documentary, focused on the singer's preparations for his world tour, came out within months of his death. Sony was under a contractual obligation with Jackson's estate to not use anything that showed the icon in "a negative light" -- though Pastor ruled that additional, raw footage could be used in Murray's upcoming trial. In a rare public appearance, two of Jackson's three surviving children -- Prince Michael and Paris -- appeared in January 2010 at the Grammy Awards to help accept a Lifetime Achievement Award on their father's behalf. The singer's music and dance also inspired a Cirque du Soleil show, "Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour." And for months, there's also been talk about a full-length album entitled "Michael," featuring 10 songs and collaborations with rapper 50 Cent and rocker Lenny Kravitz -- including a duet with Akon that was released online last November. But not all such Jackson-related efforts have been directly tied to his music. Mohammed Al Fayed, for instance, helped erect a statue of Jackson to stand outside the stadium of English Premier League football club Fulham, which he owns. The Egyptian-born businessman, who had owned Harrods department store and was a friend of the singer, told fans -- some bemused and others questioning the statue's relevance -- they can "go to hell" if they object. Also in England (but not the United States), the Discovery Channel planned to broadcast a special early this year featuring a re-enactment of Jackson's autopsy. But the program, "Michael Jackson's Autopsy: What Really Killed Michael Jackson," was dropped before airing after repeated complaints. Investor Reginald Garcia said this spring that he will use cash from the sale of 130 unpublished photos he had taken of a then-19-year-old Jackson to fund testing of a motor that he claims generates more electricity than it uses. And this weekend, the King of Pop's signature red and black jacket with "winged shoulders," which he wore during the filming of the iconic "Thriller" music video, was one of several pieces of music memorabilia up for sale at a California auction. In his interview Saturday with CNN, Joe Jackson touted his plan to further develop his son's dream and build amusement parks -- called "Happyland" -- around the world. (In the same interview, he also publicized his new "Jackson" cologne and vodka, called "Vodka Precious.") "I'm grieving over Michael," the late singer's father said. "It's going to take me a long time to get over what happened to him." Katherine Jackson told CNN this past spring that she struggles each day without Michael, even as she cares for his children, whom she has legal custody over. "There's not a day that passes I don't think about my child, and he should be here right now," his mother said.
An extreme eight-week diet of 600 calories a day can reverse Type 2 diabetes in people newly diagnosed with the disease, says a Diabetologia study.
Newcastle University researchers found the low-calorie diet reduced fat levels in the pancreas and liver, which helped insulin production return to normal.
Seven out of 11 people studied were free of diabetes three months later, say findings published in the journal.
More research is needed to see whether the reversal is permanent, say experts.
Type 2 diabetes affects 2.5m people in the UK. It develops when not enough insulin is produced in the body or the insulin that is made by the body doesn't work properly.
When this happens, glucose - a type of sugar - builds up in the blood instead of being broken down into energy or fuel which the body needs.
The 11 participants in the study were all diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes within the previous four years.
They cut their food intake drastically for two months, eating only liquid diet drinks and non-starchy vegetables.
Fat loss
After one week of the diet, researchers found that the pre-breakfast blood sugar levels of all participants had returned to normal.
MRI scans of their pancreases also revealed that the fat levels in the organ had decreased from around 8% - an elevated level - to a more normal 6%.
Three months after the end of the diet, when participants had returned to eating normally and received advice on healthy eating and portion size, most no longer suffered from the condition.
Continue reading the main story
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It offers great hope for many people with diabetes.”
Prof Keith Frayn
University of Oxford
Professor Roy Taylor, director of Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre at Newcastle University and lead study author, said he was not suggesting that people should follow the diet.
"This diet was only used to test the hypothesis that if people lose substantial weight they will lose their diabetes.
"Although this study involved people diagnosed with diabetes within the last four years, there is potential for people with longer-standing diabetes to turn things around too."
Susceptibility question
Dr Ee Lin Lim, also from Newcastle University's research team, said that although dietary factors were already known to have an impact on Type 2 diabetes, the research showed that the disease did not have to be a life sentence.
"It's easy to take a pill, but harder to change lifestyle for good. Asking people to shift weight does actually work," she said.
However, not everyone in the study managed to stay free of diabetes.
"It all depends on how much individuals are susceptible to diabetes. We need to find out why some people are more susceptible than others, then target these obese people. We can't know the reasons for that in this study," Dr Lim said.
Professor Edwin Gale, a diabetes expert from the University of Bristol, said the study did not reveal anything new.
"We have known that starvation is a good cure for diabetes. If we introduced rationing tomorrow, then we could get rid of diabetes in this country.
"If you can catch people with diabetes in the early stages while beta cells are still functioning, then you can delay its onset for years, but you will get it sooner or later because it's in the system."
George Clooney is back on the market after breaking up with his girlfriend of two-years Elisabetta Canalis. The pair have released a joint statement to confirm the news saying, “We are not together any more. It was very difficult and very personal.”
Just a couple of weeks ago 32-year-old Elisabetta talked about how happy she is with the 50-year-old actor, even admitting that she would like to get married. Elisabetta told Italian magazine Chi, “I am a firm believer in marriage, in the future I will be married. But for the time being I am happy as I am. I don’t need anything to confirm how happy I am… I am very happy at the moment thanks to my man, and my fairytale is continuing.”
We’re sure Elisabetta’s comments and the split are in no way connected at all. Because of course George is famous for saying how desperate he is to settle down.well as for Elisabetta we have no comment on that as yet but lets jast wait and see!!
Any fan of "So You Think You Can Dance" is a fan of the reality competition show's fashion-forward host, Cat Deeley. That's why omg! is so excited about its new online original program, "In the Dressing Room With Cat Deeley," which takes viewers behind the scenes as Cat gets ready to take the stage on the popular Fox program with help from her makeup artist, Amy Strozzi, as well as her hairstylist, Sallie Nicole. she is one on the most well dressed women.
Having separated from Brad Pitt back in 2005, Jennifer Aniston still has the bad rap four years later of a lonely divorcée who can’t find love. Over 270,000 people, according to Google, still search for “Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt together” each month that very sad..people always thought they made a great couple..
Since gossip reports claim Jen doesn’t have any luck with men, PopEater asked dating experts to weigh in on how they think Jennifer can find the right man.
The sexy and talented actress really doesn’t need any sympathy from us. While she is 40 now, she’s still sexy and successful. Jenni’s aware of her lack of love life that’s portrayed in reports and isn’t afraid to make fun of herself for it.
While accepting her Crystal Award for Excellence in Film she joked, “It started with The Good Girl, then of course Rumor Has It, followed by Derailed. Then there was The Break-Up. If any of you have a project entitled Everlasting Love With an Adult Stable Male, I’m at table 6 and my agents are at table 12!”
The dating experts didn’t have any project advice for Jennifer, but they did offer their advice on how she should date in the public eye.
“Date a real person, date an entrepreneur, a network exec who makes a bit of money,” Patti Stanger of Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker suggested.
Patti sees Jen with someone who’s “not obsessed with the red-capert” and “he’s 38 and up and maybe wants to have kids.”
Author Andrea Syrtash of the upcoming book He’s Just Not Your Type (And That’s a Good Thing) believes Jen needs to find someone in Hollywood who is not as equally famous as her — less John Mayer types and more producer types.
Jen’s future man needs to let her shine so that Jen can find stability, Andrea said, “That’s invaluable in a world where everyone wants a piece of you.”
Patrick Meagher, host of SIRIUS XM Cosmo Radio, adds the male perspective to the group of experts and thinks Jen should also date regular guys — won’t every guy love that idea!
“She can’t go any funnier than Vince Vaughn, [and] she can’t go any better looking than Brad Pitt,” Patrick said. “She needs to go normal: Fireman Bob.”
Patrick also thinks Madonna’s ex-husband Guy Ritchie would be a good choice for Jen. He said that after going through a public divorce with Madonna, dating Jen would be a “walk in the park” for Guy.
“She’s been working really hard on building this career, and it’s very difficult to add on top of that — for any career woman — trying to build a lasting, deep, committed relationship. That takes a lot of attention too,” said Jennifer Armstrong, the co-founder of Sirensmag.com.
“Jennifer Aniston is Jennifer Aniston and if she really wanted to be married again she could probably make that happen.”
Jennifer Armstrong added, “She should date whoever she wants to date. There are no real wrong decisions in dating… And relationships are tricky for everyone — even celebrities.”
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