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Iran’s Majlis mulls banning Samsung products over insulting teaser

EU Times — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:29:09 +0000

A senior lawmaker says Iran’s Majlis is considering a plan to cut off the country’s economic transactions with South Korea’s Samsung in reaction to the company’s anti-Iran teaser.

Head of Majlis Energy Committee Arsalan Fat’hipour said the double-urgency plan, aimed at imposing a complete ban on buying all Samsung products, would make the company regret making the insulting teaser.

South Korea’s giant manufacturer of electronic devices and home appliances produced a teaser shortly after the assassination of the Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan by Mossad agents in Tehran, in which Iran had been depicted as a primitive society.

The clip also implies that Israel is powerful enough to easily destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities or assassinate the country’s nuclear scientists.

The Iranian lawmaker added that forgetting the high volume of its trade with Iran, the company has produced the teaser to curry favor with Israel.

Fat’hipour said Samsung’s apology to the Iranian nation, though necessary, would not be enough and that the company must be held accountable for producing the teaser.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s Dubai office has issued a statement condemning the production of the teaser by the company’s Israel office.

Samsung’s public relations official in Tehran, Elaheh Taheri, told reporters on Thursday the clip had nothing to do with the South Korean company and that it had been produced by an Israeli cable TV station, Hot.

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McDonalds Employee Films Mouse in Bag of Buns

EU Times — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:29:21 +0000

A Mouse can be seen going buck wild in a bread bag at McDonalds. Despite this unsanitary event, according to the former McDonald’s employee Karruim Demaio, bosses at the West Oak Lane branch in Philadelphia ordered workers to brush off the droppings and serve the buns to unsuspecting customers.

TSA lets rapper keep his weed

EU Times — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 19:41:58 +0000

When he’s not recording tunes like “Personal OG” and “National Anthem (Fu*k the World),” rapper Freddie Gibbs likes to travel. He also likes to smoke weed. A real lot.

Somehow for Gibbs, real name Fredrick Tipton, he didn’t think there would be much of a problem with combining those two passions lately, even if it involved the US government’s notoriously tough Transportation Security Administration in the equation. And — yes, somehow for Gibbs — he was right.

The rapper took to Twitter on Wednesday to let the micro-blogosphere know that while boarding a flight this week, a TSA agent managed to intercept Gibbs’ stash of marijuana but, rather than confiscate it, issue a citation or make an arrest, the officer put the contraband back in the passengers luggage along with a note.

It read, “C’mon, son.”

Gibbs took a photo of the weed and the lovely little note from the TSA and posted it to his Facebook account, where around 40,000 fans follow his happenings in 140-character blurbs.

“LOL,” added Gibbs.

In a cookie-cutter response from the Administration, a spokesperson issued a statement saying, “TSA takes all allegations of inappropriate conduct seriously and is investigating this claim.”

Gibbs posted the photo after landing in Denver, Colorado and tweeted from Los Angeles, California earlier in the day; both states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. While the rapper posted a photo of a sizeable stash of weed Friday afternoon with a “Rx” label, it’s not exactly clear if it was obtained with a doctor’s permission — or why Gibbs needed to transport a half-ounce or marijuana across the state lines in a plane knowing he would go through a government checkpoint.

In Colorado, unlawful possession of a half-ounce of pot is a felony offense which comes with up to three years in prison and upwards of $100,000 in penalties for only a first offense.

Gibbs isn’t about to let the man keep him down, however. “Still smoking,” was his latest Twitter posting as of this publishing.

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False Rumor That Strait of Hormuz Was Closed Sends Oil Prices Skyrocketing

EU Times — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:00:56 +0000

Confusion caused by military drill rattles markets.

A rumor that Iran had closed the Strait of Hormuz sent oil prices skyrocketing today, but the story turned out to be inaccurate and was likely a result of confusion surrounding an upcoming Iranian military drill set to take place near the key oil choke point.

Yesterday, Parviz Sarvari an Iranian MP went public with the claim that Iran was about to stage a military drill to practice closing the Strait of Hormuz, after which the Iranian military declined to comment. Earlier today, the Tehran Times confirmed that Iran was preparing to “practice its ability to close the Strait of Hormuz.”

A report out of real-time analysts Ransquawk then claimed that the channel had in fact already been closed, a rumor that sent traders scrambling.

“By 10:40 a.m. EDT oil had jumped from $98.590 before the rumor, to $101.25 at its peak, and has settled to $100.30 — still sitting almost $2 higher than before the supposition began,” reports Business Insider.

At time of press, prices have settled to around $99 dollars a barrel.

Other reports confirm that the Strait was not closed at any point. Iran’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the Strait is open, reports Bloomberg. In addition, Ransquawk now reports that the U.S. fifth fleet has confirmed maritime traffic in the Strait is normal.

The dramatic surge in oil prices seems to have been triggered by confusion that Iran had closed the Strait of Hormuz, not that it was merely preparing to practice such an eventuality in the form of a military exercise.

Experts have predicted that oil prices will surge to $300-$500 dollars a barrel if Iran closes the shipping channel in retribution for a US/Israeli attack on the country’s nuclear facilities.

The Strait of Hormuz, just 34 miles wide at its narrowest point, is a key transport passage for petroleum exporting countries from the Persian Gulf, with the 15.5 million barrels of oil that pass through it each day representing 33% of the world’s total oil shipments.

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Russian Newsreader makes one-finger gesture as she mentions Obama

EU Times — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 22:26:26 +0000

Flipping the bird: Tatiana Limanova looked down and purposefully raised her arm- and middle finger- when she said President Obama's name

A Russian newscaster made quite a statement when she flipped off President Barack Obama live on air.

Tatyana Limanova, an award-winning journalist from privately-owned Russian television channel REN TV, was reading a segment about the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference when she made the offensive symbol – just as she said the U.S. president’s name.

She was looking down as she spoke about how Russian president Dmitry Medvedev would be assuming the head of the conference as part of the rotating chairmanship.

But as she read that the post was previously held by Mr Obama, she distinctly raised her arm – and then her middle finger,

Ms Limanova’s station declined to comment about the incident.

Given the timing of the segment, Ms Limanova may have thought that she was off camera when she ‘flipped the bird’, considering there was a cut-away video segment shortly following her move.

REN TV is transmitted to roughly 120 million people in Russia, and is considered to be one of the more liberal channels in a country where the media is tightly controlled by the government.

Sources said that Ms Limanova would not be facing any formal punishment from her employers.

Ms Limanova may well have been making her own analysis of recent relations between the two superpowers.

Mr Obama and Mr Medvedev are said to have a somewhat frosty relationship, and that has not been helped by recent moves to limit the sharing of information between the two.

The U.S. said that it is going to stop giving the Russian government with specific updates about the American military presence in Europe.

That said, the move comes four years after the Russians did the same.

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Occupy protest Cop becomes an Internet Craze after Pepper Spraying

EU Times — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:58:22 +0000

Call it the Meme Movement. This Sprayer Cop Meme Movement is very similar to the famous Looter King Meme Movement when a man from New Orleans was looting beer in the middle of the Katrina event.

Whatever degree of success achieved by the Occupy protests, it’s largely been based on its old-fashioned, off-line demonstrations. They’ve been decidedly physical, as in, non-virtual- staking out real ground in downtown Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park and forging signs-and-sit-in protests around the country.

Some of its founding members even disdain online interaction.

Artistic interpretation: Occupy protesters have uploaded Lt. John Pike's photo into famous images

Not the same: Leonardo DiCaprio was added in Lt Pike's place, with his demeanour poking fun of Pike's lax attitude

Among other reasons, the protests are a landmark event because they are the country’s first large-scale demonstrations led largely by a generation raised on the Internet.

Unsurprisingly, their internet roots started to show.

The protests went viral, but they’ve also spawned all kinds of more playful Internet memes that highlight the dual nature of the Web to an American protest movement.

Though the Internet is an essential tool for amplifying a message, it inevitably leads toward frivolity and parody.

Activists: Some took a more political undertone, saying that Mr Pike was destroying American values

The Last Supper: Even Jesus isn't spared from Mr Pike's spray in this Photoshoped meme

Whereas much was made of how social media aided the uprising in Egypt, the same tools have commonly been used for jokes when it comes to the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Earlier this week, the University of California-Davis police officer who casually swept a line of campus protesters with pepper spray became a viral sensation.

The officer, whose name is Lieutenant John Pike but who’s known simply as ‘Pepper Spraying Cop’ online, was captured on video dousing the faces of sitting protesters.

The footage is remarkable for his seemingly cavalier disposition.

Taking to the streets: Pike is the fourth Beatle in this mock up of their Abbey Road album cover

Play on words: No longer Pink Floyd, Lt Pike has his own side of the law in this version

The meme positions the officer pepper-spraying famous figures through history, movies, famous paintings and just about anything else. George Washington crossing the Potomac gets it, and so does Jesus at the Last Supper. Even the hobbits of ‘Lord of the Rings’ get sprayed.

The essential point of the manipulated images is to highlight the absurd nature of the spraying, an apparently callous authority meting out punishment.

This kind of meme – unlike the viral protests themselves – runs counter to the movement’s seriousness.

Light attitude: Chief Wiggum from The Simpsons made an appearance on the UC-Davis campus

Cheesy for sure: The Cheetos spokesman stopped by the California campus as well

Not that kind of pepper: Pepper spray stings the eyes and must be treated right away

The force: Many have called into question the matter of police brutality at peaceful protests in wake of Pike's actions

It is amusing satire, but instead of shouts of injustice, the meme gleefully separates from reality.
Meanwhile, UC Davis students are doing more than snickering at Internet photos.

They’ve gathered to condemn the violence and urged university officials to require police to attend sensitivity training.

Mr Pike, along with another officer and the campus police chief have been placed on paid administrative leave.

Famous images: This submission has dubbed Pike into this Pulitzer Prize-winning photo from the Vietnam War

Founding fathers: Lt. Pike takes aim at George Washington in a historic painting of the country's first Presidet

No religious discrimination: Pepper spray is switched with gasoline in this fiery picture

There have been other goofy online reverberations, too.

On Amazon.com, ironic reviews of pepper spray have been written. Five stars, reads one: ‘Accept no substitutes when casually repressing students’. The comedy website FunnyOrDie.com gathered the reviews together.

An earlier video of a marriage proposal at Zuccotti Park has been seen by more than 108,000 on YouTube. The clip is titled ‘Occupy My Life.’

Cause for a Scream: Lt Pike makes a cameo in Edvard Munch's famous painting

Teaching a valuable lesson: One jokester makes a meme that has Lt Pike at a fictional career day with young children

One image of a cat bears a note: ‘I am the 99 purrcent.’ Yes, even the Occupy movement has its own LOLcats.

Other variations include Occupy Mordor (again with the ‘Lord of the Rings’) and Occupy Sesame Street. Says the Cookie Monster: ’99 percent of the world’s cookies are consumed by the 1 percent of the monsters’.

Stings like a bee: Both Mohammed Ali and Lt. Pike take Sonny Liston down in this famous image

All powerful: Pike takes on the role of the wonderful Wizard of Oz in this mock up of the legendary film

Dancing: After a long day of pepper spraying, Lt Pike just likes to tear it up on the ballroom floor, obviously

For more images, click here.

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New Bad Teeth Fashion from Japan Reaches America

EU Times — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 21:25:32 +0000

Yaeba-tastic: Child-like, crooked smiles are a hot trend in Japan, where the looked is known as 'yaeba'

Perfect teeth – white, straight and evenly aligned – may be the ideal in America, but that aesthetic is not for everyone.

Japanese women are going gaga for a crowded, crooked-toothed smile with accentuated canine teeth, known as the ‘yaeba’ look.

Popular at dentists in Tokyo, a cosmetic procedure to create the yaeba effect involves attaching non-permanent adhesive mini-fangs to canine teeth.

Yaeba, meaning ‘double tooth,’ is a sought-after treatment at Dental Salon Plaisir in Tokyu’s upmarket Ginza neighbourhood, where, perhaps in response to Twilight fans, Dr Kashiyama has been ‘pushing’ the $390 alteration, according to InventorSpot.com.

Far from the usual blood-lusting connotations of vampires, the sharp-canined look is an attempt at making a smile more child-like, replicating the odd alignment of smiles that are affected by delayed baby teeth.

The look – frothed about on blogs, Facebook fan pages and on Japanese TV – is seen as adding a well-calculated dash of imperfection to a pretty face, adding to a woman’s desirability.

'Cute' fangs: Facebook fan pages are filled with photos of proud Yaeba devotees

Essentially, says the New York Times, the look is about a desire to appear younger.

Pace University’s Dr Emilie Zaslow, assistant professor of communication studies, told the newspaper: ‘The naturally occurring yaeba is because of delayed baby teeth, or a mouth that’s too small.

‘It’s this kind of emphasis on youth and the sexualization of young girls.’

The trend follows the Western fondness of late for the gap-toothed smile – also a ‘young’ dental look.

Made popular by the likes of models Lara Stone, Georgia Jagger and Jessica Hart, the Madonna-style grin became a requested look at New York salons last year.

Dr Marc Lowenberg, a cosmetic dentist in Manhattan, told the New York Times in 2010: ‘The white standard got too white. The perfection standard got too perfect.’

Vincent Devaud, a ceramist from Pasadena in California, added: ‘What makes a person desirable and attractive? It’s not the symmetry; it’s perfect imperfections.’

Kirsten Dunst would surely agree. The actress told Elle UK that is very fond of her ‘snaggleteeth.’

‘I love my snaggle fangs,’ she said. ‘They give me character and character is sexy.’ Yaeba sites have latched on to her look, celebrating its crookedness.

There is, of course, the danger that by aiming to be unusual, eccentricity becomes mainstream – and that whimsical ‘imperfection’ is all about pandering to be more perfect.

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Rick Perry Ends His Presidential Campaign With Major Debate Gaffe

EU Times — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 22:18:47 +0000

Rick Perry’s commitment to cutting the government down to size is almost religious. In fact, he’s so certain the federal government has gone to the dogs, he doesn’t waste time with trifling matters like remembering his own political platform.

With all eyes on Herman Cain’s allegedly busy hands, it was Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry’s commitment to becoming the most rhetorically challenged Texan in US politics that stole the show at the CNBC Republican debate in Michigan on Wednesday.

In a flash of rhetorical brilliance that would have made Cicero blush, Perry refused to remember all three of the federal agencies he would cut if elected president.

“I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the – what’s the third one there? Let’s see.”

In an act of inter-party solidarity, rival Republican candidate Mitt Romney threw him a lifeline by calling out EPA – the Environmental Protection Agency.

“EPA, there you go,” Perry said.

Except that it wasn’t the EPA he was grasping for.

Somewhat taken aback, moderator John Howard asked Perry “Seriously…You can’t name the third one?”

Perry continued to fumble for the answer, though he didn’t help his case.

“Commerce and, let’s see,” Perry pondered. “I can’t. The third one, I can’t. Sorry. Oops.”

Some 15 minutes down the line, Perry would eventually recall it was the Department of Energy he had been reaching for all that time. He could be having second thoughs though, seeing that the Department of Energy might be the very agency to deal with the fallout from this potentially lethal gaffe.

In one of the more lucid moments of his campaign, Perry took it upon himself to face the media afterwards:

“I’m sure glad I had my boots on because I sure stepped in it out there,” he said.

Step in it he did. When the conservative governor of Texas originally announced his candidacy on August 13, he immediately stormed to the top of the pack of Republican presidential hopefuls.

But a series of blunders, culminating in what may have been the most humiliating debate performance in modern US history, have almost certainly ended his hopes to take on President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential race.

Speaking in New Hampshire last month, Perry, who appeared something like a giddy conductor at the very least high on life, improvised his own version of American spirit:

“I come from a state where they had this little place called the Alamo and they declared victory or death,” said Perry. “We’re kinda into those slogans, man. Live free or die; victory or death. Bring it!”

But despite his enthusiasm, he’s been plummeting in the polls ever since.

Meanwhile, current frontrunner Herman Cain emerged from the debates unscathed, despite allegations of sexual harassment from four different women.

But while the Republican faithful might be able to forgive the motivational speaker and former chairman of Godfather’s Pizza for his sexual peccadilloes, the greater American public will almost certainly be less lenient.

With a mixture of scandal and embarrassment mounting against both Cain and Perry, many think the mostly uninspiring former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney has the most to gain, as the rest of the competition seem to be dead set on derailing their own presidential dreams.

1 minute 40 seconds into this clip is where Rick Perry’s presidential chances flash crash. Literally. As the attached InTrade chart shows, the Perry presidential contract imploded from a prevailing level of about 9 by 60% to 3 in the span of milliseconds, and has since dead cat bounced to about a 50% decline.

Who would have thought that the vacuum tubes have now taken over presidential odds as well?

As for Perry’s presidential chances, this being America, where the population gets precisely the president it deserves, we would not be at all surprised if this epic moment of self-humiliation did not just cement Perry’s election chances. In other news, ISDA has just declared all CDS written on Perry to be untriggered as his political suicide was completely voluntary.

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Sarkozy calls Netanyahu “liar”, Obama agrees

EU Times — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:23:19 +0000

The comments have only just emerged

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “liar” in remarks to US President Barack Obama overheard by journalists.

“I can’t stand him any more, he’s a liar,” Mr Sarkozy said in French.

“You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day,” Mr Obama replied.

The exchange at the G20 summit was quoted by a French website, Arret sur Images, and confirmed by other media.

The remarks – during a private conversation – were overheard by a few journalists last week but were not initially reported, the BBC’s Christian Fraser in Paris says.

Journalists at the bilateral press conference had been handed translation boxes but had been told not to plug in their headphones until the backroom conversation had finished. But those who did heard the revealing comments.

For several days there was media silence in France about the exchange – a decision had been taken not to embarrass the French president, our correspondent says.

A correspondent for Le Monde newspaper referred to the conversation without the quotes.

But Israeli newspapers have reported it in full.

It is said Mr Obama was taking Mr Sarkozy to task for voting in favour of the Palestinian bid for full membership of the UN cultural organisation, Unesco, a bid that was approved despite American opposition.

The remarks indicate a breakdown of trust with the Israeli leader which could have wider implications for the Middle East peace process, our correspondent says.

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Yeti’s existence in Russia 95 percent proved

EU Times — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:27:11 +0000

The expedition and the scientific conference with the participation of Russian and foreign scientists drew to a close in the Kemerovo region of Russia. The events were held to either prove or deny the existence of the Yeti in the region. The press service of the regional administration said that Yeti’s existence was confirmed on the level of 95 percent.

Boxer Nikolai Valuev, as well as researchers from Russia, the USA, Canada, Sweden and Estonia visited the Tashtagolsky district of the Kemerovo region. They also visited the Azassky Cave, where the Yeti is thought to live.

“During the mission to the Azassky Cave, the members of the conference collected conclusive evidence proving the existence of the Yeti in Mountainous Shoria. The researchers found its footprints, the supposed resting place and various markers, which Yeti use to mark their territory,” Interfax quoted officials representing the regional administration.

Officials also said that Russian scientist Anatoly Fokin found several hairs, which probably belonged to the Yeti. The hairs were found in one of the discovered footprints. The hairs, as well as other evidence, will be analyzed in the laboratory.

Foreign specialists found the resemblance between Yeti’s footprints and the footprints of the creatures that were seen in USA’s Michigan. Ingemar Ramel, a Swedish researcher, put forward an idea to conduct excavation works in the Azassky Cave.

“Summing up the results of the work, the participants of the conference concluded that the discovered evidence prove the existence of the Yeti in the Kemerovo region on the level of 95 percent,” the message from the administration also said.

The Yeti has already become a symbol of Mountainous Shoria. Yeti souvenirs became the most popular goods in the Tashtagolsky district of the region. The local authorities even organized a special holiday last year – the Yeti Day. The day will be celebrated every year on the day of the opening of the skiing season.

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Zombies Join the Wall Street Protests in New York

EU Times — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:28:09 +0000

Protests against Wall Street spread beyond America on Monday as demonstrators marched on Federal Reserve banks and camped out in parks from Los Angeles to Portland, Maine and planned protests around the world in a show of anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed.

In Manhattan, hundreds of protesters dressed as corporate zombies in white face paint lurched past the New York Stock Exchange clutching fistfuls of fake money. In Chicago, demonstrators pounded drums in the city’s financial district. Others pitched tents or waved protest signs at passing cars in Boston, St Louis and Kansas City, Missouri.

Meanwhile, a call has been made for cities including Melbourne and Montreal to join the protests for a global day of action on October 15.

The arrests of 700 protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge over the weekend galvanized a slice of discontented America, from college students worried about their job prospects to middle-age workers who have been recently laid off.

Some protesters were left angry after the New York Times website reportedly removed a line in a story inferring that the police tricked demonstrators into going onto the bridge. Famous actors such as Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley and Collateral’s Mark Ruffalo were spotted at the Zuccoti Park camp.

Many of the demonstrators on the Brooklyn Bridge thought they had been hemmed in deliberately by cops. But police denied this was the case. The NYPD claims it gave ‘numerous warnings’ to protesters to stay on the pavement and they were told they would be arrested if they went into the roadway.

Demonstrators are today being urged to dress in business wear with white faces and blood, and will march while eating monopoly money, a spokesman said.

The group, which is also speaking out against climate change, want financial workers to see them ‘reflecting the metaphor of their actions’.

Some protesters likened themselves to the tea party movement – but with a liberal bent – or to the Arab Spring demonstrators who brought down their rulers in the Middle East.

Steven Harris, a laid-off truck driver in Kansas City, said: ‘I’ve felt this way for a long time. I’ve really just kind of been waiting for a movement to come along that I thought would last and have some resonation within the community.’

Mr Harris and about 20 other people were camped out in a park across the street from the Kansas City Federal Reserve building, their site strewn with sleeping bags, clothes and handmade signs. Some passing drivers honked in support.

The Occupy Wall Street protests started on September 17 with a few dozen demonstrators who tried to pitch tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, hundreds have set up camp in a park nearby and have become increasingly organised, lining up medical aid and legal help and printing their own newspaper, the Occupied Wall Street Journal.

About 100 demonstrators were arrested on September 24. During that march a few women were doused with pepper spray which was captured on video and viewed widely on the Internet. The group has garnered support from some union members including the United Federation of Teachers and the Transport Workers Union Local 100.

On Saturday police arrested 700 on charges of disorderly conduct and blocking a public street as they tried to march over the Brooklyn Bridge. Police said they took five more protesters into custody on Monday, though it was unclear whether they had been charged with any crime.

Wiljago Cook, of Oakland, California, who joined the New York protest on the first day, said she was shocked by the arrests.

‘Exposing police brutality wasn’t even really on my agenda, but my eyes have been opened,’ she said. She vowed to stay in New York ‘as long as it seems useful’.

Spreading: Zombie protesters at the TUC Demo in Manchester where the Conservative Party Conference is being held

City bus drivers sued the New York Police Department on Monday for commandeering their buses and making them drive to the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday to pick up detained protesters.

‘We’re down with these protesters. We support the notion that rich folk are not paying their fair share,’ said Transport Workers Union President John Samuelsen. ‘Our bus operators are not going to be pressed into service to arrest protesters anywhere.’

The city’s Law Department said the NYPD’s actions were proper.

On Monday, the zombies stayed on the sidewalks as they wound through Manhattan’s financial district chanting, ‘How to fix the deficit: End the war, tax the rich!’ They lurched along with their arms in front of them. Some yelled, ‘I smell money!’

Reaction was mixed from passers-by.

Roland Klingman, who works in the financial industry and was wearing a suit as he walked through a raucous crowd of protesters, said he could sympathize with the anti-Wall Street message.’I don’t think it’s directed personally at everyone who works down here,’ Mr Klingman said. ‘If they believe everyone down here contributes to policy decisions, it’s a serious misunderstanding.’

Another man in a suit yelled at the protesters, ‘Go back to work!’ He declined to be interviewed.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire who made his fortune as a corporate executive, has said the demonstrators are making a mistake by targeting Wall Street.

‘The protesters are protesting against people who make $40- or $50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That’s the bottom line. Those are the people who work on Wall Street or in the finance sector,’ Bloomberg said in a radio interview on Friday.

Some protesters planned to travel to other cities to organize similar events.

John Hildebrand, a protester in New York from Norman, Oklahoma, hoped to mount a protest there after returning home on Tuesday. Julie Levine, a protester in Los Angeles, planned to go to Washington on Thursday.

Websites and Facebook pages with names like Occupy Melbourne and Occupy Montreal have also sprung up to plan the demonstrations for October 15.

A description on the Occupy Melbourne page states: ‘As the Occupy Wall St protests continue to spread, a call out has been made for Melbourne to join the global day of action United for Global Change on October 15th stating the aim of “NON-VIOLENTLY sending a message to the financial sector worldwide. Australia too is under the same bind of freedom because of monetary policy and corporate greed. Show your support for Occupy Wall Street! Occupy Australia!!!”

Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators marched from a tent city on a grassy plot in downtown Boston to the Statehouse to call for an end of corporate influence of government.

‘Our beautiful system of American checks and balances has been thoroughly trashed by the influence of banks and big finance that have made it impossible for the people to speak,’ said protester Marisa Engerstrom, of Somerville, Massachusetts, a Harvard doctoral student.

The Boston demonstrators decorated their tents with hand-written signs reading, ‘Fight the rich, not their wars’ and ‘Human need, not corporate greed.’

Some stood on the sidewalk holding up signs, engaging in debate with passers-by and waving at honking cars. One man yelled ‘Go home!’ from his truck. Another man made an obscene gesture.

‘We lean left, but there have been tea party people stopping by here who have said, “Hey, we like what you’re doing,”‘ said Jason Potteiger, a media coordinator for the Boston protesters.

In Chicago, protesters beat drums on the corner near the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In Los Angeles, demonstrators hoping to get TV coverage gathered in front of the courthouse where Michael Jackson’s doctor is on trial on manslaughter charges.

Protesters in St Louis stood on a street corner a few blocks from the shimmering Gateway Arch, carrying signs that read, ‘How Did The Cat Get So Fat?,’ ‘You’re a Pawn in Their Game’ and ‘We Want The Sacks Of Gold Goldman Sachs Stole From Us.’

‘Money talks, and it seems like money has all the power,’ said Apollonia Childs. ‘I don’t want to see any homeless people on the streets, and I don’t want to see a veteran or elderly people struggle. We all should have our fair share. We all vote, pay taxes. Tax the rich.’

Meanwhile, more than 100 people turned out for Occupy Seattle on Saturday, with protesters waving signs and mingling peacefully with police.

The demonstrators, however, are only beginning to coalesce and they acknowledge that they need to clarify their goals. Like their New York counterparts, the protesters are seeking for a place in Seattle’s financial district to camp out for the winter.

Denver had its first protest on Saturday, with demonstrators telling 9News that they are a leaderless resistance movement of people who will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of Wall Street. Further ‘Occupy’ protests are planned for San Francisco, Washington DC, Phoenix and Albuquerque.

The Occupy Wall Street movement, which has garnered the support of celebrities such as filmmaker Michael Moore and actress Susan Sarandon, are protesting against many U.S. issues such as home foreclosures, high unemployment and the 2008 bailouts.

In Los Angeles, more than 100 protesters camped out in front of City Hall overnight on Saturday. Organisers want protests to spread across the country.

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Giant rat killed by pitchfork in Marcy Houses is believed to be Gambian pouched rat

EU Times — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 22:27:23 +0000

Housing Authority worker Jose Rivera was photographed with this giant rat at the Marcy Houses in Brooklyn.

It sounds like an urban legend: giant mutant-looking rats roaming a city housing project.

Only there’s a picture.

A photo making the rounds shows Housing Authority worker Jose Rivera minutes after he speared the humongous rodent with a pitchfork at the Marcy Houses.

It’s covered in white fur and looks well-fed. It appears to be about three feet long, including its hideously dangling tail.

And Rivera, 48, says it’s not the only one. He insists that while he was filling a rat hole last week, three came running out – but he was only able to nail one.

“I hit it one time and it was still moving,” Rivera said. “I hit it another time and that’s when it died. I’m not scared of rats but I was scared of being bitten.”

Naomi Colon, head of the Marcy Houses Tenant Association, said there have been sightings of the outsize rat for at least six years.

“The residents have told me that they’ve seen it running around with other rats. She lived with them. She ran into the same hole they ran in.”

Animal experts who viewed the picture identified the animal as a Gambian pouched rat, which is a fairly common pet rat.

They’re nocturnal, can grow to three feet and four pounds or more, and live seven or eight years.

Imports have been banned since 2003, when they were blamed for a monkeypox outbreak that sickened 100 people in the United States.

Dr. Paul Calle, director of zoological health at the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the Marcy Houses specimen was probably an escaped or discarded pet who decided to join the regular rat race.

“They are a very social animal and live in big groups in the wild. Our Norway rats are the closest big rodents it could accompany,” he said.

They can even be trained to sniff out landmines or even tuberculosis. “They’re pretty remarkable animals,” Calle said.

Tenants fear that the Gambian rat has been breeding with the Norway rats and spawning a super-breed of rodents – but zoo officials say not to worry.

The imported rat probably wouldn’t mate with local rats, and it couldn’t reproduce if it did, because each is from a different genus, Calle said.

Residents say that while the monster-sized rat may be the stuff of horror movies, the run-of-the-mill rats are an even bigger nightmare at the project where Jay-Z grew up.

“Even the cats are afraid of the rats. They get together and gang up on the cats, said resident Stephanie Davis, 44.

Pam Davis, 43, added, “They’re here day and night. We don’t dodge bullets. We dodge rats.They’re so big, they should charge them rent.”

The New York City Housing Authority had no immediate comment.

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Most Americans don’t know the significance of 4th of July

EU Times — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:01:53 +0000

Mark Dice talks with beachgoers in San Diego, California to ask them why the 4th of July holiday was started. Many of them have no clue at all and simply agree with him when he insinuates blatantly false explanations. Check out Mark’s new book Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True on Amazon.com, Kindle or Barnes and Noble’s Nook e-reader.

Mark Dice is a media analyst, social critic, political activist, and author who, in an entertaining and educational way, gets people to question our celebrity obsessed culture, and the role the mainstream media plays in shaping our lives.

Mark frequently stirs up controversy from his commentaries, protests, and boycotts, and has repeatedly been featured in major media outlets around the world.

Several of Mark’s YouTube videos have went viral, earning him a mention on ABC’s The View, Fox News’ O’Reilly Factor, TMZ.com, and other mainstream media outlets. Mark has also been featured in (or attacked in) the New York Post’s Page Six, Rolling Stone Magazine, USA Today, The New York Daily News, and in major papers in Pakistan and Iran.

Mark Dice appears in several documentary films including Invisible Empire, and The 9/11 Chronicles, and was featured on the History Channel’s Decoded. He enjoys enlightening zombies, as he calls them, (ignorant people) about the mass media’s effect on our culture, pointing out Big Brother’s prying eyes, and exposing elite secret societies along with scumbag politicians and their corrupt political agendas.

He also habitually calls into several top-rated talk shows, including the Sean Hannity Show, Glenn Beck, and Michael Savage, and verbally battles with the hosts on various issues since he has never been asked to be a guest on them as of yet. Audio of some of these calls are then posted online.

The term “fighting the New World Order” is used by Mark to describe some of his activities, and refers to his and others’ resistance and opposition (The Resistance) to the overall system of political corruption, illegal wars, elite secret societies, mainstream media, Big Brother and privacy issues; as well as various economic and social issues.

Dice and his supporters sometimes refer to being “awake” or “enlightened” and see their knowledge of these topics as part of their own personal Resistance to the corrupt New World Order. This Resistance involves self-improvement, self-sufficiency, personal responsibility and spiritual growth.

Mark Dice is the author of several books on current events, secret societies and conspiracies, including his newest book, Big Brother: The Orwellian Nightmare Come True. He lives in San Diego, California.

Sarkozy knocked to ground in public

EU Times — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:48:31 +0000

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is grabbed as he speaks to supporters near the southern city of Toulouse, June 30, 2011.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been grabbed and almost knocked to the ground by a man in the southern French town of Brax.

The attacker yanked Sarkozy’s suit by the shoulder and knocked him to the ground while he reached over a metal barricade to greet onlookers, AP reported on Thursday.

The assailant, a 32-year-old Frenchman, was not armed, said a national police official, who declined to be named due to police policy.

The attacker has been detained and interrogated in the nearby town of Agen.

He lives in the Lot-et-Garonne region and works in the theater business.

There was no immediate comment from the French president’s office.

Sarkozy’s predecessor, Jacques Chirac, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in 2002 during a military parade.

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Elderly man jailed in USA after robbing bank for $1

EU Times — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:26:58 +0000

Richard James Verone, 57, shown in this booking photo, "robbed" a bank for $1 to get health care in prison.

A 59-year-old man has been jailed in Gastonia, North Carolina, on charges of larceny after allegedly robbing an RBC Bank for $1 so he could get health care in prison. Richard James Verone handed a female teller a note demanding the money and claiming that he had a gun, according to the police report, ABC News informs.

“I started to walk away from the teller, then I went back and said, I’ll be sitting right over there in the chair waiting for the police,” he said, according to local television station 9News. “I wanted to make it known that this wasn’t for monetary reasons, but for medical reasons.”

Verone, who committed the “robbery” on June 9, does not plan to pay his bail, which was recently reduced to $2,000, says New York Daily News.

That’s right James Verone says he has no medical insurance. He has a growth of some sort on his chest, two ruptured disks and a problem with his left foot. He is 59 years old and with no job and a depleted bank account. He thought jail was the best place he could go for medical care and a roof over his head. Verone is hoping for a three-year sentence, informs 9NEWS.com.

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