- An English actress who appeared in Roman Polanski's 1986 movie "Pirates" said on Friday that the director sexually abused her decades ago in Paris when she was 16.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Video: Raw Video: Cleaning a Bird Covered in Oil
The US government has demanded immediate clarification from BP over its commitment to pay for costs caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Lookin at Lucky wins Preakness, Super Saver fades
BALTIMORE — Lookin at Lucky won the Preakness, ending Super Saver's bid to become the first Triple Crown winner in 32 years.
Lookin At Lucky moved into contention in the final turn and sprinted to the finish ahead of First Dude by three-quarters of a length. His victory Saturday means the sport will have to wait at least another year for its first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Jackson Bend was third and Yawanna Twist was fourth.
Super Saver won the Kentucky Derby by 2 1/2 lengths with Calvin Borel in the saddle and riding the rail. This time, Borel was back aboard the 3-year-old bay colt, but didn't get to the rail — his signature trip.
Super Saver finished eighth, only the second time in eight career races that he failed to finish in the money.
Lookin At Lucky was favored in the Derby, but finished sixth on a sloppy track. The horse was ridden by Martin Garcia, who replaced Garrett Gomez after Lucky's disappointing Derby run.
Lookin At Lucky paid $6.80, $4.60 and $3.80. The winning time was 1:55.47 over 1 3/16 miles.
First Dude returned $16.60 and $9.20, and Jackson Bend paid $6.60.
Dublin finished fifth, ahead of Paddy O'Prado and Caracortado. Then came Super Saver, followed by Schoolyard Dreams, Aikenite, Pleasant Prince and Northern Giant.
It was the ninth Triple Crown win for trainer Bob Baffert and his fifth Preakness win, tied for second place with D. Wayne Lukas.
Gomez was aboard Lukas' Dublin, who broke poorly from the 12th post and was not a factor.
Lookin At Lucky moved into contention in the final turn and sprinted to the finish ahead of First Dude by three-quarters of a length. His victory Saturday means the sport will have to wait at least another year for its first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Jackson Bend was third and Yawanna Twist was fourth.
Super Saver won the Kentucky Derby by 2 1/2 lengths with Calvin Borel in the saddle and riding the rail. This time, Borel was back aboard the 3-year-old bay colt, but didn't get to the rail — his signature trip.
Super Saver finished eighth, only the second time in eight career races that he failed to finish in the money.
Lookin At Lucky was favored in the Derby, but finished sixth on a sloppy track. The horse was ridden by Martin Garcia, who replaced Garrett Gomez after Lucky's disappointing Derby run.
Lookin At Lucky paid $6.80, $4.60 and $3.80. The winning time was 1:55.47 over 1 3/16 miles.
First Dude returned $16.60 and $9.20, and Jackson Bend paid $6.60.
Dublin finished fifth, ahead of Paddy O'Prado and Caracortado. Then came Super Saver, followed by Schoolyard Dreams, Aikenite, Pleasant Prince and Northern Giant.
It was the ninth Triple Crown win for trainer Bob Baffert and his fifth Preakness win, tied for second place with D. Wayne Lukas.
Gomez was aboard Lukas' Dublin, who broke poorly from the 12th post and was not a factor.
Video: The failing Euro sparks "questions"
The European Central Bank president, Jean-Claude Trichet, warned this weekend that Europe faces its worst crisis since the second world war as he called for a "quantum leap" from eurozone countries in getting a grip on their finances.
Brazil's Lula arrives in Iran for key nuclear talks
TEHRAN - Brazilian President Lula Inacio de Silva arrived in Tehran on Sunday for a nuclear summit that major powers have said might prove to be Tehran's last chance to avoid tough new UN sanctions.
Michael Jackson doctor helps passenger in distress
PHOENIX — The doctor accused of administering a powerful anesthetic that killed pop star Michael Jackson helped stabilize a young woman who fell unconscious on a US Airways jet on Saturday.
Dr. Conrad Murray found the woman with a very weak pulse aboard Flight 641 from Houston, hooked her up to an IV line he got from the plane's medical bag and monitored her while the jet was diverted to Albuquerque, N.M., his spokeswoman said.
"We're not surprised," said Miranda Sevcik, from the legal team representing Murray in his involuntary manslaughter case. "He's a good doctor, we've always said he was a good doctor, and that's what good doctors do is save people."
The young woman, who Murray said was 23 and traveling with an 11-month-old baby, was met at the gate by paramedics and taken to a hospital, Sevcik said. The plane then continued on to Phoenix. Murray was on his way to Los Angeles to confer with his lawyers at the time.
US Airways confirmed that a doctor on the flight helped stabilize a patient who had a medical emergency. Spokesman Todd Lehmacher said it was against company policy to identify the passenger or the doctor on board who helped stabilize her.
Murray's involvement was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.com.
Jackson, 50, was about to launch a world comeback tour when he died last June after being found unresponsive with Murray at his bedside in a Beverly Hills mansion. Murray had been hired at $150,000 a month to be Jackson's personal physician.
Murray told police he administered the anesthetic propofol to Jackson as a treatment for insomnia.
Conrad, 57, was charged in February with a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty, and remains free on $75,000 bail pending trial.
The cardiologist has offices in Houston and Las Vegas. His license to practice medicine in California has been restricted by a judge and he is fighting to maintain his license in Las Vegas, where back child support could result in its suspension.
Dr. Conrad Murray found the woman with a very weak pulse aboard Flight 641 from Houston, hooked her up to an IV line he got from the plane's medical bag and monitored her while the jet was diverted to Albuquerque, N.M., his spokeswoman said.
"We're not surprised," said Miranda Sevcik, from the legal team representing Murray in his involuntary manslaughter case. "He's a good doctor, we've always said he was a good doctor, and that's what good doctors do is save people."
The young woman, who Murray said was 23 and traveling with an 11-month-old baby, was met at the gate by paramedics and taken to a hospital, Sevcik said. The plane then continued on to Phoenix. Murray was on his way to Los Angeles to confer with his lawyers at the time.
US Airways confirmed that a doctor on the flight helped stabilize a patient who had a medical emergency. Spokesman Todd Lehmacher said it was against company policy to identify the passenger or the doctor on board who helped stabilize her.
Murray's involvement was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.com.
Jackson, 50, was about to launch a world comeback tour when he died last June after being found unresponsive with Murray at his bedside in a Beverly Hills mansion. Murray had been hired at $150,000 a month to be Jackson's personal physician.
Murray told police he administered the anesthetic propofol to Jackson as a treatment for insomnia.
Conrad, 57, was charged in February with a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty, and remains free on $75,000 bail pending trial.
The cardiologist has offices in Houston and Las Vegas. His license to practice medicine in California has been restricted by a judge and he is fighting to maintain his license in Las Vegas, where back child support could result in its suspension.
Complete Video: The Attack On Mohammed Cartoonist Lars Vilks
Some of you have already seen the video clip where Muslim students, who were enraged by his work, attack the Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks. Ace of Spades posted the complete video, which contains the full aftermath of the attack.
The video is about 10 minutes long, watch it all the way through. It tells so much more than the short clip of the attack.
The thing that jumps out at me the most is that these native Swedes have to be the most passive bunch of sheeples I have ever seen. Right before their eyes, these angry Muslim students trample over free speech; the hallmark of western civilization and the Swedes can’t even muster a cough of indignation. With the exception of one young lady who speaks up after the lecture is canceled, not a single one of the Swedes says boo.
Have these people been so cowered by the threat of Islamic violence they dare not defend free speech in their native land or are these sheeple so screwed up in the head with PC BS that all they notice is the offense to the Muslims?
I also cannot help think how perfectly Eric Holder would fit right in with this crowd.
What were your thoughts from the full version of the video?
The video is about 10 minutes long, watch it all the way through. It tells so much more than the short clip of the attack.
The thing that jumps out at me the most is that these native Swedes have to be the most passive bunch of sheeples I have ever seen. Right before their eyes, these angry Muslim students trample over free speech; the hallmark of western civilization and the Swedes can’t even muster a cough of indignation. With the exception of one young lady who speaks up after the lecture is canceled, not a single one of the Swedes says boo.
Have these people been so cowered by the threat of Islamic violence they dare not defend free speech in their native land or are these sheeple so screwed up in the head with PC BS that all they notice is the offense to the Muslims?
I also cannot help think how perfectly Eric Holder would fit right in with this crowd.
What were your thoughts from the full version of the video?
The fight against racism in Cuba goes viral
Rosa Parks refused to stand. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. Barack Obama won the presidential election. America' s plight for racial equality has had its struggles, its heroes and its progress. But on the nearby island of Cuba, some say modern-day racism against blacks is blatant, and fighting it isn't as simple as public protest.
According to Afro-Cuban activists, racism against blacks in Cuba is systemic and institutional. They say, to this day, blacks are excluded from tourism related jobs, relegated to poor housing, have poor access to health care, are excluded from managerial positions and are more likely to be imprisoned.
Carlos Moore is an Afro-Cuban activist who has spent his life writing about racial injustice in Cuba and says race is the country's most pressing issue. In 2008, he sent a scathing letter to Cuban leader Raul Castro demanding racial reform. In it, he states: "You are a descendant of Europeans born in Spain; I am a descendant of Africans born in the Caribbean. We are both Cubans. However, being Cuban confers no specific privilege on either of us as human beings".
It was a luxury of civil protest he could only afford to write while exiled in Brazil. According to Moore, "There is an unstated threat. Blacks in Cuba know that whenever you raise race in Cuba, you go to jail. Therefore, the struggle in Cuba is different. There cannot be a civil rights movement. You will have instantly 10,000 black people dead". He says a new generation of Cubans are looking at politics in another way.
That new generation is going the way of the world wide web. Henry Gomez, a White Cuban living in Florida, noticed that some of the most outspoken voices against racism in Cuba are bloggers. So he founded Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty (BUCL).
"We basically organize events, distribute press releases and try to obtain coverage to counter the official propaganda coming from the Cuban Government" states Gomez, a writer for Babalu, a website that he says is the most widely read English language blog about Cuba.
Cuba was a former Spanish colony and the destination of hundreds of African slaves. According to Gomez, the Cuban Revolution of 1959 did little to liberate blacks. Since then, he says, former Dictator Fidel Castro has been successful in portraying Cuba as a post-racial egalitarian utopia. For example, Gomez says "Cuba began to develop the tourist sector of the economy in the mid-90's and blacks were kept out of many positions that interfaced directly with foreign visitors. Also, blacks are extremely underrepresented in the higher echelons of the Cuban government bureaucracy."
Countless blogs by Cuban writers seek to disprove so-called propaganda authored by the Cuban government. The U.S. State Department estimates Afro-Cubans make up 62 percent of the Cuban population. However, the Cuban census registers that 65 percent of the population is White.
Gomez says the Cuban government pays lip service to the issue of race. "It's frankly the government that is the biggest perpetrator of racism in Cuba. As for Afro-Cuban opposition leaders, many of them are in jail such as Dr. Darsi Ferrer and Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet. Both are Afro-Cuban medical doctors who are rotting in Cuban prisons for their political beliefs." Recently, an Afro-Cuban political prisoner, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died in prison after a lengthy hunger strike. "Remember, this is a totalitarian dictatorship that has essentially remained unchanged for 51 years," added Gomez.
Last November, sixty African-American scholars and professionals condemned the Cuban regime's apparent crackdown on the country's budding civil-rights movement. They issued a statement called "Acting on Our Conscience" which also called for the immediate release of imprisoned Afro-Cuban civil rights leaders. Traditionally, many African-Americans leaders sided with the Castro regime and condemned the United States, which in the past, sought to topple the Cuban government. The public rebuke of Castro's racial policies signed by prominent African-Americans like Cornell West, Ruby Dee and Mario Van Peebles just to name a few, may indicate a changing of the tide. However, pro-government Cubans rejected allegations of racism and repression on the island, calling the charges "delusional" and part of "an anti-Cuban campaign." They went on to point out that Cuba outlawed discrimination in 1959 and promotes Afro-Cuban culture through museums, music, dance and other institutions.
But the lack of acknowledgment by Cuba's government does little to contain the movement of racial equality that is gaining momentum among Cuban human rights activists who are using their computers as their main weapon in the fight against racism. With each blog entry or letter, they expose what they call one the most blatantly racist places in the world.
But at the same time they remain hopeful that some of the racial progress seen in America can take root in Cuba as well. "I have no doubt that when Cuba joins the world democracies that it will have many Afro-Cuban leaders and presidents," says Gomez, who is leading the new voice of Cuban Activists online. While Moore, who has spent the last forty years in exile and published dozens of books and articles about race relations in Cuba believes it threatens the Castro regime, as more blacks in the country feel empowered by an Obama presidency in America. He says, "Something is happening in Cuba, making them more paranoid than usual on the race subject."
According to Afro-Cuban activists, racism against blacks in Cuba is systemic and institutional. They say, to this day, blacks are excluded from tourism related jobs, relegated to poor housing, have poor access to health care, are excluded from managerial positions and are more likely to be imprisoned.
Carlos Moore is an Afro-Cuban activist who has spent his life writing about racial injustice in Cuba and says race is the country's most pressing issue. In 2008, he sent a scathing letter to Cuban leader Raul Castro demanding racial reform. In it, he states: "You are a descendant of Europeans born in Spain; I am a descendant of Africans born in the Caribbean. We are both Cubans. However, being Cuban confers no specific privilege on either of us as human beings".
It was a luxury of civil protest he could only afford to write while exiled in Brazil. According to Moore, "There is an unstated threat. Blacks in Cuba know that whenever you raise race in Cuba, you go to jail. Therefore, the struggle in Cuba is different. There cannot be a civil rights movement. You will have instantly 10,000 black people dead". He says a new generation of Cubans are looking at politics in another way.
That new generation is going the way of the world wide web. Henry Gomez, a White Cuban living in Florida, noticed that some of the most outspoken voices against racism in Cuba are bloggers. So he founded Bloggers United for Cuban Liberty (BUCL).
"We basically organize events, distribute press releases and try to obtain coverage to counter the official propaganda coming from the Cuban Government" states Gomez, a writer for Babalu, a website that he says is the most widely read English language blog about Cuba.
Cuba was a former Spanish colony and the destination of hundreds of African slaves. According to Gomez, the Cuban Revolution of 1959 did little to liberate blacks. Since then, he says, former Dictator Fidel Castro has been successful in portraying Cuba as a post-racial egalitarian utopia. For example, Gomez says "Cuba began to develop the tourist sector of the economy in the mid-90's and blacks were kept out of many positions that interfaced directly with foreign visitors. Also, blacks are extremely underrepresented in the higher echelons of the Cuban government bureaucracy."
Countless blogs by Cuban writers seek to disprove so-called propaganda authored by the Cuban government. The U.S. State Department estimates Afro-Cubans make up 62 percent of the Cuban population. However, the Cuban census registers that 65 percent of the population is White.
Gomez says the Cuban government pays lip service to the issue of race. "It's frankly the government that is the biggest perpetrator of racism in Cuba. As for Afro-Cuban opposition leaders, many of them are in jail such as Dr. Darsi Ferrer and Dr. Oscar Elias Biscet. Both are Afro-Cuban medical doctors who are rotting in Cuban prisons for their political beliefs." Recently, an Afro-Cuban political prisoner, Orlando Zapata Tamayo, died in prison after a lengthy hunger strike. "Remember, this is a totalitarian dictatorship that has essentially remained unchanged for 51 years," added Gomez.
Last November, sixty African-American scholars and professionals condemned the Cuban regime's apparent crackdown on the country's budding civil-rights movement. They issued a statement called "Acting on Our Conscience" which also called for the immediate release of imprisoned Afro-Cuban civil rights leaders. Traditionally, many African-Americans leaders sided with the Castro regime and condemned the United States, which in the past, sought to topple the Cuban government. The public rebuke of Castro's racial policies signed by prominent African-Americans like Cornell West, Ruby Dee and Mario Van Peebles just to name a few, may indicate a changing of the tide. However, pro-government Cubans rejected allegations of racism and repression on the island, calling the charges "delusional" and part of "an anti-Cuban campaign." They went on to point out that Cuba outlawed discrimination in 1959 and promotes Afro-Cuban culture through museums, music, dance and other institutions.
But the lack of acknowledgment by Cuba's government does little to contain the movement of racial equality that is gaining momentum among Cuban human rights activists who are using their computers as their main weapon in the fight against racism. With each blog entry or letter, they expose what they call one the most blatantly racist places in the world.
But at the same time they remain hopeful that some of the racial progress seen in America can take root in Cuba as well. "I have no doubt that when Cuba joins the world democracies that it will have many Afro-Cuban leaders and presidents," says Gomez, who is leading the new voice of Cuban Activists online. While Moore, who has spent the last forty years in exile and published dozens of books and articles about race relations in Cuba believes it threatens the Castro regime, as more blacks in the country feel empowered by an Obama presidency in America. He says, "Something is happening in Cuba, making them more paranoid than usual on the race subject."
Bangkok Street Fighting Continues, Death Toll Mounts
Street fighting continues in the Thai capital, Bangkok, as anti-government protesters try to push back soldiers who have surrounded their camp.
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