News & Not News Megathread

H

hellrasinbrasin

Guest
And I have to agree with the poster that the news piece being spun by CNN is complete and utter BS. The whole article reeks of the US Gov trying to kill the marijuana has medical benefits movement.
 

Th3Branded0ne

I'll be back.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120629-709477.html

MEXICO CITY--The chief executive of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo SAB (GMODELO.MX) said Friday that his company just couldn't pass on the opportunity to be fully integrated with the biggest and strongest beer maker in the world.

By selling to Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (BUD) the 50% of Modelo that AB InBev didn't already own, in a deal valued at $20.1 billion, Modelo is firmly positioning itself as a "world leader" amid further beer industry consolidation, Carlos Fernandez told reporters during a conference call.

AB InBev chief executive Carlos Brito, also on the call, described the combination as a "natural next step" for the two companies, saying that together they will be able to accomplish much more than they would as separate entities.

Corona brewer Modelo partnered with Anheuser-Busch more than 20 years ago. AB InBev absorbed Anheuser-Busch's 50% Modelo stake through InBev's $52 billion acquisition in 2008 of Budweiser producer Anheuser-Busch, a deal that created the world's largest beer maker by sales.

A fully combined AB InBev-Modelo would generate estimated annual sales of 400 million hectoliters for revenue of $47 billion in 2012, the companies said. The deal will also bring cost savings worth at least $600 million a year.
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
THE ILLEGAL DIRT BIKE GANGS OF BALTIMORE
http://www.vice.com/read/the-wheelying-dirt-bike-gangs-of-baltimore-twelve-o-clock-boyz-lofty-nathan?utm_source=vicetumblrus
There is something undeniably American about biker gangs, from the quintessential images ingrained in our mind of the 60s-era Hell's Angels made legendary by the writing of Hunter S. Thompson and The Rolling Stone's film Gimme Shelter to DMX's video for the "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" where he had all those dudes in baggie jeans riding through the ghettos of New York on ATVs and suicycles.

It's time to add one more motorist collective to that pantheon of rebels on wheels: Baltimore's Twelve O'Clock Boyz. They're a hundred-strong gang who wheely dirt bikes through a city where police are banned from chasing them, creating an illegal underground sport that the cops are powerless to do anything about.

For the last three years, filmmaker Lotfy Nathan has been documenting the Twelve O'Clock Boyz for a new film called Twelve O'Clock in Baltimore (trailer below), which is now ready for release at the end of this year. I spoke to him about the gang.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oU0fiFn_IM

VICE: Hey Lotfy. How did you first come across these guys?
Lotfy Nathan: I saw them first in passing, actually. I think a lot of people in Baltimore see them tearing through the city, and most people don't really know what the whole thing's about. It's assumed that they're pushing drugs on dirt bikes—like a pack of dealers, or bandits, or something—which is kind of ridiculous, because these bikes are incredibly loud and attract a lot of attention, which is not what you want if you're selling drugs.

Very true. What made you want to make a film about them?
Well, I didn't know if it would actually be possible to contact them at first. But I asked around and found out where they congregated and they were actually really receptive to being filmed. I hadn't really connected the showing-off element of the bike riding to what they might be like in person before, but it kind of made sense. A lot of the guys are going for a YouTube celebrity status, so they were all about the camera.

I read about the weird situation with the police and the riders. Could you explain that a bit?
Basically, the bikes are illegal to ride in the city, but the police aren't allowed to chase anyone riding them, so they leave them alone. It's because of a death that occurred in 1999, involving a dirt bike rider when, allegedly, a police officer was giving chase. It's just too dangerous to chase the bikes. That then creates this awkward cat and mouse thing, because the police are being taunted.

There's a lot of "come get me" stuff from the riders?
Exactly. Some of the riders take that further than others, but, for the most part, it's just a big congregation. These guys come from all over the city and they flock up in packs of up to 100 bikes.

Do they ride through the whole city, or just their own neighborhoods?
No, through the whole city. It's a chance for kids who would otherwise be stuck in their own neighborhoods to parade through the whole city and declare it as their own. They go up to the harbor, where they're trying to keep things nice and pretty for tourists. They go to East Baltimore, West Baltimore, they go north, they hit the highway—wherever, really.

How do the police deal with them?
Police helicopters, undercover police, and unmarked cars... There are police staking out corners with tasers, ready to take these guys out.

Jesus. Have you seen anyone get in real trouble?
Sure. Occasionally there'll be a clash, whether that be from police, or someone wiping out on a bike, or someone pulling out a gun and trying to steal a bike in a block where they just aren't having it.

...

...

What does the rest of the city feel about it? Has it turned into a bit of a local treasure?
I would say it's pretty divided, and that really speaks of the divides in Baltimore. Some people think they're intentionally terrorizing people, some just think they're obnoxious and some people think they're sensational.

...

So, what's the basic story of the film now?
It follows a young boy who's just lost his older brother, and he's gravitating towards the dirt bike riders. He's growing up in a rough area in West Baltimore, and you see him acclimating to the group more and more as the story goes on. I just thought he was a kind of poetic representation of why the group exists. It's kind of like Boy Scouts in the hood, or something like that.
 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/jon-lord-deep-purple-keyboardist-dies-at-71/2012/07/19/gJQAnQBBwW_story.html

:judo:
2012 is proving to be very unkind year for the HR/HM legends. Earlier this year, it was the very influential and (arguably) the very first American metal guitarist Ronnie Montrose who had departed from us and passed on to the heavens. And sadly, Deep Purple's original keyboardist and co-founder Jon Lord has joined him now as well.
May they both rest in peace.
It can never be stressed enough that music will never be as wonderful and great as it once was decades ago. Most certainly not in this day and age of shitty autotuned pop "music" on the radio, or the cookie monster growling and the ever more downtuned guitars that sound like static noise coming from a broken radio. And the death of each and every talented veteran musician who was a part of that long gone golden era of great rock music makes it all the more poignant :sad:
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Neat idea:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/26/travel/friends-summer-photo-tradition/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

But man, the drop off in just the last 5 years, brutal.


BTW, in other CNN headline "news," the CNN Belief Blog asks where God was during the shooting in Colorado?

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/24/where-was-god-in-aurora-massacre/

gutsbarf.gif


I'm glad their "Religion Editor" was up to this tough task, I'd hate to think he was just stealing money with this totally bogus job. What a fucking embarrassment you are, CNN.
 
Aazealh said:
Housefly @ 1:40something.

VIDEO: 9-year-old caught beating tots at day care

VICKSBURG, MS—A 9-year-old boy at a Mississippi day care center was captured on surveillance video beating, kicking and biting toddlers while the worker had her back turned.

One of the children’s father returned to the school after seeing the bruises on his baby and slapped the child he thought was responsible, but it was the wrong one. The dad was charged with simple assault.

The day care worker was fired and charged with two counts of child neglect.

The 9-year-old was kicked out of the school.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Griffith said:
BTW, in other CNN headline "news," the CNN Belief Blog asks where God was during the shooting in Colorado?

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/24/where-was-god-in-aurora-massacre/

gutsbarf.gif


I'm glad their "Religion Editor" was up to this tough task, I'd hate to think he was just stealing money with this totally bogus job. What a fucking embarrassment you are, CNN.
Fuckafjaoiwef;aowijefowiaj ;iawoejf aiowjf awef awqefj wa;EOHF WA;OEHF AWOIG J2Wo3tj 23t 832 382tr 2
 
This is currently big news here in Greece.
Greece's triple-jump champion was expelled from the Olympics after posting a tasteless tweet about Africans and the West Nile virus.
Hellenic Olympic Committee officials announced Voula Papachristou wouldn't travel to London after she tweeted a joke about African immigrants.
On Monday, the track athlete posted a tweet reading, "with so many Africans in Greece, at least the West Nile mosquitos will be eating food from their own home." The comments created an uproar on Greek social media. Papachristou didn't address the criticism on Twitter for two days.
Source => http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/greek-athlete-expeled-olympics-racist-tweet-140602319--oly.html
 

Vampire_Hunter_Bob

Cats are great
BREAKING NEWS
Retired porn star Jenna Jameson supports Mitt Romney
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/retired-porn-star-jenna-jameson-says-she-supports-143703925.html
Jameson was being interviewed "exclusively" by a CBS reporter who was "on assignment" at "an event marking the 8th anniversary" of the San Francisco-area strip club.
 
Funny ...
... Jameson said while sipping champagne in a VIP room at Gold Club in the city's South of Market neighborhood. "When you're rich, you want a Republican in office."

That's not going to fly well with Middle/ Lower class people. BUT, boobs have a way of winning in most situations.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/20/showbiz/obit-tony-scott/index.html

Damn, Tony Scott killed himself. He had a lot of great movies. The Last Boyscout, True Romance. Although he's probably best known for Top Gun.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Oburi said:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/20/showbiz/obit-tony-scott/index.html

Damn, Tony Scott killed himself. He had a lot of great movies. The Last Boyscout, True Romance. Although he's probably best known for Top Gun.

Damn! I was thinking about him just yesterday during the podcast... :sad:
 

Kompozinaut

Sylph Sword
And there goes all of Lance Armstrong's titles. I'm not sure which side of the story I believe, honestly. The only evidence are allegations. No positive tests.

"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough,'" Armstrong, 40, wrote in a statement emailed to The Times and other news agencies.

"For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999."

Armstrong's attorneys asked a USADA attorney to turn the matter over to UCI, the international cycling union, but USADA maintains it retains jurisdiction to strip the titles.

Armstrong never tested positive for performance-enhancing use during his decade-plus of Tour races.
...
Armstrong won the Tour de France from 1999 to 2005, but he was dogged by accusations from former teammates, including Floyd Landis — who was stripped of a Tour victory — and American rider Tyler Hamilton that his victories came amid team-wide deceit about performance-enhancing methods, including blood doping and steroid use.
...
"Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt," Armstrong wrote. "The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our [cancer] foundation and on me leads me to where I am today — finished with this nonsense."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lance-armstrong-20120824,0,3310146.story
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Delta Phi Zeta said:
And there goes all of Lance Armstrong's titles. I'm not sure which side of the story I believe, honestly. The only evidence are allegations. No positive tests.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lance-armstrong-20120824,0,3310146.story

This hardly comes as a surprise to me. I don't follow cycling at all, but there have been suspicions of doping for Armstrong since the very beginning, including traces of EPO in a test as early as 1999. In a way he's almost lucky to have avoided trouble for so long. The thing is though, it's not just him, it's the same for practically everybody. How many Tour de France winners have lost their titles so far? I think it might be quicker to count those who haven't lost theirs. And that probably just means they were more cautious than the rest. That sport's been in a pretty sorry state for over a decade now.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Here's an intelligent take on the significance of this:

http://3wiresports.com/author/alanabrahamson/

When you look at it this way, and consider how much this guy has mercilessly trashed his accusers in the past, it's kind of hard to see it any other way unless you're swayed by nationalism, front-running, or sentiment. To be honest, his fight against these allegations was far more compelling than any amount of bicycling he did (nobody cares about cycling here, it was a case of a winner with a cancer story that was otherwise known not to be a very nice personality). So, from that perspective I'm honestly sad to see the champion of cheating give up the fight, "Say it ain't so, Lance!"
 
Walter said:
That's a fantastically written and researched article Griff. Thanks for linking it.

Seconded.

The money wouldn't be the issue since I'm sure he's made a hell lot more from the fact he's won 7 races (from endorsements, etc.) than the actual winnings. Credibility of the guy = Level 0.
 
Top Bottom