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Tag: poison

  • Rita Ora Gets Therapy For Having Extreme Fear Of Death

    Rita Ora admits she has an extreme fear of death and this led the singer to seek professional help. The X-Factor judge has been attending therapy since she was little.

    Her fear stemmed from her experience when she was seven years old. In an interview with The Guardian, she made mention of a traumatic experience while playing hide and seek with her friends in Earl’s Court in London.

    “I was seven – no-one found me and I thought I was going to get stolen by ghosts,” said Ora, recalling how terrified she was at the thought of being abandoned in a cemetery.

    She remembered how she had panic attacks as a child after that.

    The “Poison” singer confessed that she has been going to therapy since then and she tries to go for therapy once a week now.

    But looking at the bright side, Ora’s experience made her see life in a new perspective. She has grown from a scared child to a wise woman.

    Ora said, “I started to value things, see things differently. This world can really eat you up and you can forget who you are.”

    At the age of 24, the singer has accomplished so much and the thought of dying makes her even more grateful for the blessings she has. Ora had been a judge on The Voice and now she is an X-Factor judge. Ora is also the new face of an Italian underwear brand Tezenis.

    However, recently, Ora has been criticized for working with RnB singer Chris Brown. It seems like people cannot forget Brown’s beating of his ex-girlfriend Rihanna back in 2009.

    Ora says she believes Brown is a “good person with a good heart,” she spoke with The Sun in June.

    When asked about her rumored rivalry with Rihanna, the singer said she was a “huge fan” of the singer.

  • Hoda Kotb Beats Michael Strahan on ‘Lip Sync Battle’

    Hoda Kotb and Michael Strahan went head to head (or is that lip to lip?) next week on cable’s breakout TV hit show of the season, Lip Sync Battle.

    The Live! with Kelly and Michael star and former NFL player had fans cracking up as he got down to the sexual innuendoes performing Fergie’s ‘London Bridge.’

    Hoda Kotb–sans her sidekick Kathie Lee Gifford–entertained fans singing about big butts while lip syncing Sir Mix-A-Lot’s ‘Baby Got Back.’

    Which of these morning television hosts do you suppose did the better job?

    Check out Hoda Kotb lip syncing ‘Baby Got Back.’

    And now check out Michael Strahan. Does he have what it takes to beat Hoda Kotb?

    In addition to ‘Baby Got Back,’ Hoda Kotb also performed ‘Uptown Funk’ by Mark Ronson. Michael Strahan’s second number was ‘Poison’ by Bell Biv DeVoe.

    Lip Sync Battle airs on Thursdays nights on Spike TV at 10:00 pm ET. Are you surprised Hoda Kotb beat Michael Strahan? Did you expect the results would be the other way around?

  • Charlie Ebersol and Britney Spears: First Selfie Tweeted

    Charlie Ebersol is the new man in Britney Spears’ life, and it seems like their relationship is evolving, because Spears tweeted a selfie of the two just days ago–for the very first time.

    Word just emerged last week that Britney Spears was dating the writer and producer. Charlie Ebersol is the son of Saturday Night Live creator Dick Ebersol. He is known for producing both film and TV projects for HBO, ESPN, NBC, SPIKE, CNBC, USA Network, the History Channel, and more.

    On November 5th, Britney wouldn’t say whether the two were in an exclusive relationship or not. She remained coy while speaking with Extra.

    “Yes, there is a special someone. It’s very new,” she said.

    This weekend, however, she officially let the cat out of its proverbial bag.

    Britney Spears captioned the tweeted selfie of her with David Ebersol with a picture of a heart. No words were needed. She made her point abundantly clear.

    Do you think this relationship might work out for Britney Spears? She hasn’t done too well in the romance category. This summer she told the crowd at one of her Las Vegas shows that David Lucado had cheated on her. They split up in August. And it wasn’t all that long ago–January, to be exact–that she and former manager Jason Trawick broke off their engagement.

    Might Charlie Ebersol be the one for Britney Spears? Does he have what it takes to withstand her crazy life as a performer? His work has certainly familiarized him with show business types. Do you suppose any he’s met have been like the ‘Poison’ singer? Will Britney be too much for him to handle?

  • Bret Michaels Parodies Himself; You Can’t Look Away

    Bret Michaels didn’t invent cock rock, hair metal, metal ballads, denim metal, glam, do-rags, tattoos, eyeliner, car crashes, band feuds, ripoff songwriting, MTV celeb reality shows, shameless country music crossover attempts, or rehab. But Bret Michaels has dipped his boot toe into every bit of it and come out looking like a pioneer.

    With his band Poison, Michaels tore up the music charts for a few albums, eventually becoming the subject of a VH1 Behind the Music episode. His exploits are the stuff of semi-legend, always playing silver medal at best to the vanguard of Gene Simmons, Nikki Sixx, David Lee Roth, and more than a few real rock and roll artistes from across the pond. Bret Michaels can’t tie Iggy Pop’s shoes.

    But Bret Michaels can sell vehicles. Nissan recently tapped the “Talk Dirty to Me” singer to do commercials for their “Tough Love” ad campaign that promotes their line of commercial vans.

    Throughout the video for Michaels’ cover of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’ hit song “Endless Love’, Michaels pulls out almost every rock video icon cliche that has made him the man that he is today. Watch the video below and see if you catch:

    * chick guitar player in Daisy Duke shorts and leather cowboy hat
    * backlit silhouette shots
    * a golden microphone
    * over-emotive hand gestures
    * outside band shots
    * tunnel chamber shots
    * heavy metal hand gestures
    * wind tunnel hair blowing
    * microphone cable spinning,
    * hot chick with glasses
    * a jackhammer as penis gesture
    * a guitar on fire
    * riding atop a vehicle
    * getting a tattoo
    * pointing at the camera
    * gratuitous sparks and smoke
    * getting tossed a guitar
    * smashing an acoustic guitar
    * panoramic camera swing around soloing guitar
    * duckface lips
    * back-to-back pose with guitarist
    * smashing an electric guitar
    * slo-mo everywhere
    * walking away with guitar case
    * driving off into the sunset with the hot chick
    * a flame-thrower
    * fireworks
    * a bobble-head doll(?)

    Anybody can sell a white commercial-grade minivan. But Bret Michaels sells the hell out of a white commercial-grade minivan.

    Image via YouTube

  • Bret Michaels Helps Out in Tornado-Ravaged Town

    Bret Michaels and his band pitched in to help clean up efforts in a tornado-ravaged town in Nebraska. It was just over a week ago that Pilger, Nebraska sustained considerable damage and destruction following an EF4 tornado that touched down there. More than half of the town of 350 was impacted by the storm. Two of the town’s residents–one of them a little girl–were killed.

    Michaels and his band were taken inside the Pilger Middle School to see the damage that took place there.

    “I just got that lump,” he said as he observed the rubble. “Thinking about the children in this town, it takes your breath away.”

    He added that he had no clue exactly what such devastation would look like up close.

    “It’s one thing to see it on TV. But when you actually get out here, it’s completely different. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Michaels said.

    Bret Michaels and his band members and crew worked cleaning up rubble at the home of Tim and Betty Maly, who had nothing left on their property besides their basement.

    “It’s wonderful. You can’t thank them enough. People take time out of their days off or use their spare time to come here. It’s just unreal,” Betty Maly said of the former Poison front man and his fellow musicians.

    Bret Michaels knows all about people helping other people. When he suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2010 he was surrounded by many who supported him in his time of need. Perhaps this is his way of giving back.

    Regardless of the reason behind his volunteer actions, Bret Michaels is certainly setting a wonderful example for other celebrities–showing that not only is it important to give of one’s wealth, but that rolling up one’s sleeves and pitching in for the dirty work is often important, too.

    In addition to working their clean-up details, the former Celebrity Apprentice winner and his band signed autographs for the people of Pilger, as well as for other volunteers.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Yelp CEO Contributes $23K To Catch Whoever Has Been Trying To Poison San Francisco’s Dogs With Meatballs

    Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman is really looking to make a difference this week.

    Not only did he write an open letter to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer urging her to veto SB 1062, which would have allowed businesses to discriminate against gay people (eventually she did veto it), but he is also contributing to a $25,000 reward for information that would help catch the person who has been leaving poisoned meatballs for pets in San Francisco.

    The Animal Legal Defense Fund writes (via NBC Bay Area):

    Poisoned meatballs have been found in San Francisco again! The Animal Legal Defense Fund, SFDOG, and Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s) of the poisoned meatballs in the Bay Area. On February 22, a San Francisco animal control officer found 35 meatballs that would be deadly to unsuspecting dogs and cats who came for a nibble. The poisoned meatballs were scattered through a Twin Peaks neighborhood where a similar incident occurred last year, hidden in carports, stairwells, along curbs, and in bushes. Along with funds from ALDF and SFDOG, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman has generously pledged the bulk of the reward—contributing $23,000—to help track down the perpetrator(s) responsible.

    Last year, at least two dogs were killed by very similar meatballs, and the culprit was never caught. Animal Care and Control says there’s a “high probability” the same person or people are responsible for the latest wave of meatballs.

    Stoppelman is an apparent dog lover. In addition to his reddit AMA proof picture (seen at top), he posed with his dog for a couple shots for a San Francisco Chronicle profile of him in 2012.

    Images via Jeremy Stoppelman, Twitter, Animal Legal Defense Fund

  • Actress Pleads Guilty To Trying To Poison Obama

    A Texas woman who has appeared on “The Walking Dead” and “The Vampire Diaries” admitted today that she did indeed tried to poison President Obama by sending him letters laced with ricin, although she initially said her husband had done it.

    Shannon Guess Richardson pleaded guilty today to possessing a biological toxin, a felony. The mother of six allegedly ordered castor beans online in her ex-husband’s name and had them sent to a P.O. box which was also registered to him; she then mailed various letters containing the poison, including one to President Obama. Richardson was reportedly upset about Obama’s stance on gun control.

    “After he left the house, I printed the mailing labels for President Barack Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Mark Glaze with The Raben Group,” Richardson said a statement.

    President Obama’s letter read, in part, “What’s in this letter is nothing compared to what ive got in store for you mr president. You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face.”

    Nathan Richardson, who had just filed for a divorce from his wife at the time, has been cooperative with police and maintains that he had nothing to do with the plots. He currently has custody of the couple’s children, including a baby boy Shannon gave birth to while in prison.

    “Breaking Bad” fans will know that ricin is a highly toxic poison derived from castor beans, which can cause respiratory failure if inhaled. However, the U.S. Postal Service announced after an investigation that none of the letters actually posed a health risk due to the ricin being poorly made and would likely have caused nothing more serious than diarrhea.

    Image: Thinkstock

  • Ohio Judge Allegedly Poisoned by Wife

    The wife of an Ohio county judge is sitting in jail for allegedly poisoning her husband. Carla Rae Hague is a 71-year-old retired nurse who has been married to Charles Hague, a Ohio judge, for 45 years. She is being held in a jail adjacent to the courthouse where her husband is a judge. Carla Hague has been charged of poisoning Charles Hague with ethylene glycol, a substance commonly known as antifreeze. She now faces felony assault charges as well as charges of tampering with evidence according to the County Sheriff.

    After suffering the effects of the antifreeze, Judge Hague had to be rushed to a hospital in Ashtabula County back in September. According to the sheriff’s office, they received a phone call from Charles Hague’s family members on September 19. His family filed a complaint after hospital tests revealed that high levels of antifreeze was found in Judge Hague’s body. Carla was arrested on December 2 following the allegations.

    The judge has been sitting on the Common Pleas Juvenile/ Probate Court for 2 decades now. Bill Johnson, Ashtabula County Sheriff told ABC News that the Hague family is well known in Ashtabula County.

    “The investigation is just simply an investigation,” said the sheriff. “It is a little bit more sensitive because of him being a sitting judge, but we would handle it the same way no matter who it would be in an investigation.”

    The judge is currently recovering at home while the wife remains in jail. A grand jury for the case is expected to convene later this month to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to charge the judge’s wife.

    The motive for Carla Hague’s alleged actions are unknown. The Hague family has no comment at this time.

    (image via ABC News)

  • Mercury From Gold Rush Contaminating Wildlife Today

    Gold mining has been called “the gift that keeps on taking” by geographer Gary Brechin, and the damage to California will possibly last ten millennia. The LA Times and USA Today report that the hydraulic mining practices of gold rush-era miners in the mid-to-late 1800s deposited mercury-laced sediments throughout the Sacramento Valley and deep into the San Francisco Bay. Even though the practice stopped, the damage remained, and the mercury washed down from the Sierra Nevada mountains.

    The paper, authored by Michael Bliss Singer, et al, from the Earth Research Institute at UC Santa Barbara and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed the process by which sediment deposits form downriver.

    By studying the historical streamflow and topographical data of 105 sites along the Yuba River, they were able to run computer modeling to gauge sediment distribution. Their conclusion was grave: large stores of undiluted mining debris are still present in the floodplains, and any major flood could wash the pollutants downstream for the next 10,000 years.

    Because the Yuba is downstream from several abandoned gold mines, the scientists felt it was an appropriate site choice, and they also noted that huge amounts of mercury were washed downstream in the huge floods that took place in 1986, 1997 and 2006.

    “[We have a] romantic view of the Gold Rush, which is old guys roaming around with pans of gold. It was really an industrialized operation run by engineers,” Singer said. “[But over 100 years later,] the problem [is] much, much bigger than (many others) are suspecting it is.”

    The scientists were unable to investigate how far downstream the mercury goes, but a Duke University geochemist not attached to the study, Gretchen Gehrke, said the information they uncovered is valuable for estimating how much mercury reaches the lowlands. She contended that evidence exists of mercury’s polluting effects on ecologically diverse areas that represent stopovers for millions of migrating bird species.

    “Sediment-bound Hg has contaminated food webs of the San Francisco Bay-Delta, but the dominant geographical sources of Hg to downstream ecosystems in this and similar river basins are debated,” the Academy writes of the study’s significance. “This research addresses a gap in generic theory of postmining fan evolution that enables anticipation, prediction, and management of contamination risk to food webs.”

    [Image via this YouTube video about the effects of gold mining on San Francisco]

  • Principal of Poisoned Students Arrested

    Kumarasami Kamaraj was a politician in India in the 1950’s and 60’s. He was the chief minister (Equivalent of a Governor in the US) for three terms from 1954 to 1963. His top priority was education.

    Kamaraj pioneered a system that led to huge education advances for Indian children that extended beyond his lifetime. Under his leadership, the government opened 12,000 new schools and made sure that no village was left without a primary school. And the whole thing centered around one program that was put in place in the schools: the mid-day meal.

    Poverty was rampant in that area, and people avoided sending their children to school because they could make them earn money instead of going to school.Kamaraj realized that, if those children could get one good meal at school, it would be worth it to the parents to send them instead.

    It worked. When the British ruled the area, education was at 7 percent. Under Kamaraj, it increased to 37%. There are millions of children who have an education in India today because of the introduction of the mid-day meal. Kamaraj was very popular, and his creation has lasted ever since.

    That is why people in India were so shocked last week when dozens of children fell violently ill in India’s eastern Bihar province. Immediately after eating their mid-day meal, the symptoms began, including diarrhea and vomiting. Soon 23 children were dead.

    ABC News confirms that autopsy reports showed insecticide had been placed inside food. Officials believe the cooking oil had been placed in a container formerly used to store insecticides. All of the dead children were between the ages of 5 and 12.

    Shortly after the incident, the school’s female principal, Meena Kumari, went into hiding. The police found out that one of the school’s cooks had suspected something wrong with the food, but the principal ordered her to continue cooking. They went to arrest Meena Kumari.

    In India, if you are in hiding from an arrest, your property can be seized by the police. They posted a notice on Kumari’s door to that effect. She soon turned herself in. It was learned that the food had been purchased at a store owned by Kumari’s husband. And there is even suspicion that the poisonings were politically motivated. Kumari’s husband is a member of a local opposition party. He has been at large ever since.

  • Eaten in the U.S., but Banned in Other Countries

    In a recent book written by a husband and wife nutritionist team, a list of foods and food ingredients that we commonly eat in the U.S., but that are banned in other countries, was published.

    Rich Food, Poor Food: The Ultimate Grocery Purchasing System, written by Jayson and Mira Calton, highlighted these ingredients as a way to help people keep an eye on potentially harmful chemicals in the foods they buy, prepare and consume.

    These foods and ingredients have been approved for use by the public by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA issued a statement to ABC News in response to the list:

    “As part of FDA’s overall commitment to ensure the safety of the food supply, the agency uses an extensive, science-based process to evaluate the safety of food additives. The law requires that the FDA determine there is reasonable certainty that an additive does not cause harm when it is used as intended. The agency continues to monitor the science on food additives and is prepared to take appropriate action if there are safety concerns. When determining that a food or ingredient is ‘generally recognized as safe’ or GRAS for its intended use in food, the same quantity and quality of evidence is required as is needed to approve a food additive.”

    There is quite a lot of controversy over the list. Some chemists have said that the list is “chemophobic”, and that the science and understanding behind the list is suspect. Food manufacturers have defended the use of these chemicals as harmless, saying that there is gross misunderstanding among the untrained about how these chemicals work in certain combinations and low amounts.

    However this is not just a matter of two people who are nutritionists, not chemists, writing a book that demonizes these chemicals. Entire countries have prohibited the use of these chemicals in the diets of their populace. Those decisions were certainly not made by a couple of authors with limited knowledge.

    One example of a controversial chemical on the list is Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO). This chemical is used in some soft citrus-flavored drinks (e.g. Mountain Dew) to allow the flavoring agents in those drinks to stay blended and not separate as floating solids. Bromine is used as a flame retardant, gas additive, and in pesticides. Manufacturers say that properly bonding the bromine with the vegetable oil makes it harmless. But the European Union has not approved BVO as a food additive. In those countries, the same soda manufacturers use other materials to achieve the same result.

    Other chemicals listed in the controversial book include:

      Blue #1 – a food coloring – banned in Norway, Finland and France

      Blue #2 – a food coloring – banned in Norway, Finland and France

      Yellow #5 – a food coloring – banned in Norway and Austria

      Yellow #6 – a food coloring – banned in Norway and Austria

      Red # 40 – a food coloring – not recommended for children in the U.K.

      Azodicarbonamide – used to bleach flour – banned in Australia, the U.K. and many European countries

      Potassium Bromate – used to strengthen dough – banned in Europe, Canada, and China

      Olestra – an oil substitute used in potato chips; famous for causing anal leakage – banned in the U.K. and Canada

      Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) – waxy solids that act as a preservative – banned in England, and other European countries

      rBGH and rBST – growth hormones used in dairy – banned in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and the European Union

      Arsenic – used in chicken feed – banned in all foods in the EU