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Tag: YouTube

  • Lebron James to Meet with Pat Riley

    Superstar forward and unrestricted free agent LeBron James is scheduled to meet with Miami Heat president Pat Riley within the next few days, in a sitdown set up by James’ agent Rich Paul

    After James opted out of his contract with the Heat two weeks ago, Paul has been in talks with teams including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets. The teams have been told that James himself maybe be willing to meet during the week, and will attend a Nike-sponsored basketball camp on Wednesday as well.

    James is reportedly seeking a maximum tier contract, at roughly $20.7 million, and there have been rumors that Paul has favored the Cavaliers as being at the forefront to reacquire King James. After all, Paul is from Ohio.

    Fans took to Twitter with their prognostications:

    James, who has been compared to the basketball greats of the past, has garnered four NBA MVP Awards, two NBA Finals MVP Awards, two Olympic gold medals, an NBA scoring title and the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

    Here is James’ NBA career highlight reel:

    James, the Cavaliers’ all-time leading scorer, is said to be going to Brazil to catch a World Cup game soon, and speculation regarding his decision is plainly speculation.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Kim Jong-Un Watches North Korea Military Drills

    North Korea’s Great Successor Kim Jong-un observed military drills mock targeting South Korean missile bases on Baeknyeong and Yeonpyeong islands Saturday, which included artillery fire and live torpedoes from a 1,800-ton Romeo-class submarine.

    The drills took place near Wonsan, Kangwon Province, and included mobilization of North Korean Army, Navy and Air Force artillery, submarines, fighter jets and bombers. Jong-un was seen holding a piece of paper entitled “measures and ways for tactical drills.”

    Measures and Ways for Tactical Drills refers to “a strike on a Spike base,” with “Spike” referring to guided missiles employed by South Korean Marines stationed on Baeknyeong and Yeonpyeong islands.

    Jong-un reportedly stated that the waste of ammunition was practice to protect North Korea’s “southwestern waters,” which are “under a constant threat from the enemy.” Kim added, “We’re thinking very seriously and waiting for the right moment” (to strike).

    Baeknyeong and Yeonpyeong islands are situated along the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border between North and South Korea.

    Kim Jong-un, who now has his own video game entitled Glorious Leader!, has held the titles of the First Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, First Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, the Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army and presidium member of the Politburo of the Workers’ Party of Korea. He was officially declared the Supreme Leader following the state funeral for his father Kim Jong-il on December 28, 2011.

    Here is the Glorious Leader! teaser trailer, which features NBA Hall of Famer and Kim Jong-un BFF Dennis Rodman:

    Despite Pyongyang’s show of force, it is evident that its military machine is obsolete, is essentially falling apart and is low on spares.

    Image via YouTube

  • Flavor Flav Cited for Illegal Fireworks

    Flavor Flav Cited for Illegal Fireworks

    Rapper and reality star Flavor Flav was cited by police Friday at his Las Vegas home, just as he began his annual fireworks show. Flav had been launching thousands of dollars worth of illegal fireworks for his fourth of July event since 2009, though this year his neighbors’ complaints were heard, and authorities confiscated over 100 pounds of illegal fireworks.

    Las Vegas Police Lt. Ken Romaine said that Flavor, born William Jonathan Drayton, Jr., was issued two fireworks-related citations. Flavor commented that his neighbors won’t have to worry about the fireworks event next year, as he’s moving it away from the neighborhood. He added that he doesn’t want to go to jail over fireworks, and that his roughly 110 guests were “having a ball” before police shut the party down.

    Here is a clip from Flav’s 2013 fireworks show:

    Flavor rose to fame as a member of the mainstream hip-hop group Public Enemy. He is also known for making the role of the “hype man” popular, by yelling “Yeah boy!” and “Flavor Flav!” during performances. When Rick Rubin initially signed Public Enemy in 1984, he didn’t fully understand Flavor Flav’s role in the group, and wanted to sign Chuck D as a solo act. Chuck D wasn’t having this, and Flav remained on as his comic foil, offsetting Chuck D’s more serious and political charged themes with relative silliness.

    Flavor Flav displays his skills as a hype man in Public Enemy’s “Can’t Truss It” from 1991:

    Flavor Flav picked up a misdemeanor charge in April over a domestic violence incident involving his stepson in 2012. He was originally looking at a felony, but struck a deal to complete counseling by August. The fireworks citations should not affect his ongoing legal issues, according to his attorney Kristina Wildeveld. “The rapper wasn’t ordered to stay out of trouble, he only has to complete the classes, which he is doing,” she said, adding, “Flav really loves America. There was no intention ever to hurt anyone.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • F-35 Fighter Jets Grounded After Fire

    F-35 Fighter Jets Grounded After Fire

    The U.S. Department of Defense has grounded all of its F-35 fighter jets after one of them caught fire during take off at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The advanced fighter was set to make its international debut during showings to prospective buyers at two air shows in the U.K. beginning next week.

    The cause of the fire is not yet known, and the Pentagon, along with engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, is trying to assess whether the malfunction was an isolated incident, or indicative of a fleet-wide problem. Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John F. Kirby said in a statement, “Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return to flight will be determined based on inspection results and analysis of engineering data.”

    The Lockheed Martin F-35, which has variations designed for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, is a multirole fighter designed to perform ground attack, reconnaissance and air defense missions with stealth capability. The F-35 is the only fifth-generation fighter jet available for export from the United States, and orders have been placed by the U.K. (138 planes), Australia, Canada (which ordered 65), Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Turkey.

    Here is a small documentary on the F-35:

    Britain already has a few of the jets, which go for roughly $160 million a piece, for testing and training purposes. Though it remains unclear if any F-35’s will make it to the air show next week, which would assure customers that Lockheed Martin is on track with working out problems with its latest fighter.

    The F-35 initiative was a $400 billion joint venture between Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon, the most expensive in Defense Department history. The engine fire mishap is the latest controversy surrounding a plane that has garnered significant international attention.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Kanye West Booed After Onstage Rant

    Kanye West Booed After Onstage Rant

    Controversial rapper Kanye West was booed at the Wireless Festival in London on Friday, after going into a 20-minute rant in protest of the media during his set. West was filling in for Canadian singer Drake, who had fallen ill.

    West, wearing a studded face mask, went on to share his views on the culture of fame, consumerism and discrimination in the fashion industry, and took jabs at Nike and Louis Vuitton. Concert goers booed loudly, and began to leave in droves.

    The irascible West commented, “I’m not particularly angry but they’ve taken the idea of celebrity and tried to make me seem like I’m stupid or something. People keep looking at me like I got a problem or something, like I’m not doing something I’m meant to. The lies, the media, they want to make you feel like you’re less to them in their eye.”

    West added, “I’m not going to mention any names but, Nike, Louis Vuitton and Gucci. Don’t discriminate against me ‘cos I’m a black man making music. Fuck saving face and what it’s supposed to mean, it’s about living my dream.”

    Here is a clip of West’s rant in its entirety:

    West was the headline act for the Wireless Festival, which included Ella Eyre, Foxes, Pharrell Williams, Bruno Mars, Robin Thicke and Salt-N-Pepa (?).

    Fans who witnessed Kanye’s antics live weren’t too happy:

    West married professional celebrity Kim Kardashian in Florence, Italy in May. The couple has a daughter together named North.

    Image via Twitter

  • Brett Favre Endorses Thad Cochran in US Senate Race

    Brett Favre, retired NFL quarterback, recently lent his support to Republican incumbent Thad Cochran in his bid for reelection to the United States Senate.

    Favre was born in Gulfport, Mississippi and raised in the nearby small town of Kiln. He attended University of Southern Mississippi before being drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1991 NFL Draft.

    Cochran is up against Tea Party-backed state Senator Chris McDaniel in the Mississippi primary. Voters first went to the polls on June 3, in a vote that slightly favored McDaniel. However McDaniel needed at least 50 percent of the votes, which he didn’t get. So he and Cochran will face off again on June 24.

    “A lot of people stayed home because they thought we had it in the bag,” Cochran said after the June 3 vote. “Now we’ve discovered that this is a close election. I’m appealing to my friends and supporters to get busy and work with me.”

    Cochran and his backers are pulling out all the stops, and that’s where Favre’s endorsement comes in. Favre lent his support in the form of an advertisement on the US Chamber of Commerce’s YouTube channel:

    “I’ve learned through football that strong leadership makes the difference between winning and losing. And when it comes to our state’s future, trust me: Mississippi can win and win big with Thad Cochran,” Favre said in the ad. “Thad Cochran always delivers, just like he did during Katrina.”

    Cochran’s tenure in the US Senate dates all the way back to the Carter Administration: he was first elected in 1978, making him the third most-senior Senator and the second most-senior Republican member.

    The US Chamber of Commerce is one of Cochran’s biggest supporters. They’ve spent more than $500,000 on campaign ads in his race against McDaniel.

    The Chamber has funneled its support through the Mississippi Conservatives PAC, headed by Henry Barbour, nephew of former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour who still wields tremendous political influence in the state.

    According to the younger Barbour the US Chamber of Commerce has “credibility with regular folks down here, and people pay attention when they engage.”

    But some see the Barbours’ support of Cochran as an example of good old boys taking care of one of their own, part of a “Republican elite that would rather cut deals with Democrats to spend more public money than rein in the size and power of the federal government.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Congrats, Racist Stripper, You’re About to Be a YouTube Star!

    There are plenty of disturbing things about the video you’re about to watch. The most obvious and shocking is the blatant racism on display, and the casual nature at which the woman in the video, clearly very upset, slings the word “n*gger” like it’s nothing.

    There’s also the issue of the passerbys to consider–most of which decide that they aren’t going to touch this situation with a 39 and a half-foot pole. That’s fair, I guess–she be crazy. But you’d imagine that at least one person would stop and ask her to “chill the f*ck” out or something. Especially…

    …in front of her kids. This is probably the worst part of the whole video, which YouTube user IAMOYAB says was taken on May 30th.

    “This happened to me last Friday May 30th 2014. I’m more upset that it was done in front of her children. They will have hate and have no idea where it came from,” he says.

    Well said.

    Of course, it’s also a painfully funny video in a way. Pay close attention to how she uses her profession (or former profession, who knows) to assert dominance in the “argument.”

    Clearly a class act. Lucky for her, millions of people are likely to see her classiness in action, as this video has climbed to the tip top of reddit and is racking up views.

    Congrats on your newfound fame!

    Image via IAMOYAB, YouTube

  • PSY Hit “Gangnam Style” Has 2 Billion YouTube Views

    When “Gangnam Style” was released in 2012, its popularity was simply astonishing.

    The hit by YG artist PSY shattered the belief that Asian stars couldn’t amass global appeal. It also sent record executives from major Korean labels, who’ve been desperate to break into the American market, scurrying back to the drawing board.

    The song got popular—Fast. Its music video amassed hundreds of millions of views in a matter of weeks. Months after it debuted on YouTube, “Gangnam Style” trampled Justin Bieber’s “Baby” underfoot to become the first music video in history to hit 1 billion views on YouTube.

    PSY’s follow-up effort actually seems like it didn’t catch on in the same manner (even though it currently stands at close to 700 million views…), leading some to feel that the YG rapper would be buried and forgotten.

    Apparently this wasn’t the case.

    Over the past year and a half, the view count continued to tick upward. Then late Friday evening…it happened. Again!

    PSY’s “Gangnam Style” has officially been viewed over 2 billion times. It also has more than 5 million comments and 8 million likes!

    Some blame this continued rise in views on desperate trolls determined to spam views for the sake of making the video’s view count as massive as possible.

    The people who think like this tend to be basement dwellers who feel everyone has that kind of time and lack of a social life.

    The truth is, as unfathomable as it may be for some, is that this is just one heck of a popular song.

    “Gangnam Style” features a rather goofy fun dance and a catchy hook and appeals to people of all ages and backgrounds.

    The Kpop video also contains one of the funniest and most bizarre moments of any music video that has been released to date.

    I mean, does ANYONE understand what was going on in that elevator?

    In any case, congratulations to PSY and all of his fans in South Korea and around the world.

    No doubt they’re thrilled at the enduring popularity of this music video and song.

    If you somehow managed to miss out on this highly popular song and video over the past couple of years, you can check it out below:

    Image via YouTube

  • Jenga Cat: This Game Playing Kitty Has Skills [VIDEO]

    If you’ve ever gotten annoyed when playing Jenga because your big, clumsy hands are constantly causing that tower to fall over, then you’re really going to be frustrated when you see that a cat can play Jenga better than you. A video of a cat named Moe, who has been dubbed “Jenga Cat,” is making rounds on the Internet, and not only is the game playing cat adorable as heck, that kitty actually has fairly decent skills.

    Jenga Cat owner Alan Palesko uploaded the now viral video to YouTube last year, but it just now began taking off. Palesko said one day he and his partner Amy Nicks were playing Jenga and their cat came over and joined in. In the video you can see Moe using his tongue and paw to maneuver pieces out of the tower. Moe gets a little frustrated at the end when his owner is able to keep up with him in the game and abruptly quits (which makes playing with a cat not very different from playing with a kid).

    Check out the Jenga playing cat below.

    Naturally, there have been a few people yelling “Fake!” over the video. Lest you think that Palesko and his partner have spent countless hours teaching Jenga Cat how to play the game, the feline’s owner says that is not the case. “Despite what people are saying he was not trained,” Palesko said. While there are always going to be a few naysayers, most people seem enthralled with Jenga Cat.

    If you’re wondering what’s next for Jenga Cat, it probably isn’t a guest spot on American Idol or even another game of Jenga. According to his owner, the cat hasn’t touched another Jenga piece. “We’ve tried to get him to do it again but no luck so far,” Palesko said. Oh well–at least Palesko was able to capture Moe’s first and possibly last game of Jenga on video for the world to enjoy.

    The month of May has certainly been interesting as far as animal headlines go. Earlier this month we reported on a cat saving a young boy from a vicious dog attack, and last night we brought you the story of the depressed goat that ended his hunger strike after being reunited with his burro friend (see a video of the reunion below).

    Image via YouTube

  • YouTube Plans New Features, Wants Feedback Ahead Of Time

    YouTube is working on a separate mobile app for creators, a feature that lets fans directly contribute funds to creators, and a way to create captions and subtitles by “harnessing the crowd.”

    Perhaps most importantly, YouTube says it’s going to start telling users about features it’s working on so they can offer feedback, and help steer them “in the right direction.”

    “Your biggest request? You want to hear about the new stuff we’re working on ahead of time, so you can tell us if we’re heading in the right direction,” said Matt Glotzbach, Director of Creator Product Management in a blog post. “Well, your wish is our command.”

    Some probably would have liked that idea ahead of the move to Google+ for comments.

    The company is encouraging feedback on Google+ or Twitter, which it says it will be reading and responding to, and most importantly using to improve feature launches.

    Image via YouTube

  • Google Changes Call-To-Action Video Ads, Video Ad Reporting

    Google revealed a new look for call-to-action overlays on YouTube videos, which apply to both desktop and mobile devices. They’re trading in two lines of text in favor of a single-line call-to-action. This gives more real estate to the video content, which will be better for users.

    Here’s what they look like expanded and collapsed:

    Google is making the change automatically, so advertisers won’t need to make any changes to existing ads.

    Call-to-action clicks will also now be included within the Clicks and CTR reporting metrics in AdWords for video. This should, as the company says, give advertisers the ability to better quantify the overall impact of the feature. In addition to that, Google is rolling out other reporting changes in AdWords for video. These include improved column sets, more conversion segmentation options, and the ability to access all metrics from the Videos tab.

    “We’re adding View Rate by default for all sets and are grouping sets of metrics by insight topic (like Views, Audience, Branding or Conversions),” says YouTube product manager Avi Fein. “This lets you see a snapshot of your campaign based on key objectives, as well as evaluate your overall campaign performance based on View Rate before diving deeper into individual targeting groups.”

    “You can now segment by conversion name and category, showing how your video campaigns are driving key conversion types,” Fein adds. “Now you can more easily optimize across your videos by seeing the entire set of metrics available in other tabs.”

    These features are already available.

    Images via Google

  • Drinkable Sunscreen Will ‘Vibrate on Your Skin’

    Colorado company Osmosis Skincare has developed a drinkable sunscreen that is said to provide 30 SPF-like protection. The product falls under Osmosis’ “Harmonized Waters” line, and comes in “tan enhancement” and “no tan enhancement” flavors.

    According to Osmosis, Harmonized H20 UV Neutralizer works by “isolating the precise frequencies needed to neutralize UVA and UVB,” and will “vibrate on your skin in such a way as to cancel approximately 97 percent of the UVA and UVB rays.” The site goes onto explain that the revolutionary new Osmosis formula allows the drinker/wearer to “reverse engineer the frequencies of substances found in nature and/or the human body.”

    To apply the UV Neutralizer, a user drinks 2ml of the product (preferably with 2+ oz of water), waits an hour before going out into sunlight, and repeats the process every 4 hours. Osmosis suggests that for extended, intense exercise outdoors, or if taking sun-sensitizing medications, use alternate protection after 30-40 minutes.

    Here is a small documentary concerning snake oil salesmen:

    Dermatologist James Pehoushek of Phoenix’s Allergy and Dermatology Specialists is skeptical of the effectiveness of the product – “It sounds like an easy way to get your sun protection without a lot of mess and trouble,” Pehoushek commented, adding, “But I think you might be getting lead down the Primrose path on this one.”

    While Pehoushek goes on to point out that while staying hydrated is a good thing, it won’t protect one from sunburn. “It’s good not to get dehydrated when you’re out in the heat and the sun, but that in and of itself, being well hydrated is not going protect from (the) sun or sun damage,” he said. “So I would take this with a very big grain of salt.”

    While the Osmosis site provides product testimonials, there is no mention of any formal testing or FDA approval.

    The product was featured on The Late Show with David Letterman:

    Osmosis intrigue via Twitter:

    Pehoushek added, “I would be very wary of this and wear your sunscreen; that would be my advice to patients.”

    Image via YouTube

  • ‘Lost’ Snake Rediscovered on Mexico Island

    A species of snake not seen for almost 80 years was found on a remote island off of the Pacific coast of Mexico.

    Hypsiglena unaocularis, commonly known as the Clarión nightsnake, was first described by American naturalist William Beebe during his voyage to Clarión Island in 1936. Beebe encountered a single specimen, and the snake was not seen again in decades. Now researchers have confirmed the existence of the species, after collecting DNA samples from snakes on Clarión, which is part of the Revillagigedo Islands group.

    Daniel Mulcahy, a researcher for the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, was convinced that the snake might still exist, and he and Juan Martinez Gomez of Mexico’s Ecology Institute planned an expedition to the Revillagigedo Islands to find it. Martinez Gomez, an expert on the Revillagigedos, helped to form a plan for locating the nightsnake, using Beebe’s original field notes as a guide.

    Martinez Gomez commented, “Basically, following those directions, we essentially put ourselves in his place.” One of Martinez Gomez’ graduate students spotted the snake, the first seen alive since 1936. The team performed a DNA analysis to declare the animal as its own species, which revealed that it closely resembles snakes from Mexico’s Sonora-Sinaloa coast more than 500 miles away. Martinez Gomez thinks that the snakes may have floated on a tree trunk from the Mexican mainland to the island.

    Clarión Island is currently occupied by a small outfit of Mexican marines, and civilian visits to the area require a military escort, which has made it difficult to document the wildlife native to the region. This, along with a lack of sightings since Beebe’s 1936 find, caused scientists to presume that Beebe had provided an incorrect locality for the specimen

    Here is an old-school documentary on the wildlife of Clarión Island, with native species include the Clarión Burrowing Owl, the Clarión Wren, the Clarión Mourning Dove and the Clarion Island Whipsnake:

    The National Museum of Natural History commented that Mulcahy “uncovered the controversy surrounding the inclusion of this snake in the scientific record, and found that it appears to be the only species ever to be discarded due to a presumed locality error.”

    Image via YouTube

  • California Bus Crash Leaves 4 Dead

    A tour bus carrying 32 passengers was involved in a crash with a big rig and two other vehicles in California early Wednesday morning, leaving four dead.

    According to the California Highway Patrol, a truck carrying metal pipes jackknifed around 2 a.m. Wednesday on Interstate 10 near Blythe, Calif. near the Arizona border, sending the cargo flying into the adjacent lane of traffic. “The pipes subsequently caused some of the vehicles to crash into them in the eastbound lanes and it appears they could have rolled into westbound traffic which is where the bus was traveling,” said Terri Kasinga of Caltrans.

    The bus collided with the pipes and then ran off the road by 40 to 50 feet, before falling down an embankment and landing on its side.

    Among the survivors is a 12-day-old infant, who was unscathed.

    The initial investigation of the crash has revealed that the driver of the bus swerved to avoid the falling pipes, causing him to lose control. The tour bus is operated by El Paso-Los Angeles Limousine Express.

    Passenger Caesar Castillo commented, “I hit the ceiling and when I came back down, I landed on top of a guy that was dead. This is the blood that I have, his blood, on me. I’m freaking out and everybody’s screaming and I’m like, alright, we gotta get out of here.” Twenty-one passengers were transported to area hospitals, with six being medvaced.

    The Blythe crash comes a little over a month after a fiery Los Angeles bus crash left 10 dead.

    Traffic is slowly moving again on Interstate 10.

    Image via YouTube

  • Axl Rose Not World’s Greatest Singer

    Axl Rose Not World’s Greatest Singer

    A recent Concert Hotels infographic concerning the vocal ranges of popular singers confused some into reading that Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has been deemed the greatest vocalist of all time. What the chart, entitled “The Vocal Ranges of the World’s Greatest Singers,” conveyed was that Axl does indeed have a large vocal range, but does not declare him as the finest singer.

    The singers on the chart can be sorted by vocal range, highest notes and lowest notes, and Rose is followed by Mariah Carey and Prince in the range department. Mariah Carey, Christina Aquilera and Prince beat out Rose in the highest notes field, though Rose can hit the lowest notes, ahead of Barry White and David Bowie.

    Several news outlets, including USA Today, initially misread the chart, and assumed Axl Rose had been deemed God of all pop singers.

    Axl Rose is a high genius, and once customized his own pair of Converse hi-top sneakers:

    Concert Hotels sourced a Rolling Stone list of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” while compiling their chart, which includes Kurt Cobain, Eminem (?), Roy Orbison and Miley Cyrus –

    “To create this piece, we took the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time as compiled by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008. To this list, we added some of today’s top singers including the nominees for top male and female artist at the Billboard Music Awards 2014. We cross-referenced the resulting list with vocal range data curated by The Range Place. We included all of the singers on the list for whom the data was readily available.”

    While Rose has indeed been deemed one of the greatest singers, outraged readers took to Twitter to vent their dismay over the assumption that Axl is the all-around king:

    Vintage Axl, doing his thing:

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mosquito Repellent 1000x Stronger Than DEET

    Mosquito Repellent 1000x Stronger Than DEET

    Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee have developed a mosquito repellent that is 1000 times stronger than DEET, and works on many different types of insects.

    The new substance is tentatively called VUAA1, is far more effective than N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), and works on mosquitoes, ants, flies, moths and a slew of other bugs. According to project researcher Laurence Zwiebel, VUAA1 is the product of an initiative to combat malaria.

    “It turns out if we found the world’s greatest mosquito repellent, no one would care,” Zwiebel commented, adding, “So we needed to find something that would work against all insects.”

    Existing bug sprays attempt to camouflage the user from the offending insect, by masking any odor indicative of a food source. VUAA1 likewise works via scent, but in an opposite way. “We decided to take a more aggressive approach and, rather than turn off the mosquito’s olfactory system, we could look for something that would turn it too far on, to see if we could design a new generation of insect repellents based on overloading their smell system,” Zweibel said, adding, “They hate, just like we hate, overstimulation. They will move away from too much smell.” So far, VUAA1 has worked on every insect it’s been tested on.

    Malaria, which will likely be contracted by up to 500 million people this year, killed roughly 660,000 in 2010. “Our hope is that we’re able to help develop a product that can be sold for profit in the developed world, and use that profit to leverage distribution in the developing world,” Zwiebel said. “Our hope is that every time we spray on a mosquito repellent here in America, we’re subsidizing malaria reduction in Africa and Asia.”

    Here is an animation describing how malaria enters the bloodstream of a host:

    The malaria research project was supported by the Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative funded by the Foundation for the NIH through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. No word on when a VUAA1 product will hit stores, as it is still being tested for safety.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • American Flag Desecration Leads to Charges

    A Blair County, Pennsylvania man was charged with desecration and insults to the flag after spray painting an American flag with the letters “AIM” and hanging it upside down outside his home. Neighbors and passersby were offended by the display, and contacted local police.

    Allegheny Township police Assistant Chief L.J. Berg arrived to the scene, removed the flag, and commented, “I was offended by it when I first saw it. I had an individual stop here at the station, a female, who was in the military and she was very offended by it. I removed it from the building, folded it properly and seized it as evidence.”

    Flag owner Joshua Brubaker explained that he was standing up for his American Indian heritage, though was charged with two misdemeanors regardless. Brubacker defended his actions and maintained that he never meant to upset or offend anyone, and explained that he and his wife are of American Indian heritage and are passionate about the American Indian Movement, specifically in the Midwest.

    Brubaker commented, “I found that Wounded Knee is up for sale. Not only privately, but commercially. It’s just not right, and simply because I express myself in a way that somebody else doesn’t like or agree with doesn’t mean I should be persecuted for having beliefs.” Brubaker added, “If I don’t have a right to fly that flag upside down, which means a sign of distress, which this country is in so much distress right now, then what’s the point of having it?”

    Flag desecration is a term applied to the mutilation of flags or flag protocol, a various set of acts that intentionally destroy a flag in public. The Flag Desecration Amendment is an ongoing proposed constitutional amendment to the United States Constitution that would allow Congress to statutorily prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States. The most recent attempt to adopt the amendment failed in the United States Senate by one vote in June, 2006.

    Here performance artist Brian Hugh Warner, a.k.a Marilyn Manson, desecrates an American flag during a live show:

    Brubaker hopes the police reconsider the criminal charges, while Berg commented, “People have made too many sacrifices to protect the flag and to have this happen in my community, I’m not happy with that.”

    Image via YouTube

  • $4.5 Billion Divorce Settlement Breaks Record

    In what might be the largest divorce settlement in history, a Geneva, Switzerland court has ordered Russian tycoon Dmitry Rybolovlev to pay his ex-wife Elena Rybolovleva 4 Swiss billion francs, which is equal to roughly $4.5 billion – $4,509,375,184.80 to be exact.

    Rybolovleva, who had been battling Rybolovlev in a Swiss court since 2008, was also granted sole custody of the couple’s 13-year-old daughter Anna. Rybolovleva also won a freeze on assets which include a majority ownership in French soccer club AS Monaco, a $295 million stake in the Bank of Cyprus and a $95 million Palm Beach, Florida home that was purchased from Donald Trump. Rybolovlev can still appeal the Swiss ruling.

    Elena then took her estranged husband to court in the United States, and accused him of trying to shield her from an $88 million Manhattan penthouse bought from former Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Sanford “Sandy” Weill, along with the Palm beach estate. Elena’s lawyers accused Rybolovlev of using marital properties to move his assets through various trusts and limited liability companies.

    Rybolovlev, 47, is a Russian businessman, investor, philanthropist who made $6.5 billion in 2010 after selling his stake in the potash producer Uralkali. In 2014, he was ranked #147 among Forbes billionaires, with a net worth of $8.8 billion. Rybolovlev’s 24-year-old daughter Ekaterina made headlines when she bought the Greek resort island of Skorpios, where shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy in 1968. Ekaterina bought the island from Onassis’ 28-year-old granddaughter Athina Onassis Roussel for $153 million. Rybolovlev also purchased an estate in Hawaii from actor Will Smith for $20 million.

    Beginning in 1996, Rybolovlev spent 11 months in a Russian prison, after being accused of masterminding a contract killing. In 1997 he was completely acquitted by courts of law at three levels, including the Presidium of the Supreme Court which is the highest judicial authority in Russia. Regarding his track record as a spouse, in April 2012, Rybolovlev’s spokesman admitted that “He was not a model husband. Mr. Rybolovlev never denied the infidelities, but the wife knew about it for many years and passively accepted it.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • El Niño 2014 Might Become a Repeat of 1997

    El Niño 2014 Might Become a Repeat of 1997

    NASA satellite imaging of the Pacific Ocean has revealed data that resembles the conditions which fostered the record-breaking El Niño year of 1997.

    El Niño, which is Spanish for “the boy,” with the capitalized version meaning “Christ Child,” is a system of abnormally high seawater temperatures that develops off the Pacific coast of South America, leading to extreme weather across the Pacific Ocean.

    The NASA/French Space Agency Jason-2 satellite scans the world’s oceans every ten days, measuring changes in sea surface height, along with heat levels in the upper layers of the water. Lately, Jason-2 has presented data from the Pacific that looks a lot like it did in 1997.

    Here is a documentary which describes how researchers attempt to predict El Niño patterns:

    Jason-2 has been detecting a series of Kelvin waves, which are large ripples at sea level that travel across the Pacific from Australia to South America. Kelvin waves are good indicators of El Niño, and both phenomena are linked by wind. Trade winds in the Pacific blow from east to west, which push sun-warmed surface waters toward Indonesia. As a result, the sea level around Indonesia is typically 45 centimeters higher than it is near Ecuador. This area is called the warm pool, and is the largest reservoir of warm water on earth.

    Bill Patzert, a climatologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, commented that “a pattern of sea surface heights and temperatures has formed that reminds me of the way the Pacific looked in the spring of 1997. That turned out to precursor to a big El Niño.”

    Mike McPhaden of NOAA’s Pacific Environmental Research Laboratories in Seattle added, “We can’t yet say for sure that an El Niño will develop in 2014, or how big it might be, but the Jason-2 data support the El Niño Watch issued last month by NOAA.”

    The NOAA and NASA are meticulously monitoring the Pacific trade winds. It will become much more clear in the coming few months whether these recent developments are the forerunner of a major El Niño, or any El Niño at all.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Switzerland $25 Minimum Wage Voted Against

    Switzerland voted Sunday to reject a measure called the Decent Salary Initiative, that would establish a minimum wage of $4,515 per month in that country, with 76.3% of voters opposed to the idea.

    The proposed monthly minimum wage equates to roughly $25 per hour, which would be the highest in the world. Proponents called the wage hike necessary, while opponents felt that it would seriously damage the Swiss economy.

    Hans-Ulrich Bigler, director of the Swiss trades association, commented that “It is a clear vote by the people, a vote of trust in the economy.” The Decent Salary Initiative would benefit roughly 300,000 Swiss workers, with the vast majority being immigrants working in agriculture, housekeeping and catering jobs.

    Swiss voters turn out:

    At present, 90% of Swiss workers already earn more than the proposed $25 per hour, with the average wage being roughly $37 an hour, though union leaders in the country of 8 million will continue to push for higher wage rates for unskilled laborers, which are still some of the highest paid in the world. Though the average household income in Switzerland is about $6,800 per month (as compared to $4,300 in the United States), that country likewise features some of the highest prices for goods and services worldwide.

    The Swiss Business Federation president Heinz Karrer commented that the landslide result in the poll revealed that “the initiative hurts low-paid workers in particular.” Voters realized that forcing wage hikes could lead to job cuts, and Switzerland’s 3.2% unemployment rate is among the lowest globally.

    Luisa Almeida, an immigrant from Portugal who works in Switzerland as a housekeeper commented, “If my employer had to pay me more money, he wouldn’t be able to keep me on and I’d lose the job.”

    In April a minimum wage referendum was on the table in the United States Senate. Democrats had pushed for a $10.10 hourly minimum, which was promptly shut down by the GOP.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Benji Madden Dating Cameron Diaz?

    Benji Madden Dating Cameron Diaz?

    Good Charlotte guitarist Benji Madden is reportedly dating The Other Woman star Cameron Diaz. A source revealed to US Weekly that the dalliance between Madden, 35, and Diaz, 41, is “very new,” and that the two are “just hanging out.”

    The source added that Madden’s sister-in-law Nicole Richie might have played matchmaker. Richie, who is close friends with Diaz and married to Madden’s twin brother Joel “thought they’d click,” according to the source. The two have only been seeing each other for the past few weeks.

    Diaz, who recently caused a stir after saying that humans are not “naturally monogamous” and have “the same instincts as animals,” hasn’t been publicly linked to anyone since her split from New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez back in September of 2011.

    Madden had previously dated Australian ingenue Sophie Monk, international entertainment icon Paris Hilton and reality television personality Holly Madison. The musician founded Good Charlotte in Waldorf, Maryland in 1996, and achieved mainstream success with the release of the record The Young and the Hopeless in 2002, which sold 4.9 million copies.

    Here is Good Charlotte’s Dance Floor Anthem of 2007:

    Regarding Diaz’ comments regarding humanity being instinctively unable to maintain monogamous relationships, the actress explained that she was merely channeling the viewpoint of Carly Whitten, the character she’d played in her latest film, The Other Woman.

    “That’s not what I said. My character says she doesn’t believe in monogamy … ! I believe in monogamy. That is an important part of a successful relationship,” Diaz said, adding, “I have had (monogamous relationships). And, by the way, also, not all relationships end because people get cheated on, or people cheat. Relationships end because they end for whatever reason, but they are still successful relationships that have been monogamous for, however, long they’ve lasted.”

    Here is the trailer for The Other Woman, which has raked in $65 million on a $40 million budget so far at the box office:

    Image via Facebook