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Tag: YouTube

  • Katy Perry Spotted with Producer Diplo

    Katy Perry Spotted with Producer Diplo

    Pop star Katy Perry has been spotted with Los Angeles-based DJ, music producer, rapper and songwriter Wesley Pentz, a.k.a Diplo. The two were seen at the Amazing Spider-Man 2 after-party at Skylight at Moynihan Station in Manhattan, and were “very affectionate, very lovey-dovey,” a source told People Magazine. The source added that as they left the gathering, “they quickly separated. She didn’t want it to look like they were together, but they were.”

    Interestingly, Perry, 29, was recently spotted with rapper and performance artist Riff Raff, also known as Horst Christian Simco. Riff Raff happens to be on the roster of Diplo’s own Mad Decent record label, and has been working with the producer on his oft-delayed record entitled Neon Icon, which is set to be released … sometime.

    On Friday night, Perry and Diplo attended a birthday party at 1Oak where he performed. The two had previously been seen together at Coachella, and according to a source, “They were hanging out all (Saturday) night at the Jeremy Scott party – and they hung out all day Sunday at Coachella. They checked out Alesso together.”

    Perry might simply be working on some sort of musical collaboration with Diplo, 35, and his Mad Decent underlings, after coming off of an abrupt breakup with John Mayer. Perry had dumped Mayer last month, after he allegedly cheated on her with General Hospital actress Kelly Monaco.

    Mayer, who once described Jessica Simpson as being “sexual napalm,” apparently failed to understand the concept of using a burner phone to communicate with his paramours, and was busted and promptly let go. A source revealed that “Katy found texts on his phone. She was devastated and realized he’s a sex fiend who isn’t capable of telling the truth.”

    During the early stages of his career, Diplo (named after the dinosaur Diplodocus) produced M.I.A.’s hit Paper Planes, and went on to work with Beyoncé, No Doubt, Justin Bieber, Usher, Snoop Lion and G-Dragon.

    Perhaps Perry either took a dip in a swimming pool before letting her hair dye and its intended color dry, or maybe she’s fallen under a deeper influence of the zany-haired rapper Riff Raff.


    Image via Twitter

  • Julie Schenecker Murder Trial Starts Jury Selection

    The jury selection phase of the murder trial of Julie Schenecker began Monday in Tampa, and is expected to take several days, as the prosecution and defense assess over 100 potential jurors. Schenecker, of New Tampa, Florida is accused of killing her two teenage children in 2011.

    The Schenecker double homicide occurred on January 28, 2011, when Calyx and Beau Schenecker were found dead in their Tampa home by police. Julie Powers Schenecker was arrested on suspicion of their murder after an alleged confession. At the scene of the crime, the teens were found with gunshot wounds to their heads and covered in blankets, and Schenecker herself was found covered in blood on the back porch of the house.

    Schenecker had initally admitted to police that she shot her children because they “talked back and were mouthy,” and proceeded to describe the murders in detail. Police arrested Schenecker at the scene.

    Prosecutors were initially seeking the death penalty in the case, though now the trial will decide if Schenecker, 53, will spend her life behind bars or be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Schenecker had been diagnosed with biopolar disorder, and suffers from extreme clinical depression. Circuit Court Judge Emmett L. Battles has set aside three weeks for the trial.

    Both the prosecution and defense are searching for jurors who have had little or no exposure to the extensive media coverage surrounding the homicides. Prosecutors will likely emphasize the premeditated nature of the crime, as Schenecker purchased the .38 revolver she’d used to shoot her children 5 days before the act. The defense will surely highlight her mental health status.

    Schenecker, the ex-wife of an Army colonel, is having her legal assistance paid for by the state, as her husband quickly filed for divorce as well as a wrongful death suit after the shootings.

    Image via YouTube

  • Mount Everest Climbing Season Ends Early for Sherpas

    On the heels of the deadliest day ever recorded on Mount Everest, Nepalese Sherpas are cutting the climbing season short, after 16 guides were killed during an avalanche on April 18th. Thirteen bodies have been recovered, while another three remain entombed in ice. More building-sized blocks of ice fell this week while the area was devoid of climbers, forcing the decision to cut the season short.

    Though, Adrian Ballinger, leader of the Alpenglow climbing team, doesn’t consider the slew of falling ice as a significant reason to cancel a season. “That’s ridiculous,” Ballinger said, adding “I would say only a very small percentage of teams canceled due to fear of increased danger in the icefall this season.”

    The Sherpas perished in the Khumbu Icefall, which is regarded as one of the most dangerous segments of the South Col route to Everest’s summit. The Khumbu glacier that carries the icefall moves at such speed (up to 4 feet down Everest daily) that large crevasses open with little warning, often ejecting house-sized ice boulders in its wake.

    Commenting on the avalanche-prone Khumbu Icefall, Ballinger said, “Small and large avalanches and collapses occur regularly. I have not seen myself, nor heard from any of my Sherpas, that there has been an increase in the frequency or severity of avalanches or icefalls this season – although obviously one slide had much greater than normal consequences.”

    Sherpas, native to the highlands of Nepal, are revered as elite mountaineers and experts of their local topography. The group was integral in the success of early Himilayan explorers from the West, and today the word “Sherpa” is sometimes used as slang to describe any person who serves as a mentor or guide in any capacity.

    Here is a Nat Geo clip regarding how tourism has affected the lives of Sherpas:

    Alan Arnette, an American Everest veteran renowned in the world of extreme climbing, commented that the Sherpas ended the Everest season due to safety, religious and economic reasons. With the Khumbu Icefall tragedy, some highly religious Sherpas believe that Everest is taking revenge on the climbers. Also, younger factions of Sherpas are attempting to compete with older, more experienced and well-paid outfits. The younger group wanted to show that it is able to shut down the south side of the mountain whenever they choose.

    Three days ago, the Sherpas petitioned the Nepal Ministry of Tourism to make some reforms and adjust guide benefits.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • HBO Lets You Watch ‘Last Week Tonight’ Debut For Free On YouTube

    HBO debuted Last Week Tonight, the new show featuring comedian John Oliver (formerly of The Daily Show).

    They’ve disabled embedding, so you’ll have to go to the actual video page to watch, but here it is.

    The show doesn’t appear to stray too far from the Daily Show format, except that it’s weekly rather than daily, and John Oliver takes on the Jon Stewart role as opposed to the correspondent role he had on the Comedy Central show (though the interview he does is pretty reminiscent of those he did on that show). It should fit well with HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, in HBO’s news commentary line-up, though it appears on Sundays, while Real Time is on Fridays.

    So what to people think about it? Here are a few samples from the YouTube (or Google+) comments.

    Ralf Haring says, “It’s obviously heavily influenced by the Daily Show, though it didn’t really feel like he was picking through Stewart’s and Colbert’s leftovers with some segments focusing on the Indian election. I expect in the future he’ll be less nervous – the bits proceeded at a breakneck pace – and that it’ll evolve further in its own direction.”

    “I liked it,” added Alok Tiwari. “And I like the breakneck pace as well. Some Americans seem to be put off by the unbleeped cursing, though. (They really mustn’t watch any TV shows from UK.)”

    “If The Daily Show and The Bugle podcast had a baby, this would be it,” said Eric N. Wilson. “And afterwards there would be several “oh, this is awkward” moments when they were in the same room, since mommy and daddy can’t even agree on whether cricket is a sport or a cellphone.”

    Here’s the Twitter conversation:


    Obviously you still have to be an HBO subscriber to watch the show regularly, and they still don’t offer a standalone HBO Go experience. You still have to have cable or satellite.

    HBO does appear to be loosening its grip on its content just a little bit though. Last week, Amazon announced that it gets to stream some of its older content.

    It’s unclear how long HBO will leave the show available on YouTube, or whether there’s even a limit, but if you want to check it out, you’ll probably be better off doing so sooner rather than later.

    In addition to the entire episode, the show’s YouTube channel has a few shorter clips, including Oliver’s interview with General Keith Alexander, former head of the NSA.

    Image via YouTube

  • Ebola Virus Survivors Face Stigma

    The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has infected more than 240 people so far, and has been fatal to over 145. Ebola results in death in 68% of all cases, though at times those who survive recover quickly and completely. Yet, survivors still face the challenge of social stigma in their communities, regardless of being completely healthy and free of the disease.

    For instance, a doctor who has survived a bout with Ebola was scheduled to give an interview on Guinean radio to describe his recovery, but the station would not allow him into the studio. Upon the doctor’s arrival at the station, the program director told a representative of Doctors Without Borders, “We’d prefer he speak by phone from downstairs. I can’t take the risk of letting him enter our studio.”

    Human-to-human transmission of Ebola occurs via direct contact with blood or bodily fluids from an infected person, or by contact with contaminated medical equipment such as needles. No cases of aerosol transmission have been reported, and a potential for widespread Ebola epidemics is considered to be low, due to the high fatality rate of the illness, along with the rapidity of demise of patients.

    The Guinean doctor who survived Ebola, who wished to remain anonymous, commented, “Thanks be to God, I am cured. But now I have a new disease: the stigmatization that I am a victim of. This disease (the stigma) is worse than the fever.” The doctor contracted Ebola while caring for an ailing colleague in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, but survived the onset of symptoms by staying hydrated.

    David Heymann, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, explained that the key to surviving Ebola is staying alive long enough for the body to build enough antibodies to stave off the virus.

    Regardless of being cleared of Ebola, the doctor commented, “Now, everywhere in my neighborhood, all the looks bore into me like I’m the plague.” Guinea’s Ministry of Health has stopped naming neighborhoods where Ebola outbreaks have occurred, in an effort to protect survivors from stigmatization.

    Image via YouTube

  • Willie Nelson to Achieve 5th-Degree Black Belt

    After being inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Friday night to much fanfare, country music legend Willie Nelson is also set to receive his 5th-degree black belt in martial arts at the age of 80. Nelson will achieve the high honor in the modern Korean martial art of Gong Kwon Yu Sulon on Monday in Austin, right before his 81st birthday on Tuesday.

    Nelson began studying martial arts decades ago in Nashville, and his training had remained a constant in his life. Nelson told Men’s Health in 2013 that “It’s a good form of exercise, especially as you get older.” As a youth, Nelson was involved in various team sports, and commented, “I went through school playing all kinds of sports. I played shortstop, I ran track. I played football. I was a pole-vaulter.”

    As Nelson was inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame, fellow Texan Matthew McConaughey gave a small speech – “There would be no Austin City Limits without Willie Nelson,” the Academy Award-winning actor said.

    Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett then accompanied Nelson on stage for renditions of On the Road Again and Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die.

    Here Nelson does his part in helping to explain the zany antics of philandering, lovelorn males everywhere, with his 1982 Grammy-winning rendition of Always on My Mind:

    Commenting on his ACL induction, Nelson stated, “It means a lot. It’s Austin City Limits and Austin – the music capital of the world.”

    Nelson combines variety of music styles to create his own distinctive amalgam of country music, a hybrid of jazz, pop, blues, rock and folk, which has been highly influential to the new country, new traditionalist, and alternative country movements of the 1980s and 1990s.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Sarah Palin Talks Waterboarding, Baptism

    Sarah Palin Talks Waterboarding, Baptism

    Former Governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin gave a speech at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention in Indianapolis Saturday, in which she’d sensationally discussed her opinions concerning the Obama administration’s policy on terrorists and firearms.

    Regarding her views on how she would deal with suspected “enemies who would utterly annihilate America – they who’d obviously have information on plots,” Palin said, “if I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we baptize terrorists.” The NRA crowd erupted in applause as Palin commented, “Oh, but you can’t offend them (the terrorists), can’t make them feel uncomfortable, not even a smidgen.”

    Here is a clip of Palin’s speech:

    Palin was able to further rile the audience while espousing her perspective regarding the constitutional right to bear arms. The former governor urged those in attendance to fight for their gun liberties, and stated that their efforts are “needed now more than ever because every day, we are seeing more and more efforts to strip away our Second Amendment rights.” Palin sees the Obama administration as attempting to further control the American people by attempting to further control their guns.

    Palin, always a polarizing political figure, ruffled some feathers with her baptism comment, as seen on Twitter:

    The baptismal waterboarding comment isn’t the first time Palin found a way to draw attention to herself and induce reaction. Academy Award winner Matt Damon had chimed in regarding Palin’s 2008 vice presidential bid:

    Palin also explained in her speech that “If you control oil, you control an economy. If you control money, you control commerce. But if you control arms, you control the people, and that is what they’re trying to do.”

    The Tea Party, among others, appeared to endorse aspects of Palin’s presentation:

  • Angola Prison Rodeo Marks 50th Anniversary

    This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of Louisiana’s Angola Prison Rodeo, drawing thousands of spectators into the detention center complex. The rodeo, called “the wildest show in the South,” draws in funds for religious and educational programs for prisoners, with each springtime event raising roughly $450,000.

    The Angola Prison Rodeo commenced in 1964 as a recreational activity for the inmates and prison guards, and was originally closed to the public. Over time, more and more spectators began to arrive for the events, watching from the hoods of cars and apple crates outside of the fence. Seeing an opportunity to generate profit, prison officials eventually began selling tickets and setting up seating for fans.

    Angola, a maximum security facility, holds some of Louisiana’s most violent offenders, and according prison athletics director Gary Frank, only the most well-behaved inmates get to participate in the games. Prisoners spend their time during the year preparing arts and crafts which are sold at the rodeo event, which can hold 10,000 spectators. “It keeps them occupied, keeps their minds occupied,” Frank said. “It also gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment.”

    Here is a piece on the prison entitled Lockup: Inside Angola:

    Here is a clip from the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Wildest Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo:

    The Wildest Show in the South: The Angola Prison Rodeo from Ramzy Telley on Vimeo.

    The Angola Rodeo event schedule includes the Grand Entry, the Bust Out, Bareback Riding, the Wild Horse Race and Barrel Racing, which is the sole event in which inmates do not participate. The barrel racing event is a tour stop for The Girl’s Rodeo Association. The prison rodeo concludes with an event called Convict Poker, in which four inmate cowboys sit at a table in the middle of the arena playing a game of poker, while being attacked by a bull. The last man sitting wins.

    Frank commented, “Everybody has an inner kid in them, and they (the inmates) just want to play. If they get into a fight, they don’t get to play. It helps take out the nonsense.” Rodeo spectator Monique Wagner added, “they’re still human beings.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Ronald McDonald Gets a New, Hip Look

    Ronald McDonald Gets a New, Hip Look

    McDonald’s fast food restaurant chain unveiled a revamped, more modern rendering of their primary clown-mascot Ronald McDonald, and explained that the character will be “setting out on a global mission to rally the public through inspiring events.”

    The new Ronald now sports cargo pants, a sort of outdoors/adventure-inspired technical vest with many zippers, and a rugby shirt. The new gear is intended to help pull Ronald out of his fantasy realm of McDonaldland and into the domain of social media.

    While the new Ronald doesn’t yet have his own Twitter account, McDonald’s will promote the hashtag #RonaldMcDonald, for the time being. McDonald’s spokesperson Becca Hary commented that the company “felt it was time to evolve his look for his debut into social media.”

    Ronald McDonald, “the Hamburger-Happy Clown” was invented by former Today host Willard Scott in 1959, though McDonald’s doesn’t acknowledge the media personality’s involvement in creating the mascot. Along with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and The Fry Kids, Ronald McDonald has gained worldwide recognition. In Japan, Ronald is called Donald McDonald due to a lack of a clear “r” sound in Japanese, and there are also “sexy” male and female versions of the clown in that country.

    At any given time, McDonald’s employs hundreds of full-time actors to portray the burger-happy clown, to make appearances in franchise locations, Ronald McDonald Houses and various events. Ronald McDonald mimes have been known to go off the rails here and there, adding to a global collective perception that clowns are unnerving.

    Here is a series of Japanese McDonald’s commercials featuring Ronald:

    Aside from the new tech-vest, Ronald can also don a jacket and bowtie for select appearances:

    McRib enthusiasts are torn over Ronald’s new look:

    Regarding Ronald’s makeover and hashtag launch, Hary commented, “We’ve been pleased with the reaction Ronald has received in the media with his new debut. He’s an important part of pop culture and enjoys being part of the conversation.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Pope Francis Canonizes Two Pontiffs

    Pope Francis named two distinctive papal predecessors, John XXIII and John Paul II, as saints before a congregation of hundreds of thousands of witnesses in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Sunday, during an unprecedented service that was attended by Pope Benedict XVI. Historically, two former popes had never been canonized together, and a retired pope and a reigning pope had never celebrated Mass together in public.

    Popes John and John Paul were revered by Catholic traditionalists and progressives alike, and Francis’ inclusion of Benedict during Sunday’s proceedings was symbolic of a sense of unity in the Catholic Church the present day Vatican strives to espouse. After resigning his post last year, Pope Benedict declared he would remain “hidden from the world,” but Francis was able to convince him to participate in the public life of the church.

    During the canonization ceremony, Pope Francis paused and took a breath before reciting a Latin prayer, and then announced, “we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be saints and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church.” Applause erupted from the crowd of almost 800,000, which spanned St. Peter’s to the Tiber River.

    Kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers from over 90 countries attended Sunday’s ceremony, and roughly twenty Jewish leaders from the U.S., Israel, Italy, Argentina and Poland also arrived, indicative of an appreciation of the forwards made in Catholic-Jewish relations under John, John Paul, Benedict and Francis.

    Image via YouTube

  • YouTube Analytics Gets New Playlists Stats

    Google announced the addition of some new reports to YouTube Analytics, to help channel owners see how their playlists are helping with their overall channel performance.

    YouTube Analytics will now show the total number of video views from the channel’s playlists, how many times the viewers started watching a playlist, the average time they watched, and other data.

    The data will go back as far as February 1st.

    “Recently, we tweaked YouTube to give playlists more love, with new features like the ability for viewers to collect their favorite playlists and access them straight from the Guide,” says YouTube product manager Ted Hamilton. “Whether you create videos with different themes or you curate videos from other creators, keeping your videos organized with playlists helps viewers easily find what they went to your channel for, and can also encourage them to watch more of your videos.

    You can access the new stats by search for a playlist directly, or by selecting the “Playlists” view.

    More here.

    Image via YouTube

  • Florida Execution Leaves ‘Old Sparky’ Unemployed

    Florida executed a man on Wednesday who was convicted of murdering two relatives in 1990, marking the 85th instance of capital punishment for the state, and the fourth so far this year.

    Robert Hendrix, 47, was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke, shortly after a lethal injection procedure began. He remained silent, offering no final words.

    Hendrix was convicted of killing his cousin Elmer Scott and his wife Michelle, to prevent them from testifying against him the following day during a burglary trial. Scott had been an accomplice of Hendrix, but reached a plea deal in exchange for his testimony. Hendrix shot, beat and stabbed his cousin, and then cut the throat of Scott’s wife, before shooting her.

    Florida was the first state to reintroduce the death penalty after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down all capital punishment statutes nationwide in the 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision. All Floridian executions are carried out at Florida State Prison, which houses the sole remaining death chamber statewide. At present, 396 inmates are awaiting execution in Florida, and sixteen inmates have been administered lethal injections since Governor Rick Scott took office in 2011.

    While lethal injection has been the preferred method of execution in Florida since 2000, inmates can still request the use of “Old Sparky,” the nickname of the electric chair in the states of Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New York, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Virginia. Hendrix opted to stay clear of Old Sparky, as botched execution attempts in this manner are not unheard of, and have a chance of becoming an extremely gruesome form of cruel and unusual punishment.

    Last June Governor Rick Scott signed the Timely Justice Act of 2013. The statute is designed to accelerate the capital punishment process. The law forces death row inmates to be quicker about making appeals and post-conviction motions.

    Image via WIkimedia Commons

  • Kentucky Mailman Jailed for Stashing 45K Letters

    Former Western Kentucky postal worker William “Brent” Morse has been sentenced to 6 months in a federal prison for hiding almost 45,000 pieces of mail he didn’t feel like delivering. According to David J. Hale, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, Morse is guilty of “destroying, hiding and delaying the delivery of at least 44,900 pieces of mail.”

    Morse, a mailman for five years, stored stacks of letters in his deceased mother’s home and in storage lockers he’d rented near his mail route in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. The hoarded mail was meant to be delivered to approximately 250 households in the Dawson Springs area between March, 2011 and March 2013. City police Capt. Craig Patterson commented, “He wanted to speed up his route. I think he was lazy.”

    Adel Valdes, a U.S. Postal Inspector in Louisville, stated that Morse’s reasoning was that “he wanted to pick up his kids from school every day at a certain time.” Morse, 34, was found out after he’d left the door to one of his storage facilities open, to where the owner of the locker noticed a large amount of undelivered mail and USPS equipment. The owner of the storage facility then alerted authorities.

    Morse wasn’t charged with theft of the mail, though he must pay almost $15,000 in restitution for losses incurred by two businesses that send out commercial circulars. The USPS has since delivered the wayward mail.

    Morse appears to be cut from the same cloth as Jerry Seinfeld’s oft-nemisis Newman:

    Image via Facebook

  • Wyoming Explosion Clears Out Town of 98

    Wyoming Explosion Clears Out Town of 98

    An explosion at a natural gas plant in Wyoming has prompted the evacuation of the town of Opal, population 98. Opal is situated roughly five miles from the Williams Gas Plant, which was shut down after an explosion occurred on-site at about 2 p.m. MDT Wednesday.

    Williams Gas Plant spokesperson Michele Swaner reported that there were no injuries in the incident, and the Wyoming Department of Transportation confirmed that no one was hurt. Swaner added that all 42 plant workers have been accounted for, and that arrangements are being made to assist evacuees affected by the explosion.

    Lincoln County public information officer Stephen Malik said, “Last information we have, there’s still no confirmed reports of any injuries, and we’ve evacuated the town of Opal as a precaution.”

    Swaner also stated that the exact cause of the explosion is still under investigation – “It’s a big gas processing plant, it’s huge, and we believe the fire and explosion occurred in our turboexpander … and we have five of them at that facility so the explosion and fire occurred in that area.”

    Opal is a town in Lincoln County, Wyoming, United States comprising 38 households and 28 families, as of 2010. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.39 square miles. Males in Opal have a median income of $50,750 versus $0 for females.

    How to pronounce “Opal, Wyoming” is explained by an android here:

    Opal evacuees are currently staying at area hotels including Little America and a Best Western.

    Image via Facebook

  • Bachelorette Contestant Eric Hill Dies

    Eric Hill, a contestant on the popular ABC marriage-game reality show The Bachelorette has passed away due to injuries he’d sustained during a paragliding accident. Hill had been cast as a gentleman caller vying for the affections of Andi Dorfman, the star of the upcoming season of the reality series. Hill was seriously hurt after his parachute collapsed and he crashed into a hillside.

    In a statement, ABC producers commented, “We are deeply saddened to hear about the tragic passing of our friend, Eric Hill. Eric inspired us every day with his passion, his courage and his adventurous spirit, and for that we are very thankful. On behalf of our cast, crew and producers, we send our love, our thoughts and our prayers to Eric’s family during this difficult time.”

    The Bachelorette host Chris Harrison commented on Hill’s passing via Twitter:

    After his parachute failed, Hill was medevaced from the scene to a Utah hospital and put into a medically-induced coma, where he later died. Utah’s Unified Fire Authority Battalion Chief Brian Anderton told US Weekly, “Due to the slope of the hill, we had a difficult time getting the patient down, so we called in a technical rescue team and some technical medical specialists.”

    Hill’s sister Tracy announced his death via Facebook, writing, “Eric shared his final journey with us this morning as all his immediate family were able to be at his side when he passed away. Thank you to all of your love and support and prayers and fasting. … He gave us such a gift of a life fully lived and fully shared, and allowed us all to be a part of his last adventure here on earth. It is hard to think of life without his bright spark, but we know he is on to new adventures. We look forward to carrying on his legacy here and greeting him joyfully again someday. I love you so much, little brother!”

    Image via YouTube

  • John Wayne Gacy Probe Solves Cold Case

    The disappearance of Edward Beaudion, a 22-year-old Chicago man who went missing in 1978, had been a cold case for decades, until his remains were finally identified via DNA that was collected to establish potential victims of notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

    In 2011, Beaudion’s family submitted DNA to Cook County police after the department called upon relatives of missing persons who may have been victims of Gacy. John Wayne Gacy, Jr., also known as the Killer Clown, was convicted of the sexual assault and murder of at least 33 teenage boys and young men in a series of killings committed between 1972 and 1978 around Chicago.

    Here is a documentary on Gacy, also known as “Pogo the Clown”:

    Beaudion’s remains were discovered in 2008 by a family hiking in a forest preserve, though the DNA his family submitted wasn’t tested until 2013. At a press conference Wednesday morning, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart commented that the DNA was a match to Beaudoin’s body. Beaudion’s sister, Ruth Rodriguez, said, “I can’t understand why (he was killed). I’ll never get any answers for that, but at least putting the cross out there we have somewhere we can go and pray and connect with my brother.”

    Beaudion vanished after borrowing his sister’s car in July, 1978. The car was found three weeks later in Missouri, and a man named Jerry Jackson was arrested for its theft. Jackson had confessed to killing Beaudion, but was never charged because Beaudion’s body was never located. Jackson died in 2013, before charges could be filed against him in Beaudoin’s death.

    Sheriff Dart and Rodriguez both suggest that those with missing relatives nationwide should submit DNA samples to authorities to help identify bodies.

    Image via Twitter

  • Avril Lavigne: Is Her ‘Hello Kitty’ Video Racist?

    Avril Lavigne is causing a bit of a stir with one of her recent music videos. Called Hello Kitty, the song features the singer performing with a group of Asian dancers as she drinks sake. Some people have deemed the video racist and embarrassing.

    Other people take the song’s lyrics to be suggestive–meaning that the intent behind the title--Hello Kitty–is a double entendre. Others find the expressionless Asian dancers to be no different than using Tokyo as a prop.

    In a recent interview, Avril tried explaining the video and the title away. She said that although it is “flirtatious and somewhat sexual” it is “genuinely about my love for Hello Kitty as well!”

    Well, that might very well be the case, but it doesn’t make the production of the music video anywhere near to being politically correct.

    The Complicated singer released the new Hello Kitty video just two days ago and since then it has been removed from YouTube.

    #Avrilracist started trending on Twitter shortly after the video’s release.

    Diehard fans defended her, however.

    Others found more fault with Lavigne’s performance than with Hello Kitty as a blatantly racist piece of video.

    “Folks shouldn’t be mad at Avril for a (not really) racist video,” a source says. “They should be mad such a crappy song was produced in the 1st place.”

    Although you can’t watch Hello Kitty on YouTube any longer, it is still available for viewing on Avril Lavigne’s web site. Check it out and see whether you think the video and its content are offensive.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Iceberg Twice the Size of Atlanta Enters Ocean

    Iceberg Twice the Size of Atlanta Enters Ocean

    An iceberg with an area almost twice the size of Atlanta has broken away from the Antarctic continent and is drifting into the ocean, which could threaten shipping lanes in the Southern Ocean during the Antarctic winter. The floating, frozen island has been named iceberg B31. Scientists have reported from NASA’s Earth Observatory that B31 spans 255 square miles and is estimated to be roughly a third of a mile thick.

    Iceberg B31 calved off Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier last November, and the crack that began the separation was first spotted by NASA in 2011. So far, B31 has drifted out of Pine Island Bay and into the Amundsen Sea, off the western side of Antarctica. In a statement from NASA, Grant Bigg from the University of Sheffield in England said, “The iceberg is now well out of Pine Island Bay and will soon join the more general flow in the Southern Ocean, which could be east or west in this region.”

    NASA’s Earth Observatory posted a clip delineating the path of B31’s movement, utilizing the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-equipped Terra and Aqua satellites:

    Icebergs are free-floating, massive pieces of freshwater ice that have broken off a glacier or an ice shelf. Due to the conflicted densities between pure ice and seawater, typically only one-tenth of the volume of an iceberg is above water. This had fostered the expression “tip of the iceberg,” and contributed to the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.

    Robert Marsh, a scientist at the University of Southampton in England, said an iceberg of B31’s magnitude can take a year to melt. The largest iceberg ever recorded was iceberg B15, which was the size of the state of Connecticut, at 4,250 square miles. B15 calved off Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf in March, 2000. Fragments of B15 still float around the Antarctic today.

    Image via NASA

  • Mako Shark Landed in Gulf May Break Record

    Ernie Polk and his cousin Joey Polk landed a shortfin Mako shark off the Floridian Gulf Coast while surfcasting Tuesday, and the fish might be a world record catch. The two spent over an an hour reeling in the 11-foot-long, 805 pound beast directly onto shore, and didn’t disclose the exact location to ward off other fishermen.

    Ernie Polk commented to the The Pensacola News Journal, “That’s probably the best fish we ever caught.” The cousins already hold a combined three world records from the International Land-Based Shark Fishing Association. Ernie Polk captured his first shortfin Mako world record in 2009, reeling in a fish that weighed 674 pounds, at just over 11 feet long. In 2010, Polk landed a 10-foot-9-inch tiger shark that weighed in at 928 pounds, only to have his record beaten the following month by cousin Joey, who caught a 12-foot-9-inch tiger shark weighing 949 pounds.

    The shortfin Mako shark, or Isurus oxyrinchus, which means”sharp nose,” is the fastest of all sharks, and can swim at a sustained 25 miles per hour. They are also high jumpers, sometimes leaping up to 30 feet out of the water, making them highly sought after as game fish. Mako sharks are also prized for their meat, which is commonplace in supermarkets in the northeastern United States. The present world record of an offshore catch of a Mako is an 11-foot-long, 1,323 pound specimen caught off of Huntington Beach, California.

    Here is a clip concerning the record catch:

    The Polks typically release the sharks they catch, but in the case of the Mako, the fight to reel it in had left it too exhausted to swim back out to sea. The Florida cousins loaded the fish into the back of a pickup, and drove it home.

    After clearing some legal paperwork, they plan to sell the meat at market. Ernie commented, “It’s a $10-per-pound fish at the fish market. It’ll sell right along with tuna and swordfish. Between all of us, there won’t be a bit wasted.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • 1957 Murder Cold Case Appealed by Lifer

    1957 Murder Cold Case Appealed by Lifer

    In 2012, former police officer Jack McCullough was convicted of the 1957 kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Maria Ridulph, a case that ran cold for almost 60 years. Now an Illinois court is considering an appeal filed by McCullough, whose lawyers claim that an eye-witness to 1957 events was having a “romantic notion.”

    A key witness of the crime was Ridulph’s childhood friend Kathy Sigman Chapman, who is now in her sixties. Chapman claimed she had seen McCullough, then a teenager, giving Ridulph a piggyback ride in Sycamore, Illinois before she disappeared. In a 72-page appeal, McCullough’s lawyers contest that Chapman’s memories of Ridulph’s vanishing were so deeply ingrained into her mind that she could have mistakenly identified McCullough five decades later. The case was once the oldest unsolved murder in the United States, before McCullough, formerly John Tessier, was arrested in July, 2011.

    Chapman testified during the trial that on December 3, 1957, a teenager who called himself Johnny had approached her and Ridulph. Chapman went home briefly to get mittens, and upon her return both Johnny and Maria were missing. Ridulph’s body was found the following spring roughly 120 miles away. The case received national attention, and the FBI became involved under J. Edgar Hoover.

    Here is a 48 Hours documentary on the case:

    The case was reopened decades later, after Janet Tessier, McCullough’s half sister, contacted Illinois State Police. Janet Tessier had been a caretaker of McCullough’s biological mother Eileen Tessier, who had been dying of cancer. On her deathbed, Tessier’s mother confessed that McCullough murdered Ridulph. McCullough was then arrested at a retirement community in Seattle where he’d lived and worked.

    Prosecutors said McCullough, now 74, choked Ridulph with a wire and stabbed her, and he was found guilty. Though, McCollough’s lawyers have testified that Eileen Tessier, who was in the end stages of cancer, was sedated, “emotionally disturbed,” sometimes “basically comatose” and at other times “pleasantly confused.”

    McCollough’s appeal states that by allowing prosecutors to introduce “irrelevant, but highly prejudicial evidence, no rational trier of fact would have found the defendant guilty.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Yosemite Climber Falls 30 Feet from Rock Face

    Yosemite Climber Falls 30 Feet from Rock Face

    A 26-year-old male rock climber fell roughly 30 feet from a granite rock face at Yosemite National Park’s Cathedral range Sunday, and was airlifted out after sustaining severe injuries. The unidentified hiker from Palo Alto, California had been trekking with three others, before falling onto a rock bench approximately 1,000 feet up.

    Officer Andrea Brown, of the California Highway Patrol’s Air Operations Division, commented that the injured climber “was wide awake, he gave me a thumbs up and he was OK,” though was in too much pain to move. “He landed on a ledge, and was laying prone on the rocks,” Brown added. The climber is presently in stable condition at a Modesto hospital, after being transported from the Higher Cathedral Spire.

    Brown said that the rescue operation was a bit tricky, due to inclement weather. “It would have been OK if the winds were calm, but the winds were a little silly,” she said, adding that in terms of difficulty, she would rate the operation a “7 or 8 out of 10.” Brown also praised the CHP rescuers, stating that they are “world-class rock climbers, but not only can they climb, they can start IVs and give medical aid while suspended on ropes. They’re pretty studly.”

    Here is some footage of the Higher Cathedral Spire at Yosemite:

    Yosemite spokeswoman Kari Cobb called the park a “mecca for climbing,” and pointed out that the Higher Cathedral Spire is a popular destination. “It’s a very well-known climb,” Cobb said. “It’s something that is typically done on weekends on a regular basis. These guys were not on something that is rarely climbed.”

    The Higher Cathedral Spire is rated at a 5.4 on the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS), which is a three-part system used for grading the difficulty of walks, hikes and climbs. Cobb said that Yosemite typically sees one or two fatalities a year due to climbing accidents.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons