GIFFORDS URGES GUN VIOLENCE ACTION AT SENATE HEARING: Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely wounded in a January 2011 assassination attempt, made a surprise appearance at a Senate hearing Wednesday (January 30th) on gun
violence. Giffords, who still has difficulty speaking, delivered a brief, 80-word plea for action, telling lawmakers the nation is counting on them after stating, "Too many children are dying. Too many children." Also speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee was Giffords' husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, who emphasized that both he and his wife are gun
owners as he stated, "We're simply two reasonable Americans who realize we have a problem with gun violence and we need Congress to act." But National Rifle Association executive vice president Wayne LaPierre, who also spoke at the hearing, not only rejected Democratic proposals to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, but also spoke against requiring universal background checks for all gun purchases -- which the NRA
once supported -- saying it wouldn't be effective in stopping criminals from getting guns, and accused the Obama administration of not enforcing the gun laws currently on the books. Republicans blamed the nation's gun violence on a lack of civility, violent video games, and insufficient attention to people with mental problems, while Democrats countered that a need to improve gun restrictions as well was obvious. Senator Charles Schumer of
ALABAMA GUNMAN REMAINS IN BUNKER WITH 5-YEAR-OLD HOSTAGE: An Alabama gunman remains holed up in a bunker with a 5-year-old hostage in a standoff with police that began Tuesday afternoon (January 29th) when he boarded a stopped school bus filled with
children, killed the driver when he refused to hand over a five-year-old child, and dragged the boy off the bus and into his bunker. The boy is not related to the gunman. SWAT teams were positioned around the man's rural property Wednesday as police negotiators tried to get the boy released from the bunker, which resembles a tornado shelter. The 65-year-old gunman, identified by neighbors in Midland City as Jimmy Lee Dykes, is a retired truck driver known
as a menacing figure in the area, who once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a shotgun. He'd been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to answer charges that he shot at his neighbors last month in a dispute over a speed bump.
ISRAEL LAUNCHES
truck convoy believed to be carrying sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles headed for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. AP cited regional officials as saying that the Russian-made missiles, if acquired by Hezbollah, would be, quote, "game-changing," enabling the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones. The Syrian military denied the
existence of any such shipment, claiming a scientific research facility was hit by the strike. The Israeli military declined to comment. The strike was
U.S.
nation's gross domestic product fell at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter after 13 straight quarters of growth. However, economists said the surprise reversal looks to have been caused by one-time factors, rather than being an indication of a coming recession. There was a sharp reduction in defense spending -- the largest quarterly decline in 40 years -- as well as a reduction in private-sector inventory buildup, which was enough to drag overall
SENATOR MENENDEZ DENIES PROSTITUTION ACCUSATION: Senator Robert Menendez' office yesterday (January 30th) denied allegations that he had sex with prostitutes in the
personal. The third trip, which was for campaign fundraising, was reported to the Federal Election Commission. The FBI searched the
Melgen, Tuesday and Wednesday, but it was unclear if the raid was related to Menendez. The conservative website The Daily Caller reported early last November that Menendez traveled on Melgen's plane to the doctor's native
website contended that two women in the
said Menendez paid them for sex earlier in 2012. But Menendez's office said that any such accusations, quote, "are manufactured by a politically motivated right-wing blog and are false."
- Menendez became chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, succeeding John Kerry, who's leaving to be secretary of state.
also fired at a witness who pursued him as he fled in a rental car. A prominent
WALMART LIMITS AMMUNITION SALES AFTER DEMAND SURGE: Walmart has started to limit sales of ammunition to three boxes per customer per day amid a surge in demand. A spokesperson told Reuters yesterday (January 30th), "In order to take care of as many customers as possible, starting Thursday, January 24th, all ammunition sales were limited to
three boxes per customer, per day as supply is limited at this time." Wal-Mart, the largest gun seller in the
subsequent discussions and proposals about reducing gun violence. Data released Monday (January 28th) by the FBI showed that nine of the top 10 days for background checks for firearms purchases from November 1998 to
BLACKBERRY INTRODUCES NEW SMARTPHONES: Research In Motion yesterday (January 30th) announced that it had renamed itself BlackBerry, after its signature product, as it unveiled its long-delayed new smartphones that it hopes will boost the company's fading
fortunes. However, it disappointed investors by saying sales in the
and devices using Google's Android technology. The BlackBerry Z10 will be the first to hit the market, with a country-by-country rollout that starts in
saying, "The president and first lady's thoughts and prayers are with the family of Hadiya Pendleton."
MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts Democratic Governor Deval Patrick yesterday (January 30th)
picked his former chief of staff, William "Mo" Cowan, to fill Democrat John Kerry's open Senate seat until a special election in June. Kerry is leaving the Senate to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, and was confirmed for the job on Tuesday. With the appointment of Cowan, who also served as Patrick's chief legal counsel, the Senate now has two black senators serving at the same time for the first time in history. Cowan joins
South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott, who was appointed by that
state's governor, Republican Nikki Haley, to replace former GOP Senator Jim
DeMint, who left earlier this month to head up the conservative Heritage
Foundation think tank. Among the potential candidates for the June special
election on the Democratic side are Reps. Ed Markey, Stephen Lynch
and Michael Capuano. For the Republicans, the most high-profile
candidate is former Senator Scott Brown, who won the late Ted
Kennedy's open seat in 2010, but was defeated when he ran for re-election
last November by Democrat Elizabeth Warren.
SEX REALLY DOESN'T BURN A LOT OF CALORIES: We've all heard the supposed fact that sex burns a lot of calories, but it turns out that, like many things that sound too good to be
true, it's just a myth. Researchers found that the only study that scientifically measured this found that sex lasted six minutes on average and burned just 21 calories for a man. The 1984 study didn't measure how many calories women burned during the act.
LABRADOR RETRIEVER IS STILL
the Labrador retriever continued to be the nation's top dog for the 22nd year in a row. The overall results showed that bulldogs and large dogs are moving up in the rankings, while once-popular smaller breeds like the Yorkshire terrier and the miniature poodle are losing ground.
- Labrador retriever
- German shepherd
- Golden retriever
- Beagle
- Bulldog
- Yorkshire terrier
- Boxer
- Poodle
- Rottweiler
- Dachshund
SPORTS:
- The 37-year-old Lewis is ending his 17-year career after the Super Bowl, and it's assumed he will make it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
DR. PHIL: TE'O HOAXER WAS IN LOVE WITH PLAYER, WHO DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT SCHEME: Dr. Phil McGraw previewed his interview with Manti Te'o "fake girlfriend" hoaxer Ronaiah Tuiasosopo yesterday (January 30th) on NBC's Today show, saying that the 22-year-old California man told him that he wound up falling, quote, "deeply, romantically" in love with the Notre Dame player, who wasn't involved in the scheme and didn't know the person he thought was a girl was actually Tuiasosopo. McGraw's interview with Tuiasosopo, who created the fictional woman Te'o knew as "Lennay Kekua," will air in two parts on his show starting today. Te'o has claimed innocence in the hoax, saying that even though he never met Kekua in person, that their relationship was serious and he believed that she had died of leukemia in September on the same day as his grandmother. Tuiasosopo backed up what Te'o said, and insisted that the very female-sounding voice Te'o heard on the phone as Kekua was really his. McGraw said he asked Tuiasosopo if he is gay, stating, "He said, 'Well, when you
put it that way, yes.' Then he caught himself and said, 'I am confused.'"
49
cornerback Chris Culliver is drawing criticism for anti-gay comments. In an interview with shock radio deejay Artie Lange on media day Tuesday (January 29th) about gay players in football that Lange aired that night, the 24-year-old Culliver said, "I don't do the gay guys, man. I don't do that. No, we don't got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do. Can't be with that sweet stuff. Nah . . . can't be . . . in the locker room, man." When asked by Lange whether gay players would need to keep it a secret, Culliver answered, "Yeah, come out 10 years later after that." The 49ers released a statement Wednesday that said, "The San Francisco 49ers reject the comments that were made and have addressed the
matter with Chris. There is no place for discrimination within our organization
at any level. We have and always will proudly support the LGBT community."
SANDY
children from Sandy Hook Elementary, where 20 first-graders and six adults were killed in the December 14th massacre.
POLICE QUESTION 7-YEAR-OLD ABOUT STOLEN $5 FOR 10 HOURS: A 7-year-old boy in
was crying, 'Mommy, it wasn't me! Mommy, it wasn't me!' I never imagined the
cops could do that to a child. We're traumatized. Imagine how I felt seeing my son in handcuffs! It was horrible. I couldn't believe what I was seeing." According to reports, police were acting on a report claiming $5 fell on the ground in front of the boy and his two friends and that one of them took it. The $250 million lawsuit that has been filed against the city and the NYPD also states that another student admitted to the theft. The family's lawyer said,
"It's unfathomable, what the police did. The whole thing sounds so stupid. They were interrogating him like he was a hardened criminal. If you have a child, a nephew, can you even imagine this happening to them?" The city reportedly dropped the robbery charge in December. (
cell stopped at a bar, told a bar-goer that he just broke out of jail then
asked for a beer. Police said 40-year-old Timothy Bonner had just been
un-cuffed and placed in a jail cell when he knocked the door off of its hinges
and ran away. Minutes later, he stopped at Richy's Bar and admitted to breaking
out and asked for a beer. The customer said he did buy him a beer but the
police showed up before Bonner could drink it. (AP)
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER TWEETS NSFW PICS & TALKS MARIJUANA ONLINE: A 23-year-old 10th grade math teacher in
(January 29th) after she posted semi-nude photos of herself on Twitter and bragged about smoking marijuana.
However, what we need to do is to talk with her to review our district policy and then determine what our next step will be." Check out some of her tweets below:
- @Crunk_Bear: "Just got called Ms. McCutie. Points for being clever, however you are still jailbait."
- @Crunk_Bear: "Naked. Wet. Stoned"
- @Crunk_Bear: "Watching a drug bust go down in the parking lot. It's funny cuz I have weed in my car in the staff parking lot."
The NSFW (but censored) pics here: http://on.today.com/11c2hum
‘VENOMOUS’ NEW ROB ZOMBIE ALBUM ARRIVING IN APRIL: Rob Zombie's finally got a title and release date for his fifth solo studio album, which will follow up 2010's Hellbilly
Deluxe 2. The set will be called Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor -- that's a mouthful -- and it's due to arrive on Tuesday, April 23rd, just three days ahead of the April 26th theatrical release of Zombie's fifth live-action directorial effort, The Lords Of Salem.
Zombie told Pulse of Radio what goals he set for himself in making the new album: "I
wanted someone to hear it and go, 'Wow, I haven't heard that before.' I wanted
it to be just different. We really went out of our way with the sounds, so every song has a very different sound, a very different guitar sound, drum sound, just everything, where the sound, the actual sound becomes very important. You know, after all these years you want to still try to feel that you can break through new, creative areas in your own mind, and that's really what we're just trying to do, you know."
- Zombie told Loudwire last fall about the new record, "It's stylistically sort of a little bit of everything. Fans of my really old stuff will love it because there's a certain aspect
of it that's very reminiscent of that. But it is also very looking to the future . . . I feel like it's the best of all the things I've done."
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH DRUMMER READYING MEMOIR: Five Finger Death Punch drummer Jeremy Spencer will publish his autobiography, titled Deathpunched: Cheers To My Sobriety, early next year, according to Blabbermouth. Spencer, who just celebrated a year of sobriety on January 8th, initially intended to publish the book himself, but now says that a deal is going forward with a publishing company to release the book in early 2014.
In an interview with
"Obviously, being in a rock band, you dabble in the party lifestyle from time to time. So after years of that catching up to me, I got sober. But we always used to have this saying about doing cocaine . . . we always said, 'Man, you feel like (porn star) Ron Jeremy from the neck up and (late quadriplegic actor) Christopher Reeve from the neck down. So the cover of the book is me in, like, a Superman kind of costume in a wheelchair cheersing a martini
glass with Ron Jeremy and two hot chicks."
- Spencer and the rest of Five Finger Death Punch are currently in the studio working on their fourth album.
- The band's last effort, 2011's American Capitalist, was certified gold last year for sales of 500,000 copies. All three of the group's releases, including 2007's The Way Of The Fist and 2009's War Is The Answer, are gold.
- Five Finger Death Punch is scheduled to make a number of festival appearances this summer, including on a yet-to-be-announced "big tour" in the
- Drowning Pool has set "Resilience" as the title of its fifth studio
album, with an April 2nd release date penciled in. An official single
called "A Finger And A Fist" has been issued. The set marks the
debut of new singer Jasen Moreno, the group's fourth frontman.
end of 2011 after six years. The band said in a statement about the new
disc, "Ultimately, it isn't a new beginning or an end. It's a
continuation of the Drowning Pool legacy -- and a fitting one at
that." (Blabbermouth)
Marilyn Manson filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday (January 29th) against a
woman named Yolanda Tharpe, a.k.a. Seraphim Ward. Manson
claims that he has been the target of a "months-long campaign of
defamation and harassment" by Ward, who recently said that she was
Manson were engaged. Manson denied the story and said that he did not even
know Ward. Although she eventually retracted the engagement story, she has
since said that Manson is racist, that he is stalking her and that he is
responsible for the deaths of her two cats. Manson is reportedly seeking
$50,000 in damages. (Loudwire)
- The third annual Welcome To Rockville festival will take place over two days for the first time, on April 27th and 28th at
Hollywood Undead, Skillet, All That Remains, David Draiman's new band Device, Filter, In This Moment, Pop Evil, Saving Abel, Nonpoint and more. Tickets go on sale at
REBEL WILSON LAUNCHES CLOTHING LINE: Pitch Perfect actress Rebel Wilson has launched a clothing line for plus-sized girls sizes 12 through 18 called Fat Mandi. Currently there are only two shirts available but the star tweeted, "The shirts are just a little experiment - I had a dream I created them, and so I felt like I had to do it!! Thanks everyone for checking it!"
RON JEREMY IN CRITICAL
hospital on Tuesday (January 29th) after experiencing severe chest pains. Doctors discovered that Jeremy had a heart aneurysm and he is now in ICU be prepped for surgery.
DEMI
Marshall revealed that Demi Moore was initially the frontrunner for Geena Davis' role in her film A League Of Their Own. By the time they were ready to offer the role however, Demi revealed that she was pregnant and
THOUGHTFUL GIFTS FOR YOUR SWEETHEART THAT
offering design-your-own labels for bottles, and make a big splash with a gift
of an affordable beverage (alcoholic or not) in a beautiful bottle of your
choosing. The label can include a favorite picture of the two of you together,
from right there at, "chateau our house."
2) Framed pictures for the office. For cubicle and office-dwellers, a
few personalized mementos help make the work environment warmer. Find a picture
your spouse especially loves and have some prints made for a nice frame you've
chosen. Or make it more special with a his-and-hers matching pair, so you
always have the same view at the office.
3) Equipment for hobbies. If you're married to an avid gardener, put
together a basket of nice work gloves, a trowel and seeds they like. If your
spouse is a beer lover, many online stores offer complete homebrew beginner's
kits. For the culinary enthusiast, a cooking class might be an affordable entry
into a new style of cuisine.
4) Plant a tree. This is a great way to say that you're in it for the
long haul with your spouse. A well-placed tree can not only be a symbol of your
enduring love, but as it grows, it can provide shade in the summer and reduce
your cooling bills. A fruit or nut tree can provide annual harvests for years
to come for couples looking for really local food, and in the fall, nothing
beats a pile of leaves for the kids to jump around in (and gives you a chance
to parentally explain that raking builds character!)
5) Plan an adventure. Whether your budget allows extravagant gifts or
encourages something more low-key, you can still make great memories. Pack a
picnic basket with food, drink and romantic notes or poems and hike with your
spouse to a scenic spot. Or take a day trip nearby spots like a river or lake.
Look for affordable canoe rentals and spend the day on the water, with a
leisurely romantic picnic on some "unexplored" beach or island. You
may be able to find some great ideas by visiting www.greatdatedeals.com
STUDY FINDS A LITTLE
food was presented. Scientists found that those who received larger portions did not feel fuller or more satisfied than the group with smaller portions. (Daily Mail)
