Sunday, September 29, 2013
Bored with your yacht? Take the plunge on a luxury submarine
A soak in the Jacuzzi, a quick game in the squash court and skeet off the aft deck — cruising on their giant yachts is getting to be a giant bore for the super-rich. New toys are always needed. And so the hottest booths at the Monaco Yacht Show belong the guys peddling the latest accessory: submarines. “They’re fed up with drinking white wine and riding jet skis, so they’re looking for another thrill," Bert Houtman of U-Boat Worx said of his clientele. The newest models can dive as deep as 5,000 feet, include air conditioning and sound systems, and run up to $4.2 million. Oh, and that's not including the "shadow" vessel that may be needed to tow the sub if your yacht can't handle an 18,000-pound load. After all, it's the submarine you want to sink. [Source]
Article Source here
Author: now.msn.com
'Rubber Duck' debuts in America
A giant rubber duck approaches Pittsburgh
A 40-foot-high and 30-foot-wide inflatable rubber duck, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, thrills spectators in Pittsburgh.
A giant inflatable rubber duck, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is towed up the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 27.
Pittsburgh's duck is the first "Made-in-the-USA" version of the Dutch artist's creation.
The duck's arrival kicks off the month-long Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts, which features theater, dance, music and visual arts from around the world. After the opening night the duck will be moored downtown until Oct. 20.
Taking duck photos
Spectators photograph a 40-foot-high and 30-foot-wide inflatable rubber duck, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, as it is towed up the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 27.
The event marks the North American debut of Hofman's Rubber Duck Project, which has taken place in cities in Asia, Europe, Australia and South America.
Spectators set their sights on the giant duck
People lining both sides of the Allegheny River take photos as a version of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman's giant "Rubber Duck" is towed past Heinz Field for its debut in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 27.
Giant duck makes its way to Pittsburgh
A giant inflatable rubber duck, created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is towed up the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 27.
Crowds gather for a glimpse of the duck
Thousands of people line both sides of the Allegheny River as a version of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman's giant "Rubber Duck" is towed past Heinz Field for its debut in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 27.
Heading up the Ohio River
A version of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman giant "Rubber Duck" is towed up the Ohio River under the West End Bridge for its debut in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 27.
Paddleboarders take a gander
A pair of men paddling paddleboards move towards a version of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman giant "Rubber Duck" as it is towed up the Ohio River for its debut in Pittsburgh on Friday, Sept. 27.
Article Source here
Author: now.msn.com
Arcade Fire Debuts New Music, Recruits Celebrity Friends for 'SNL,' Concert Special
Arcade Fire owned NBC's Saturday night.
The rock band took to the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" for the live debut (outside secret shows) of its newest single, "Reflektor," as well as the full debut of "Afterlife" -- both songs from the group's upcoming fourth album.
Win, Regine and co. stepped onstage shortly after midnight, launching into the new album's formidable first single. The husband-wife combo traded lead vocals, alternating languages in the process. Butler and Chassagne took center stage, the former sans the guitar he usually plays live, taking on an instrument-less frontman status for the majority of both songs. Of course there's the weirdness that comes with an Arcade Fire performance, continuing the trend from the band's "Reflektor" music video. In this edition, Chassagne found herself off the stage during a break in the action, emerging in a cage-like structure made of glass.
Later, the band debuted "Afterlife," another cut from "Reflektor" (in stores Oct. 29). The song is ebullient, with a saccharine chorus and a New Order feel, thanks no doubt to James Murphy's part as producer on the album. In a lead-in to the band's half-hour concert special later in the evening, frontman Butler was decked out in black raccoon-esque makeup over his eyes, perhaps a subtle nod to Michael Stipe.
Prior to the band's two-song set on "SNL," the Canadians appeared in a sketch that also served to help acquaint viewers with the new castmembers of the show. In "New Cast Member or Arcade Fire," host Tina Fey had to choose which of the two people before her was a member of the band and which was a new member of the show. Butler was paired with Mike O'Brien, both of whom were required to do their best Robert DeNiro impressions. Meanwhile, Chassagne popped up alongside Noel Wells, forced to hold "old-timey instruments" to assist Fey in her choice.
But after the cast said their goodbyes for the night, the indie rock royalty was just getting warmed up. A Win-led conga line helped segue into "Here Comes the Night Time." Part-performance and part-cameo-fest, the set featured three new songs from "Reflektor," along with visits from several high profile folks, presumably fans of the band.
Performing from the glitzy Salsatheque in Montreal, Arcade Fire went all-out '70s during the set, matching the disco aesthetic Murphy crafted in LCD Soundsystem. "Here Comes the Night Time" is another longer tune out of "Reflektor," a slower dirth of a song at first that breaks into rapidfire drums and guitar before slowing yet again, pulsating synths abounding.
The other two songs performed, "We Exist" and "Normal Person," fit snugly into the "Reflektor" feel set forth thus far. The former has a synthline almost remniscent of "Billie Jean," while the latter asks the question, "I think I'm cool enough, but am I cruel enough?" before breaking into a jarring cacophony of instrumentation.
Throughout, a number of celebrity guests make appearances ranging from brief to always there, the latter the case of Rainn Wilson, who's all over "Normal Person." Michael Cera plays the bartender at Salsatheque, referring to Arcade Fire as "tiny bananas" compared to, say, Michael Buble. Here's Bill Hader and Zach Galifianakis, playing astronauts listening to the concert from space. There's Ben Stiller and Bono, kicked off the stage before the performance after sneaking on wearing the giant heads of the "Reflektor" video. James Franco? Aziz Ansari? Yep.
On the whole, the set was theatric as much as it was revelatory. The band, flanked by a number of supporting musicians that brought its ranks to 11, underwent a number of wardrobe changes, from clothing remniscent of the band's "SNL" performance to much more casual fare, with Butler rocking a Nirvana tee on "Normal Person."
By performance's end, the countdown officially began for "Reflektor," which drops in exactly one month.
Article Source here
Author: By Kevin Rutherford
Sarah Palin loves her some graphics! Especially graphics that spread lies and attack the President.
A friend sent me this graphic today. It says it all. "If there's a government shut down, who will spy on me, waste my money and have contempt for me?"
We could add so much more to this list, friends. For example, if the government shuts down, who will:
*block responsible resource development
*borrow more money from foreign countries to give to foreign countries
*mortgage my kids' future to bail out their friends on Wall Street & finance their big government crony capitalism
*"misplace" IRS receipts and ledgers to the tune of tens of millions
*stockpile ammo at DHS
*commandeer pro athletes to testify in front of Congress while watching bureaucrats plead the Fifth
Please feel free to add to the list with your own comments below. I so appreciate your great comments and "likes" and "shares" on these Facebook posts!
- Sarah Palin
A "friend" sent her this graphic? Does she mean a friend on her payroll who undoubtedly found or created the graphic and then wrote the post for her, which she only found out about after reading her email or logging on to Facebook? Does she mean that "friend?"
And by the way WHAT a disingenuous post!
As US News has pointed out the negative impact of a government shutdown is far more devastating than Palin apparently realizes, or wants to admit.
They include Social Security checks not going out on time.
National parks and museums potentially closing.
Tax refunds could be delayed.
And the pay for U.S. troops would be delayed, while some civilian Defense Department employees would also be furloughed.
None of this may be important to a person living off of SarahPAC donations and dirty Fox News money, but it IS important to millions of Americans, including our soldiers who are in harm's way, and our elderly who are living on a fixed income and really need their Social Security checks to arrive on time.
Finally I would like to point out that Palin's desperation to continue appearing to be popular is truly evident in her plea for more "likes" and "shares" on Facebook.
Of course it should also be pointed out, and I will do so more thoroughly in an upcoming post, that Palin's Facebook followers and Twitter followers are largely phony, as are the number of likes and shares she receives.
It's all mooseshit my friends, one big steaming pile of mooseshit.
Source
Planned Parenthood sues Texas over bill that Wendy Davis filibustered 13 hours to stop.
Planned Parenthood, the largest U.S. abortion provider, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Friday challenging part of a new Texas law which the group said will dramatically reduce access to safe abortions, especially in rural areas of the huge state.
The lawsuit does not challenge two other restrictions that would prohibit abortion 20 weeks or more after the date of fertilization, except to save the life of the mother, and would require major upgrades to most abortion clinics to meet hospital surgical standards.
"We're in court today to stop a terrible situation for women in Texas from getting even worse," said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, which was joined by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups in bringing the lawsuit.
In a conference call with reporters, the groups said they were challenging a provision stating that doctors who provide abortions must have admitting privileges at a local hospital, and another part that requires direct supervision of a doctor for women to receive the so-called "abortion pill" RU-486.
Asked why the groups were not including the other provisions, Jim George, a lawyer for the groups said: "The simple answer is you can only do so much at once."
Good for them! At least somebody is standing up for women's rights in Texas!
Perhaps once Wendy Davis gets elected Governor of the state she can help to do a whole lot more.
Source
President Obama calls out Fox News for spreading disinformation about Obamacare. Fox News gets panties in a twist and demands to be shown when they have done that. Okay.
President Obama calls out Fox News for spreading disinformation about Obamacare. Fox News gets panties in a twist and demands to be shown when they have done that. Okay.
And you may remember that during that speech he said this:
“If you talked to somebody who said I don’t know, I was watching Fox News and they said it’s horrible, and you can say you know what, don’t take my word for it, go on the website, see for yourself what the prices are, see for yourself what the choices are, then make up your own mind,” he said. “I promise you, if you go on the website and it turns out you’re going to save $100, $200, $300 a month on your insurance, or you’ll be able to buy insurance for the first time, even if you didn’t vote for me, I’ll bet you’ll sign up for that health care plan.”
Well apparently this chapped the asses of the propagandists over at Fox, and they got all pissy.
This courtesy of Raw Story:
Personnel at the Fox News Channel put on a great show of being outraged Friday that President Barack Obama called them out by name in a speech about lies and distortions about the Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare — which goes into effect Oct. 1.
Former CNN anchor turned Fox personality Bill Hemmer protested on Friday, “What have we reported that is inaccurate about this? What has been reported through the Fox News Channel that is not accurate?”
Seriously?
Okay so the folks over at Media Matters decided to show them what they had so conveniently forgotten:
There, now do you think they get it?
Yeah me either.
Source
Man confidentially walks around high school football game with holstered weapon assuming he will be seen as heroic. Instead the players are removed from the field and the police are called.
A man who openly carried a holstered gun at a high school soccer game Thursday led Muskegon Western Michigan Christian leaders to halt the contest against Hudsonville Freedom Christian with 30 minutes remaining.
The man, whose identity was not immediately available, was spotted with the weapon by a Warriors assistant coach, who alerted head coach David Hulings and assistant athletics director Fred VandenBrand.
VandenBrand asked the man to leave, but he refused. Instead, he apparently took the firearm to his car and left it there before returning to the stands. His presence, and the uncertainty if the gun was still being carried, resulted in the game being stopped with 15 minutes into the second half.
"I thought it was necessary to clear the field of players and parents," Hulings said. "It is regretful that the boys on both teams could not finish. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I thought it best to err on the side of caution.
"Although I personally have no objection to, and do support, his right to carry, the school also has a right under the law to ask him to leave."
Police were called to the scene, but it was unclear if the man with the gun was questioned about his intent or his interaction with Western Michigan Christian school officials. VandenBrand said an officer told him that the private school had a right to ask the man to leave, and that the scenario is unprecedented in his career.
That is the problem with these disphits.
They are under the impression that having them walk around openly displaying an weapon will make people feel safer, but of course it has the exact opposite effect.
If I see a guy with a gun, who is clearly not a police officer or part of the a security patrol, I immediately think that there may be something wrong with that person. And nothing about seeing them would put me at ease.
However that logic is completely lost on these assholes who act all put upon when the police roll up and confront them about their weapons.
I am beginning to think that we seriously need to revisit the whole idea of a 2nd Amendment. There is no way that the Founding Fathers could have predicted how it would be interpreted and the kind of firepower that is now available to civilians. No way.
Source
