Month: April 2013

Categories
Technology

T-Mobile May Have Lied About Their New “Un-Carrier Plans”

Did you all read the fine print? Yea, I’m talking to all you folks who switched network when T-Mobile came out with their new “un-carrier” plan. Did you read the fine print?

Well I didn’t. When they advertised the end of the “two-year contract,” I was one of many who left my carrier and switched to T-Mobile. My contract with my old carrier (Verizon), was already over and I was actively shopping around. T-Mobile’s new no contract program was all I needed to sign up. And I’m happy.

Verizon is known for its service. And for the most part, I was able to get that service whenever I travelled nationwide. But for that service, you’re going to dish out some cash. And I quite frankly got tired of all those years of dishing. The un-carrier, no contract plans offered by T-Mobile got me.

And now this.

T-Mobile USA’s “radical” service plans promising no annual contracts aren’t quite as radical as consumers might think, and the mobile operator will change its advertising and offer refunds in a settlement with the state of Washington.

On March 26, the fourth-largest U.S. carrier introduced a series of new service offerings, including no-contract monthly plans and a program that let customers pay for a new phone over the course of 24 months. In unveiling the plans, T-Mobile thumbed its nose at rival mobile operators, calling the new offerings “uncarrier” plans that would free the company and its customers from the constraints of conventional service agreements.

Now the company has agreed to clarify a few things in that pitch after an investigation by the Washington Attorney General’s Office. Specifically, T-Mobile didn’t tell potential customers who bought phones on time that they would have to keep T-Mobile service for 24 months or pay off the rest of the phone’s full price when they canceled the service, said Paula Sellis, an attorney who handled the case in the Attorney General’s Office. The fine-print disclosures that T-Mobile did offer were hard to understand, she said.

“You had to dig very deeply to understand what the terms of the program were, and you had to put two and two together,” Sellis said on a conference call on Thursday.

T-Mobile ads that promised “no restrictions,” “no annual contract”, and no requirement to “serve a two-year sentence” actually only covered plans with no phone included, the Attorney General’s Office said. To get those plans, consumers would have to bring their own phone or pay full price at the time of purchase.

“In our view, those advertisements were quite deceptive,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.

In a statement on Thursday, T-Mobile stood by its ads.

“As America’s Un-carrier, our goal is to increase transparency with our customers, unleashing them from restrictive long-term service contracts — this kind of simple, straightforward approach is core to the new company we are building. While we believe our advertising was truthful and appropriate, we voluntarily agreed to this arrangement with the Washington AG in this spirit,” T-Mobile said.

It’s kool. I’m okay with this. My monthly bill is half of what I paid with Verizon and I have a great phone. I am not upset with the fine print. I will save some money each month and I will use it to pay off for my phone before the two years are up.

Yep! This is what I call Freedom. 🙂

Categories
Express Yourself

Fourth Grader’s Take On Gay Marriage – Adults Take Note

A fourth grade teacher posted this note on Reddit. The note was written by one of her students and she did us all a favor by sharing this note with the world. “One of my fourth grade students chose gay marriage as his topic for a persuasive essay,” she said.  “This is the result.  More sense than some adults.”

Indeed.

Categories
Health

Test Can Help Determine Risk of Autism in Newborns

By Ed Stannard
estannard@nhregister.com / Twitter: @edstannardnhr

NEW HAVEN — A screening test performed on a newborn’s placenta can help determine the risk of that child developing autism, according to research at the Yale School of Medicine reported today.

Knowing that there is a high risk of autism in a newborn child gives the parents a chance to watch for signs of the disorder and to use techniques that could reduce symptoms, according to Dr. Harvey Kliman, the senior author of the study, which is published in today’s online issue of Biological Psychiatry.

“We know that early intervention has a very significant impact on these children,” Kliman said. “From my point of view, because the prevalence (of autism) is one in 50 now … I think that everybody should be screened.”

Kliman, research scientist in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the medical school, had studied a phenomenon of abnormal folding of placental cells, and saw a connection to disorders of the brain. The latest study confirms more strongly than ever that the cellular abnormalities are a marker for autism, and possibly other brain-related disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive and attention-deficit disorders.

“This is an abnormal structure that only can be seen at the microscopic level. It can only be done after delivery,” Kliman said. “The brain is extremely sensitive to abnormal folding. It’s the most folded organ in the body.”

Since the placenta is discarded, there is no harm in studying its cells, but any abnormalities would appear in every cell, Kliman said.

In the study reported today, researchers from Yale and the MIND Institute at the University of California at Davis examined placentas of 117 newborns whose families already had a child with autism, putting them at higher risk of having a second such child, and compared them with 100 placentas from newborns in families without such a risk.

The results were dramatic: the at-risk placentas were likely to have as many as 15 of the abnormal folds, while the control placentas had no more than two. More than four such abnormalities indicates that the child is almost certainly in the at-risk group, meaning he or she is nine times more likely to have autism, Kliman said. “The actual outcomes of the children won’t be known for at least a year from now,” he said.

Now, family history is the only way to determine whether there is a chance of a child developing autism, Kliman said. Testing placental cells “gives us a tool to identify those children who are at risk at birth, way before any other modality. … I view this as the check-engine light for pregnancy.”

When Chris Sullivan became pregnant with her daughter, Dania, she was a counselor in Moorsville, N.C., who saw families with autistic children. Her clients would ask if there were a way to detect the disorder early. Continued…

 

h/t – NEWHAVENREGISTER

Categories
New York News

Boston Bombers Plotted Attack in NYC

The brothers Tsarnaev had plans to drive to New York in their carjacked Mercedes and explode their remaining bombs last Thursday, but their plans went off track when the owner of the car they stole made an escape, the New York City mayor said Thursday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the information came to the attention of investigators during the interrogation of 19-year old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who had at first said the plan was to go to New York to “party” but then changed his story in an interview 24 hours later. At that time Tsarnaev allegedly acknowledged that he and his brother planned a follow-up attack. The brothers had six unexploded devices with them as they tried to flee, Boston Police sources said.

“We were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that NYC was next on the list of targets he told the FBI apparently that he and his brother had planned to drive to NY and detonate additional explosives in Time Square, they had built these additional explosives and we know they had the capacity to carry out the attacks,” Bloomberg said at a press conference Thursday.

“The fact is NYC remains a prime target for those who hate America and want to kill Americans the attacks in boston and the news that NYC was next on the list shows just how critical it is for the federal government to devote high risk areas,” he said.

Bloomberg and New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the brothers had a pressure cooker bomb similar to those detonating during the attacks on the Boston Marathon, as well as five pipe bombs.

Law enforcement officials also tell ABC News they are preparing to move the accused Boston Marathon bomber from his hospital room to a secured medical facility in one of the region’s prisons, sources tell ABC News.

h/t – ABC

Categories
Food And Recipes

How to Make a Fabulous Zucchini Dinner

Spring is officially here and with spring come different vegetables to eat, cook and enjoy.

I want to share one of my absolute favorite vegetarian dishes with you.  It’s fairly easy to make, but after tasting it, your friends and family will think you are a gourmet cook- it is that good.

But first, a story.

My beloved grandfather, Grandpa H, was a cook in the navy during World War 2.  He cooked for an enormous amount of people day in and day out.   As a little girl I loved listening to the stories about the grueling schedule, the massive quantities of food made and the different meals he made as a navy cook, like roasting 100 turkeys for Christmas dinner or making dozens of cinnamon rolls (from scratch!)

The experience in the navy combined with working in high end restaurants in San Francisco, CA gave him an edge and special knowledge of working with food for the rest of his life.

Grandpa H.  could go to a restaurant, eat a meal and figure out the cook made it.  He could discern what spices were used.  He figured out the method and the ingredients.

Grandpa didn’t tell anyone his insight into a restaurant meal; if he liked something he went home and made it.  If he didn’t like something, he would just change it.  And it would taste great, better than the restaurant.

The following recipe was developed in just this manner.  The restaurant serving Baked Zucchini has long since closed its doors- probably several decades ago.  And to be honest, I don’t know the name of the restaurant.

So now I call this recipe, “Ed’s Baked Zucchini” in honor of my grandpa.

Ed’s Baked Zucchini

Budget Friendly:  Yes, especially if the vegetables can be bought at a Farmer’s Market

Complicated:  Medium, but doable for the novice home cook

Dishes Required:  Medium

Time:  An hour plus baked time.  However, once you make it a few times, it’s a fairly easy to put together and I’m confident you can do the prep work in about 25 minutes.  (my time to do it now).

First, you want to gather all your ingredients.  It’s easy to forget something as the mixing, sautéing and preparing begin.

Ingredients

4 Large Zucchini (the bigger the better)
6 slices of bread (whole wheat bread works really well) cubed into small pieces
1 onion
2 heads of garlic
2 Tbs. butter or olive oil
2 eggs
¼ salt for sauté
½ Tsp. Salt
¼ Tsp. Pepper for sauté
2 Tsp. (heaping) Italian Seasoning
½ cup Monterey Jack Cheese
Parmesan cheese
Paprika

Instructions

Cut the ends of the zucchini and slice them lengthwise, like a loaf of bread.  Set a large pot of water (Dutch oven size) on the stove to boil.  Add the zucchini and put the lid on.  Wait for the water to boil and then stick a fork into one of the spears of zucchini.  It should be firm but easily pierced.  (It takes about 25 minutes for this.   Another way to know the zucchini are almost done – the whole kitchen will fill with the fresh aroma of zucchini, much like fresh corn when it is boiled).

While the zucchini is boiling, chop the onion and garlic until they are in very small pieces.  In a small sauté pan, place 2 Tbs. of butter or olive oil and the onion and garlic.  Add the salt and pepper.  Allow the mixture to sauté for about 7 to 9 minutes.  The onions will become light brown and quite fragrant.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a large mixing bowl, add the cubed pieces of bread, the cheese, the Italian seasoning, ½ tsp of salt.  Add the sautéed onions and garlic.

By this time, the zucchini should be done.  Drain the water and have a 9×13 baking dish ready (you may need an additional 8×8 depending how long the zucchini are).

Take the zucchini and scoop out their soft fleshy insides and add it to the mixing bowl.  The zucchini are HOT.  I typically hold the hot zucchini with one hand wrapped in a hot pad (just toss the hot pad into the wash when done).

Place the shells of the zucchini in the 9×13 baking dish.

Mix together everything in the mixing bowl.  Add in the eggs.

Spoon the mix into the zucchini shells.  Top with crumbled parmesan cheese.  (My family used Kraft Parmesan Cheese for years).  Lightly sprinkle paprika on top.  (optional- it is nice for color)

Bake for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

This is one of my all-time favorite spring and summer recipes.  The process sounds complicated but it is more labor intensive (chopping an mixing) than difficult in technique.   To cut down on the work, grab a friend or family member for help.  Between two people, the chopping, mixing and dishes will be done in no time!

And then you can get on to the best part- the eating!

Don’t let the “vegetarian” aspect of this meal fool you.  It’s a fairly filling dish.  All that is needed is a lovely side salad.  Add a strawberry shortcake for dessert and it’s the perfect menu for a weekend meal.

Melissa AuClair works by day as a skin care and cosmetic consultant and a blogger and writer moving towards a location independent lifestyle by night.  You can follow her on Twitter @melissaauclair or on her blog http://www.launchyourcreativelife.com/blog 
Categories
Featured

Man Jailed For Having “Sex” With Pit Bull

Excuse me while I gross you out with this one.

A man in Michigan convicted of having sex with his pet pit bull faces a 15-year jail sentence for the crime. 37-year-old Kurtis Peterson, who was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1996, was caught having sex with the dog on two separate occasions. The same (unfortunate) person caught Peterson each time.

In April 2010, Joyce Yeaw, who was attempting to return keys she’d borrowed from Peterson’s roommate, caught a naked Peterson having sex with his dog on his bed. She called police but, somehow, Peterson was able to convince her or the responding officer that he was “just hugging his dog,” and no arrest was made. Then, two months later Yeaw again walked in on Peterson mid-dog sex, this time on his living room floor. She called the police again and Peterson was arrested.

“He was having sex with the dog, it was disgusting,” Yeaw said of the encounter.

In his courtroom testimony, Peterson admitted to being “sexually aroused from accidental contact with the animal’s rear,” but claims that occurred as he was “just playing with the dog.”

He was sentenced on Monday to one to 15 years in prison. Judge Timothy Hicks went above state sentencing guidelines in his ruling, say Peterson posed a high risk of reoffending. “I fear for what he might do in the community,” the judge said.

Categories
Food And Recipes

Mystery Meat Found at KFC

This article will make you think twice about eating fast food, Ibrahim Lango, a 19 year old from Colchester, Essex, United Kingdom, found a piece of what they believe to be a kidney, which looked more like a human brain, in his Kentucky Fried Chicken.

It has been known for a while that KFC ingredients as long with many other fast food industries come from questionable sources.

In this case it was a little more extreme than usual, the British 19 year old, Ibrahim Lango, acquired a “Gladiator” at one of the restaurants, and when he took one of the pieces he found something different in its texture, which he later described as “a horrible foreign body crumpled.”

As if this weren’t enough the customer complained to the staff but had no answer at all, until he took a picture of the evidence and posted it on the Internet.

The company later responded to his posts, that it was probably a kidney, not a brain as he thought it was.

He affirms he will never eat in a fast food restaurant after this, and I assure you I won’t either. I hope this article shows you the real face behind the colorful advertising of these “food” industries.

 

h/t – Positivefoodie.com

Categories
Television

New Caribbean Lifestyle TV Series “Island Origins” To Premiere In 2013

Penulis : Caribbean E-Magazine 

Island Origins is a new 30 minute lifestyle TV program aiming to change that with high-end production and universally appealing content. The show, Executive Produced and hosted by Calibe Thompson of Blondie Ras Productions, will take a lighthearted look at how Caribbean people and culture have reached beyond the islands to influence the wider world. Miss Thompson recently released the 7 minute promotional demo reel and looks forward to distribution throughout the US, Canada, the UK, Africa, the Caribbean and theDiaspora. Island Origins is being prepared for its television debut in the third quarter of 2013.

Island Origins is intended for a broad “lifestyle” audience, irrespective of cultural boundaries. The TV show which will be shot in high definition and with vibrant color, is an inclusive endeavor and will feature influencers of note from the English and Spanish speaking Caribbean, as well as Haiti. Guests will hail from the worlds of food, fashion, art, dance, sports, politics, business, social activism, hospitality and any other subject matter that may appeal to a broad audience.

Each episode will be formatted in 3 segments. The first will focus on the Everyday Extraordinary people and businesses who are so enmeshed in our lives that even though we may not know their names or faces, we have been reached by their efforts. The second segment will focus on Island Spice. Here, we’ll visit with culinarians of Caribbean descent whose signature cuisine incorporates elements of the islands like sweet mangos, spicy jerk or savory coconut. Each episode’s final segment will feature a conversation with a Caribbean person or group who has achieved celebrity status, and will share the Back Stories of how they got where they are. The TV show will also include quick snippets with special mention of people or outfits who may not have been incorporated in a full-blown segment, but whose stories the show would like to highlight.

Miss Thompson offers, “The more I learn about Caribbean people, the prouder I am of our culture. Colin Powell, Eric Holder, Jenna Wolfe, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lenny Kravitz – these are some names I never knew had a Caribbean connection, yet they’ve been such a huge influence to so many people. Working on this show has magnified in my mind just how powerful a force the Caribbean can be. We want to share that knowledge with the world.”

h/t – CEM

Categories
News

Police: Body Pulled From River Could Be Missing Brown University Student

The Rhode Island medical examiner’s office is trying to determine if a body pulled from a river is missing Brown University student Sunil Tripathi, who was erroneously linked on social media to the Boston bombings last week.

An autopsy is being conducted on the body, however it was unlikely a positive identification will be made today, according to Dara Chadwick, spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office.

The body appeared to be a male in his twenties and had “been in the water for a while,” said Commander Thomas Oates of the Providence Police Department.

Tripathi, a 22-year-old philosophy major from Radnor, Pa., was last seen on March 16 but ignited a social media firestorm last week after the FBI released a photograph of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects wearing a white baseball cap.

Amateur sleuths reported a resemblance between the man in the photo and Tripathi, sparking widespread speculation that the missing Ivy League student was the bomber. The speculation became so rampant it propelled Tripathi’s name onto the Twitter top trends list.

Tripathi’s family wrote on Facebook the attention had been “painful” and they “have known unequivocally all along that neither individual suspected as responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings was Sunil.”

On Monday, Reddit general manager Erik Martin apologized for the “dangerous speculation” that “spiraled into very negative consequences for innocent parties.”

h/t – ABC
Categories
Music

Snoop Lion Roars at Bunny Wailer

Snoop Lion, previously known as Snoop Dogg, has been quiet for the most part about Bunny Wailers scathing remarks about his transformation from a gangster rapper to a Rastafarian.

Earlier this year Bunny Wailer issued a 7-page letter to the rapper turned reggae singer chastising and accused him of fraudulently using Rastafarian culture for profits.

Since then several prominent figure in reggae including the Marley family and Sean Paul has defended Snoop Lion from the attack from Bunny Wailer.

During an interview with Rolling Stone, Snoop Lion lash out at Bunny Wailer over his negative remarks about the rap legend.

Here are the excerpt from Snoop’s Rolling Stone interview:

In the film, you and Bunny Wailer seem to get along well. Why has there been this dispute? 
I couldn’t tell you. To me, it’s a miscommunication, and I’m not gonna speak nothing negative because I love him too much. Any relationship, you gotta be able to disagree. The last time I seen him, it was all love, but when I heard the negative remarks, I paid no attention. If I’m gonna be Rasta incorporated, loving energy is the only way I can match his negative energy.

Would it be meaningful for you to have a conversation directly with him?
I mean, it would be meaningful for him to talk to me. He’s the one supposedly putting out the negative energy. I coulda said, “F–k that n***a. Bi–h-ass n***a.” I’m still a gangsta – don’t get it f–ked up. I’m growing to a man, so as a man, do I wanna revert back to my old ways and f–k this n***a up, or move forward, shine with the light? It’s nothing. I’ve been hit before.

One of the things he accuses you of is not honoring contractual commitments. What’s he referring to? 
It can’t be nothing because he’s not on my record. What could it be? To me, a lot of these guys from back in the days have been done wrong, and they think younger artists owe them, because we’ve been paid and treated right. It’s not my fault if you haven’t been paid. I just met you. I’ve done nothing but put you in a place where the world knows who you are. They heard who you are, now they know who you are. I’ve given you a platform to speak and make money. My conversation with Bunny was about how he was done, not how I’m gonna do him. I can’t fix what people have done with you in the past, but I’m gonna put you in the movie – he signed off on it – put you on the album. It was too much negative energy so I said I don’t even want him on the record.

By negative energy, do you mean his public statements or something else?
He’s speaking and the album isn’t out. That gave me fair warning to get this motherf—er off my shit. I have no insight what turned him. The people I visited at the Nyabinghi Temple aren’t speaking negative on me. They’re real Rastas. I went in there and filmed them, showed their whole get-down. Nobody did that before. If anyone, they should have complained – “He exploited us!” Why aren’t they saying that? To me, they have the most gripe to make. How did I exploit Bunny? I gave you a chance to be in my movie. My movie gonna be the shit with or without you. I’m gonna be the shit with or without you. I’m Snoop Dogg. Relevant right now.

It’s like, people take my kindness for weakness. In the Nineties, he could have never tried that because I’d have slapped the dog shit out of his old a$$. How dare you? After all I’ve done for you? How dare you? You wasn’t the shit in the Wailers. You was just one of them: Bob, Peter Tosh, then you. They dead mean more than you do alive. You get the energy? When it should have been, ‘Hey, this brother is putting me back in the light; I could possibly get on the road with him, be on his album, eat again. Let me get in line. This is Snoop Dogg; he’s already a star.’ It should have been, play along with me as opposed to stick me up. I’m gonna give you what you worth, but you not gonna stick me up.

So he wanted more money to be on the album than you were willing to pay? 
The reason for him not being on the album is I started hearing negative energy and rather than have him be a part of it, I kept him in the movie to show his positivity against his negativity. Here this comes out of left field to make me go back, be the old ignorant-a$$ n***a. To me, it’s a test, to see if I’m really made for this. Who else would it come from to make this amount of noise? But guess who stood up in my defense? Rohan, Rita, Stephen, Damian Marley. Rohan went public. He called him Phony Wailer, or whatever he called him. I can’t call him that; I don’t know him like that. But they do. They know what he after and they love me. If Bob’s kids and his wife welcome they arms and say, “You one of the Marleys,” then who is Bunny Wailer to say anything?

Snoop Lion drop his reggae debut album on April 23.

Source.

Categories
Television

Selita Ebanks to Premire Reality Show on Style Network

Caymanian fashion model Selita Ebanks is joining the world of reality TV, as her personal life and career will be chronicled for the Style network.

The show will be called Selita; the reality show follows Ebanks as she begins a new phase in her life and career at 30.
She recently ended her two-year relationship with former 106 & Park host and current E! News hostTerrence J. As she picks up the pieces from her relationship, she’s looking to expand her brand to include a clothing line.Ebanks’ show is one of nine that will premier on Style network this year future. Barbados native Rihanna will also be premiering her show Styled to Rock, which will feature 12 handpicked aspiring fashion designers the chance to create fashion pieces for celebrities.

H/T – CEM

Categories
Featured

Gang Leader Impregnates 4 Prison Guards

Four female correction officers were impregnated by the reported leader of a Maryland prison gang, which used a network of female prison guards to help launder money, run drugs and smuggle contraband into state detention facilities, according to a federal indictment.

One of the guards was twice impregnated by Tavon White, identified in court papers as the alleged leader of the Black Guerilla Family.

Two of the female correction officers tattooed “Tavon” on their bodies, one on her neck and another on the wrist, according to the indictment.

In one incident, one guard kept watch over a closet, in which White and another guard had sex, according to authorities.

Thirteen female and two male prison guards are facing federal corruption charges following a months long investigation into corruption and conspiracy at Maryland’s correctional facilities.

The indictment portrays a prison system run by inmates, including members of the Black Guerilla Family gang.

h/t- ABC

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