Thursday, 30 May 2013

US Air Force cadets celebrate graduation as they are urged to tackle 'scourge of sexual assaults' which saw 26,000 military members attacked last year

  • Air Force Secretary Michael Donley echoed message President Obama delivered to Naval Academy last week
  • Donley told more than 1,000 graduates in Colorado 'character of our Air Force is being questioned
  • The Pentagon released a report this month estimating 26,000 military members were sexually assaulted last year
  • Thousands of victims are unwilling to come forward, despite new oversight and assistance programs, it said

A jubilant class of Air Force Academy cadets have celebrated their graduation, amid a stark warning to 'better their reputation and take on the 'scourge of sexual assaults.
In a message to the new graduates, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley echoed the message President Barack Obama delivered to the Naval Academy last week amid concerns a growing sexual assault epidemic is staining the military.
'Today, the character of our Air Force is being questioned by some,' Donley told more than 1,000 graduates at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado.
Graduating Air Force 2nd Lieutenants throw their caps into the air at the completion of the commencement ceremony for the class of 2013, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado
Graduating Air Force 2nd Lieutenants throw their caps into the air at the completion of the commencement ceremony for the class of 2013, at the U.S. Air Force Academy, in Colorado
But their celebrations come amid a stark warning from Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to 'better their reputation and take on the 'scourge of sexual assaults'
But their celebrations come amid a stark warning from Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to 'better their reputation and take on the 'scourge of sexual assaults'
Graduating Air Force 2nd Lieutenants hug and cheer as a group of WWII warplanes perform a flyover at the completion of the commencement ceremony for the class of 2013
Graduating Air Force 2nd Lieutenants hug and cheer as a group of WWII warplanes perform a flyover at the completion of the commencement ceremony for the class of 2013


'Our reputation is at risk from irresponsible and even criminal behavior within our ranks.'
Donley noted the graduating cadets were trained in sexual assault prevention, but he said policies aren't enough, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.
'This is your Air Force, and changing behavior depends on changing at every level the command climate and social culture in which we operate and live, both on and off duty,' he said.
 
At Annapolis, Md., on Friday, Obama told Naval Academy graduates that people who commit sexual crimes 'threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong.'
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel drew on the same themes at West Point's graduation on Saturday.
Graduating Air Force cadets stand at attention inside their football stadium. The Pentagon released a report this month estimating that as many as 26,000 military members were sexually assaulted last year
Graduating Air Force cadets stand at attention inside their football stadium. The Pentagon released a report this month estimating that as many as 26,000 military members were sexually assaulted last year

Doley told the cadets: 'This is your Air Force, and changing behavior depends on changing at every level the command climate and social culture in which we operate and live, both on and off duty'
Doley told the cadets: 'This is your Air Force, and changing behavior depends on changing at every level the command climate and social culture in which we operate and live, both on and off duty'
Donley noted the graduating cadets were trained in sexual assault prevention, but he said policies aren't enough
Donley noted the graduating cadets were trained in sexual assault prevention, but he said policies aren't enough

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel drew on the same themes at West Point's graduation on Saturday as President Barack Obama delivered to the Naval Academy last week
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel drew on the same themes at West Point's graduation on Saturday as President Barack Obama delivered to the Naval Academy last week

'Sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military are a profound betrayal — a profound betrayal — of sacred oaths and sacred trusts,' he said.
The Pentagon released a report this month estimating that as many as 26,000 military members were sexually assaulted last year and that thousands of victims are unwilling to come forward, despite new oversight and assistance programs.
A handful of cadets at the Air Force Academy have faced sexual misconduct or sexual assault cases since January 2012.
About 19,000 assaults were estimated to have occurred in 2011.
Vintage warplanes took the place of F-16 fighter jets in the traditional flyover above the Air Force Academy Stadium as the newly commissioned Air Force second lieutenants hurled their caps into the air in celebration.
The World War II-era planes flown by volunteers filled in for the Air Force Thunderbirds, which were grounded by budget cuts.
Donley decried the budget cuts, saying they are undermining military readiness.
With a growing sexual assault epidemic staining the military, President Barack Obama urged U.S. Naval Academy graduates on  Friday to remember their honour depends on what they do when nobody is looking and said the crime has 'no place in the greatest military on earth.'

The commander in chief congratulated the 1,047 midshipmen graduating at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, telling the 841 men and 206 women that they have proven themselves morally by meeting rigorous standards at the academy.

But their commencement celebration came in the midst of reports of widespread sexual assault throughout the military, and Obama ended his 20-minute address by recognizing 'how the misconduct of some can have effects that ripple far and wide.'

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Olivia Newton-John Buy My Stormproof Pad $6.2 MILLION

0520_olivia_newton_john_house_for_sale_launch
Big "Grease" Fan? Scared of crazy hurricanes destroying your house? Super rich?  If you answered yes to all those questions then get happy ... Olivia Newton-John's storm-ready mansion is for $ale.

Olivia listed the waterfront digs -- located on Florida's primo Jupiter Island -- for $6.2 million. She bought the house back in 2009 for $4.1 million and added $2 million in renovations according to Redfin.

It paid off, because the house is sweet -- 6,383 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a private boat dock, gym, lagoon style pool, spa and lush tropical landscapes.

Not only that ... ONJ's casa comes with hurricane impact-rated glass windows and doors -- made to stand up to super violent storms. Which is great because if you move to Florida you're pretty much guaranteed hurricane action.

Seriously it's rough out there.  
 
SOURCE

Caught on video: The moment 'biggest tornado in history' obliterated 30 square miles in minutes

  • Medical Examiner reports that so far 91 people are confirmed dead
  • Up to 24 elementary school students are trapped in debris at a school
  • Most devastated area spans 30-square miles near Oklahoma City
  • Fatality count expected to rise as search and rescue operation underway
  • Thought to be the deadliest tornado 'in history'
From a terrifying video captured by a worker in the parking lot of Kentucky Fried Chicken to the heartbreaking scene of a rescue group searching desperately for a boy named 'Tommy', some of the most dramatic footage of the Oklahoma tornado has been captured by people directly in its path.
At least 91 people have been confirmed dead  after a two mile-wide tornado touched down in a highly-populated suburb of Oklahoma City in one of the worst storms the area has ever seen on Monday afternoon.
The monstrous tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs obliterating entire neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph pulverizing a 30-square-mile stretch.
In an effort to get the story out as soon as possible, one local man took to social media and posted six-second clips on Twitter, that show fellow residents searching through the piles of rubble- that used to be their homes- while looking for loved ones.

The same man also shot another video of the swarms of police cars patrolling the devastated area in search of survivors, while an injured man seeks medical attention for his wounds.

FROM THE SCENE Oklahoma Tornado's obliteration is caught on video   

'Bates Motel' season finale: [SPOILER] kills [SPOILER]


BATES-MOTEL.jpg
Image Credit: Joseph Lederer

Spoiler alert! Don’t keep reading unless you’ve seen the season finale of Bates Motel.

So that’s what Norman’s first kill looks like. Not his first first kill, mind you. That happened before the pilot — as far as we know, Norman attacking his father was his first homicidal break. But this was different: This was Norman being comforted by an older woman and then coerced by his “mother” into slashing her throat. That’s right: Our budding psycho offed sweet, pre-pedophiliac Miss Watson in Monday’s finale, which also included a shooting and a high school dance. We didn’t see Norman pull out a large, sharp butcher knife. But you can imagine.
That moment, the finale’s last, completes the closed circuit that has been the first season of Bates Motel:
Accessorized alternately with retro-period detail and many talented, fog-streaked faces, the show succeeded in its explicit thesis — How Norman Bates Went Bad. How? An overbearing mother. Sexually mature and emotionally generous women. Sexually generous and emotionally mature teenage girls. Fussiness. Rain.
I’m pretty sure the show has come close to greatness — somewhere between its fourth and seventh episodes, I’d say. But the finale, “Midnight,” was more diligent than anything else. After 10 episodes, there are a lot of pieces to move around. It moved them. Dylan drew closer to Bradlee and then Norma; Norman drew away from Dylan. Romero revealed more about himself, as did Norma, who we found out was continually raped by her brother growing up. There was a wonderful, room-temperature scene at a shrink’s office. The lines that weren’t portentous were leaden with a peeling irony, as when the shrink asked Norma, “When you were little, is this what you thought being a parent would be like?”

Least of all was most everything to do with Norman and Miss Watson, whose interaction has been pointing toward a bad end. Did she deserve to have her throat slashed? She was trying something weird, undressing caddy-corner to Norman after cleaning him up from a fight with Bradlee’s boyfriend. Even the camera thought so, or why else would it shoot her at breast-level? But maybe that’s just “mother” talking…
Their relationship betrays a possibly essential weakness in the show: Just because Bates Motel follows the mental and spiritual disintegration of the Bates family does not mean that it must only be about that. But especially in these last few weeks, it could feel like the show was mostly interested in pissing Norman off. Bates is better when compared to prequel cousin Hannibal – it’s less poetic but more humane, with an investment in its characters that exceeds the morbid. That’s given us characters like Dylan and Emma Decody, who may be the show’s secret grace — its greatest sufferer (she’ll be dead of a chronic illness before anyone can kill her) whose soul isn’t being flattened by suffering. By contrast, Norman can seem like a Sisyphean cipher. (Highmore has the freakouts down pat, but each one has less effect the easier it comes on.)
The season’s second major arc was wrapped up almost as neatly as its first, and in the same basic pattern: Norma is near her tormentor being shot. Here, it was “Jake”/Joe, who faced off against Sheriff Romero before being baited into bending down to scoop up a bag full of money and then bam-bam! Romero filled him with lead. As he reminded Norma, “When I say trust me, trust me.”
In my dream vision for season 2, Norman’s mental and emotional instability takes a backseat to his family’s slow rebuilding in White Pine Bay. He and Dylan are already closer than they were before the pilot (though less close now that Bradlee is between them, sigh), and Dylan is calling Norma “mom” again (at least as long as she’s holding a gun). Imagine it: The three Bates plotting out a way to survive in the sprawling, secret, marijuana-filled town, especially since Norman just killed the woman we now know was Bradlee’s father’s secret lover? It’d be like Breaking Bad meets Twin Peaks, with each season turning up the pressure cooker on Norman’s psyche while burying him beneath a narrative mountain of family, adolescence, and criminals doing criminal things.
What I don’t want is many more scenes of Norman being introduced to women and then being dismantled by them because Norman Bates Doesn’t Like Women. It’s a rejection of some of the very notions put forth by the show — including the spooky-spectacular sequence from episode 7, when Bradlee rejected Norman, which almost drove him to a breakdown until she broke the spell of his psychosis with a hug. There’s time for all that, of course. Tonight ended with Norman blameless and back at the motel, soaking wet (blood washes out in the rain), his only memory of running home to his mother, alone.
What did you think of the finale? What are you hoping to see next season? And how delicious were those très-Hitchcockian shots?

source

Dancing with the Stars: Final Four Compete for Mirror-Ball Trophy

Dancing with the Stars: Final Four Compete for Mirror-Ball Trophy
Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough
Craig Sjodin/ABC
 
Dancing with the Stars: Final Four Compete for Mirror-Ball Trophy| Dancing With the Stars, Aly Raisman, Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, Jacoby Jones, Karina Smirnoff, Kellie Pickler, Len Goodman, Mark Ballas, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Zendaya Coleman
Zendaya
Craig Sjodin / ABC
The final four couples performed three routines each on Monday's Dancing with the Stars. By the end of the night, one pair were in the lead with a perfect score for all three dances.

However, the episode kicked off with an imperfect – though energetic – jive.

Karina Smirnoff and partner Jacoby Jones – who judge Carrie Ann Inaba previously called "the number one entertainer of season 16" – were told by judge Len Goodman that they showed improvement, but that "you got excited at times and lost it."

Fellow judges Inaba and Bruno Tonioli also criticized their poor footwork in their first routine. The pair earned a 27 out of 30.


The low scores continued throughout the night for the lively duo, who earned two points for coming in last place in the cha cha relay and heard more criticism for their super-sized freestyle number.

"It was unique, but ... I think it outshined you," Inaba told the pair, who received another 27-point score. "I want you to be the star, but I feel like it got a little bit lost in the shuffle."

Alexandra Raisman and Mark Ballas got raves from the judges with their samba, but only managed to score a 28 out of 30 for the routine, which Goodman called "sexy" and "fantastic," and Tonioli said was "cleaner and slicker than ever."

Coming in third place in the cha cha relay, they added three additional points to their score, and pulled out a 30 out of 30 for their futuristic freestyle that had Goodman saying, "I'm dubbing you Alexandra the great!"

Kellie Pickler and Derek Hough began with a fun, 30-point quickstep that Inaba praised for improvement in body contact and Tonioli said was "better than ever ... it was really fantastic."

Then they came in second place during the cha cha relay, and added four points to their score.

But it was their flawless, beautiful freestyle that left audience members – and Inaba – in tears.

"You just bared your soul on the dance floor and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen," Inaba said. Goodman gave the pair a standing ovation and said, "Good dancing engages the brain. Great dancing engages the heart."

They earned a perfect 30 for the number, leaving them just one point shy of the top of the leader board, which is where Zendaya and Val Chmerkovskiy ended up for a night of all perfect scores.

Chmerkovskiy – whose bloody eye injury from earlier rehearsal was shown to the audience – didn't let the mishap hurt his chances.

"That was eye-popping, show-stopping, jaw-dropping," Goodman said of their samba.

Winning the cha cha relay, they added five more points to their score, and closed out the night with a perfect freestyle that included several different dance styles.

Said Inaba of Zendaya: "You're classy, you're sassy, you're fun."

Monday, 20 May 2013

Aaron Paul & Fiancée Prep for Wedding Las Vegas-Style



Aaron Paul & Lauren Parsekian Prepare for Wedding in Las Vegas
Lauren Parsekian and Aaron Paul
AKM-GSI
 
With their wedding just a week away, Aaron Paul and fiancée Lauren Parsekian are ready to party.

The couple stepped out at Marquee in Las Vegas on Saturday, where they celebrated their upcoming nuptials in the Library Room with a large group of friends.

"Aaron rocked a bow tie, and Lauren donned a veil," an onlooker tells PEOPLE. "The lovebirds were dancing and canoodling."

The Breaking Bad star and Parsekian were also surprised with his-and-her cakes – the groom's cake was designed to look like steps on the Parisian street where Paul proposed. It included a special message, "My pretty bird, thank you for loving me."

Last October, Paul explained to PEOPLE just how he popped the question.

"It's just this little courtyard outside of this hotel, and we were just dancing to Édith Piaf by ourselves on New Year's and then I begged her to marry me," he said.
– Melody Chiu
 

Lucy-Jo Hudson 'very proud wifey' after Alan Halsall wins Best Actor at British Soap Awards

  • Lucy-Jo Hudson supported her husband Alan Halsall at the British Soap Awards 2013
  • Alan Halsall has played Tyrone Dobbs in Coronation Street since 1998
  • Lucy-Jo Hudson is expecting her and Alan Halsall's first child
  • Alan Halsall and Lucy-Jo Hudson married in 2009
Alan Halsall is celebrating after picking up the gong for Best Actor at the British Soap Awards on Saturday night.
The Coronation Street actor, 30, beat off competition from EastEnders' Shane Richie and Hollyoaks' Emmett J Scanlan to triumph as mechanic Tyrone Dobbs.
'WOW !!! So happy to have won tonight @SoapAwards thank you all so much for voting i really do appreciate it xxxx,' Tweeted Alan.
Alan was joined by his pregnant wife Lucy-Jo Hudson at the ceremony in Manchester, who looked stunning in a white Grecian-style gown.
Lucy-Jo, 30 - who married Alan in 2009 - was thrilled that her husband was honoured for his character's domestic abuse storyline.
'Just reading all your beautiful tweets!!! You're all making me cry... again... Hormonal!!! Very proud wifey. X,' she Tweeted.

British Soap Awards 2013 winners:

Best British Soap: Coronation Street
Best Actor: Alan Halsall - Coronation Street
Best Actress: Claire Cooper - Hollyoaks
Sexiest Male: Danny Mac - Hollyoaks
Sexiest Female: Michelle Keegan - Coronation Street
Villain Of The Year: Natalie Gumede - Coronation Street
Best Newcomer: Joseph Thompson - Hollyoaks
Best Exit: Nigel Havers - Coronation Street
Best Comedy Performance: Patti Clare - Coronation Street
Best On-Screen Partnership: Emmett J Scanlan and Kieron Richardson - Hollyoaks
Best Dramatic Performance: Natalie Gumede - Coronation Street
Best Young Performance: Eden Taylor-Draper: Emmerdale
Spectacular Scene Of The Year: The Bus Crash - Hollyoaks
Best Single Episode: The Live 40th Anniversary - Emmerdale
Best Storyline: Kirsty's Abuse Of Tyrone - Coronation Street
Lifetime Achievement: Adam Woodyatt - EastEnders