Thursday, June 19, 2008
BURGER KING LAUNCHES $200 BURGER
From Foxnews.com:
LONDON — It's known as the home of 'The Whopper' and Burger King is hoping its latest product really lives up to its reputation. The fast-food giant launched a $200 burger Wednesday — all in the name of charity.
Setting a new record, the world's most expensive burger is available at just one restaurant in West London, England, once a week — but it will eventually be available to order via a hotline.
The fine ingredients of what is called simply 'The Burger' include Wagyu beef, white truffles, Pata Negra ham slices, Cristal onion straws, Modena balsamic vinegar, lambs lettuce, pink Himalayan rock salt, organic white wine and shallot infused mayonnaise in an Iranian saffron and white truffle dusted bun.
Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson told Sky News Online: "It sounds delicious. The ingredients are very good and high powered, but why are Burger King doing it?"
All the proceeds from The Burger sales will go to the Help A London Child charity, which assists young people experiencing abuse, homelessness, disability, poverty and illness.
David Kisilevsky, at Burger King, said: "The Burger reflects our ongoing commitment to producing for a range of different pockets."
The Burger beat the previous world record for the most expensive burger, held by Daniel Boulud for the DB Double Truffle Burger in New York, (1994) priced at $130.
By lunchtime on the first day of The Burger's unveiling, eight had been purchased, said Chef Mark Dowding, the director of new product development and innovation for the fast food chain.
Dowding said he hoped that more than 100 would be sold by the end of the day.
AL GORE'S HOME ENERGY USE
Hardcore environmentalist and the man behind An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore, is apparently not following what he preaches.
Gore has taken steps this past year to make his Tennessee home more energy-efficient. However, it looks like the OPPOSITE took place.
According to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, Gore's home energy use has risen by more than 10% over the past year!
The amount of energy used in his home during the past year could have powered about 232 homes in the US for an entire month!
Drew Johnson, President of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, says "A man's commitment to his beliefs is best measured by what he does behind the closed doors of his own home. Al Gore is a hypocrite and a fraud when it comes to his commitment to the environment, judging by his home energy consumption."
Shortly after the Tennessee Center for Policy Research first exposed Gore's home energy use, the former VP tried to quickly make changes to his home energy consumption.
Gore installed a geothermal system, solar panels, replaced the home's ductwork and windows, and even added energy efficient light-bulbs.
However, his new and energy efficient looking house is now waisting even more power.
How is that possible????
Gore was originally burning up an average of 17,768 kWh per month, which is 1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations. The energy consumption costs him $16,533.
According to the Energy Information Administration, the average American household consumes only 11,040 kWh in an entire year. That's over 6,000 kWh less than Gores uses in a month!
TCPR President Johnson, added, "Actions speak louder than words, and Gore's actions prove that he views climate change not as a serious problem, but as a money-making opportunity. Gore is exploiting the public's concern about the environment to line his pockets and enhance his profile."
The reason for those comments?
When the film An Inconvenient Truth was released in 2007, Gore won an Academy Award for best documentary feature. He also won a Grammy, an Oscar, and the Nobel Peace Prize.
It seems Gore's made quite a lot of money promoting for a greener environment.
He made an estimated extra $100 million last year.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
BOBBY BROWN: "WHITNEY DROVE ME TO DRUGS."
From the NY POST:
April 3, 2008 -- WITH an ex-husband like Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston doesn't need enemies.
In his upcoming autobiography, Brown blows the lid on his wildly dysfunctional marriage to the troubled, Grammy-winning diva, suggesting that she drove him into a nightmare of drug addiction.
"I never used cocaine until after I met Whitney. Before then, I had experimented with other drugs, but marijuana was my drug of choice," Brown writes in "Bobby Brown: The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But," out next month. "At one point in my life, I used drugs uncontrollably. I was using everything I could get my hands on, from cocaine to heroin, weed and cooked cocaine."
As far as his 15-year marriage to Houston is concerned, it "was doomed from the very beginning. Within the first year we separated, with several more to follow," Brown writes. "I think we got married for all the wrong reasons. Now, I realize Whitney had a different agenda than I did when we got married . . . I believe her agenda was to clean up her image, while mine was to be loved and have children."
Whitney, he alleges, had been under "a lot of pressure. The media was accusing her of having a bisexual relationship with her assistant, Robin Crawford. Since she was the American Sweetheart and all, that didn't go too well with her image . . . In Whitney's situation, the only solution was to get married and have kids. That would kill all speculation, whether it was true or not. In the short, I think I got caught up in the politics and ended up marrying one of the biggest stars in the world."
But Brown notes that he was no saint in their relationship, confessing in his book, "I am guilty of sleeping with other women . . . Women are always throwing themselves at you. I'm only human, so I would make the mistake and bite the hook sometimes . . . I let the testosterone take over."
One of his most public indiscretions was an affair with former exotic dancer Karrine "Superhead" Steffans. "Yes, I've slept with her," he confesses. "Yes, I've spent several nights at her house. But she was only good for what her nickname stood for."
Reps for Houston, who divorced Brown a year ago, did not return our call for comment.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
CHRIS FARLEY'S LAST DAYS OF HELL
From the NY POST:
April 2, 2008 -- CHRIS Farley's pals shoved extra helpings of tough love down his throat but still couldn't save the comic actor from himself, according to "The Last Days of Chris Farley." The book by Farley's brother Tom Farley and Tanner Colby quoted several of the actor's friends, who saw the tragedy coming a mile down the line. Excerpts from "Last Days" will run in May's Playboy, which hits newsstands Friday. Former "Saturday Night Live" star Chevy Chase recalled how he dressed down Farley while preparing for a reunion show: "Look, you're not John Belushi. And when you overdose or kill yourself, you will not have the same acclaim that John did . . . You'll be a blip in the New York Times obituaries page, and that'll be it. Is that what you want?" Farley's sidekick David Spade said he's still taking heat for failing to save Tommy Boy: "I got a lot of s - - - at the end about 'Why weren't you there for him?' But being that close, I dealt with it all the time. And in that situation, before the guy's dead, he's just kind of an a - -hole. Truth is, you get a junkie who's wasted all the time and moody and angry and trying to knock you around, you say, 'OK, you go do that, and I'll be over here.' " Farley overdosed in Chicago on Dec. 18, 1997. He was 33.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
MAN CLAIMS TO NOW SPEAK 'AUSTRALIAN' AFTER BEING 'RAPED' BY WOMBAT
From Foxnews.com:
SYDNEY — A New Zealand man has been sentenced to community service after telling police he was raped by a wombat and the experience had made him speak "Australian".
Arthur Ross Cradock, 48, from the South Island town of Motueka, called police on February 11 and told them he was being raped at his home by the wombat and he needed help, The Nelson Mail newspaper reported.
The orchard worker later called back and said: "Apart from speaking Australian now, I'm pretty all right, you know."
Cradock pleaded guilty in the local court to using a phone for a fictitious purpose. He was sentenced to 75 hours' community work.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Stringer told the court alcohol played a large role in Cradock's life.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
LAWSUIT: CLERK FROM MCDONALD'S SCREAMED, RAN FROM LITTLE PERSON
From Foxnews.com:
A little person picking up some fast food in a South Carolina McDonald’s has filed a complaint saying his server shrieked and ran away at the sight of him.
Ethan Wade, who suffers from a form of dwarfism, retained a lawyer after claiming the clerk at the Greenville County restaurant threw up her hands, started screaming and ran away upon seeing him, WYFF4.com reports.
The shift manager and store manager apologized after the incident, Wade told WYFF4.com said.
An employee at the franchise office explained that the employee had a fear of little people, Wade told the station.
"The employee had stated to her, 'Imagine if you saw a snake or a spider, how would you respond?' And that employee said she understood that. And I said, 'That's unbelievable. I am a human being,'" Wade said.
"How could you compare the fear of a snake and spider to a human being? That makes no sense to me," he continued. "I've seen kids kind of react like that. Understandable. But grown adults to act like that? That's just not acceptable."
Cynthia Samour, the franchise owner, released a statement to WYFF4.com.
"We take these matters seriously and do our very best to serve our customers with the utmost care and respect," it read. "We have a strict policy prohibiting any form of discrimination and we continually strive to maintain an environment in which everyone feels valued and accepted."
Wade is irked by the claims.
"You can't have a phobia of a person. I'm a human being. You can't have that type of phobia."
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
SON KEEPS HIS WORD--HIRES STRIPPER TO PERFORM AT FATHER'S FUNERAL
From FoxNews.com:A man hired a stripper to perform at the funeral of his father — who happened to have a fondness for gentlemen's clubs, according to reports from Taiwan.
Taiwanese newspaper the United Daily News reported that Cai Jinlai had been promised a stripper for his funeral if he lived to 100.
Jinlai was 103 when he died — reportedly leaving behind more than 100 "descendants."
He had died after walking about 3.1 miles to a town in Taichung County to vote in an election in the Taichung.
His son, Cai Ruigong, told the newspaper that he had paid more than $170 for the stripper to dance around the coffin at the funeral.
"He would travel around the island with his friends to see these [strip] shows," Ruigong said.
According to reports, the exotic dancer performance at the funeral lasted 10 minutes.
93-YEAR-OLD MAN CHARGED IN SEX STING
From the Herald Tribune:
MANATEE COUNTY — Prosecutors have decided to drop a soliciting charge against one of two 93-year-old men who were picked up during recent undercover prostitution stings.
The state, however, will continue to pursue a case against the other elderly man.
Carlos Underhill, 93, will not be charged, although he does not deny stopping to chat with the "good-looking girl" who made eyes at him and turned out to be an undercover cop.
Police say Underhill was willing to pay $30 for sex, and that he promised to come back a few hours later to consummate the deal.
But prosecutors say that they cannot move ahead with the criminal case because there is no way to prove that Underhill planned to come back.
Underhill was fined $150 for trying to pick up a prostitute in 1990, when he was 75. In the February case, he says that he was not cruising Tamiami Trail for sex, and that all he wanted to do was chat with the buxom woman who smiled at him as he drove past.
"All I was going to do was talk," he said Monday. "It wasn't for sex. I am 93, you know."
Meanwhile, in the case of Frank Milio, prosecutors have issued subpoenas and plan to take him to trial in April.
Milio, according to police records, tried to pay $20 in November to an undercover officer on 14th Street West.
Milio recently told the Herald-Tribune that he was only flirting with the woman.
"I haven't had that in years," he said. "Ninety-three is kind of old."
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Holding Top Pair On A Straight Board
Everyone has warning bells go off in their heads when three to a straight are on board and they don’t have a reasonable shot at making a straight. But you might not know exactly how dangerous these boards can be. As it turns out, if you have top pair with no chance to improve to [...]
Everyone has warning bells go off in their heads when three to a straight are on board and they don’t have a reasonable shot at making a straight. But you might not know exactly how dangerous these boards can be. As it turns out, if you have top pair with no chance to improve to a straight yourself, you’d better watch out.
The first problem is that holding the made straight on the flop is not too hard to accomplish. That’s because there are 16 available combos of each of the straight hands. For instance, on a 987 board, you can have JT one of 16 ways, T6 one of 16 ways, and 65 one of 16 ways for 48 total made straight combos. (For comparison, your can have AA only 6 ways, and A9 only 12 ways.) Say your opponent gives you a lot of action on the flop, and you think she has either two pair, a set, or a made straight. And say you think your opponent wouldn’t play T6 offsuit… just suited. Under those circumstances, it’s 50-50 whether your opponent has the straight or not! She has 9 ways to make each two pair (27 total combos), 3 ways to make each set (9 combos), 16 ways to make the top or bottom end of the straight (32 combos), and 4 ways to make T6s. That makes 36 non-straight combos and 36 straight combos. Indeed, if you hold 65, the bottom end of the straight, you are only about 50-50 if you get all-in against an opponent who has either a straight, a set, or two pair (assuming that your opponent would play only the suited version of T6). You can hold a straight and not even be a favorite when you get all the money in on the flop!
The second thing that’s dangerous about straight boards is that when you’re ahead, often you’re not very far ahead, but when you’re behind, you’re sometimes drawing nearly dead. Say you have AT on a T98 board. If your opponent has something like J9 with a backdoor flush draw, you are a miniscule 50.5-49.5 favorite. But if your opponent has 76 then you’re a 95.5-4.5 dog. So even if your opponent’s range is dominated by weaker pairs and draws, sometimes you still won’t be the overall favorite because the times that you’re beaten, you’re crushed.
For instance, say your opponent is extremely loose and aggressive. He plays a ton of hands preflop, and he’s willing to get it all-in on the flop with draws, weaker pairs… all sorts of things. You’re still not a big favorite with just top pair.
For instance, say you have KT on a T98 two flush board. Your opponent bets in a way that challenges you to get all the money in. He’s crazy, so he’d do that with all sorts of hands: Any straight, set, or two pair, any jack, any ten, and any pair with a queen or higher kicker. Also any flush draw, any pair with a 7 kicker (including 77), and some pairs with 6 kickers. That’s a ton of hands, many of which your top pair/good kicker is beating. But even against that crazy loose range, it turns out that you’re only a 51-49 favorite. If your opponent is even remotely tighter, then if he starts jamming the flop, you’re probably in rough shape.
The third problem, at least in no-limit, is that so many scary cards can come, and you’re ill-equipped to deal with any of them. Say you’re against that crazy loose-aggressive player. As a 51-49 favorite, you’d be fine to get all the money in on the flop. But if you don’t get all the money in, then you could have some real problems on the turn if a scary card comes (and more than half the deck is scary). If you’re in position, it’s bad enough, but if you’re out of position, forget it. You’re in real trouble.
So what’s the conclusion? If you have a hand like AT or KT on a T98 board, you have quite a marginal holding. If your opponent shows any sign of interest in the pot, you should proceed cautiously. In no-limit, against most players, if you bet and your opponent raises a decent size, you should fold because your hand compares poorly against your opponent’s range. Often, despite the large danger of getting drawn out on, you should simply check the hand on the flop and hope a deuce rolls off on the turn. If that happens, you’ll be in significantly stronger shape against your opponents’ ranges, and you can safely put some action in. If a bad card comes, oh well. You didn’t have much hand to begin with.
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