| Penthouse Purchases Various, Inc., Sale Includes Bondage.com
"San Francisco-based Bondage.com was founded in 1996 to deliver an exciting, educational, and erotic experience to BDSM devotees and the curious. The free site features photos of members, stories, columns on topics relating to Bondage, Fetish, BDSM, personals ads and active chat rooms. The company has developed advanced technology to deliver a unique adult internet experience. Various plans to run Bondage.com as a completely separate site to preserve it's unique chemistry and community." In this latest acquisition, Penthouse purchased Various, Inc. for an approximate $500 Million USD. Included in the sale is over 25 social networking sites, including Bondage.com, Alt.com, Adultfriendfinder.com, Gradfinder.com and Bigchuch.com, etc. Current plans by Penthouse are to retain all sites previously owned by Various, Inc.
For immediate release:
In February 2008, Prime Minister Sundaravej publicly stated that "When the crackdown [on drugs] is underway, killings will take place ? extrajudicial killings do occur." This statement not only recalls the Thaksin government's 'license to kill'-style of drugs enforcement, when black lists and monthly targets were used as official policies for cutting the number of drug dealers, it is also an indication that the Prime Minister is preparing Thai citizens for a new wave of unlawful killings. It appears a cynical attempt to preempt both domestic and international criticism. It also represents a disturbing acceptance of unlawful behavior and excessive use of force by state authorities and a lack of political will to prevent further illegal killings. "The Prime Minister is now preparing another war on drugs, adding insult to injury to a situation in which crimes against humanity may have occurred," stated Baber.
More women jailed: but should they really be there?
The Scotsman can reveal that more than one-third of prisoners at Cornton Vale have been locked up for committing lesser offences, including defaulting on fines and resisting arrest.However, a significant number have committed more serious crimes, including assault, while a small percentage have carried out, or been accused of, the most serious offences, including murder and attempted murder.One campaigner for penal reform claimed the doors of Cornton Vale could be "thrown open" and nobody would be placed in danger.John Scott, the director of prison reform group the Howard League, said: "The bottom line is anyone with mental-health or addiction issues should be treated in a sensible, humane way. At the moment, we don't operate like that, either in relation to women offenders or men and young offenders."The focus has been on women in prison because of the unusually high prevalence of serious personal problems that have been blamed for their lives going off the rails.A recent study showed that four in five of them are mentally ill, with half self-harming common, while 98 per cent have addiction problems and 70 per cent have been abuse victims.Mr Scott said: "Women offenders have a higher concentration of these problems, but it is probably because of the fact there were so many suicides in the past and the fact they are a minority group that so much attention has been placed on them."He insisted: "You could probably throw open the doors of Cornton Vale without people in Scotland being put in any danger."However, others have questioned why women offenders should be treated differently from men who commit crime – and argue that prison is the right place for them.Yesterday, Mr MacAskill visited Cornton Vale and said the problems there reflected fundamental issues across the whole prison system, with too many non-dangerous offenders being locked up.But Bill Aitken, MSP, the Scottish Conservatives' justice spokesman, said: "I, too, visited recently but found little evidence of women being there who could have been dealt with in the community.
Jankovic keen to defend Wimbledon title with Murray
Jelena Jankovic says she wants to defend the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Jamie Murray, despite her heavy schedule. Considering that Jankovic and Murray have yet to try a repeat of that delightful sequence of laughter, flirting, and inventive tennis last July, some have wondered whether they ever will. But if he wants it, it should. "He wanted to play with me, I think, in many grand slams, but singles has been my priority," said Jankovic, the Serbian world No4 who played more matches than anyone in the top 20 last year. .
Snapper offered dying Princess Diana photos for $700K
Two shots of Diana, showing her slumped on the floor of the car's mangled wreckage, were sent to the picture desk of The Sun tabloid by Romuald Rat, one of the paparazzi pursuing her. Stephane Darmon, Mr Rat's motorcyclist on the night Diana was killed, said the photographer had tried to help at the crash scene on August 31, 1997. But in robust court exchanges, Darmon's version was contested by Richard Keen, lawyer for chauffeur Henri Paul, who died in the crash along with Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed. "What Mr Rat was protecting was not the victims of this crash, but the £300,000 exclusive that he had just telephoned into the Sun from the tunnel," Mr Keen told the London inquest probing the deaths of Diana and Dodi. Mr Keen accused Mr Rat and Mr Darmon of offering versions of the event that were "self-serving lies" designed to protect them from charges of manslaughter and failing to give assistance to people in distress.
Call for GCSE languages regrade
The Association of Language Learning (ALL) had suggested to a review of languages by Lord Dearing that there should be adjustments to the grading of GCSEs to redress what it said was the imbalance between languages and other subjects. England's QCA, in a report, says there are counter-arguments and that instead the focus should be on improving teaching and raising pupils' performance. It says: "The present examination system is not based on an aptitude-based conception of comparability and its adoption would create a major threat to public confidence in students' results. .
Stargazing: Hynde rides, ‘Dancing with the Stars’ gets new cast
Chrissie Hynde took a ride on an Akron, Ohio, city bus to show her support of a countywide sales tax increase for mass transit. After the Monday morning ride, the Akron native and the lead singer of the Pretenders said public transportation is "what makes a city a city. "If you feel you have to have a car, you feel trapped," she said, adding that people who rely only on cars "forget what it is to walk and enjoy the city." They'll dance In case you refused to watch the finals of "Dance War" Monday and missed the announcement of the next "Dancing With the Stars" roster, the dancers are: Priscilla Presley, Kristi Yamaguchi, Adam Carolla, Marlee Matlin, Shannon Elizabeth, Steve Guttenberg, TV actors Christian De La Fuente and Marissa Jaret Winokur, tennis champion Monica Seles, magician Penn Jillette, R&B singer Mario and Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor.
Standing athwart history, yelling Stop
In college he headed the Yale Daily News and joined Skull and Bones, the elite secret society. He gained national attention with his first of at least 55 books, God and Man at Yale: It accused the college of proselytizing for atheism and collectivism. After a year in the CIA and other short stops, Buckley used $100,000 from his father to start National Review in 1955, a time when American conservatism was largely rudderless. The magazine started slowly, with circulation at 16,000 after two years, but it hit 125,000 as a nine-year-old in 1964, when the candidate it had helped to advance, Barry Goldwater, ran for president. Readers' donations have always subsidized the magazine, which now has a circulation of 155,000. .
Preschool to Grade 4
This title was originally published in 1950, and Yaccarino's new illustrations retain the look of that era. The colors are uniform and flat throughout, and Ollie wears a navy suit with short pants and a bow tie. The illustrator plays with size and perspective; the boy's horn is sometimes larger than buildings. The book is mildly amusing but not an essential purchase.—Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI BEDFORD, David. Time for Bed, Isobel. illus. by Leonie Worthington. unpaged. Little Hare, dist. by Trafalgar Square. 2008. Tr $12.95. ISBN 978-1-921049-35-4. LC number unavailable.
PreS—Isobel refuses to go to bed. Instead, she wants to join her mother as she exercises, picks up toys, and reads. After each activity, the little panda is put back into bed, but she gets up again and insists on doing what her parent does.
Georgia Police Question Witnesses in Killing of Two Officers
He said investigators know there are witnesses to the killings and "we want them to come forward." The chief held up photographs of Bryant, a two-year veteran of the department, and Barker, who worked there for four years. Both are married with four children, he said. "Bottom line: We lost two police officers for nothing," the chief said at the Wednesday afternoon press conference. "They clearly didn't have the advantage, or we wouldn't be here. Obviously something terrible happened." Earlier Wednesday, Bolton had a message for the gunmen: "If I were you, I'd turn myself in. The sun's coming up. Before sundown, we're gonna find you." But as the day wore on, Williams said she didn't know when the murder suspects would be caught. "I can't judge when we're going to make an arrest," she told FOXNews.com.
Showbiz's geezer geyser
Faced with a tightening economy and audience fragmentation, showbiz is seeking fresh ways to "monetize" viewers. And with the battle for younger audiences more competitive than ever, the bull's-eye is widening to include those over 50. The older crowd, not just the teens, is triggering big opening weekends for certain movies, registering ever more importantly in the Nielsen universe, backing hot (middle-aged) rock groups and even buying videogames. The era of teen tryanny may be drawing to an end, media mavens now conclude. Much of this has to do with baby boomers, now age 44-62. There are 78 million of them in the U.S., -- aging like no generation before as they approach retirement kicking and screaming, as well as spinning and jogging. People 55-plus now account for more than 30% of the nation's adult population, with the 55-64 category growing by almost 4% in Nielsen's most recent TV universe estimates.
|
