Matrix director Larry Wachowski reveals sex change on 'Cloud Atlas' trailer.

Camera-shy director Larry Wachowski tries to hide behind producer Joel Silver at the premiere of 'The Matrix Reloaded' at the Village Theater on May 7, 2003 in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)

Larry Wachowski is now a woman.

The highly acclaimed filmmaker made a public debut as “Lana” in the promotional video for her latest movie, “Cloud Atlas,” which is based on the Booker-nominated sci-fi novel byBritish author David Mitchell, the Los Angeles Times reported.

According to The Sunday Times of London,Wachowski, half of the sibling duo behind the blockbuster Matrix trilogy, is the first top director in Hollywood to publicly switch genders.

It is not clear if the sex change is complete.

Lana has reportedly been “transitioning” – i.e. receiving hormone treatment – for the past decade.

Wachowski’s coming out would not have been a total surprise to the film industry.

Rumors have been swirling around Hollywood for years after the director was spotted in The Dungeon, a notorious S&M club in Los Angeles, in 2002, The Sunday Times said.

Wachowski’s wife filed for divorce and the filmmaker subsequently bought a mansion in San Francisco under the name Laurencia.

In “Cloud Atlas,” which stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and Susan Sarandon, Wachowski is credited under the name Lana Wachowski.

The Christian Post said Wachowski recently attended a Los Angeles movie promotion wearing a grey dress and pink dreadlocks. He can be seen here in this video: 

Original report | 30 July 2012

'Racial discrimination consistent in US'

Published on Jul 31, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews : A predominately-white church in Mississippi has turned away a black couple, who intended to have their wedding ceremony there, due to their skin color.

The pastor of First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, canceled Charles and Te'Andrea Wilson's planned wedding one day before the ceremony, arguing that the church had never hosted black couples since it opened in 1883.

Pastor Stan Weatherford said some of the white congregation had opposed the wedding of the black couple and threatened to have him fired. This is while Charles and Te'Andrea regularly attended the church on Sundays.

The African-Americans are still falling victim to racism in the United States, despite the appointment of Barack Obama as the president.

Syria: Shameful Performance of Western Media

The performance of the Western media (American, British, French and others) regarding the Syrian conflict has been quite shameful. One does not expect much from American media. Ill-informed foreign editors and correspondents and political cowardice turn American media into tools of US foreign policy.

This is especially true when it comes to coverage of the Middle East, where extra political courage and uncharacteristic level of knowledge and expertise are rather rare even though they are essential in challenging US foreign policy. But when it comes to Syria British media – including the liberal Guardian which has often been brave in challenging Western foreign policies and wars – have been indistinguishable from American media.

These media have failed their readers on many levels. Their shortcomings can be summarized as follows:

1. Resorting to methods of documentations that are never accepted when covering the Arab-Israeli conflict; like the reliance on accounts of people through skype and emails whose names are not obtained through a random process and the reliance on Saudi or Qatari press media offices.

2. Hiding behind the cliché that “the Syrian government does not allow journalists in” to justify the various anthologies of errors contained in media reports. Many journalists have either been allowed in or have managed to sneak in, so the general disclaimer used daily in the New York Times is inaccurate and misleads readers. Such a disclaimer is never used against Israel, which imposes rigid forms of censorship on reports emanating from Israel, especially when Israel is perpetrating its regular war crimes and massacres.

3. The reliance on exile Syrian opposition reports without any scrutiny or healthy skepticism.

4. The assumption that Saudi-funded or Qatari-funded media outfits don’t carry the agendas of those governments.

5. Obscuring on purpose the heavy role of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Syrian exile opposition in order to project a deceptive image of a secular opposition.

original report | 30 july 2012

Kidnap victim found in garage of New York police detective

Kidnap victim found in garage of New York police detective

Bound with zip ties and rope, a 25-year old man was kidnapped and held for $75,000 ransom in a garage belonging to a New York City police detective, who claims not to be involved.

The officer, Ondre Johnson, was taken into custody and suspended from duty though he was not held in prison and is not facing any charges, the NY Daily News reports. Johnson is a 17-year veteran of the New York Police Department and a member of a Brooklyn gang investigation unit.

The victim found in his garage had been kidnapped at gunpoint by a group of men in front of his home on Friday. He was thrown into an SUV with a T-shirt over his head. “Don’t try anything funny or I’ll shoot you,” threatened Jason Hutson, one of the kidnappers.

Another kidnapper then proceeded to call a relative of the victim, demanding $75,000, but the relative recognized the kidnapper’s voice and called the police.

The police were able to trace the location of the phone to Officer Johnson’s home in Queens. After the officer answered the door, police soon found the victim tied up in the single-car garage, which is detached from the house at the end of a short driveway. But the detective denied any involvement in the crime, claiming that he shares his two-family home with his cousin and knew nothing of the kidnapping. Additionally, the cop said he had no access to the garage where the victim was being held.

Three men, including the alleged cousin of the cop, were charged with kidnapping, attempting to collect ransom and criminal possession of a weapon. In the area of the apartment reportedly used by the cousin, police also found a safe, containing materials needed to make fake credit cards. But although the crime took place in the cop’s garage, Officer Johnson was not charged or even locked up.

“A decision was made last night not to lock him up,” a law enforcement official told the New York Times on Saturday. “What you have is an enormous amount of suspicion, but not the hard evidence tying him into it.”

Currently, the officer is only facing suspension without pay, pending further investigation. But four men that were found at the house were all arrested. As of Saturday evening, two had been charged.

“Something is not right here,” a source told the NY Daily News. “They’re going to try to find out what [the cop] was doing there and how he knows these guys.”

source | 29 July 2012

Linda Chase, Michigan Woman, Faces Forgery Charge After Keeping Mummified Boyfriend

One woman's mummy dearest has her in some legal trouble. 

 Police charged Linda Chase, 72, with forgery after they found her mummified boyfriend, Charles Zigler, inside her Jackson, Mich. home. Chase previously admitted to cashing Zigler's benefits checks, but she said the only reason she allegedly kept the man's lifeless body for 18 months was that she was lonely. 

 "It's not that I'm heartless. It's just that after so many bad things happen to you, I don't know," Chase told MI Live earlier this month. "I didn't want to be alone. He was the only guy who was ever nice to me." 

 Prosecutors charged Chase with cashing $28,000 worth of fraudulent checks in Zigler's name, MI Live reports. Chase could face up to 14 years in prison, but likely won't see any jail time if convicted because she has no previous criminal record. 

 That doesn't sit well with Zigler's nephew, Aaron Dryer. "We're just stunned," he said. "I want her in jail. Our family wants her in jail." Prosecutor Hank Zavislak said he plans to take Chase's mental state into account, according to a press release obtained by WLNS. "This is a very unusual case," Zavislak said in the release. "Given the circumstances it is clear a comprehensive mental examination is in order. I would expect that to be ordered as the case progresses." 

 Jackson Police spokesperson Chris Simpson previously told The Huffington Post that Zigler was discovered by authorities after they received a call from one of his family members, who were concerned that they hadn't spoken to or seen him "for a long period of time." Zigler is believed to have died of natural causes.

Original report here | 28 July 2012 

Penis Stolen By Thieves..

Fei Lin in the hospital after thieves cut off his penis.

Thieves stole a man's penis while he slept, according to police.

Fei Lin, 41, of the Niqiao village near Wenling City, in east China’s Zhejiang province, told police he was asleep when the thieves burst into his room and put a bag over his head, according to CEN/EUROPICS and as reported in the Daily Star.

"They put something over my head and pulled down my trousers and then they ran off," Lin said. "I was so shocked I didn't feel a thing - then I saw I was bleeding and my penis was gone."

Police believe the attackers were jealous lovers of several local women whom Lin was having affairs with, the Austrian Times reported. Lin denied taking part in any infidelity.

Emergency workers and police searched for Lin's anatomy but turned up nothing, according to TNT Magazine. The penis thieves are nowhere to be found, but police said they're looking for the jealous lovers.

HuffPost  | 25 July 2012 

Nigeria : Husband 'raped to death'

 ... by 5 wives after he paid too much attention to No. 6

A wealthy businessman - and husband of six - has died after allegedly being forced into a marathon sex session with his 'jealous' wives.

Nigerian Uroko Onoja was having sex with the youngest of his spouses when the remaining five are reported to have set upon him with knives and sticks - and demanded that he have sex with each of them too.

Mr Onoja went on to have intercourse with four of his wives in succession, but 'stopped breathing' as the fifth was making her way to the bed in Ogbadibo, according to Nigeria's Daily Post.

Two women have been arrested following the incident in the state of Benue last week, said the report, which used the term 'raped to death' to describe the businessman's fate.

Mr Onoja is understood to have returned from a bar in the small community of Ugbugbu, Ogbadibo, at around 3am on Tuesday, and headed for the bedroom of his youngest wife.

His five other wives - who were said to have held a meeting to discuss their intentions before their husband arrived home - are then alleged to have burst into the bedroom armed with knives and sticks to insist that they too be granted their conjugal rights.

The businessman, who has been described as a philanthropist who 'contributed positively' to the growth of his local community, is thought to have resisted the demands of his wives' before being overpowered.

Mr Onoja reportedly stopped breathing and could not be resuscitated after having sex with four of his wives in a row.

His youngest spouse is quoted as saying her five fellow wives ran into the forest when they realised their husband was dead.

The head of his village, Okpe Odoh, told the Daily Post the matter had been reported to police.

-dailymail.co.uk

MANIPULATING MEDIA:

Published on Jul 26, 2012 by Tsiyonut times : Syrian people are being broadcast BIASED news to make you SUPPORT opposing sides

Shock discovery: 248 human embryos found trashed in Russian forest

A fishing trip in Russia’s Urals ended with cries of horror as a man found canisters filled with human embryos, some already shaped to baby bodies.

Lids on the bright blue containers apparently unlocked as the canisters hit the ground, and many embryos spilled out. The little bodies, no longer than 15 centimeters, shrank, turning into mummies.

“A friend of mine called at night and said he went fishing and wanted to get some wood for his fire. He found some abandoned water canisters and wanted to take them for his house. And when he came up, he saw… little baby bodies,” a local told Russia’s Channel 4.

Arriving Monday morning, police found 248 embryos aged 12-16 weeks in and around the four canisters. Labels attached to tiny hands and legs listed family names of assumed mothers and some digit codes, which may refer to the pregnancy period, date of abortion or the hospital where the body originated from.

The 50-liter canisters filled with formalin seem to have been thrown out of a vehicle not far from a road leading to Nevyansk, a town on the slopes of the Ural Mountains.

Nevyansk authorities immediately said the canisters could not have originated in their town.

“Our area is too small; we can’t have so many stillborns, miscarriages or artificial abortions,” they said.

Later it was revealed that the horrifying content was “biological waste” from at least three hospitals in Ekaterinburg, the region’s major city.

“It appears a waste disposal company has failed to carry out its duties properly,” remark local authorities as the investigation continues. The Ministry of Health has been requested to determine which companies provide embryo disposal services to Ekaterinburg hospitals.

Read more : 

The Most Hated Woman In America.

Christian Leader William J. Murray: Son of Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair:

Murray Wants to Tell of the Hope He Finds in Jesus Christ

Imagine you are a little child again. How would you feel if your mother ran a business and often hired convicted murderers to work for her and was proud of it? Suppose one of the convicts working for your mother stole a large amount of money from her business. Imagine she also cheated on her Federal Income Tax, stole from her own organizations, and printed phony stock certificates, in an attempt to take over other atheist companies. How would you feel if your mother often spent her days in an X-rated movie theater, was the only woman in the theater watching the movies, and boasted about her attendance? Suppose she was even proud to write articles for pornographic magazines. Do you think you would ever want to invite one of your friends home for a meal?

William Murray, a devout Christian, and the son of the late famous atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, doesn't have to imagine. The founder of the Christian ministry, The Religious Freedom Coalition, makes these charges about his mother on his official website, http://ww.wjmurray.com. He claims the charges are true, based upon personal knowledge. Although he expressed regret in his belief that his mother never became a Christian before her murder, he nevertheless claims she "led many to hell. That is hard for me to say about my mother, but it is true."

read more :

On the Mum:-

Blackwater illegally paid millions in taxpayer money

For half a decade, American taxpayers unknowingly spent millions of dollars every year to fund private security agency Blackwater’s so-called “democracy building” missions in Iraq.

A new report completed by the US State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Inspector General shines light on a travesty involving the massive misuse of public funds.

Between 2004 and 2009, millions of dollars in taxpayer monies could have been saved had the International Republican Institute — a bipartisan, nonprofit organization chaired by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — used their federal funding more efficiently. Instead, however, the IRI handed over massive sums of money to the Blackwater security group so that they could send armed guards to Iraq.

While Blackwater’s presence overseas has not gone unnoticed, the latest report shows that contract were made without the IRI considering any competitors’ bids and in the end cost millions of extra dollars, all the while funding the same agency proved responsible for the massacre of Iraqi civilians.

The unclassified report, dated June 2012, describes how the IRI used $103.7 million in federal grants during fiscal years 2004-2010 to conduct democracy-building programs throughout Iraq. In only a few pages, CPA Clarke Leiper, PLLC, explains — along with the guidance of the Office of Inspector General — how millions of dollars was mismanaged by making payments to Blackwater without seeking outside bids.

“We found that the direct costs charged to the grants were reasonable for the purpose of conducting the programs. All costs were supported by invoices and other appropriate support documentation,” the report explains. “However, for the majority of the stated period, the allocation of security contract costs between the grants was not supported by a method that could be verified.”

“We determined that costs for four of the eight grants exceeded their respective award budgets by a total of $4,589,952,” the report adds. “We also noted that security costs of $64,285,818 exceeded the $49,472,461 in direct costs to carry out the Iraqi democracy-building programs.”

The report’s authors write that they believe “other qualified security firms were available for contract competition,” yet the IRI did not extend offers to anyone outside of Blackwater. In addition to the overspending and poor oversight, the report also alleges that Blackwater — who today operates under the name Academi — was unable to produce documentation relating to some of the federal contracts, did not get obtain approval for some spending allocations and, at one point in the span, ordered $26,600 worth of gym equipment that was never received.

“IRI agreed that additional controls could be implemented to enhance property management policies and procedures,” the report reads, continuing that, since 2010, the IRI has changed some policies related to how they manage spending such as this. For five years before that, though, the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction agrees that the Institute lacked a “methodology of allocating security costs that ensures a reasonable distribution of costs,” among other faults.

“While we acknowledge the volatile security circumstances in Iraq from 2004–2009, IRI should have periodically reassessed and documented the need to continue procurement of noncompetitive services from Blackwater. Overall, security costs of $64,285,818 exceeded the $49,472,461 in direct costs used to carry out the Iraqi democracy-building programs,” the audit continues.

Original from RT | 16 July 2012 

Iranians denied Apple products in Sydney.

Published on Jul 7, 2012 by presstvmobile:

Human placenta dinners rising in China.

After Wang Lan delivered, she brought home a baby girl and her placenta, which she plans to eat in a soup—adopting an age-old practice in Chinese medicine.

The health-giving qualities of placenta are currently creating a buzz in Western countries, where some believe it can help ward off postnatal depression, improve breast milk supply and boost energy levels. But placentophagy—the practice of eating one's placenta after birth—is relatively common in China, where it is thought to have anti-ageing properties and dates back more than 2,000 years.

"It's in the refrigerator now and I'm waiting for my mother to come and cook it to eat. After cleaning, it can be stewed for soup without that fishy smell," Wang said, adding she believed it would help her recover from delivery.

Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of a unified China, is said to have designated placenta as having health properties some 2,200 years ago, and during China's last dynasty the dowager empress Cixi was said to have eaten it to stay young.

A classic medical text from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) said placenta—which lines the uterus and is key to the survival of the foetus—was "heavily nutritious" and "if taken for the longer term... longevity will be achieved".

China's state media says the practice of eating placenta has re-emerged over the past decade. One maternity hospital in the eastern city of Nanjing reported that about 10 percent of new parents took their placenta after childbirth.

Internet postings swop recipes on how to prepare placenta. One popular health website suggests soup, dumplings, meatballs or mixing it with other kinds of traditional Chinese medicine.

While trade in the organs has been banned since 2005, pills containing placentas ground into powder are legally available in Chinese pharmacies—indicating unwanted placenta is somehow making its way to drug companies.

"It's a tonic to fortify the 'qi' and enrich the blood," a traditional medicine doctor at Shanghai's Lei Yun Shang pharmacy said, referring to the "life force" that practitioners believe flows through the body. "Sales are very good. Basically, every time we have supplies, they sell out very quickly," a shop clerk told AFP.

And it's not just mums who want to eat the placenta. One new dad in Shanghai who didn't want to be named said his relatives were eager to try the sought-after item. "My wife and I were still in the hospital... and they ate it," he said.

But strong demand has created a thriving black market with hospitals, medical workers and even mums selling placentas in violation of the law. Last year, authorities investigated a hospital in the southern city of Guangzhou for selling placentas for 20 yuan (RM6) apiece. "The nurses take the money and use it to buy breakfast," a source told the local Xin Kuai newspaper.

They fetch a higher price in other parts of China like the eastern city of Jinan, where dealers ask as much as 300 yuan per placenta, most sourced from hospitals, the Jinan Times said. Last month, South Korean customs said they had uncovered multiple attempts to illegally import over 17,000 capsules apparently containing the powdered flesh of dead babies.

Experts have said the pills may actually be made from human placenta, raising concerns that China's trade in the organs has started to go international.

Some people, meanwhile, are averse to the idea of eating the organ. "I know it's good for health, but the idea of eating human flesh is just disgusting. I can't do it," said Shanghai accountant Grace Jiang, who opted to leave the placenta after giving birth to her son.

Source: Relaxnews

Published: 5th July 2012