Yuks

Watch LIve Feed at the Site of the Oil Well Spill

Anyone who is interested in watching what BP is doing 5000 feet down under the Gulf of Mexico can watch it live at this website. I have it on my favorites bar and check it frequently when I am working on my computer. The robots are working day and night.


http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html

The only problem is that there is often interference. So, log off for a few minutes and log on again. It usually clears up after a minute or two.

Gary Coleman Dead at 42..Sad Story

A sad life for the most part , always plagued with serious health problems, Gary Coleman passes at 42. He shined as a child star for a few years and faded quickly thereafter. He was never able to get his career on the upswing again. His parents spent the money he made and he was forced to sue them even though he was still a minor. He was bankrupt and abandoned by the business he chose to follow. His life was always a struggle but he usually faced up to it cheerfully.

You left us much too young Gary . Whoever said life was fair? Sleep peacefully my friend.

Hurricane Season and the Oil Spill

In this May 28, 2010 photo workers clean up oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Pass a Loutre, La.

As hurricane season approaches, the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico takes weather forecasters into nearly uncharted waters. The Gulf is a superhighway for hurricanes that form or explode over pools of hot water, then usually move north or west toward the coast. The site of the sunken rig is along the general path of some of the worst storms ever recorded, including Hurricane Camille, which wiped out the Mississippi coast in 1969, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The season officially starts Tuesday, and while scientists seem to agree that the sprawling slick isn't likely to affect the formation of a storm, the real worry is that a hurricane might turn the millions of gallons of floating crude into a crashing black surf. Some fear a horrific combination of damaging winds and large waves pushing oil deeper into estuaries and wetlands and coating miles of debris-littered coastline in a pungent, sticky mess. And the worst effects of an oil-soaked storm surge might not be felt for years: If oil is pushed deep into coastal marshes that act as a natural speed bump for storm surges and those marshes die out from the toxins, areas including New Orleans could be more vulnerable to bad storms for a long time.

Experts say there are few, if any, studies on such a scenario. It 's tough to theorize about what would happen .The lone precedent, experts agree, is the summer of 1979, when storms hampered efforts to contain a spill from a Mexican rig called Ixtoc 1 that eventually dumped 140 million gallons off the Yucatan Peninsula. Hurricane Henri, a Category 1 storm, damaged a 310-ton steel cap designed to stop the leak that would become the worst peacetime spill in history.
Still, while oil from that spill coated miles of beaches in Texas and Mexico, tropical storms and unseasonable cold fronts that year helped reverse offshore currents earlier than normal and drive oil away from the coast. Storms also helped disperse some of the oil. That may happen this time. A hurricane could dilute much of the oil, spreading it out where the concentrations would be much less damaging.

At least 19 million gallons, according to the latest estimates, have leaked from the seabottom 5,000 feet below the surface since the April 20 explosion of BP PLC's Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11. Syrupy oil has crept into Louisiana's marshes, coating plants, killing some birds and threatening wetlands.
The threat to the marshes could have implications lasting well beyond this hurricane season. Louisiana already has lost huge swaths of coastal wetlands in recent decades, and the oil is a major threat to the long-term viability of that delicate ecosystem.
"If the plants that hold the marshes together were to die at the roots, the base would wash away, leaving deeper water and less of a buffer for hurricanes," said Joseph Suhayda, director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center.
"That would increase the amount of surge inland," Suhayda said.
Even without considering hurricanes, there is uncertainty about whether marsh cane and other plants will die to the roots or just above the surface from this oil spill. If the plants' roots survive, they could come back over time. If not, the results could be catastrophic.

Gingers Have souls

PIC, I wonder if DC has heard this news.

Gulf Coast : Oil Spill Cleanup Will Mean New Jobs For Many

The recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to dominate the headlines. The cleanup effort will be on-going and the damage the accident has cause will need to be assessed for a long time to come. As we move through the process of recovering from the catastrophe, one thing for sure : Many people with various skills will be needed to manage the outcome of the spill. Which means new jobs in the near future and for several years to come.
I spoke to Stephen Hinton, Managing Director of Hinton Human Capital to learn more about about how the recent spill may influence the job market.
What types of jobs may become available as a result of the spill ?
!) Clean-up personnel
The clean-up effort require Hazmat-trained workers who will deal directly with the oil clean-up, veterinarian medicine professionals who will take care of the animal life, and environmental engineers, microbiologists, and biologists who will manage the clean-up in the marsh areas.
2) Government appointed personnel
The government will need to hire damage-assessment officials to evaluate the damage to the harbors and waste-water treatment facilities. These jobs may be through FEMA or the EPA.
3) Scientists including ecotoxicologists, marine and fresh water scientists
Teams will be needed to monitor the ecosystem following the disaster of the Exxon Valdez spill that occurred over 20 years ago.
4) Landfill waste management personnel
Since the oil waste will have to be disposed of in a landfill, there will be a growing need for waste management.
5) Forensic investigators
Safety experts, structural engineers and process engineers will be needed to perform a failure analysis and determine what happened to the rig to cause the disaster.
6) Economists will be needed to analyze the economic impact of the spill.
Where will the jobs be posted ???
British Petroleum will list a number of environmental subcontractors that will be part of the effort. The Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana State Labor Departments also have information on many of these jobs as well as information on how to apply for Hazmat training. CareerBuilder is also listing many jobs relevant to the clean-up or you can check out this information on 400 positions open for the oil spill clean-up.
How important/marketable are Hazmat skills ??
"Anyone dealing with the oil spill will need some level of Hazmat training, and these skills will continue to be in high demand in the future, these skills may be quite transferable to other positions such as working with environmental contractors on emergency response efforts," Hilton said.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, environmental technicians will be among the top 10 fastest growing occupations over the next decade with a projected 30 percent growth. As we continue to become more environmentally conscious, these jobs will continue to grow.
My take : Well, you know how we feel about the spill , with the economy in the shape it is and the spill has put so many out of work, maybe some good can be found in this tragedy y putting people to work... well that is a wait and see game...stay tuned the oil spill tragedy saga will continue.
Kicking back and keeping it real.

BP's Next Attempt : Top Kill Fails "What's Next ??"

Robert,Louisiana ( May 30 ) - With BP declaring failture in it's latest attempt to stop the uncontrolled gusher feeding the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the company is turning to yet another mix of risky undersea robot maneuvers and longshot odds to plug the blown-out well.
Six (6) weeks after the catastrophe began, oil giant BP PLC is still casting about for at least a temporary fix to the spewing well underneath the Gulf of Mexico that's foulimg beaches, wildlife and marshland. A relief well that's currently being drilled - which is supposed to be a better long-term solution - won't be done for at least two months. That will be in the middle of the Atlantic hurricane season, which begans Tuesday.
Crews on ships work on skimming and collecting oil in the Gulf of Mexico this weekend. BP officials said Saturday that the latest attempt to plug the source of the worst oil spill in U.S. history has failed.
President Barack Obama said it is "as enraging as it is heartbreaking" that the most ambitious bid yet for a temporary failed. BP said the procedure known as the "top kill" failed after engineers tried for three (3) days to overwhelm the crippled well with heavy drilling and junk 5,000 feet underwater. Now. BP hopes to saw through a pipe leading out from the well and cap it with a funnel-like device using the same remotely guided undersea robots that have failed in other tries to stop the gusher.
This scares everybody, the fact that we can't make this well stop flowing, the fact we haven't succeded so far, BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said Saturday. "Many of the things we're trying have been done on the surface before, but have never been tried at 5,000 feet." Suttles said BP is already preparing for the next temporary fix. The company plans to cut off the damage riser, and then try to cap it with a containment valve.The effort is expected to take between four and seven days. We're confident the job will work but obviously we can't guarantee sucess, Suttles said of the new plan. He said cutting off the damaged riser isn't expected to cause the flow rate of leaking oil increase significantly.
Experts have said that a bend in the damaged riser likely was restricting the flow of oil, so slicing it off and installing a new containment valve is risky. "If they can't get the valve on, things will get much worse," said Phillip Johnson, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama. Johnson said he thinks BP can succed with the valve, but added: It's a scary proposition."
News that the top kill fell short drew a sharply worded response from President Obama on Saturday, a day after he visited the Gulf Coast to see the damage first hand."It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained , until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this man-made disaster are made whole," Obama said.
Frustration has grown as drifting oil closes beaches and washes up in sensitive marshland. The damage is underscored by images of pelicans and their eggs coated in oil. Below the surface, oyster beds and shrimp nurseries face certain death. Fishermen complain there's no end in sight to the catastrophe that's keeping their boats idle.Word that the top kill had failed hit hard in fishing communities along Louisiana' coast.
Everybody's starting to realize this summer is lost, and our whole lifestyle might be lost," said Michael Ballay, the Manager of the Cypress Cove Marina in Venice, La., near where the oil first made land-fall in large quantities almost two (2) weeks ago. The top official in coastal Plaquemines Parish said news of the top kill failure brought tears to his eyes.
"They are going to destroy south Louisiana. We are dying a slow death here," said Billy Nungesser, the parish president. "We don't have time to wait while they try solutions. Hurricane season starts Tuesday."
My spin on this disaster: Our way of life is all but gone...I cannot see us bouncing back from this soon, it will affect the whole planet and with climate change , when can we hope for some relief? The oil saga continues...Stay tuned.

Peter Getty: Heir To Getty Billions Accused Of Addiction, Adultery "OUCH"

Billionaire heir Peter Getty and wife Jacqui (n`ee de La Fontaine) are splitting in what the Daily Beast calls "one of the ugliest divorce cases Los Angeles has seen in years" - which, considering the tumultuous and scandalous love lifes of Hollywood, is saying a lot.
Peter, the grandson of Billionaire oilman John Paul Getty and heir to an estimated $2 billion fortune, faces allegations of adultery, cocaine use and Internet porn addiction in the messy divorce. His estranged wife, Jacqui, is gunning for $300,000 per month for her expenses and $200,000 in pocket money.(To put things in perspective: The couple shared a brand-new $30 million San Francisco home - complete with a bed that cost $1 million.)
"We had a lifestyle that I am certain is beyond what most people could imagine or will ever be able to enjoy,"
Jacqui said in court. "But as I was told, that was 'just the way it is' when your name is Getty."

Jacqui is a stylist and costume designer who worked with Wes Anderson on "The Darjeeling Limited.' Her daughter, Gia, 23, was conceived during her marriage to Francis Coppola's son Gio, who died before the child's birth. Peter met Jacqui during Gia's childhood and treated the girl like a daughter. Jacqui wrote in court documents that Peter was physically abusive, choking her and breaking her arm during a drug-fueled rage in 2008.

"He told me, I could kill you and get away with it."

Peter has admitted cocaine use in court. Failed attempts to get her husband to seek help culminated in Jacqui leaving. When she left, she thought the family would step in and say,'OK, go to rehab' and they'd get back together a friend tells the Daily Beast. Another friend says Jacqui never expected to be divorced, but hoped for "a reality check" for Peter.

That ended up never happening - court documents report Jacqui saying, "He wanted to live a 'rock and roll party life' and I would have to decide whether I wanted to stay married to him." His words were , "it's my way or no way or the highway."

Adultery runs in the family - Peter's father, "Gordon P. getty, kept a secret from his wife and the world for more tham a decade - a second life with a mistress and three children," a 1999 reports reads. The brutal split may have spilled into Peter's parental role with Gia. Peter not only missed Gia's graduation from Bard College in May 2009 after promising he would attend, but shortly thereafter stopped paying her health and car insurance. Peter has not responded to numerous calls and e-mails from Gia.
When the court case began earlier this month, "Peter fell asleep in court and dozed throughout the proceedings." witnesses told the Post.
In the heyday of their marriage, Jaqui told Harper's Bazaar that she and her brainy husband were "so opposite, I'm like, hey, lets go have some fun ! and he's like , by the way, the science theory on this is ..."
Peter's legal representation is Laura Wasser, an attorney who has counseled Britney Spears and Angelina Jolie. Jaqui is backed by Stephen Kolodny, whose services have been untilized by Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand. Neither lawyer commented on the case.

My spin on these crazy rich ass-holes: There is such a thing as having too much money just handed to you with little or no work involved...that's where a lot of rich people make their first mistake . Children need to learn the responsibility to stay sane and sober and also how to appreciate and how to handle wealth...but it starts at home and from the cradle. Wealthy people have a very bad habit.... hiring nannies and others to raise their children...wrong, wrong, wrong. A lot of 'for hire' people are just that...eight (8) hour jobs, kids need love and nurturing...remember the nut don't fall from the tree.( A lot of mothers/fathers need to have help to see after their kids because the both have to work ) But hey, that's just me.

Amphibians Close HIghway in Greece...'Go Frogs!'

— May 26, 2010 — Highway hopping: Millions of frogs have forced the two-hour closure of a key road in Greece. How did they all arrive there? Why did they all arrive there? Frogs are an endangered species and have been disappearing for years now. Are they fighting back? Are they going to re-emerge stronger than ever. I hope so. I have always loved the slimy little guys.

Four Canadian Cities in Top Twenty-five of ' Best Quality of LIving'..Global Survey

Vancouver
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Vancouver

Vancouver's quality of living ranks it as no. 4 on list of 221 cities around world :
Four Canadian cities are among the top 25 in the world in terms of quality of living, according to a global survey published Wednesday.
Overall top spot on the list,' Mercer Quality of Living Survey' is the Austrian city of Vienna. Vancouver is the top Canadian city among 221 ranked this year, sharing the No. 4 spot with Auckland, New Zealand. The other Canadian cities in the top 25 are Ottawa at 14, Toronto at 16 and Montreal at 21. Calgary was ranked No. 28 on the overall quality of living ranking but got the top spot on a new ecology ranking.
No American city made the top 25 on the Mercer list. Honolulu had the top ranking in the United States at No 31.

Cousteau Jr.....This is a Nightmare

Legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau would have been "horrified" by the devastation being wrought by a huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill, his grandson said after diving down into the seas.
"There's a chemical dispersant/oil mixture that is now . . . over vast areas of the Gulf and as we feared it's not concentrated at the surface," Philippe Cousteau Jr. told CNN, adding "this absolutely is a nightmare."
"We were about 15 to 20 feet down and it was dispersed into smaller and smaller particles throughout the water column in these billowing clouds that were just circling us, encompassing us in this toxic soup. It was very, very alarming."
Oil has been spewing into the seas since an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, just off the Louisiana coast, and the spreading slick is seeping into the state's fragile marshlands.
"I know that my father and grandfather would have been doing this if they were alive and that they would have been just as horrified by what they saw as I was," Cousteau said in an entry on his blog (www.earthecho.org/blog).
During the "gruelling" dive which took three weeks to prepare, Cousteau and his team wore full hazmat diving suits and heavy hard hat helmets weighing some 30 pounds (15 kilos).
He said as the team were down there "wave after wave of oil/chemical dispersant mix washed over us."
"This was one of the most terrible experiences of my life seeing first hand what this oil spill looks like under the water and knowing that this contamination is spreading over hundreds of miles."
And as BP Wednesday readied a new bid to cap the leak, Cousteau warned: "Even if they do manage to cut off the oil tomorrow, the oil that has escaped will spread, following currents as far as the Arctic Circle via the Gulf Stream, wreaking havoc along the way.
"I can only hope that we learn from this and start to truly take the kind of drastic action necessary to begin the decades long road to recovery."

BP And The Oil Spill :"Top Kill Operation" Will It Work ???

Baton Rouge, Louisiana - BP is reporting early sucess in its unprecedented effort to plug a mile-deep blowout in the Gulf of Mexico - a "Top Kill" operation that will pump heavy fluids ioto it's gushing oil well. An executive said it could take more than another day before it's clear whether the procedure actually blocked the flow of oil.
The top kill maneuver began this afternoon (May 26), BP said The company decided to allow continued live video footage of the site of the leak as it forces the chemicals and mud into the well.
Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer , said early indications are that the top kill is working. "The job has been proceeding as planned," Suttles told reporters tonight in Robert,Louisiana.
BP CEO Tony Hayward conceded failure in efforts to stop from reaching Louisiana's fragile coast, where shore birds and marshes have been coated in thick crude. "I was on the beach yesterday," he said on NBC's "Today" show."I felt devasted and gutted about what I saw. I feel that we have let people down in the defense of the shore , and we are going to redouble our efforts in thatendeavor...even if a cupful of oil gets to the beach, it's a failure." Hayward had been criticized for saying recently that he thought the spill's effects would be very, very modest."
The so-called top killed involves pumping the materials down the crippled oil well at a rate of up to 2,100 gallons a minute, using a 30,000-horsepower engine on a ship floating above. If that works, it would be followed by cement, which would seal the well permanently. The top kill is BP's lastest effort to try to stanch the leak that has spouted 210,000 gallons of oil off the U.S. coast each day since April 20 explosion tore apart it's Deepwater Horizon rig. That's a conservative estimate, and many experts believe even more oil is actually leaking. Eleven (11) workers died from the explosion, and the rig sanked two (2) days later.
Suttles said it could take more than another day before it's clear whether the operation succeded. "We want to make sure we do the job right, and thoroughly,
he said.If the top kill fails, Suttles said BP would try its third method of containing the oil: placing a dome over the rebuilt blowout preventer, which failed during the explosion . The containment dome, which is on the sea bed, would be deployed whthin four (4) days, he said.
The company is scrambling to get some good news before President Barack Obamam flies to the Gulf Coast on Friday, on his second visit to survey the damage and cleanup. Obama is said to be frustrated by the fact that BP hasn't been able to tamp the oil spill after more than a month, and has been guoted as telling aides in recent days: "Plug the damn hole." We're doing everything we can to bring this to a closure, Suttles said.
If top kill works, it could allow environmental experts to finally get a full handle on the actual size of the oil slick off America's coast, and possibly help limit damage to wildlife and marine animals. It could also help BP begain to mend its image. A CBS news poll released Tuesday Tuesday found thet 70 percent of Americans disapprove of BP's handling of the spill. The company has lost about a quarter of it's market value, or $50 billion, since the disaster began, according to Reuters.
Stopping the oil leak is also a key to Obama's approval rating - and that of the whole Democratic Party - Ahead of this year's important midterm elections . CBS found that 45 percent of American disapprove of the administration's response to the disaster. Updates as they become available: Stay tune the saga continues .
My spin on this disaster : Equirering minds wants to know why is BP didn't try top kill over a month ago. Did they think the oil would just go away if they ignore it? Did they not think the familes of the 11 men would just forget in a coule of days that their love ones was not with them any more? BP have caused so much damage and hardships on so many people, not only the ones in my part of the world, this affects the world in general with their negligent behavior and concern for the environment as a whole. It will take a long time for the coast and surrounding area to recover , but it will never be made whole again, take a look at what Katrina did to New Orleans and in a few days later Rita hit New Orleans and finish the job... Listen up folks hurricane season is upon us and can you imagine what damage it will do? BP is worrying about the money they have lost, never thinking about what we have lost.
Kicking back and keeping it real....

American Idol is Still a Boys' Club...Lee DeWyze Winner

By Lyndsey Parker in Reality Rocks
"American Idol" premiered in January this year amid hype that Season 9 would be a "girls' season." But when that didn't quite pan out--all of the female front-runners, except for Crystal Bowersox, were voted off early--the judges (especially Simon Cowell) changed their tune and started blatantly throwing their support behind Lee DeWyze. Their favoritism couldn't have more obvious on the night the top three performed, when Lee got a big "Hallelujah moment," complete with an eight-member choir. Well, apparently the judges' and producers' tactics worked: Despite delivering drastically worse performances than Crystal on Tuesday, Lee DeWyze won Season 9 on Wednesday night.
Actually, the show pushed Lee hard all season long, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure why. I mean, Lee was one of the more promising males this season (his pre-"Idol" indie albums and interesting acoustic cover of Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People" are evidence of this), but he wasn't exactly a major personality--he always seemed more like a band dude to me, never a solo star. (Maybe that's why he needed that choir!) And more importantly, "Idol's" parent company, 19 Entertainment, already has three mainstream-rock male Idols (Chris Daughtry, David Cook, and Kris Allen), the latter two being the past two seasons' champs. So why did 19 Entertaiment honchos want more of the same--a third consecutive winner in this crowded genre? If they started to believe that a male was more likely to prevail yet again this season, why didn't they push for something a little different, like R&B (Michael Lynche) or country-blues (Casey James)?
Well, maybe that's too much responsibility to place entirely on the "Idol" powers-that-be. In the end, this was America's decision, and sadly, America didn't seem to want an Etheridge-loving, dreadheaded hippie chick with a penchant for relatively obscure acoustic Patty Griffin covers over a Springsteenian everyman with a fondness for U2. In the end, it was America that apparently wanted more of the same.
And so, Lee DeWyze is the new American Idol. Did America get it wrong? Based on Tuesday's performances, I say: YES. Yes, they sure did. But we'll have to wait for Lee's album later this year to find out how he will really prove himself and differentiate himself from the ever-expanding "Idol" boys' club.

Personally, I think Chrystal was a superior performer: More talent, better, stronger voice, more range, more depth, more professional, more personality....I could go on. Some people didn't like the image she portrayed....Kind of hippy/biker chick with a dash of trailer park. And people kept remarking on her hair and teeth. I think you were judging the wrong things folks. Just like last year. Did you need another Springsteen imitator??....Jeannie

Artificial Life-form?... Synthetic Genes Bring Cell to Life

Scientists working to make a synthetic life form reported a major step forward Thursday, saying they had created an artificial genome and used it to bring a hollowed-out bacterium back to life.
They hope to use their stripped-down version of a bacterium to learn how to engineer custom-made microbes.
But some groups worried the technology might be used to make biological weapons and President Barack Obama asked his bioethics advisers to report on the implications. The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee scheduled a hearing for next week to discuss the implications, good and bad.
Others disputed just how far the researchers had gone in making artificial life.
"This is the first synthetic cell that's been made," said genome pioneer Craig Venter, who led the research. "This is the first self-replicating species that we have had on the planet whose parent is a computer."

Venter has said he would like to try to make bacteria to produce fuel or to use in making better vaccines or to design algae that can vacuum up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
"This becomes a very powerful tool for trying to design what we want biology to do," Venter said at a news conference.
Reporting in the journal Science, Venter's team said it worked with a synthetic version of the DNA from a small bacterium (Mycoplasma mycoides) transplanted into another germ called Mycoplasma capricolum, which had most of its insides removed.
After many false starts, the new microbe came to life and began replicating in the lab dish. As it began reproducing itself, the scientists realized what a quantum leap for science it could represent.

It took years to figure out how to make an artificial chromosome with artificial genetic sequences. The researchers, who have spent 15 years and $40 million so far, then had to figure out how to transfer this into another bacterium.
At first, nothing happened. It turned out there was a single error in the more than 1 million "base-pairs" in the genetic sequence. "Our success was thwarted for many weeks," they wrote in their report.
Venter said the team consulted many experts in ethics before it started. The institute's Dan Gibson said they also briefed the White House because of the security implications -- the technique might be used to synthesize biological weapons, for instance.
Obama asked the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues to look at the issue.
"In its study, the Commission should consider the potential medical, environmental, security, and other benefits of this field of research, as well as any potential health, security or other risks," Obama wrote.
"We must ensure that strong regulations are in place to protect the environment and human health from this potentially dangerous new technology," said Eric Hoffman of Friends of the Earth.

"Venter's achievement would seem to extinguish the argument that life requires a special force or power to exist. In my view, this makes it one of the most important scientific achievements in the history of mankind," bioethicist Arthur Caplan of the University of Pennsylvania wrote in a commentary in the journal Nature.
"Their achievement undermines a fundamental belief about the nature of life that is likely to prove as momentous to our view of ourselves and our place in the Universe as the discoveries of Galileo, Darwin and Einstein."
Jim Collins, a professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, disputed this view.
"Frankly, scientists do not know enough about biology to create life,"
"The work reported by Venter and his colleagues is an important advance in our ability to re-engineer organisms; it does not represent the making of new life from scratch."

No, they still can't create life. They can monkey around with it, transfer bits and pieces of it from one place to another and re-purpose it; they can engineer it to perform certain functions but they cannot create life from scratch. However they may be on the threshold of that ultimate discovery. Good or bad?? Both, I think.

Scientist Says He's the First human With a Computer Virus

Let the hysteria begin: Computer viruses have apparently made the leap from PC to person, BBC News reports. Of course, it was all intentional. British scientist Mark Gasson of the University of Reading introduced a computer virus into an RFID chip (similar to the chips implanted in pets to identify them if they go missing) and then implanted the infected chip into his own hand. In its uninfected state, Gasson's chip lets him pass through secured doorways and turn on his cell phone, so it has practical real-world capabilities. An infected chip could pass malicious codes on to chip scanners as, say, the bearer passes through a security door. The virus could then spread to other systems in the network, depending on the complexity and cleverness of its programming. Right now this is just a proof of concept, but it’s a sobering one in a world where "touchless" networking systems like RFID are becoming more and more commonplace, while the security of these systems has been largely ignored.

*

Recently issued passports, which include an RFID chip now by default, have already been subject to extensive hacking attempts — and numerous hacking successes. Some people even suggest whacking your passport with a hammer to disable the RFID chip inside. (We don't endorse this, however.) What happens when you have an actual RFID implant? BBC News notes that these chips are becoming popular receptacles for medical information, so if a person is unconscious, medical responders can still determine if someone has a critical allergy or a rare condition that a hospital might need to be aware of.

What happens if a virus scrambles or even reverses this information? The issue of viruses moving from computer to human may not be the nightmare that Hollywood would make it out to be — but the threat is becoming more real than we might like to believe.

Kim Cattrall : I'm Nothing Like Samantha Jones of Sex and The City

Yes, she's 53 and fabulous, but Kim Cattrall would like to make one thing clear : In real life she's not Samantha Jones. But as she gears up for another wild ride as the sexually uninhibited power publicist in Sex and The City 2, which opens thursday, it's pretty evident she's just as candid and outspoken. Cattrall chatted about - her relationships, wearing heels while riding a camel and her strange connection to Tiger Woods.
Q) I know you've signed ironclad confidentially agreements, but what can you tell us about Sex and The City 2 !
A) When I read it , I e-mailed [writer/director] Michael Patrick King, and I said it's fun, it's fabulous and it's great. I felt in the first movie we had to recap and show a much more serious side to the relationships, but this is really much more the girls on a caper. To be on the back of a camel in the Sahara in 4-inch heels, I don't think that's been done before.
Q) Was the camel cooperative ?
A) No, my camel spat at me and he would stop and suddenly sit down.
Q) I've read that you see yourself as the antithesis of samantha, but there are some similarities. For starters, you are both single [ since splitting with chef Alan Wyse last May ].
A) I don't see the fact that's she single as having anything to do with me . She's a character. You go through periods of your life when you're in a relationship, especially in my job, and then you're not. Recently, there was a picture of Tiger Woods in a British newspaper and they put a picture of me as Samantha next to him ! And I think it's hilarious that they linked us. Because I'm a serial mongamist.
Q) So they linked you to Tiger Woods because he's a sex addict and Samantha is a sexual person
A) Yes, yes ! And she's the epitome of what they now call a cougar.
Q) How does it feel to still be a sex symbol?
A) I look at pictures of Sophia Loren, she still pretty sexy. Would I want to be 20 again? No! I'm really happy where I am. People in their early 30s now are getting huge amounts of plastic surgery. There should be a campaign to get rid of that.
Q) So much has been made of fights between cast members of SATC. What's the vibe like among the girls ?
A) It has always been very professional. We have always done our work to the best of our abilities. I think when four (4) really smart talented women get together , it scares people. I hope we get to do another movie ! It's the greatest job you can ask for. Even when camels spit at you.
My spin on Sex and The City : I watched the series now and then when it was on TV and found it at times quite amusing, especially when the guy with the over-sized penis had a go with Samantha, boy did she have a surprise look on her face as if to say is that thing home grown or did you grow up on a farm? After reading this , SATC has peaked my interest....stay tune the saga continues.
Kicking back having fun and keeping it real.

The Most Expensive Coin in the World

What may be America's oldest silver dollar has become the world's most expensive coin, it changed hands in a private transaction between coin collectors for nearly $8 million. Steven L. Contursi, who has owned the mint-condition 1794 Liberty dollar for the past seven years, confirmed Thursday that he sold it to the Cardinal Collection Educational Foundation of California for $7.85 million.

The previous record price paid for a coin was $7.59 million for a U.S.-minted 1933 $20 gold piece, according to the American Numismatic Association. The U.S. began producing silver dollars in 1794, and this particular one remains in near-perfect condition 216 years later.
That being the case, the price it fetched was not surprising, said professional coin grader David Hall.
"Even if it looks like it's been run over by a truck it would still be worth a hundred grand," he said.

Part of the so-called flowing-hair silver dollars, the coin has a portrait of Lady Liberty with long, straight hair on the front and a noticeably skinny American eagle on the back. Numismatic experts say it was among the first U.S. silver dollars ever made.
"From the research I've done, it is unquestionably the earliest struck of all the pieces known to remain in existence," said Martin Logies, curator of the Cardinal Collection. Of the approximately 1,750 such dollars produced that year, only about 150 are known to exist. The quality of the imprint on this one shows it was struck on a hand-cranked press from a special piece of polished, high-quality silver. That indicates it was intended for either a dignitary or the mint's own private collection.

It likely remained in the mint's collection until the 1800s, when it was probably traded to a private collector, something the mint sometimes did in those days. Contursi, who runs California-based Rare Coin Wholesalers, acquired it for an undisclosed sum in 2003. He said he wasn't looking to sell it until Logies approached him. The Cardinal Collection curator had been one of a handful of experts Contursi had allowed to examine the coin after he bought it. He joked that Logies had had his eye on it ever since.
"He just finally made me an offer I couldn't refuse," he laughed.

Paula Abdul : Judge On New Show 'Got To Dance'

Have you missed the effervescent and eternally positive musing of Paula Abdul on primetime TV? Well, the former 'American Idol' judge has landed a new job at CBS as the lead judge and mentor on 'Got To Dance,' according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The show is based on the British hit and will feature dancers of all ages with performances ranging "from ballroom to break dance, bhangra to ballet, and tap to tango." On the UK version, acts compete in front of a panel of judges and viewers vote for their favorites.
CBS will make the news offcial on Monday. Adbul is also expected to be an excutive producer on the series, which is being developed by ShineReveille.
'Got to dance' will likely air mid-season, and as the Reporter notes, that would pit Abdul directly against both the next season of 'Idol' and Simon Cowell's new show, 'The X-Factor.'
Abdul used Twitter to announce her departure from 'Idol' last August. In a series of tweets, Adbul said: With sadness in my heart, I've decided not to return to #IDOL."
Abdul went on to say that she would "miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of the show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon." In another tweet, Adbul said that she wanted to express "how much I appreciate the undying sipport and enormous love that you have showered upon me...I do without any doubt have the 'BEST' fans in the entire world and I love you all."
With 'Got to Dance," Abdul will get the kind of nurturing she craves.
CBS now joins the other three (3) major networks in having a dance related show - The most popular being ABC's Dancing With The Stars' and Fox's So You Think You Can Dance,' NBC's 'America's Got Talent,' while not strictly a dance show, includes plenty of hoofing action.
My spin on the new show: Paula , you have a lot of competition to go against and it will be hard being the new kid on the block, but we do wish you well . Just wondering if Paula will wear her bells and sometime out-landish out-fits...a lot of viewers tuned in to see what Paula would wear next...Good luck Paula!

Michael Jackson : Randy Jackson Planning To Make Money Off Michael's Grave Site "What's Next???"

MIchael Jackson's mausoleum might be a tourist venue real soon if his brother Randy has anything to do with it.
Randy jackson is hoping to turn a private area at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California , into a place where fans of the late King of Pop can gather to commemorate the "Thriller' singer on the June 25 anniversary of his death, similar to Graceland, the former home-turned-attraction of Elvis Presley.
Randy took to his Twitter page and wrote, "I'm meeting with Forest Lawn and the city of Glendale.. Although they have strick rules, I'll do my best to see if fans can visit and pay their respects beyond the gates of Forest Lawn, on June 25th. I will inform you all soon.
Jackson's mausoleum is normally off lmits to non-family members.
It's difficult to imagine Jackson's resting place as a major attraction like Graceland because privacy and security are a major issure at the specal section of Forest Lawn Cemetery. Futher, the venue was created to be a place where the departed can rest in peace without cameras, fans, tour buses or live reporting.
Recently, Jackson's ex, Lisa Marie Presley, told fans to send flowers to Jackson's grave site , and 'sunflowerguy.com' donated and shipped thousands of sunflowers to Forest Lawn Cemetery. This is just one of the difficulties of such a high-profile celebrity having the venue as his/her resting place.
My spin on cash-cow Randy Jackson: Is it nothing these people won't do or just how low can they go to cash in on their brother's death. Michael couldn't escape them while he was alive and now we see he can't escape them in death...Randy and Jermaine don't have the morals of an alley-cats, they have two 2) kids each by the same woman, which Katherine kicked her and her four (4) kids out because they was threating Michael's kids with a stun gun. Why can't Randy and Jermaine take care of their own kids? It's common knowledge that Michael has always taken care of his mother and bought her the mansion in California. Stay tuned the saga continues.
Kicking back having fun and keeping it real.

Oil Spill : Relatives Fear The Dead Oil Rig Workers Are Forgotten

While the world remains fixated on the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, L.D. Manuel says people are forgetting an important fact: 11 men, including his son, died when the oil rig blew up.
I'm following the coverage, but I don't know that I like what I'm seeing. Everyone talks about the birds and the damage to the gulf and everything, but they never talk about the guys that got hurt or died, says Manuel, who lost his son Blair in the explosion."That really bothers me."
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded just over a month ago, on April 20, and relatives of the 11 men who was killed said that it's understandable that the news media and the public are focused on environmental concerns, goverment regulations, politics , the future of offshore drilling. But they fear that 11 victims - their husbands, sons, grandsons, brothers - have been forgotten.
" I can see that, definitely, the oil spill is everyone's first priority now.It's such an environmental problem, I understand that," said Nelda Winslette, whose grandson was killed in the blast. "But those 11 men was trying to prevent the spill. Nothing ever gets mentioned about those men, and who they were."A memorial service on May 1 was held for the 24-year-old Weise (picture above) at the Lutheran church in Yorktown, Texas, his hometown. Relatives said it seemed the whole town came to pay their respects. "The church was filled to capacity in the balcony. That was really something , and it showed a special young man he was. It was unfortunate he only had 24 years," Weise's sister , Judy Henze said. "Adam Weise was a fisherman, hunter, he was a prankster. He was the kindest hearted young man," Winslette said."He would drop whatever he was doing to help anyone else. Winslette said Weise started working in the oil industry soon after graduting high school, working on land rigs. Then he got a job with the Swiss drilling company Trasocean, and began working offshore, she said.Money was naturally the reason he went there. The money was better than on land rigs, she said.
Another memorial was held Saturday in Bay City,Texas, the hometown of another man who was killed, Jason Anderson, a father of two (2). Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon is flying relatives to Jackson, Mississippi, for another memorial on Tuesday, Winslette said.
Others lost in the accident included four Mississippians: Aaron dale Burkeen, 37, Karl Kleppinger, 38, Shane Roshto,22 and Dewey Revette, 48.
Four other Louisianians were killed:Gordon Lewis Jones, 28, Donald Clark,49, Stephen Curtis, 49, and Roy Kemp. 27.
Manual's son Blair was a native of Eunice,Louisiana. He grew up on a rice farm, whatever needed to be done he was there, willing and able. Blair Manuel, 56, attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where he studied petroleum engineering, his father said, he worked on offshore rigs for more than a decade. "Blair and his fiance, Melinda Becnel planned to marry in July,their honeymoon, the wedding, everything else," his father said. Their honeymoon was planned for New Orleans. L.D. Manual said he spoke with his son about a week before the explosion.
Manual summed the aftermath of the blast this way : "It's unreal. The lost of a child is very, very sorrowful.
henze said she hoped the public remembers that the disaster in the gulf had more than environmental consequences. "When I hear anyone talk about it, they're always talking about the environmental," she said. "But this is also a human tragedy.
My spin on this awful tragedy : It was an unfortunate accident and I truly hope the public don't forget the ii lives that was lost. The families have our prayers.

Baseball Sized Hailstones in Oklahoma

Huge hailstones pound a family pool in Oklahoma City. Watch it to the end; it gets worse.

For the Love of God 'BP', Do Something !

The oil slick has crept into Louisiana's rivers

The slick is washing into the marshlands

This is the surface of the water twenty miles out from Louisiana

Simon Cowell Speaks of His depression and Admits Mistakes

A very young Simon

The X Factor: New Show

Simon Cowell showed Americans his softer side on Thursday, telling Oprah Winfrey he suffered from depression and that he had made "some absolutely horrific mistakes" in the past.
The normally abrasive "American Idol" judge said during an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that he was prone to dark moods.
"I get very, very down," Cowell said "Pretty much depression. (But) what I always say is, 'You're taking yourself too seriously, so stop it.' At the same time, you should never put a painted smile on. When you're feeling down, you're feeling down."
Cowell, 50, who also has his own record label and created the TV shows "America's Got Talent" and "The X-Factor," said he sometimes felt drained by the demands of his work.
"You just become aware that a lot of people depend on you, rely on you, or you're not giving people the time you should be giving them. It's almost like a guilt thing, and that does drain me," he said.

Often seen as arrogant because of his stinging put-downs to aspiring singers, Cowell admitted that he had a strong ego.But life hasn't always been kind. He recalled the time 20 years ago when he lost his job, car and home and had to move back to live with his parents in Britain when a business deal went wrong.
"I made some absolutely horrific mistakes. I believed my own ego, believed my own hype, believed my own abilities, and lots of times it came crashing down," he said. "I thought I was absolutely untouchable."
Cowell's interview with Winfrey was broadcast a week before the May 26 finale of "American Idol", which will mark the end of his eight year association with the most-watched TV show in the United States. Personally, I would like to thank Simon for eight years of good entertainment.I wish the new show much success.

Scientists Discover Why the Universe Exists

Physicists have long wondered how the universe can exist when matter and anti-matter particles obliterate each other on contact, cancel each other out. But new data from a particle accelerator in the United States suggests a reason.The tests showed that when anti-protons and protons collide, the resulting new particles show a one per cent dominance of matter over anti-matter. Over a long period of time, this characteristic of the universe could explain why matter has come to dominate over anti-matter and the universe is able to exist.
"Many of us felt goose bumps when we saw the result," said Stefan Soldner-Rembold, a physicist at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom.
"We knew we were seeing something beyond anything we have seen before and beyond what current theories can explain." Time to rethink those theories.

Every basic particle of matter has a matching anti-particle. The anti-matter particle has the same mass as the matter particle, but an opposite electric charge. Particle accelerators, such as the Tevatron collider at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, which conducted the tests, and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN on the Swiss-French border, use electric fields to smash particles into each other at incredibly high speeds.
Scientists then study the particles that are created. Researchers seek larger and larger accelerators in order to create collisions that more closely resemble those which took place soon after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago, when the temperature and density of the universe were much higher.

The new findings deviate from what is known as the Standard Model, the theory created in the 1970s to explain the complex interaction of sub-atomic particles. Up until now, the model predicted a small preference toward matter over anti-matter, but not enough to explain the structure of the universe we see today.The findings come ahead of an experiment to be held at CERN, called LHCb, also aimed at explaining matter's dominance over anti-matter.
Consequently, the results of the test in the U.S. could soon be confirmed and expanded, forming the basis for a new or amended quantum theory. (-Quantum theory:theoretical physics that study the nature of matter.)

In a nut shell, we shouldn't exist because for every particle of matter there is a particle of anti-matter and they destroy each other. At least, so we have always believed. Finding out that there is a predominance of matter explains why we are still here; why all bodies in the universe are still here. So, to celebrate being here, why don't we slow global warming to guarantee we'll stll be here in a few more eons?

Jesse James in Tears Says he Destroyed His Marriage

The soon to be divorced husband of Sandra Bullock says he is probably the "most hated man in the world" for having cheated on the popular actress. A tearful Jesse James, giving his first TV interview since the March split with Bullock, took the blame for the break-up of what had seemed a happy marriage.
"I took a pretty amazing life and amazing success and marriage....and threw it away by my own hands," the custom motorcycle maker told ABC News show "Nightline", according to excerpts released on Friday.

James, 41, admitted cheating on his wife of five years. According to media reports, he had affairs with at least four women -- one of them while Bullock was away last year filming what would be her Oscar-winning role in drama "The Blind Side." Bullock, 45, had given emotional speeches at the Oscars and other Hollywood awards shows thanking James for his support. Bullock, the star of romantic comedies "The Proposal" and "Miss Congeniality", left their southern California home when the cheating allegations broke in the media in March, just days after she won her first Oscar.She has since filed for divorce, despite revealing that the couple had adopted a baby together in January. She told People magazine in an April interview that she would raise the baby alone.

Asked by "Nightline" interviewer Vicki Mabrey whether he was "the most hated man in America" -- as some U.S. celebrity magazines have labeled him for cheating on Bullock -- James replied: "I think 'the most hated man in the world' now."
The interview with James will be broadcast on "Good Morning America" on May 25 and on "Nightline" later that day. Your remorse is a bit late Jesse. You can't get it all back now.

David Caruso : CSI :Miami Cliff-Hanger !

The murderer leaves a series of cryptic clues sparking high-minded head games for the CSI's.
"Usually we have a clue about who's behind the crime, but this one is elusive," says Omar Miller (Walter, center). "Even when we go down, we're not sure if it's poison or bad catering."

Playing dead (or at least unconscious ) wasn't as easy as it looks. " I like to move around a lot ," laughs Procter, "and the director was like," Emily, can you please sit still? "You're supposed to be out cold !" Says Rodriguez (center). "The season ends with a serious cliff-hanger ." Presumably Delko will return since he survives tthe attack - the actors will find out who won't be back by mid-July when the scripts for Season 9 come out.

Horatio pushes through a storm of reporters after the search intensifies for Miami's latest killer - someone involved in a Ph.D. study on human behavior that turns deadly. "It's one of our most brilliant and mysterious killers in a while." Rodriguez says.

*****************************

Just a tiny tidbit folks on one of our favorite bad boys , since old DC is keeping a low profile it's very slim picking to get news about him. But heres what we have.

Shooting CSI:Miami season finale (10 /9c, Cbs Monday nights) is going to be a nail-biter on and off the set.

"All the CSI's go down after we open a letter with poison in it, and one person's not coming back," says Eva LaRue ( Natalis Boa Vista).

Season 8 ends without the audience - or the actors - knowing which team member is dead.

"I should check the Vegas odds on Jesse's chances ," says Eddie Cibrian (Jesse Cardoza).

Emily Procter figures she's got an 80 percent shot of coming back, because she says,"Calleigh and Delko (Adam Rodriguez) are finally connecting romantically, and I'd love to see them take that step to the next level." And what about Horatio (David Caruso?

"Oh, H is coming back," says Jonathan Togo,(Ryan Wolfe). But we gotta find a love interest for that guy who won't drop dead." As fans know , all Horatio's girlfriends or wives meet unfortunate ends. " This dude is turning into the black widow spider of CSI !."

My spin on the crew of CSI:Miami : Once it was entertaining and the story lines were pretty good....but mostly we tuned in to see Horatio doing his posturing and one liners, which were pretty good at times . The first 2/3 seasons were okay, he brought some of the fire with him from NYPD Blue but not the same caliber that was his trademark in NYPD Blue....but in 2005 something happened to our favorite "red-head. He turned into a feeble old man who forgot how to act. Was it because the love of his life finally got fed up with his crap after he knocked up one of his bimbos? After 9 years it was over. David Caruso has been going down-hill ever since with a' who cares?' attitude.

Stay tuned, updates as they become available.

Kicking back keeping it real and having fun as always.

Comeback Celebs

BETTY WHITE:
We've become so accustomed to our celebrities coming and going within a few years that we often overlook their potential for a future comeback. Everyone loves a comeback, and although these stars disappeared from our radars, they later re-emerged as big as ever. As one of the first ladies on television, multiple Emmy Award winner Betty White has always had an innocence to her, from her soft voice to her fair looks. She began modeling in her youth, moved into radio, and made it to TV in 1949. Throughout the '40s and '50s she continued to charm audiences in several TV dramas and talk shows, but landed one of her most famous roles, as Rose from St. Olaf in "Golden Girls", in 1985. The show aired until 1992 and won several awards.

Following the end of the show, White became less visible, although she continued to perform.But in recent years, White has come roaring back into the spotlight, and has since had a number of stints, including stealing the show in the 2009 movie, "The Proposal", and hosting "Saturday Night Live" this month (thanks in part to her 500,000 devoted Facebook fans). White has always had a familiarity about her; in her youth she reminded us of the pretty, fun girl next door, and now in her golden years, she reminds us of the grandmother we wish we had - and this star continues to rise.In September 2009, White received the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. Talk about a comeback! Or did she ever really leave?

WHITNEY HOUSTON:

If you read the lyrics to "Exhale", "Why Does it Hurt So Bad" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", songs that Whitney made famous, anyone can understand that life and love are bittersweet. And while it's difficult to dispute Houston's amazing voice, her personal life has had a tendency to take precedence over her music career.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, she was a best-selling recording artist and performer who also starred in hit movies such as "The Bodyguard" (1992) and "Waiting To Exhale" (1995). But Houston also faced faced several uphill battles through the '90s, which caused her to pull back from the spotlight for several years. These included allegations of drug use and her stormy relationship with then-husband Bobby Brown. Fortunately, she still earned a considerable amount from ongoing royalties from her smash-hit albums, and in 2001 she renewed her contract for a cool US$100 million. She has since returned to the spotlight, releasing her first album since 2003.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.:

Robert began acting at five years old in the movie "Pound", directed by his father, director Morton Downey, Jr. As an adult, he soon became famous for his ability to play versatile characters, which allowed him to have a wide range of acting roles and prevented casting directors from typecasting him or limiting his ability to seek promising roles. But the rising star's fame soon turned to notoriety, following several reports that Downey had been arrested several times on drug charges and breaking the terms of his parole, then went through a number of stints in rehabilitation. He finally managed to turn his life around, and made his way back to the silver screen in 2003 with "The Singing Detective".With recent hits including "Iron Man" (2006), "Tropic Thunder" (2008) and now "Iron Man 2" (2010), he seems poised to remind us how talented and bankable an actor he truly is.

MICHAEL JORDAN:

Michael Jordan has had many challenges, yet he combined a super competitive nature and work ethic to propel himself to a status over a career that has yet to be duplicated in the history of the National Basketball Association. Jordan arguably made the NBA the billion-dollar industry that it is today, while revolutionizing sports marketing as a designer and spokesperson. He certainly made Nike a household feature through his signature Air Jordan shoes. Many believe that today's players are able to command US$20 million a year due to his success. He is also rumored to have lowered his salary so that the Chicago Bulls could afford to provide him with the best possible teammates. He quit basketball in the prime of his career to pursue a Minor League Baseball in 1993, following the death of his father. However, it seems he just couldn't ignore his desire for basketball, and he rejoined the Bulls to win two more playoff titles before retiring a second time in 1999. But - you guessed it - he came back in 2001 to play with the Washington Wizards, becoming the first 40-year-old to rack up 43 points in an NBA game in 2003. From basketball to baseball to golf, Michael Jordan is the athlete of his generation, and still arguably one of the best athletes of all time. His career included five MVPs, 14 All-Star appearances and six championships as well as induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

COMEBACKS ARE EASIER THESE DAYS:

Past celebrities now have an easier way to make a comeback, such as hosting awards shows, being interviewed by the likes of Larry King and Oprah Winfrey, but especially through the recent phenomenon of reality shows. Actresses and actors seem to forever remain interesting to viewers. One thing is for sure, celebrities with talent will always be recognized, regardless of their pasts. The public is very forgiving to their favorite bad boys and girls as long as they get a good performance out of them.