Megan

Ryanair is a low-cost European air carrier that ends up in the headlines fairly frequently. Over 100 pupils “mutinied” over a single unpredicted baggage fee. One of Ryanair’s costs has been ruled unlawful in Spain.

What the Ryanair experienced

The flight from the Canary Islands to Belgium on Ryanair ended up beginning over a hundred passengers. A one flight crew person explained that “mutiny” was caused. It occurred when an overweight luggage fee was asked of students. The pupils grew to become “disruptive and refused to comply with crew directions.” A hundred of the 166 travelers were told they couldn’t travel on the flight and offloaded after police were called. There was an apology given to the last 66 left on the flight for the three hour delay. Then, the flight went back on track.

What baggage is like for Ryanair

Ryanair allows travelers to carry on a twenty-two pound bag within certain dimensions. The cargo hold is the place where anything else goes. It costs an extra fee. Without paying the fee, the luggage had to be left on the tarmac. The carriers would have to discover a way to get it back later. Paying a fee while luggage was held hostage by Ryanair staff was not something the students liked the idea of. It was soon known that.

Why it isn’t okay to have the Ryanair fees

Anything on the flight will cost a lot of money for Ryanair although the no-frill flights have very low costs. Ryanair was the air carrier that first suggested fees for instance pay-as-you-go lavatory use. It was considered unlawful by a Spanish judge for fees to be charged for everyone who shows up without a preprinted boarding pass to Ryanair. The ruling is called “bizarre” by Ryanair that plans to challenge this. United States airlines are changing costs to be less all inclusive and more a la carte while Ryanair does operate in the U.S.

Citations

CNN

cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/02/07/ryanair.fee.flight.disrupted/index.html?npt=NP1

After more than a decade of development, game “Duke Nukem Forever” is finally released. The game has been in limbo for over a decade. Enthusiasts of the “Duke Nukem” series have started thinking a sequel was never going to be launched. On May 3, the game could be released in the U.S., and May 6 can be the worldwide launch. I would bet many people take out a payday advance just to purchase this game.

Finally seeing ‘Duke Nukem Forever’ emerge

USA Today accounts that a launch date has finally been put on “Duke Nukem Forever” after fans have waited patiently for the next game within the “Duke Nukem” series to emerge. It has a lot of expectations to live up to because it has been almost 15 years since “Duke Nukem 3-D,” the last game within the series, came out. Game developers 2K and Gearbox Studios let a playable demo come out at the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo. Recently, Gearbox and 2K disclosed that “Duke Nukem Forever” will be unveiled on May 3 in the United States and May 6 worldwide.

The ‘Chinese Democracy’ and Nukem put together in the game

The president at the time of “Duke Nukem 3-D” was Bill Clinton. This was because it was launched so long ago. There was lots of success with the game as there was a first person shooter. Nevertheless, the game play, including the violence, ended up getting protests. 3-D Realms owns the franchise. When the company has having internal problems, it prevented “Duke Nukem Forever” from being released in 1997 when it was designed to. There was a demo released in 2009 after 2K Games took on the project. Just like the Guns N’ Roses album, “Chinese Democracy” and the filming of “The Hobbit,” the “Duke Nukem” sequel was a project that was in “development hell” and couldn’t get out.

Game leading to expectations and skeptics to emerge

Fans hope the new “Duke Nukem” could be at least as impressive as “Duke Nukem 3-D,” but that’s a hard expectation to live up to. ”Duke Nukem 3-D” was very advanced. In 1996, it was more advanced than hardly any other games. It also was one of the bestselling video games of all time, and the majority is hoping the new game will live up to that legacy.

Citations

USA Today

content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2011/01/duke-nukem-forever-hitting-stores-may-3/1

Wired

wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_duke_nukem/

The 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) starting Thurs in Las Vegas is expected to be all about tablets. Traditional technologies will nevertheless have their moments. New smartphones and the latest gaming advances will make headlines. However, Consumer Electronics Show 2011 opens as what is being called the “year of the tablet” begins without the dominant player -Apple’s iPad- in the collection.

How Apple can upstage Consumer Electronics Show 2011

CES 2010 will be what CES 2011 looks like. Last year’s annual technology trade show extravaganza featured the ballyhooed demo of a Microsoft windows tablet that never made it off the ground. The iPad was announced a few weeks later by Apple. The iPad hit stores in April, and more than 14 million have been sold. Many tablet manufacturers could be introducing devices to get attention as well after Consumer Electronics Show 2011 starts Jan 6. The Mac App store will come out that day too. Several say that Steve Jobs will preview the Apple ipad 2 during that time in order to upstage the Consumer Electronics Show 2011.

Making up ground to the leader, Apple

Catching up to Apple is the goal many manufacturers hope to make occur. This would be at the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 also. Samsung will feature its Galaxy tablet that it claims has sold about 1 million units so far. There can be several tablet devices unveiled. They’ll be from ASUS, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard and Research in Motion (RIM). There has been a ton of success that came from Apple’s iPad. This causes many to believe that the some other industries bay be able to succeed as well. Apple does not have to compete with all the cheap imitations of its machine. They are all just trying to have the cheapest price on their machines.

CES 2011 could have more

Since CES 2010, there has been a promise for better smartphones that have the abilities to have high speed internet connections which can be exciting even with CES 2011 being all about tablets. Motorola, HTC and others will introduce new Android phones made for Verizon’s 4G high-speed LTE network. Commands from owners could be answered by vehicles and household appliances as well which can be introduced with internet connected TVs.

Citations

Information Week

informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228901670&itc=ref-true

CNN

cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/01/04/ces.expected.trends/index.html?npt=NP1

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110104-706499.html

Sawyer has had some odd interviews. She not too long ago had one with James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence. Sawyer asked his opinion about a not too long ago broken up London terrorist plot, and he clearly hadn’t heard a thing about it. It was later found out that his staff had never told him about it.

James Clapper not okay with Diane Sawyer

Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security, White House counterterrorism adviser john Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper were all interviewed by Diane Sawyer for an ABC News special. The London terrorist plot caught before anything could happen that caused 12 individuals to be arrested in Britain was what Sawyer asked about. No terrorism happened. Those arrested were planning the act. DNI Clapper was asked about London by Sawyer. All she said was “first of all, London” though in order to reference it. Even though the incident had been covered by the news network all that day, Clapper then responded that he didn’t know what she was talking about.

Forgetting to tell Clapper

It seemed like a major terrorist plot being busted was something that an important person in the White House didn’t know about at first. It wasn’t possible for Clapper to be briefed yet. He was busy with other things, reports CNN. Clapper has been intensely monitoring the situation in North and South Korea, and assisting Congress with the START treaty. According to a spokeswoman for Clapper, he hadn’t been briefed yet although it won’t happen again.

Many glad about Clapper

In response to the interview, John Brennan said in Clapper’s defense that he was “the consummate DNI,” according to ABC. Though he conceded that perhaps he should have been informed better by his staff, Clapper was capable and is doing well in his work. Sawyer’s interview questions were very “ambiguous” though according to DNI office staff.

youtube.com/watch?v=G3mQ9koEgok

Citations

CNN

edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/22/clapper.terror.arrests.interview/?hpt=T2

ABC News

blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/12/after-early-administration-denials-director-of-national-intelligence-admits-he-hadnt-been-briefed-on.html

Normal water samples in many United States locations has tested good for a compound linked to cancer. Monday the EWG published the outcomes of a research that detected hexavalent chromium in the normal water of 31 out of 35 municipalities tested. Within the movie “Erin Brockovich,” hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, was the compound that was the focus of the legal battle portrayed in the movie.

The dangers of hexavalent chromium

Hexavalent chromium based on the Environmental Working Group is dumped in water from pulp and steel mills, leather-tanning industries, and metal-plating factories. Environmental Working Group had labs test 35 locations water supply where the compound is identified to exist, and discovered it leaks in from eroding soil. Stomach cancer and chromium-6 have been discovered by An Environmental Working Group scientist to have a correlation. The highest amounts of hexavalent chromium were present in Norman, Okla., Honolulu, Hawaii, Riverside, Calif., Madison, Wis., and San Jose, Calif.

Analysis of chromium-6

The Environmental Working Group analyze is the first nationally assessment of hexavalent chromium in municipal water supplies. As the EPA is attempting to regulate the limit of chromium-6 in water the study went public. It was in 2008 that hexavalent chromium was classified as a cancer brought on by the National Institutes of Health. 0.06 parts per billion is the limit CA already put on hexavalent chromium back in 2009. When the EWG conducted their analyze they discovered the actual amount in water is over 200 times the allowed limit. 25 of the 35 cities in the research were above the limit CA considered safe.

The Environmental Working Group suggests using a reverse osmosis water filtering

”Erin Brockovich” was where many individuals 1st learned about Hexavalent chromium. Pacific Gas and Electric was sued by Brockovich in real life for contaminating the water supply in Hinckley, CA and won. The award to Brockovich was over $330 million in damages. Until the EPA regulates hexavalent chromium in drinking water, the Environmental Working Group suggests a water filtration. “Reverse osmosis” water filtration systems are designed to remove heavy metals, including chromium, from drinking water. For a reverse osmosis water filtration you will pay around $120 to $300.

Citations

CNN

pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/20/carcinogen-found-in-31-of-35-cities-water-supply/?npt=NP1

USA Today

content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/12/tap-water-of-many-us-cities-has-probable-carcinogen-study/1

Medical News Today

medicalnewstoday.com/articles/212079.php

After finding the toxin aflatoxin, Kroger has recalled its pet food. 19 states are included within the Kroger animal food recall. The recalled animal food could cause liver malfunction and illness in animals.

19 states get Kroger animal food recalled

Pet food sold at Kroger, Food 4 Less, Dillons and Gerbes, Baker’s, Jay C, Hilander, Owen’s, Pay Less, and Scott’s stores is being recalled for a safety risk. The states affected by the recall were Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, OH, SC, Tennessee, Texas, VA, West Virginia and Arkansas. The animal food recall is something Kroger stores are trying to take care of. In fact, they are trying to get a hold of customers who bought it.

Animal food recalled at Kroger consists of three different brands

In the animal food recall at Kroger, there are three manufacturers being recalled. Products involved within the recall are:

• The UPC code 1111088128 on Cat Food 3.5 lb packages


• The UPC code 1111071357 on 18 lb packages of cat food


• Tasty Blend Poultry & Seafood Cat Food 3.5 lb packages with UPC code 1111071357


• Tasty Blend Poultry & Seafood Cat Food 18 lb packages with UPC code 1111074580


• Kitten Formula Food 3.5 lb packages with UPC code 1111071903

Old Yeller Chunk Dog Food involved within the Kroger pet food recall:

• The UPC code 1111074566 that are 22 lb packages


• Packages with UPC code 1111074563. They will be 50 lbs

There could be pet food from the Kroger Value brand. This includes:

• three lb packages of Cat Food with the UPC code 1111000018


• Chunk Dog Food in 15 lb packages with UPC 1111071559


• Chunk Dog Food in 50 lb packages with UPC 1111000108

All the Aflatoxin leads to risk that starts pet food recall at Kroger

Aflatoxin is a toxin produced by Aspergillus fungus. The fungus grows in cereal grains. Corn is one example. It’s okay to have Aflatoxin every so often in foods like peanut butter, however when consumed in large doses, it becomes dangerous. When consumed by pets, Aflatoxin can trigger liver illness, which is not directly treatable. If you’ve any of the animal foods recalled by Kroger, you can return it to the store where you purchased it.

Citations

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin

Kroger

kroger.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Recalls/Kroger%20Recalls%20Pet%20Food%20FINAL%2012-18-10%20%282%29.pdf

NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is illustrating his commitment to exposing high finance shenanigans, reports the Wall Street Journal. According to the Wall Street Journal, Cuomo has filed a lawsuit against Ernst and Young for alleged civil fraudulence. According to case records, Ernst and Young is charged with helping the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to manipulate its financial accounts in order to give individuals a false impression of financial vigor.

Due to deceptiveness with investors, Ernst and Young gets sued by NY

Not only did Ernst and Young allegedly help Lehman Brothers hide the truth from investors who were legally entitled to know, however the accounting firm allegedly advised Lehman to take on “Repo 105″ debt. The “sale” of short term installment loans is used to get cash with Repo 105. Then, debt is paid down with this cash. A business can make itself look good long enough to gets its balance sheet published as it will appear to be reducing leverage by paying down liabilities. After the glittering report is released, the business then borrows money and repurchases its original assets, which would be uninspiring to individuals if they ever found out.

All of this made Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. appear to be a much less risky investment than it was in reality.

‘A massive accounting scam’

Ernst and Young has yet to comment on what Andrew Cuomo said including that Ernst and Young “substantially assisted” Lehman Brothers as it commit “massive account fraud”.

Accounting records show Ernst and Young getting paid $150 million from Lehman in fees. From 2001 to 2008 this happened. When it was time to report finances, Lehman shifted about $50 billion off its balance sheets in assets and took them to foreign banks. The Repo 105 accounting fraudulence was then finished as Lehman brought them back.

Attorney General Cuomo was told this is “acceptable” by Ernst and Young partner Kevin Reilly.

Citations

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704259704576033540546160536.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repo_105

FOX Business Network coverage of Ernst and Young scandal

youtube.com/watch?v=MPBotxpqE5E

The Senate approved the tax bill by a very extensive margin after compromises by either side of the aisle. Alongside various other key provisions, the bill also extends the Bush era tax cuts. However, the bill nevertheless has a long way to go before it can become legislation. It must still be approved by the House of Representatives.

Huge yes vote on senate tax bill

A lot of eyes have been on Washington, D.C., to see whether the Senate would pass the tax bill to extend the Bush era tax cuts. The last legislation to pass before the “lame duck Congress” starts next year is this. It is the most significant anyway. The Senate voted in favor of the $858 billion bill by a margin of 81 to 19, as outlined by the brand new York Times. It was said by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that the tax cut bill was something that both parties cooperated with in order to do something for the American people that needed to be done. Getting the tax cut bill passed for the American people was something that took a lot of cooperation between both parties although it was accomplished. This is what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) explained. However, the difficulty lies in the bill passing the House of Representatives, which the bill has to in order to become law.

The tax cut bill

The tax bill will extend the tax cuts from the Bush administration. There will not be the boost of taxes for the richest 2 % anymore. The estate tax is conditionally reinstated for 2011. An estate could be taxed if it is over $5 million for individuals or $10 million for couples. It will have a 35 % tax then. Unemployment benefits could be extended because of the bill from 26 weeks to 99 weeks. This is only for states that have unemployment rates over 8.5 percent. Social Security tax cuts can be made for workers making less than $106,000 a year. That is what the bill will be doing.

House takes the bill

Before it could become law, the bill had to go to someone else. The House of Representatives had to pass it. The Republican majority lame duck session has yet to begin although the House has a Democrat majority right now. Congressional democrats are not all thrilled with the compromises made in the bill. However, should the House not pass it, income taxes will rise for all Americans in 2011.

Details from

New York Times

nytimes.com/2010/12/16/us/politics/16cong.html

If you believe the hype, acai berries are magic fruits, with tons of antioxidant benefits. Scientific studies and Twitter users have both found the tales to be more trash than anything. Mashable reports that thousands of Twitter customers have suffered through a brand new ad spam attack known as “acainews”. According to reports, over 10,000 not authorized tweets have been posted about acai berries and their designed magic. This might require Twitter to obtain a huge pay day loan to repair this before they lose consumers.

Do not click on acainews links, Twitter users

Tweets that link to domains that have the phrase “acainews” in them are where a lot of the Twitter advertising spam comes from. Twitter are asked to stay away from clicking any links to an acainews domain, or anything related, although it is currently unclear how the acai berry Twitter worm goes from computer to computer. The fastest moving Twitter assault is what the acainews is being called.

Gawker might have distributed the acai berry jam

Many assumed the Twitter accounts had been jeopardized. That was the first speculation. The acainews worm is “very likely” linked to the Gawker blog getting broken into recently, reports Mashable. This is what the head of Twitter’s Trust and Safety team, Del Harvey, explained. Many of the Gawker accounts were connected to Twitter accounts while about 1.3 million Gawker accounts had data exposed. Changing the Twitter password immediately is what Harvey advises all Twitter users who linked to the Gawker blog to do.

Code not involved with account compromise

Damon Cortesi of TweetStats told Mashable that acainews does not appear to be transferring harmful code directly to computers. There was a compromise when the Gawker was hacked. It caused Twitter accounts to be in jeopardy. You’ve enough reason to stay away from acainews now. Mix all this data with the truth that “no” was what Oprah herself said to acai berries.

Articles cited

Mashable

mashable.com/2010/12/13/acai-berry-twitter-worm-warning/

Web MD

webmd.com/diet/guide/acai-berries-and-acai-berry-juice-what-are-the-health-benefits

Oprah and Dr. Oz say ‘no’ to acai berries

youtube.com/watch?v=eN2Vcf0tiw8

Captain Awesome would once go by the wholly uninspiring name Douglas Allen Smith, Jr. Smith desired a change of sorts, and thought that changing his title to something with a little more kick would do the trick for him. With a little legal wrangling, he left his old identification behind and became Captain Awesome. Captain Awesome must have applied for a loan to cover the legal name modification.

Douglas Allen Smith called Captain Awesome now

Douglas Allen Smith Jr. is 27 years old and is from Eugene OR. He made the decision he needed a modification as he is currently an unemployed cabinet maker. He changed his name to Captain Awesome to honor a character on “Chuck,” his preferred TV show, based on the Eugene Register Guard. The character, Devon Woodcomb, played by Ryan McPartlin, was given the nickname because “a bad nickname builds character,” which appealed to Smith, and he set about altering his title to Captain Awesome. However, he had to face an incredibly skeptical judge who was not initially receptive.

Winning case as Captain Awesome

Title change cases at the University of Oregon law library were what Smith used in representing himself. He was allowed to change his name and change his signature to make a smiley face with left and right arrows by the judge. His new signature was printed on the back of his driver’s license as it was accepted by the OR Department of Motor Cars. However, his bank wouldn’t have it, as the glyph would be too effortlessly forged.

Why titles make a difference

It isn’t too hard to get your title changed legally if you would like to. However, some titles are too much to really use. There was a custody dispute between parents in New Zealand of a 9 year old girl years back and the judge decided that as the daughter was named Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii she would become a ward of the court. The name modification made the judge angry. This brought on an order for a modification of name to occur. CBC accounts that there were other titles not allowed in New Zealand including Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucky and Yeah Detroit although it was allowed to have Number 9 Bus Stop and Violence.

Articles cited

Eugene Register Guard

registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/25594703-41/awesome-captain-douglas-judge-county.csp

CBC News

cbc.ca/world/story/2008/07/24/talula-nz-name.html