Players To Stay Back

Players To Stay Back
Martin Jol maintains Fulham must not let the possibility of Thierry Henry sitting on the Arsenal bench distract them from the job in hand at Craven Cottage this evening.

The former Gunners captain could make a dramatic return to the Barclays Premier League should clearance come through ratifying his loan move from Major League Soccer club New York Red Bulls.

However, no matter what squad Arsene Wenger is able to call upon, Cottagers boss Jol wants his men fully focused as they look to take the positives from Saturday's 1-1 draw at Norwich, where Fulham conceded an equaliser deep into stoppage time.

"For Arsenal fans it is fantastic. Henry is a legend," said Fulham manager Jol, who was in charge of the Gunners' arch rivals Tottenham from 2004 to 2007."(My team) played against him with Spurs and he was always making the difference as a player."

Jol added: "He could be sitting behind me and we will have to focus on the game.

"The last time we did well against Arsenal [drawing 1-1 at Emirates Stadium in November] and hopefully we can do the same."

Whatever side Wenger puts out, Fulham know they will have to produced a strong defensive display to get another positive result.

Centre-half Brede Hangeland - a one-time target for the Gunners - is confident the Cottagers can deliver.

"We seem to play quite well against Arsenal both at home and away," Hangeland said.

"Hopefully we can do the same again and we are looking to take three points because we're playing at the Cottage.

"There are signs that we will be even stronger over the second half of the season and we will be looking up the table now."

Fulham look set to again be without injured strike duo Bobby Zamora and Andrew Johnson against the Gunners, although winger Damien Duff could be in contention to start after returning to action with a 10-minute cameo at Carrow Road.

Portugal striker Orlando Sa netted an early goal as Fulham dominated the first half, before eventually sitting too deep cost them when Simeon Jackson headed in just seconds from the end of five minutes of stoppage time.

Midfielder Kerim Frei also tormented the Norwich defence for much of Saturday's game, the 18-year-old showing plenty of pace on the counter.

Jol has been impressed by the Austrian's contributions.

"Frei has got confidence and he is not like other young players - play well, play bad, play well - he is always the same," said the Fulham boss.

"That is great to watch and he has got real pace."Asked if that was good enough, Mancini replied: "No, not for a top team. In that situation, we attacked with eight players and the same players who attack need to come back and run quickly.

"I know football and for that reason in the last 15 minutes, I continued to call [central defenders] Vinny [Vincent Kompany] and [Joleon] Lescott to say, 'Stay there, stay there, don't leave the space', because that was dangerous.

"We continued to attack and sometimes we wanted to attack with 10 players. This is impossible.

"But that's it, it's finished. We have a game in 48 hours and we need to recover now."

Liverpool are next for City on Tuesday, when Mancini will expect a positive response from his players.

The omens were not promising for Sunderland today when boss Martin O'Neill was forced to do without goalkeeper Keiren Westwood, defenders Phil Bardsley and Titus Bramble and midfielder Kieran Richardson.

But O'Neill's side produced a performance of real grit to give themselves the opportunity to snatch a remarkable victory at the death.

Sunderland created arguably the game's best two chances before the dramatic finish, with Nicklas Bendtner with three minutes gone and Stephane Sessegnon 19 minutes after the break failing to make the most of them.

For City, Edin Dzeko was unable to take any of the opportunities which came his way, while it took a fine save from home goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, playing in a protective mask and for the first time since fracturing his nose and an eye-socket in October, to deny substitute Sergio Aguero from point-blank range.

Micah Richards, a 67th-minute replacement for Aleksandar Kolarov, hit the bar with a minute of normal time remaining, but it was Ji who finally snatched the win in the fourth minute of stoppage time when he rounded Joe Hart from Sessegnon's pass to spark wild celebrations at the Stadium of Light.

There was a suspicion of offside about the goal, although after seeing his side concede a controversial penalty on Boxing Day, O'Neill was delighted to have received the benefit of the doubt.

O'Neill said: "They tell me it was marginally offside - marginally, marginally - and we ended up winning the game.

"It's been an incredible weekend for teams and we are delighted with three points."

Mancini, who headed down the tunnel before the final whistle, admitted his side had been made to pay for missed chances.

He said: "It's frustrating because we can't lose a game like today's. In the second half, we had I don't know how many chances to score.

"But football is this. Sometimes you can't win. Sometimes you score three or four goals in a game, sometimes you can't score even if you have 10 chances to score.

"I am disappointed that we conceded a goal because a strong team cannot concede a goal like this."

O'Neill, who insisted he had no problem with Mancini's early departure from pitchside at the end of the match, was thrilled to have secured the points.

Asked if he was delighted, he said: "What do you think? Absolutely, yes. It was just a remarkable performance by the team.

"The roar for the goal was deafening, and I was delighted to hear the roar for the final whistle as well.Premier League stars are facing a tax probe into freebies including cars, flights and holidays, it has been claimed.

Reports say Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs investigators have interviewed financial officials at the country's top clubs in an attempt to find out the extent of their perks.

The Mail On Sunday says the crackdown will focus on how clubs allow for benefits given to their footballers. The teams' evidence will then be cross-checked against players' tax returns to see if anyone owes extra tax or National Insurance contributions.

It quoted a source as saying: "We are not talking about a few low-cost gifts. These people are multi-millionaires.

Agneepath

The 2012 version of the Bollywood movie Agneepath is actually a remake of the original 1990 Mukul Anand’s film, which starred Amitabh Bachan. Being remade by Karan Johar and having Hrithik Roshan playing in the lead role, the 2012 remake also stars Priyanka Chopra as the female lead, Rishi Kapoor as another villain and Zarina Wahab as Hrithik’s mother.

However, unlike the 1990 version, Agneepath 2012 packs a lot more hard core action, blood, gore, drama and deadly dialogues.

Following on the same story line as the original movie, producer Karan Johar has admitted to making a few changes to the plot. One of the more obvious ones is the fact that Hrithik Roshan will be an underdog rising up against a villain unlike Amitabh who was anything but. In fact, Hrithik’s character is younger, more driven and proactive, and at the end of the promo he comes across as ruthlessly cold and in control while speaking to Kancha Cheena the Villian played by Sanjay Dutt. Hrithik also plays the role in his own style, making it clear that he is not trying to ape Amitabh Bachchan from the original film.The movie will also see no groovy moves from the dance master. Why? Because according to the director, the movie has no place for Hrithik to show his awesome dancing skills. I know it sounds absurd, but Producer Karan Johar did elaborate saying, Hrithik Roshan would not do any dance routines in the movie because it was against his character, that of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan. Playing an intense role of a person that uses his silence as his strength to control his anger till the right time, it makes it absurd that the character would get up and suddenly start dancing.

Though he may be right, we know it’s going to be hard for Hrithik Roshan’s fans to not see him dancing. But overall, the movie is sure to capture and hold the attention of the viewer. With Sanjay Dutt’s shaven head and menacing smile which literally gives you Goosebumps, Hrithik Roshan’s action packed moves and intense performance as an angry man with so much of vengeance in his eyes and Kareena Kapoor’s Chikni Chameli as the icing on the cake, Agneepath’s promos have captured everyone and is going to keep them captivated till the movie release in January of 2012. In fact, with the promos alone, the film has created its own box office market space.When the item number Chikni Chameli was released, it did raise the expectation levels of the audiences however with the release of the second trailer today (the 24th of December 2011) the expectations form the file have been raised along with everyone’s curiosity. And Agneepath is now one of the much awaited movies for the first quarter of the New Year 2012 and we are sure the movie will be a superhitOne thing we noticed upon seeing the promos and posters was the overbearing figure of Sanjay Dutt as the villain Kancha that stands out in the posters. But Hrithik Roshan has absolutely no qualms about this, in fact, when asked if he feels overshadowed in the film due to Sanjay Dutt, he said “Look at his size…I think anyone, be it me or anyone else will get overshadowed. It is not possible that you will not get overshadowed by Sanjay’s presence…”

Nanban For The Universal

Nanban For The Universal
Searching to start the New Year in a best and meaningful way. Here comes Shankar’s Nanban that has lots and lots of entertainment with a strong message to the contemporary youngsters. ‘Don’t run behind success. Choose what your passion is for, Develop your skills and success will follow you’. Vijay’s message is immediately mocked by Jeeva saying ‘Enna Message Solriya’. It’s blatant that the film is gonna be enjoyable to the core.The censor board officials have watched the film and have become the most ardent fans of this movie. Yes, it’s a movie for all audiences and will prove to be a meditation session for them as one of the closer sources said after the screening.

The film has been passed with clean ‘U’ certificate with no cuts.

The 2012 Rose Parade

The 2012 Rose Parade
The 2012 Rose Parade, which takes place on Monday, January 2nd in accordance with the "Never On A Sunday" tradition, steps off at 8am PST.

Southern Californians who make the trek to watch the parade in person face traffic, limited parking and limited space along the 5.5 mile parade route -- but that won't stop the approximately 700,000 people who are expected to make it out there. The OC Register's infographic guide to the Rose Parade notes that parking "is a nightmare," but that savvy spectators would be wise to park on Pasadena streets starting at noon the day before the parade. The parade steps off on South Orange Grove Boulevard and Green Street and then marches east on Colorado Boulevard. The parade ends by turning north on Sierra Madre Boulevard and stopping at Villa Street. Check out a list of street closures related to the Rose Parade.

The rest of us can watch live coverage of the events on KTLA (which is also doing a live feed online), and East Coast viewers can catch it on local ABC and NBC stations from 11am to 1pm EST. National channels covering the parade include the Hallmark Channel, Home & Garden and Univision, according to the SF Examiner.

As for those who are interested in this year's unofficial float, Gigaom reports that Spencer Miller will be broadcasting Occupy The Rose Parade online. Details to be announced on Miller's twitter feed.

Leading the parade in its 123rd year is Grand Marshall J.R. Martinez, a military veteran turned inspirational speaker and actor (and the 2011 champion of Dancing With The Stars). In a press conference on Friday, Martinez expressed both gratitude and disbelief about his role in the upcoming parade. "It's really going to be amazing... I think that's really going to hit me in an emotional way," he said. "To think, here I am bringing in 2012 in such an unbelievable way."

Rose Queen Drew Washington also joins the parade, where she will appear with six rose princesses: Morgan Eliza Devaud, Stephanie Grace Hynes, Cynthia Megan Louie, Kimberly Victoria Ostiller, Hanan Bulto Worku and Sarah Nicole Zuno. Richard Jackson, president of the Tournament of Roses, praised this year's royal court, saying, "We are so honored to have them as a part of our Tournament of Roses family. These beautiful, smart and poised young ladies have been and will continue to be excellent ambassadors of the Tournament of Roses."

Stay tuned to the Huffington Post for more coverage of the 2012 Rose Parade.

Preparing For The Parade

In the slideshow below, volunteers work on the Everybody Walk float, a caterpillar with a walking stick and compass. Organizers at EverybodyWalks.org want parade-goers to know the health benefits of walking: the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other diseases are decreased, and years can be added to a life with a regular walking routine. 

The AP’s single close-up photo used by the LA Times shows a paltry seven “Occupiers.”  Contrast this to the many thousands of volunteers who have worked for months preparing floats and practicing with marching bands for the Rose Parade.

Let’s get this straight: The century old Rose Parade uses gazillions of living fresh natural flowers and all natural organic green materials to decorate floats built by thousands of volunteers, many of them children, and is paid for by voluntary private donations.  To protest this supposedly evil symbol of corporate greed, the Occupods have rigged up a 70 by 40 foot “octopus” puppet made of plastic bags and manipulated by just a handful of puppet masters.  Just think of George Soros with eight tentacles.

In short, the true Rose Parade volunteers hope to evoke happiness and joy among viewers, while the Occupy frauds hope to evoke class hatred and envy.

And what the LA Times conceals is the ugly irony of the Occupods’ plastic octopus.  As of January 1, 2012, the plastic bag – the environmentalists’s equivalent of a cigarette – is outlawed in Los Angeles County retail stores.  Yup, grocery stores (eeeevil corporations unfairly profiting from farmers’ efforts to feed the hungry) and pharmacies (eeeevil corporate drug pushers profiting from selling life-saving medicine) are now BANNED by government decree from giving away recyclable plastic bags to customers.

Even small mom and pop convenience stores, the 99% as it were, are banned from giving away plastic bags thanks to a fringe-influenced local government. Customers must now lug their own bags and boxes with them whenever they shop — welcome to 21st Century commerce forcefully bludgeoned with 18th Century inconvenience.

So really when it gets right down to it, the Occupy plastic bag octopus “float” more aptly represents the monstrous tentacles of government oppression of private enterprise and individual freedom. Happy Occupied New Year.

Guru Nanak Jayanti 

Cutting across the barriers of caste and creed, encompassing followers and non-followers, leaving behind an eternal message of peaceful co-existence of mankind as a whole, the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji are a logical path leading to salvation through love, compassion, mercy, benevolence, forgiveness, non-violence and renunciation of materialistic desires.Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s teachings are very relevant to the present situation when the atmosphere is marred by enmity, conflict and social tensions.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib, as a vast collection of revelatory verses recorded in Gurmukhi.

Through popular tradition, Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s teaching is understood to be practised in three ways:

- Vand Chhako: Sharing with others, helping those with less who are in need
- Kirat Karo: Earning/making a living honestly, without exploitation or fraud
- Naam Japna: Chanting the Holy Name and thus remembering God at all times (ceaseless devotion to God)

While celebrating the birthday of this outstanding apostle of peace and non-violence we should pledge to follow his ideals, principles and values.

Let this Prakash Utsav (festival of light) bring all happiness and prosperity in the life of each and every human being.

Herman Cain Beat Sexual

Herman Cain Beat Sexual

After wading through comments at the conservative websites Redstate, FreeRepublic, and Townhall for awhile, the conspiracy theories started to run together, although there seemed to be three main threads. About a third of the comments went right for the jugular and blamed all of this on President Obama and the “liberal” media. Another third of the comments seemed to take the position that one of the other candidates for the GOP presidential nomination had been in possession of this information for awhile, waiting for the right time to leak it to the press. And the remaining third of the comments were all over the place, with a few people going so far as to suggest that Mr. Cain’s camp had planted this story themselves to in order to draw support as the victim of a smear campaign.

The sparse amount of facts that are available and the length of time it has been since these alleged incidents took place may not be as much of an obstacle for Herman Cain to overcome as conventional wisdom might suggest. Although I don’t think Herman Cain is as good a snake charmer as Mike Huckabee was back in 2008, his years in talk radio land may have given him the skills to serve to keep his feet out of the fire. As a matter of fact, I can imagine that sometime between now and Monday afternoon, talk radio shock jocks like Neil Boortz here in Atlanta and Rush Limbaugh down in Florida will have devised some of their bombastic but logically inconsistent “Obama did it” narratives he can use to vociferously refute these stories.

What I can’t understand is the lack of preparation the Cain campaign had for what should have been seen as an eventuality. I have always thought that President Obama’s idea of confessing all of his youthful sins and personal moral failings in his memoir was brilliant, since it got out into the open the less savory facts about his life in a way that allowed one to accept the fact that these things had happened and move on to more current issues. And I’m sure Obama’s campaign people were well aware of Reverend Wright’s pulpit antics long before the general public. These are the kinds of things that someone who is seriously running for president makes plans to address when or if they come up during their campaign.

Given the inability of journalists, especially political journalists, to do much more than regurgitate campaign talking points and recite conventional political wisdom, it seems likely to me that someone with a vested interest in the outcome of the race for one of Cain’s rivals would be the most likely culprit in this caper.

Suppose for a minute, when all the smoke clears, that the story turns out to be true. Then what? If you are a Herman Cain supporter, do you immediately throw your candidate under the bus? A relatively small amount of money changed hands to make two unspecified allegations of sexual harassment go away 20 years ago. For a political party that prides itself on its embrace of the tenets of Christianity, you would expect the GOP’s rank and file to be more accepting of the fallibility of man and be more forgiving than the Democrats, who were able to accept the fact of Barack Obama’s past cocaine use and select him as their presidential nominee anyway. 

As much as I am opposed to most of the Republican Party’s agenda, and as many times as I have written in this very space that Herman Cain has absolutely no chance of being the Republican presidential nominee, I have to admit that I have thoroughly enjoyed watching Herman Cain confound the political pundits and the money men in his own party. Mr. Cain, if your candidacy succumbs because of this, all I can say is, at this blog, you will be missed.

Comedian Amy Schumer

Comedian Amy Schumer
Comedian Amy Schumer managed to jack the distasteful factor up a giant notch with a controversial joke about deceased Jackass star Ryan Dunn that went down like a lead balloon with his best friend Steve-O, but despite the backlash, the little-known comic exclusively told RadarOnline.com that she has no regrets.

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"If anyone feels offended then they are justified but I don’t think it was out of line. It was not my intention to offend but I stand by my joke," Schumer said. "It’s a roast and we’re going for the jugular. It was a joke about Steve-O and not about Ryan," she went on to explain. "I hope people understand that."

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, after sending condolences to Steve-O, roaster Schumer said: "When Ryan Dunn died Steve-O probably was thinking it could've been him ... with the rest of the world wondering, ‘Why wasn't it?’”

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While many audience members laughed, a visibly upset and stony-faced Steve-O kept a blank expression after the joke was told.

Dunn, 34, died in June, along with a passenger Zachary Hartwell, 30, after a fiery crash in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Authorities later declared Dunn had a blood alcohol level of 0.196 percent, more than twice the Pennsylvania legal limit of 0.08.

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Despite the sensitive subject, Schumer doesn't think her joke was "too much, too soon," or even the worst of the night.

"There were Amy Winehouse jokes, there were Greg Giraldo jokes that were painful for everybody because we all loved him," explained the comic, referring to the singer and fellow stand-up comedian who both died during the past year.

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Instead, Schumer believes that the attention has been focused on her because of Steve-O's cold response.

"I wonder what the reaction would be like if they hadn’t panned right to him and he’d looked so stony faced," she asked. "If he had giggled it would all be forgotten by now.

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"I’d made a joke about his stand-up career before and I think that might have already annoyed him."

The comedian, who has appeared on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Last Comic Standing, said she has not spoken to the Jaskass star since the incident because he went directly to hospital after the show with a broken nose "from running into Mike Tyson's fist.”

PHOTO: Charlie Leaving His Attorney's Office

"I think that we would have had a laugh about it over a beer," she said, adding that she has no intention of reaching out to him after the fact.

The joke rocked Schumer from obscurity to infamy in 24 hours but the New York native didn't intend to cause such a stir.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween
So instead, we’re having our own little Halloween celebration at Chez Blair. We’re pretty darn happy about it! Here’s what’s on the schedule:

- Carving jack-o-lanterns. Sometimes, I dread the mess and crave a refined, non-carved pumpkin like this and this. But today, I’m going to embrace the guts!

- A costume challenge: Each child will receive 2 large pieces of heavy paper and they need to create a costume out of it. They can use supplies we have in the art room, and grown-up assistance if needed. They are soooo excited for this.Baking our favorite old-fashioned pumpkin cookies.

- Watching Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin.

- Making a cozy dinner of Award Winning Chili, cornbread and apple cider. (Wish us luck finding the right ingredients!)

- If time allows, a bonus activity involving an installation of tea-lights.

Have a Happy Halloween! I hope yours is filled with school parades, fantastic costumes, trick-or-treating, and secretly raiding the candy bowl. Please eat an extra peanut-butter cup for me!

kisses,
Gabrielle

P.S. — We arrived home from Barcelona last night. I can’t wait to report on our adventures later this week.

Niira Radia Shuts Down Public Relation

Niira Radia Shuts Down Public Relation
Vaishnavi has the public relations mandate for the entire Tata Group, while Neucom Consulting managed the account of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries.

Radia, had been embroiled in the 2G controversy, after some tapes were leaked in which she was found lobbying for Raja and her close camaraderie with some important personalities in journalism, business and the government came out in the open.

Although there was no charge against her relating to the 2G scam, she was named as a witness by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

In a statement on the closure of her two PR outfits Radia said: "To give precedence to my personal priorities of family and health, I have decided against renewing any client mandates and to exit the business of communications consultancy."

Reacting to Radia's statement, the Tata Group said it had appointed Rediffusion, led by Arun Nanda, to manage its public relations and public affairs from November 1, 2011.

The websites of Vaishnavi and Neucom Consulting were also taken down.

An employee of Vaishnavi Communications said she had no idea of the closure. Some others said that a few senior executives of the two PR agencies could get inducted into the Tata Group and Reliance Industries.

Indira Gandhi Death Anniversary Today

Indira Gandhi Death Anniversary Today
Rajiv Gandhi‘s birth and death anniversaries, and the death anniversary of his grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru earlier this year, Union ministries and Congress-led State governments and departments have once again splurged heavily to mark Indira Gandhi‘s death anniversary today.

In the 12 newspapers surveyed, there are 64 advertisements of various sizes, amounting to approximately 31½ published pages to mark the assassination of the former prime minister on this day, 27 years ago.

In contrast, Vallabhbhai Patel, the late Union home minister, whose birth anniverary too falls on October 31, gets 9 advertisements in the same 12 newspapers, amounting to 3 published pages. While there are multiple advertisements for Indira Gandhi, no paper has more than one ad for Patel.

The breakup of the Indira Gandhi ads are as under:

    Hindustan Times: 22-page main issue; 9 Indira Gandhi ads amounting to 4¼ broadsheet pages

    The Times of India: 30-page issue; 13 ads amounting to 6¼ broadsheet pages

    Indian Express: 22-page issue; 9 ads amounting to 4 broadsheet pages

    Mail Today (compact): 36-page issue; 3 ads amounting to 2¾ compact pages

    The Hindu: 24-page issue; 8 ads amounting to 4 broadsheet pages

    The Pioneer: 16-page issue; 7 ads amounting to 3¼ broadsheet pages

    The Statesman: 16-page issue; 4 ads amounting to 2 broadsheet pages

    The Telegraph: 22-page issue; 5 ads amounting to 2½ broadsheet pages

    ***

    The Economic Times: 26-page issue; 3 ads amounting to 1½ pages

    Business Standard: 14-page issue; 2 ads amouning to 1 page

    Financial Express: 20-page issue; 1 ad amounting to half a page

    Mint (Berliner): 24-page issue; 0 ads

This computation is only for 12 English newspapers; many other English papers have been left, as indeed has the entire language media which are more numerous than the English ones, several times over.

Among the 13 advertisers wishing the dear departed leader happy birthday this year are the ministries of information and broadcasting, commer and industry, steel, women and child development, health and family welfare, human resources development, development of north east region, and social justice and empowerment.

The state governments advertising their love are those of Rajasthan, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. Besides, most newspapers carry an advertisement inserted by the Congress party.

All told, so far, this year, tax payers money have been spent in buying 265 advertisements amounting to 132 published pages in the 12 newspapers.

Last year, on the 19th death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, the historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in an edit-page article in The Telegraph, Calcutta:

    “A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that on May 21, 2010, perhaps Rs 60 or 70 crore were spent by the taxpayer — without his and her consent — on praising Rajiv Gandhi. Since the practice has been in place since 2005, the aggregate expenditure to date on this account is probably in excess of Rs 300 crore.”

Shakti Kapoor

Shakti Kapoor
Kapoor got evicted from the ‘Bigg Boss’ house on Saturday night. Kapoor made an entry into the ‘Bigg Boss 5′ with twelve ladies.

It was a tough contest between Pooja Bedi, Mahek,Shradha Sharma and Shakti. After being humiliated by most housemates in the last few days of his stay in the Bigg Boss House, ‘Aaoo’ man Shakti Kapoor, faced defeat this week, as he lost out in votes to lesser known names like Mahek Chahal, Pooja Bedi and Shradha Sharma.

Shakti Kapoor is the fourth contestant to get evicted, after singer-actress Raageshwari, Rajasthani dancer Gulabo, and Nihita Biswas, wife of serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

Initially, he was the only male contestant to live in the Bigg Boss house with all other female contestants. However, later, other male contestants, including television actors Amar Upadhyay, Akashdeep Saigal and VJ Siddharth Bhardwaj joined the reality show.

The Bollywood villain was not only seen playing politics with the housemates, but also received flak when he slapped Miss Afghanistan Vida Samadzai’s butt on the show. Vida, who had become his good friend in the initial days, deserted him as she felt he was indulging in bitching and back-biting.

Shakti’s many other ways with the ladies on the show were abhorred, and now the actor is left with a more tarnished image than ever before.

Bigg Boss specialist Dale Bhagwagar remarked, “What hit Shaktiji worst on the show was his long-time friend Pooja Bedi, repeatedly pointing out that he was not behaving like a gentleman, a good father, husband and family man. I guess that negative branding hurt him the most.”

“I am feeling giddy coming into the real world. But I am feeling great, happy and content, I am not disappointed at all, my ego is not hurt,” said Shakti after getting evicted from the show.

Harbhajan Singh To Take Part In F1 Race

Harbhajan Singh To Take Part In F1 Race
Harbhajan Singh will be the first Formula One driver in the world to drive a Hummer SUV. Bhajji, as Harbhajan is fondly called, has reportedly been granted permission to take part in the race.

“We have allowed Harbhajan to drive his Hummer on F1 track to attract crowds,” one of the organizers of The Grand Prix of India informed, “We already had two IPL owners – Sahara India and Vijay Mallya – owning an F1 team, but we needed some star power. Harbhajan brings that to table.”
Harbhajan Singh with his Hummer SUV

He will go a long way in that Hummer

Sources suggest that Indian Grand Prix organizers were wary of losing money if the F1 race failed to attract the attention of the average Indian sports fan. Earlier the organizers had planned music concerts by Metallica and Lady Gaga before and after the race respectively, however they felt the need to do something similar during the race.

“Cricketers are back in demand after 5-0 whitewash of England,” a source explained why F1 organizers decided to let Bhajji drive his Hummer.

“Harbhajan was the cheapest option after we failed to convince Ravindra Jadeja,” the source added.

As per the planned events, Harbhajan will take part in the practice and the qualifying races, and will be allowed to take part in the final race if he performs well in the earlier rounds. While experts believe that Harbhajan will fail to qualify for the final race as his Hummer can’t match the pace of Formula One cars, Bhajji is confident to win the race.

“It’s not pace but spin that matters in Indian conditions,” Harbhajan said.

F1 organizers have refused to comment on the Indian conditions, but they are hoping that Bhajji would be able to attract crowds and garner revenues for the event. Sources inform that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has already warned the organizers that she will not tolerate any loss from the event.

“After Bhatta Parsaul incident, Mayawati is in no mood to suffer any loss over F1,” a source told Faking News, “Initially she had ordered the organizers to install ‘toll booths’ after each kilometer on the F1 track, and recover the cost from the drivers, as is usually done in UP to recover costs.”

Deeply concerned over the possibility of reputed drivers like Sebastian Vettel being beaten up to recover chanda or contributions to recover the costs, F1 organizers are believed to have come up with the idea of involving a cricketer to raise money.

Bike Games

Bike Games
Thoroughbred horse racing is fairly similar to hurdle horse racing or even steeplechasing, since it can be done more than leaps or even on the particular toned. It is actually hugely appreciated in Europe since well as elements of European countries.

One of the most popular of every one of the games are dirt bike games. In the particular dirt bike sport you have to journey dirt bike through various areas, you should carry out hazardous tricks and pressing to acquire the race.

Numerous dirt bike versions have the choice to drive on-line towards one another concurrently, it is very interesting and stressed whenever you are racing in opposition to other players in real time. Many these types of on-line multi-player games require you to spend monthly or even single fee. Thankfully there are many sites that don’t provide the choice of playing multi-player, instead they offer off-line single setting playing. There’s several basic sites with dirt bike games, on many of them is an option exactly where you may key in your own leader-board fairly title and become known in the dirt bike globe.

On the Internet you will see numerous avenues where you can begin to play bike games. Several websites tend to be great, some provide a leader-board, on several you can easily ask your friends to have fun with you. Remember to have fun and appreciate actively playing games. For the right dirt motor bike player, you don’t need something other than your fingertips, dexterity of your hands, reactions and a excellent eye. You do not need headgear, joint protectors and this really is one huge advantage regarding motor bike game on the Internet and the actual real drive on real observe, which usually maintain numerous risks for your life. When you perform dirt bike games you won’t improve your reactions, but in addition produce your mind, so pick a totally proper decisions in the overall game. You may compare the abilities with others if the web web page exactly where you play is providing a leader-board. You may also decide if you are the best dirt bike player in the world or you nonetheless need to educate.

When you require more training you can easily get in touch, I’m able to provide you some tips to increase your journey in dirt bike sport or perhaps how to perform some acrobatics. The best stop will be a a super hero, but there are so many types of stunts which it is nearly difficult to discover them.

Student Loan Forgiveness Addressed By White 

Back in September, the White House launched an online petition platform that they said would “give all Americans a way to create and sign petitions on a range of issues affecting our nation.”

The platform, called We The People, is open to anyone 13 or older. Once you create a petition and submit it to the site, it’s your job to build momentum for your idea using social media and old-fashioned word of mouth. If a petition reaches 150 signatures in 30 days, it because logged and searchable within the database. If the petition reaches 25,000 signatures, it gets an official response from the White House.

The original threshold for a response was 5,000 signatures in 30 days, but it appears that the White House wasn’t going to be able to respond to all of the petitions that got that many signatures, so the limit was raised.

The first petition to merit a response from the White House has just gotten its response. The petition for the Obama administration to “Forgive Student Loan Debt to Stimulate the Economy and Usher in a New Era of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Prosperity” currently has over 32K signatures on the We The People site.

    Forgiving student loan debt would provide an immediate jolt to the economy by putting hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of extra dollars into the hands of people who WILL spend it – not just once, but each and every month thereafter – freeing them up to invest, buy homes, start businesses and families.

That’s what the petition’s creator, Robert A of Staten Island says about his proposal.

The White House’s special assistant to the President for Education Policy has responded, saying -

    We agree that reducing the burden of student loans is an effective way to stimulate the economy and save taxpayer dollars. That’s why we’re excited to announce a new policy that speaks to the concerns expressed in this petition.

The response goes on to explain the situation of student debt in the country and then links to the official press release concerning Obama’s new plan to lower student debt payments. Here’s the crux of the plan –

    The Administration is moving forward with a new “Pay As You Earn” proposal that will reduce monthly payments for more than one and a half million current college students and borrowers. Starting in 2014, borrowers will be able to reduce their monthly student loan payments to 10 percent of their discretionary income. But President Obama realizes that many students need relief sooner than that. The new “Pay As You Earn” proposal will allow about 1.6 million students the ability to cap their loan payments at 10 percent starting next year, and the plan will forgive the balance of their debt after 20 years of payments. Additionally, starting this January an estimated 6 million students and recent college graduates will be able to consolidate their loans and reduce their interest rates.

Rajat Gupta Former Director

Rajat Gupta Former Director
That executive who was once the face of the McKinsey brand - Rajat Gupta - has been indicted for conspiracy and securities fraud and sued by the SEC, reports BLOOMBERG LAW.  However, we in communications have become so accustomed to these Wall Street legal scandals that we speed past the guilt or innocence to the possibility of restoring the brand.  Can Brand Gupta have a comeback?

Those I have informally interviewed say that there is strong support from business people in India.  They honor what this man, who didn't come from privilege, accomplished as an immigrant to the U.S. India would likely welcome him back to be mover and shaker in business.

The jury is still out among those not associated with India.  Much depends on how the trial goes.  Gupta is maintaining his innocence so a plea bargain is unlikely.  Since the wiretaps at the trial of Galleon head Raj Rajaratnam disclosed Gupta's breathlessly recounting what is perceived as material information on the phone, U.S. business leaders have been distancing themselves.  But that might not matter to Gupta.  His value system might favor the opinion of those in his native land.  An enigma, he is mostly unreadable as to what he does deem as important which doesn't relate to wealth.

New Year Sms

New Year Sms
 March 29, the National Audit Office published its first audit of this notice to announce the 2004 central budget implementation and other financial revenue and expenditure audit results to identify the problems corrected. This is our first report on the audit rectification notice. China-related media and even lists the results of the audit findings and corrective comparison chart to reflect the audit after the rectification of the relevant departments.
In the eyes of the general population, audit plays a role in the economic police, both the Government and the public wants to have the appropriate body to undertake the functions of economic crimes against the forerunner of the task. But in essence, the functions of the audit is not the case. More of its responsibilities is to review and liquidation government agencies, state-owned enterprises and institutions with state-owned nature of the economic and financial situation,monclersoutlet.biz:monclersoutlet.biz]outlet moncler, and then review the information back to them the relevant government departments, relevant departments to make rectification by the corrective plan, instruct the accuracy of the relevant person in charge of implementation of this plan.
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However, Power to review and legislation, law enforcement powers of the separation of three powers led directly held by different departments; and between different departments, large or small conflict of interest; these conflicts of interest after the correction will affect the efficiency of the audit. If you can not observe the audit to correct the problem, the initial implementation of the audit of efficiency will inevitably compromised.
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Why Audit of colleges and universities issue local bonds in 2003 Richard clearly, but is vague about governance Shique, passing it? Apart from the government agencies outside the executive order execution speed, medical institutions and universities between the government and the market itself is a gray area between probably to blame.
Results of the audit's role in the final correction channels are mainly two: First, the relevant government departments of executive orders; the second is the pressure of public opinion. The former effect comes more quickly, but its real effectiveness is unknown; the latter effect comes more slowly, and may even appear more controversial, but as long as adhering to the serious, the attitude of reasoning, and ultimately the efficiency of the should be the highest.
Universities and medical institutions in the current fiscal implement Fact, each part of the financial and market. After the correction to the commencement of the audit inefficiency is the main reason for the audit should not be part of the market and government separate, causing pathways by executive order from the market by the correction part of the work force to resist. The short-term pressure of public opinion with little success.
Given this situation, may wish to set up separate administrative and market dual audit system --- and let the market go the market, the Government of the Government. Of course, this also requires first of all the functions of government and market institutions can be in the clear distinction, such as the medical industry, the state universal basic health care, while high-end medical services done by the market. This two audit functions can be done by different audit institutions, and its efficiency will also be able to get the appropriate protection.Christmas to think of nothing to give you and do not intend to give you too much, just to give you fifty million: Never Happy! Sure to health! Be sure to peace! Be sure to contentment! Do not forget me!
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Happy Diwali To You And Your Families

Happy Diwali To You And Your Families
people do it inside out (white washing etc etc) and following the same trend, startups too need to clean up their house.They end up becoming a P2 feature – and eventually the list of P2s pile up and is generally lost in the entire (product) development cycle.

Bring back the list and ask yourself – which ones were really important? There are a certain P3/P4 requirements (like change the logo in company’s Facebook page, messaging changes etc.) which are generally lost in the ‘big scheme of things’.

Can one of those P3/P4 features make the product look more appealing? If yes, then do it.There are features that exist in your product which nobody knows of! Can you get rid of that junk?

Fire up your Google Analytics, track pages and cleanup the mess. The baggage of junk features, sometimes gets in the way of scaling and use Diwali as an excuse to cut the flab.There are few sections which were full of ‘junk’ and we have decided to cull them off. We are also coming up with improved UX in the coming days – so stay Pluggd.in!

And meanwhile, Pluggd.in team wishes Happy Diwali to all! Enjoy the firecrackers! Have a good time with your family.A few images of earthen pots used indoors and outdoorsall gorgeously preparing for Diwali.

Review Of Ra One Movies

Review Of Ra One Movies
What’s at stake, beside the big money invested in RA.ONE of course, is a dream, a vision, an aspiration to make a film which appeals to kids and kids at heart. In short, attempt a film that appeals to the universal audience. At the same time, it ought to raise the bar for Hindi films. Also at stake is SRK’s once-unchallenged supremacy as the reigning idol of Bollywood and that elusive thing called reputation. When you invest your repute in your dream project and stick your neck out, you expect nothing short of a mega-success.

Write your own movie review of Ra.One Movies like KRRISH and ROBOT initiated the trend of superhero films in India, with fantasy making deep inroads into mainstream Hindi cinema. Now RA.ONE raises the bar, takes not a step or two, but a giant leap and adheres to international standards, in terms of execution. But the soul, I wish to add, is very desi. That’s precisely the reason why RA.ONE emerges trumps. RA.ONE is beauty [read good looking film] with brains [read content].

What characterizes a stunning superhero movie? I have narrowed it down to three precise constituents that I deem are absolutely necessary for an alluring superhero flick. The first is that the motion picture must encompass spectacular action and edge-of-the-seat thrills. Secondly, a magnificent superhero movie must also boast of luminous performances from the protagonists, which in turn should make these characters appear credible and relatable. Thirdly and most importantly, superhero films must have a narrative that keeps us yearning for more. All of these are indispensable factors in making a superhero movie that will be both acclaimed and adored by fans. Fortunately, RA.ONE emerges triumphant in all the three departments.

RA.ONE is the most ambitious, most expensive and the most technologically complex Hindi film ever made. It pushes the envelope further. It’s not merely a film, but an experience, an event. It’s a film that will rewrite the textbook of computer graphics in Hindi cinema. At the same time, it is very Indian at heart. The relationship between SRK and the kid is the highpoint of the enterprise. But, at the same time, there are ample clap-trap moments that will send the viewers in frenzy. The chase sequence, when Ra.One finally zeroes on Lucifer, and the subsequent ‘entry’ of the superhero is awe-inspiring. The train sequence in the second hour is exceptional and a cinematic feat. The presence of Rajnikanth in a crucial sequence will be greeted with deafening claps and whistles. And, of course, the climax of the film; it’s simply jaw-dropping.

Besides these factors, the ‘Chammak Chhallo’ number is already a rage and so are the sequences involving visual effects. In a nutshell, it’s an entertainer that works big time. You haven’t experienced something like this ever before, on the Hindi screen!

A father tries hard to fit into his son’s world. While Shekhar [Shah Rukh Khan] tries every trick in the book to woo his son, his son had given up on him. Just when the father-son duo hit a deadlock, Shekhar strikes gold when he designs one hell of a game. Finally, it all starts falling in place. But the happiness is short-lived. All hell breaks loose when the game that was meant to be played with, starts playing them.

We are spoilt by cinema’s ability to create on celluloid anything that can be imagined, therefore we have raconteurs making endeavors to bestow us with movies that you wouldn’t have ever envisioned even in your mind’s eye. You realize this as you watch RA.ONE, which is a visual spectacle from start to end.

Director Anubhav Sinha along with co-writers David Benullo, Kanika Dhillon and Mushtaq Shiekh may be inspired by international flicks as far as the concept is concerned, but they ensure that they serve the right masala to moviegoers in those 2.30 hours. What actually takes you by complete surprise is not just the money spent on visual effects or the stunning chase and action scenes, but the twists and turns in the screenplay that unravel at a feverish pace.

Besides, the moviegoers have certain expectations and notions about superhero flicks and they expect such characters to perform audacious aerobatics to save someone’s life or a nation. But this one’s different. Visually arresting and dramatically just what the doctor ordered, the film boasts of relatable characters, which makes this superhero movie for kids as well as grown-ups. In fact, I’d like to add, RA.ONE is not only skillfully directed, but also visually dynamic and entertains from commencement to conclusion.

The album of the film lives up to the grand expectations. Vishal-Shekhar deliver a striking score with ‘Chammak Chhallo’, ‘Dildaara’ and ‘Raftarein’ being the pick of the lot. The background score, also recorded by them, is equally electrifying. V. Manikandan and Nicola Pecorini’s cinematography is top notch. Same goes for the stunts and chases [Andy Gill and Spiro Razatos]. Dialogue [Kanika Dhillon and Niranjan Iyengar] are hardly ever commonplace. What I found most interesting is that, whether humorous or thoughtful, the channel of communication appears very credible. The Ra.One and G.One suits, designed by Robert Kurtzman, are super.

RA.ONE is a perfect vehicle that does justice to the talent of Shah Rukh Khan. He seems to have found a story and character that work in perfect sync and tandem with manic energy. SRK steers this physically challenging lead role with high-spirited self-belief. He’s endearing as the father and magnificent as the superhero with a heart. Kareena Kapoor is a delight to watch. She effortlessly glides into the character. Besides, she looks ethereal in the ‘Chammak Chhallo’ song and her wit is infectious. Arjun Rampal pulls his act with effortlessness and style. Also, Arjun’s well-designed look is admirable.

I’d like to make a special mention of Armaan Verma, the kid who has a pivotal part to portray. He stands shoulder to shoulder with SRK and Kareena all through the film and delivers a super-confident performance. The film has a number of actors in key roles [Shahana Goswami, Dalip Tahil, Satish Shah, Suresh Menon, Mushtaq Shiekh and Tom Wu] and each of them fit well in their respective parts. Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra add to the glam quotient, while Rajnikanth proves yet again that he’s a scene stealer.

But the man who warrants the actual round of applause is director Anubhav Sinha himself. For bringing out the best of SRK, Kareena and Arjun. For the amazing screenplay. For the speedy yet smooth stream of the narrative. And for the fantastic unfolding of the written material. He merits top admiration for every act of his.

On the whole, RA.ONE is a solid entertainer, no two opinions on that. It’s not merely a great looking film, but also has soul, which is so essential to strike a chord with the avid moviegoer. As for the business prospects, RA.ONE is sure to shatter all previous records and set new ones, in India as well as internationally. 

 

Sweets And Savory Dishes

Sweets And Savory Dishes

Ghost Trailer Shiney Ahuja Sayali

Ghost Trailer Shiney Ahuja  Sayali
Well, hardly has Shiney Ahuja come out of his long battle against sexual harassment charges that once again he has been trapped under the same allegations, this time by his co-star Sayali Bhagat with whom he is working in a horror film, ‘Ghost’.

Here is the whole story in the words of Sayali herself, “My life has been a living hell ever since a leading film magazine (Stardust) came out with the story that Shiney misbehaved with me on the sets of our upcoming film Ghost. I was under tremendous pressure to deny all the claims and allegations I made in my interview, so I gave into the pressure.”

“Though the fact remains that Shiney did not pinch my butt, he did make plenty of passes at me during the shooting of our film. It all began by him throwing subtle hints that he was not getting “warm vibes” from me on the sets, and that in order for the chemistry to show on screen, it was imperative that he and I warmed up to each other. During an intimate scene, he took me to the makeup room and made me hold his hands and look into his eyes and feel the “warmth”. I chose to ignore,” she says.

“During a scene wherein I teach him how to chop vegetables, he asked me to feel up his arms at least ten times, so much so that even the light-man threw the lights and left the sets out of disgust. Then while our shots were getting ready, Shiney would often whisper into my ears that he can’t resist me suggesting that we should hook up. All this continued even after the shooting of Ghost was over and done with as I would receive text messages and calls from Shiney at odd hours,” says the actress.

Sayali also has complains against Shiney’s wife and says, “Ever since the Stardust story has hit stands, Shiney’s wife Anupam has also been spamming me with messages that I shouldn’t have said such defamatory things about her husband. I am the last person to speak out strongly against anyone, but I am at the end of my tether. I will not take this kind of harassment lying down and I want Shiney and Anupam to leave me alone.”

Sayali Bhagat’s spokesperson says that she will be filing a police complaint against Shiney Ahuja and his wife Anupam at Malad Police Station shortly. If this happens, this will be a major blow to Shiney Ahuja’s already marred reputation!!