Russia Plans To Save The World!

I guess Hollywood Sci-Fi films like Armageddon and Deep Impact are not so far fetched as they may seem. According to the space chief of Russia Anatoly Perminov, they are planing on diverting a asteroid from a collision course to Earth. In 2004, NASA scientists shared with us that an asteroid will be coming close to Earth in 2029, but that there is nothing to worry about since it was believed to be a 1 in 37 chance of colliding; later it was said to be 1 in 45,000 and eventually 4 to a million chance. The asteroid known as 'Apophis,' is the length of two and a half soccer/football fields. The Russian government have no discussed in detail how they will deflect the asteroid, but claimed that they would not use nukes and it will all be based on the laws of physics.

While researching, I came across this post on Craigslist:

AS the Russians are preparing to divert an Astroid further from Earth. The Build a Bear group controlled by the Zionists have got a dastardly plan in store to depopulate 3rd world counties and obliterate the enemies of Israel and end US debt caused by Imperialism . The Zionist countrolled media is going to tell us the Russian mission failed by making the astroid break into 7 smaller but very large and lethal pieces and heading directly toward earth.Just before the shit hits the fan .Faux news Chief meteorologist Amy Freeze will announce there's a 99.9% chance of rain in Syria, Iran , Afghanistan , Yemen , Pakistan, North Korea , and China and that the pieces are very radioactive.

The guy could not even spell! Interesting concept, maybe a little far fetched though.

I guess the so-called "Reds" our former enemies are not so bad after all. Unless they have their own evil scheme. However, in my opinion the Russians are not as bad as history has portrayed them to be. I hope that they come up with a plan along side other nation-states including the U.S. to help divert this asteroid. I think the Russians are much more technologically advance, their most famous nuclear Hydrogen bomb Tsar-Bomba is a good example. Who's to say that just like Armageddon, meteors coming off the asteroid do hit Earth and each are the size of a house? That would cause issues too.

What do you think of the Russians move to "save the world"?

[Images via ScrapeTV]

Barack Calls Radio Station

I know this is a few days old, but I could not help but post this up. President Obama aka "Barry from D.C." called up WTOP Radio, when Governor Kaine of Virginia was being interviewed on. Kaine will be leaving office in January to be replaced by Republican Bob McDonnell after a landslide victory. Obama called the station to wish Kaine the best; the election gives light that the people of Virginia are not agreeing with the democratic policies and would rather shift right. Watch the video above.

President Obama likes to be up-to-date in a variety of ways. But was calling a radio station a good idea? I think it paints him more as a human, though it might annoy others. As long as it was a short conversation it is okay I believe.

What do you think of Obama's radio prank?

Pakistan Is On The Verge Of A Coup

Protesting Against Zardari

Since Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination two years ago, there has been constant civil unrest in the nation of Pakistan. Several sources are reporting that a military coup d'etat is occurring as we speak, yet without the use of force. Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar was not allowed to leave Islamabad, due to a Supreme Court order that decided to change the process on an amnesty; which is said to protect politicians from charges of corruption. The amnesty was passed by former President Pervez Musharraf in 2007 with Western backing, and as a deal to return Bhutto from exile.

The reopening of the case effects over 280 ministers and officials of the government whom are on watchful eye by the Court, including current President Asif Zardari. The Supreme Court houses over 17 judges and believes that accepting amnesty "seems to be against the national interest" and "violates various provisions of the Constitution." This anti-corruption campaign seems to be the new form of coup in the nation-state. The President's cabinet members have been asked to resign as soon as possible as well as Zardari himself. Since becoming president, Zardari has had a low popularity rate and has had trouble mending relations with Washington.

According to some, those trying to replace Zardari are of the Jihadist movement and supporters of Al-Qaeda. If this is true, Obama has a new obstacle awaiting him and more trouble in that region. I guess we will have to see what happens in Pakistan, and if the issues grow grave what action the United States will take against Pakistan. It seems like this time of year is when Pakistan likes to cause problems for itself and the rest of the world. This will definitely have an effect on American troops in Afghanistan, I would hate to see us invade Pakistan, as I am a pacifist. On the other hand, I have a feeling Osama might be over there.

What do you think of Pakistan's situation?

[Images via Irish Times]

Swine Flu Vaccine Recalled - What's Next?

Adult Receiving Vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recalled over 800,000 does of the H1N1 Flu vaccine, better known as Swine Flu. According to the company that manufactures the vaccines, Sanofi Pasteur says that it "may not be effective enough to protect against the virus." The doses were to aimed for children six months to three years of age. Unfortunately, most of the vaccines have been sent all over the country and have already been used. Health officials have said that those who have received the vaccine will not need to be re-vaccinated probably.

On the CDC's website it states that:

While no drugs, including vaccines, are 100% effective or safe there have only been a few vaccine recalls or withdrawals, most of which were due to concerns regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine and not because of safety. When the strength of a vaccine lot has been reduced, those vaccines may not produce an immune response that is strong enough to protect against disease. Even though vaccine lots may not be effective, they are still safe. Vaccines are carefully tested and continuously monitored before and after they are licensed for use. If a vaccine lot were found to be unsafe, the FDA would immediately recall it from the market.

Interesting enough, the best example of a vaccine that caused serious health issues was the Polio vaccine in 1995, also known as the 'Cutter Incident' (Named after the laboratory that manufactured them). The US Public Health Service (PHS) recalled the vaccine, as a number of people got polio from it not long after, which could have caused death to many, since the poliovirus was still active. It was later established in the 1960s that it caused further problems such as paralysis. There is also a lot of talk that it was contaminated with the HIV Virus; numerous documentaries have been made about it.

What's the next thing they are going to recall it for? Defects? I honestly did not get a H1N1 vaccine because I really did not trust it; I have felt the same way about the cervical cancer vaccine as well. The reason is because it is a new vaccine, who knows what effects it will have on our bodies 10-15 years on - perhaps even sooner! You never know what these vaccines can do, until more research is done later on. I do not trust what the CDC says necessary, as these vaccines have been made recently to combat the Flu. You never know when a Cutter Incident can occur again.

Are you worried about the H1N1 vaccine?

[IImages via Telegraph]

The Latest In Scams: Texting

Example of Texting Scam

It's that time of year again when everyone likes to spend, spend, spend! It is also that time of year that people become the most vulnerable when it comes to fraud. The latest in fraud this holiday season is texting scams. Though they have been around for some time, they are becoming much more common as time inches closer to Christmas. This is when you receive an informative text message from a random number or 4 digit one telling you that there is something wrong with your account or that it has been suspended (PayPal, American Express, et cetra). It tells you to call a number, then the automated service asks for your debit card number, pin, expiration date, and eventually tells you that it has been reactivated. Many times people end up calling the companies themselves, and end up in confusion as the companies have no idea what the costumers are talking about. If you receive this text message, do not respond and do not call the number. If you somewhat feel that it is not an error, call the official company it is in regards to.

It is not clear where these texts are coming from; often the origins are Canadian or Nigerian, sometimes from South of the border. As technology progresses, it will be expected that so will frauds. My best advice to everyone is to be careful what they fill out, whether on paper or on the internet. That information is all they need to get a hold of you and your money. I suggest people share this blog post on networking sites that they are a part of, as well as with friends, family, and associates. Happy holidays everyone!

What do you think of the new scam?

[Image via Nesting Buddy]

RydazNRtist + The Stop Hating Campaign

Gabe Getting Ready To Start A New Beat

I met up with Gabe Cannon (Nick Cannon's half-brother) at Ncredible Studios, to talk about the Stop Hating Campaign, Nick's new group RydazNrtist, and of course asked some personal questions, including some personal things about his new sister-in-law Mariah Carey! Listen to the interview, below.

The Stop Hating Campaign

The Stop Hating Campaign

The idea of hate has been in civilization since its beginning. Hate brings about the prejedices and discrimnations that we have seen brought on wars, genocides, and spuradic killings throughout our history. The world needs a change of direction, a new idea to help spread the message to stop the hating. This message actually exists and is called the Stop Hating Campaign put together by Nick Cannon and Quincy Jones. It is our contemporary "We Are The World" to help bring change and attention to the campaign to end the hate.

According to Gabe, the Stop Hating Campaign originally had the idea to have a theme song, with singers like TI (Whom is now in prison), Ludacris, the PussyCat Dolls and so forth. Kind of like 'We Are The World' sung by a number of celebrities in 1985 to bring humanitarian aid to Africa. Since his marriage to Mariah Carey, Nick passed on the Campaign to his brother, whom has been taking care of it ever since. The Campaign's ideology is based off a Martin Luther King Jr. quote, "Somebody, Somewhere must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of Hate in the universe." Now that that change exists, all we need is more attention brought to it. The goal of the campaign according to its website is to:

"Have as many individuals join the Stop Hating Campaign and work together to bring about change, and Stop Hating. We hope to have a Stop Hating Organization at every school, that will be active in the community educating the people and spreading the message of the Stop Hating Campaign. Our goal is to Stop Hating ourselves and others, and bring an end to the senseless cycle of hate that has been seen repeated throughout history." - I could not have said it better myself!

When I asked Gabe about Obama and his message of change, he claimed with enthusiasim that "Obama had influence" and that he brought "attention to what we are doing." He went on the explain that "(Obama) made it trendy again to be conscious of what's going on." Hopefully that will not be something temporary for 'Generation Y'. The Campaign is planning up coming projects, which Politically Affiliated will keep us up-to-date on!

On growing up with Nick

Nick always stood out in his family as the actor. Gabe says that his brother was "always famous to us" and that when he started working with Nickelodeon was when it made things real. When I mention Mariah Carey, I see a larger than usual smile on Gabe's face. I could tell he really enjoyed having her as a sister-in-law and told me how it was still a shock. "Even at thanksgiving and stuff - whoa you're Mariah Carey!" When I asked about the rumors about Mariah being pregnant, he denied them but left room for curiosity, "It's a rumor... It's a possibility." Now that makes all of us wonder what really is happening between the two! Being both a fan of Eminem and Mariah (Kind of ironic in my case), I asked about the animosity between the two. Gabe called it, "Childish". He also had some words for Eminem (Listen to the interview, to hear his message to Eminem)

RydazNrtist

On Gabe's own life

Only 22-years-old, Gabe is fulfilling his life long dream of becoming a performer through his new group, RydazNrtist as GQ Ryda along side his fellow sibling Reuben and Kevin Writer. Gabe's take on all of it, "It's a blessing honestly, something is changing, we're impacting people's lives."

For sometime there was rumored drama between his ex, Monica Leon aka Danger from Ray J's show on VH1, The Love Of Ray J: 1 & 2. He made it clear that they get along and are happy to have a baby girl together (Which was rumored to be Ray J's). Gabe wanted to bring to my attention that he was " gonna be the best father on Earth" and guranteed it.

I spent sometime with the group at one of their first live performances at Cinespace in Hollywood, as they preformed their first single, 'Sorry Ass Apology'. They even shot the video for it and had it streaming as they preformed. I will have to say, they sound AMAZING live! To listen to their album and watch videos from their performances, check out their MySpace. RydazNrtist will be opening for Mariah Carey's new tour, Angels Cry in 2010 to promote her new album Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel. Best of luck to RydazNrtist and their debut album, I'm already starting to see their videos on MTV and expect them on the radio any day now!

It was a pleasure meeting the guys from RydazNrtist and especially Gabe! Thanks a lot for the interview, and a special thanks to Daniel U. for setting it up!

[Images via Ncredible Studios]

Should We Be Mad At Tiger?

The Woods Family

Last week, the world discovered that Tiger Woods was cheating on his wife Elin Nordegren of five years. The couple is said to have two young children, Sam and Charlie. We really do not know the details of what happened, and may never know. Yet, Woods has issued the following apology from his website (You can check out his website, here):

I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.

Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means. For the last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives. The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious. Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect.

But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don't share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.

Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone. I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though it's difficult.

I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.

"Alleged" Photo Of Tiger's Injury

Should we be upset with Tiger Woods? Honestly, I do not agree with people who cheat on their significant other (Married or not). People have held him highly in a variety of ways, and this entire situation might change the way people look at him. I am entirely surprised that he has not lost his endorsements, but rather received more. I think the fact that he is in the spotlight makes him seem infallible, but every celebrity actually is fallible. No one is perfect, even the 'Godlike' Tiger Woods; we are all human and make mistakes. Besides, what he does is his business and not ours, it just gets blown out of proportion since he is famous! I personally feel people in his position should not be married, and they should just have fun with their lives as they obvious cannot keep it in their pants. Well-off men usually have their wives continue to stand by their side. Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant's wife is a perfect example. He bought her a huge diamond ring, and all is well after the rape allegations years back. I'm not calling these sport players wives, gold diggers. But it does seem that they hover around their husband once money is mentioned after adultery is committed. "Once a cheater, always a cheater" is really how it works. Millions of dollars will not change anything, especially having had that experience with a cheater. You will always feel that you are not good enough and that loss of trust will make the relationship shaky. Advice to anyone who thinks of cheating - don't. If you plan to, just leave the person since things are obviously not working out. That is my advice to Mrs. Woods as well.

One last thing to the media, pick a better story - this is getting old!

What do you think of Tiger's cheating?

[Images via Google Images]

I Dream To Be Blogger's "Blog Of Note"

Some day I hope my blog can be a "Blog Of Note"... Hopefully sometime soon!

Concentration Camps In America? No Way!

Japanese Concentration Camp

When people think of concentration camps, they automatically think of Auschwitz and the Holocaust. Believe it or not, the United States houses its own concentration camps as well. However, they do not use the literal name 'concentration camp' but rather a softer term, internment. According to Princeton University, a concentration camp means:

• A penal camp where political prisoners or prisoners of war are confined (usually under harsh conditions).
• A situation characterized by crowding and extremely harsh conditions.

On the way to Mammoth, California (About 100 miles south) is the Manazanar War Relocation Center. It is actually the best preserved camp of the ten built through out the United States including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Over 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans were evacuated and sent to the "War Relocation Camps," under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. Canada also did something similar to the Japanese, about 23,000 of them. These camps were used during World War II to house the Japanese residing in the United States, but mostly on the West Coast. The reason behind it was due to the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1942.

During that time, two cases were brought to the Supreme Court concerning the camps. These cases were known as Hirabayashi vs. United States in 1943, and Korematsu vs. United States in 1944. Both argued that their rights as Americans under the fifth amendment were being violated due to their ancestry. Unfortunately, both cases were lost. The Executive Order was eventually rescinded in 1944 by President Roosevelt. Towards the end of 1945, the remaining camps were closed. Eventually the American government executed several formal apologies and paid reparations to the Japanese. But yet the remnants of America's dark past exist, though many do not know of it.

Racism At Its Best

You would be surprised to know that some of your Japanese friends' families may have been part of that internment. I found yesterday during my French class that a Japanese-American student's grandparents were a part of that, though they were too young to remember. To learn more about Manazanar or visit it, check out here.

Do you think the Japanese deserved to be treated like that?

[Images via Google Images]

Obama's Surge Into Afghanistan, Bad Or Good?

Afghan Child Shakes U.S. Soldier's Hand

On Tuesday morning, President Obama gave a con traversal speech on Afghanistan to cadets at the West Point military academy, that left many with mixed feelings. In his speech, the main tag line was:

"As Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan. After 18 months, our troops will begin to come home. These are the resources that we need to seize the initiative, while building the Afghan capacity that can allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan."

You can read the manuscript of the speech, here. The term surge has been around military history for sometime, but was probably first commonly used during the Global War on Terrorism under the Bush Administration when they decided to send 20,000 more troops into Iraq. Does sending a Surge into Afghanistan help the situation? Well there is a number of things to consider in this case. Let me say this simply: Obama was put in a predicament. It was a "damned if he does, damned if he does not" situation. So he chose the former and became damned any way. He would have been criticized no matter what he ended up doing.

If the United States left Afghanistan entirely, several things would occur. For one, it would be deemed that Al-Qaeda and the Taliban chased the Americans out. Second, it would be a repeat of what happened to the Afghans at the end of their war with the Soviets - warlords took over (Which allowed a segue way for the Taliban to reach in). Sending more troops into Afghanistan has its pros and cons as well. The most obvious is the amount of money that has to be further spent on Afghanistan, not to mention the U.S. casualties. Would 30,000 troops make a difference? It depends, I think it might encourage other nations to send more troops in and help out. On the other hand, there is already over 32,000 American soldiers alone (Not to mention the other nations that have sent in troops as well). As a result of putting our own troops at risk, countries like Great Britain and Italy have offered to help Obama as well.

I do not agree with the Surge, what I really think is that we need to send the old troops home and send fresh ones in (Not add 30,000 more) . However, what I think is that a better strategy must be implemented in Afghanistan. We cannot just leave, as it would be a repeat of what we did in the 80s. We need to stop giving money to the Afghan government (As President Obama says in his speech), i.e. President Karzai, and it needs to be watched and put into the right places. They literally need people handling the money and putting it into communities for water, electricity, schools, and similar. Looking for Osama Bin Laden is pointless, he probably is not in Afghanistan. You cannot tell me that the Taliban with their outdated weapons have a better strategy then the Americans. The U.S. needs to take out all the Taliban and any left over Al Qaeda cells (Which only few still exist). Most run south of the border to the Pakistan, even the President makes note of this in his speech:

"After escaping across the border into Pakistan in 2001 and 2002, Al-Qaeda’s leadership established a safe-haven there."

We need to pay closer attention to our "ally" who happened to train the Taliban through their intelligence agency the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and those who have been causing so much trouble in that region. The Afghan people need to be trained militarily - in other words for warfare and civil unrest. Last but not least, Obama needs to do that shift from the Bush verbiage to something else. Due to his rhetoric, those listening (Americans, foreigners, and enemies alike) need to know that there is a difference between the Global War on Terror (GWoT) and "Overseas Contingency Operations" (OCO), and repeating the term Al-Qaeda throughout a speech makes him sound like George W. Bush all over again. I also feel giving a practical public deadline might give the Taliban ideas, as they can go M.I.A. for a few years, and once we all leave go back to doing the things they used to. I hope that puts light into certain things that people do not understand. President Obama did not create this mess, he is only trying to clean it up. Cut him some slack for trying, world!

What do you think of the Surge?

[Images via National Post]

Pageants Are Politics, Especially In California

Right Before The Big Show

About over a week ago, I had one of the most amazing life experiences as a participant in the Miss California USA Pageant. As a child, I always dreamed of being one of the pageant girls, but never thought I had the potential. The previous weekend as Miss Northridge, I proved myself wrong - Yes, I do have the potential! I may have not come back with the crown, but I came back with tons of memories and a bunch of new friends! It really felt like it was my Wedding Day with all the attention, love, and support I received from friends and family. Now here I am writing about the details of it all.

Let me first start by saying, if you are in pageants or particularly were in the Miss California USA one, please do not get offended. These are merely my opinions and you should not take it to heart.

I came into this pageant with many people warning me of the "politics" of it and how the winner would already be known. I also came into this pageant knowing certain people worked for celebrities (Elle Degenres for example). With these thoughts in mind, I checked into the Riveria Resort in Palm Springs, California and arrived with hope. What I saw was interesting, pageants are very cliquish, just like high school. People started to form groups: there were the newbs (A ton of other girls and I were new to things), the ones who were anti-social, and the annuals (Ones who did pageant often or this certain one at least once, twice, or more). I easily guesstimated about half of the top 15 for the pageant. When they were announced, I was not all that surprised. However, I became angry. As I walked off stage and went to the dressing room to change, I started to tear up. You might think I was tearing up because I had hoped I would be in the top 15, I did, but so did 132 other girls. Yet, I was not tearing up because of that, but because I felt there were so many other girls who deserved it more than they did. I met girls that had so much life experience and had been through so much in life and the fact they still were alive or not on the streets to me was an accomplishment. I wanted that crown badly to help people, but it was during preliminaries that I realized pageants were not for me. Miss Teen and Miss (Though extremely nice) had trouble pronouncing names of people and their cities. Not to mention the fact that one did not know where Alaska or Michigan was until they won (One of the two). It totally turned me off and made me realized that this pageant was not for me.

My Evening Gown For The Pageant

During the Live Telecast, I did not like the script written for Chris Jacobs of The Insider. I am no fan of Carrie Prejean (Except her beauty) but it was a bit childish to STILL poke fun at her, even at something as serious as the Miss California USA Pageant. But we all know it was for the ratings...

Regardless, I congratulate Nicole Johnson aka Miss Sherwood on her accomplishment on taking on the title of Miss California USA 2010. Rumor has it that she is or was dating Olympic Swimmer (Eight time Gold-Medalist) Michael Phelps. There has been talk that she was also anti-social all weekend, I cannot confirm that. Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa was also in attendance and witnesses said that he hugged a supposed top 15 Miss as well.

If you're going to be in a pageant, know that it takes a lot of practice to win - not just looks and personality. Not to mention all the money that is spent to get to that point for clothes, training, fees, et cetra. Some of the top 15 had been in there five times and still have not made it. I am not saying, do not bother with pageants if you consider doing one! All I am saying is that everything in life is politically affiliated, do not be surprised. It is a great experience, you develop confidence, make new friends, have tons of fun, and not to mention the memories you have forever. Last but not least, no one is perfect. The most beautiful girl can have a terminal illness, a physical disability, or even a obvious imperfect on her body (Acne, stretch marks, cellulite). We are all beautiful and different in our own way.

To all those potential and continuing pageant girls, I wish you the best and that you realize these important points. Best of luck to you all!

[Images via Moi]