Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts turns out to be quite the exciting year. First off is the arrival of a new teacher at Hogwarts, Horace Slughorn, who is a bit more useful to Harry than he realizes. Next, Harry obtains a Potions book which used to belong to the very mysterious Half-Blood Prince. Harry finds that the Half-Blood Prince's ancient scribbles are written along the margins of almost every page, giving Harry advice on how to improve greatly on his Potions work, and also teaching him a few helpful (and dangerous) spells along the way. Amidst this, Harry is starting private lessons with Professor Dumbledore, during which Harry learns the dark secrets of Voldemort's past, hoping that they could use these secrets to find a way to defeat him. Harry's year gets even more stressful with the suspicious actions of Draco Malfoy, who has been sneaking around the school doing, so Harry assumes, Voldemort's bidding. Harry quickly becomes determined, and slightly obsessed, to find out exactly what Malfoy has been up to and putting an end to it. Yet, during this time, Harry and his friends go through daily life, busy with school work, Quidditch (in which Harry has been made captain of the team), and, of course, romance. Ron has found a new girlfriend, Lavender Brown, a perky (if not obnoxious) Gryffindor student, and Hermione is not happy about it. Ron and Hermione's friendship takes a toll throughout the school year and Harry, as usual, is stuck in the middle. Harry, meanwhile, is facing a romantic dilemma of his own: he realizes he is falling for his best friend's sister, Ginny Weasley, who is unfortunately dating Harry's classmate, Dean Thomas. Harry's pining for Ginny and Ron's hilarious relationship with Lavender give this story a large dose of reality. Throughout all the school drama, however, the obvious darkness of Voldemort's impending rise to power is always apparent. The incredible action-packed climax is sure to leave the audience stunned and, inevitably, prove that you shouldn't trust everybody who you think is good and also prove that not everyone can manage to survive. -ceeotters

Emboldened by the return of Lord Voldemort, the Death Eaters are wreaking havoc in both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that new dangers may lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. He needs Harry to help him uncover a vital key to unlocking Voldemort's defenses critical information known only to Hogwarts' former Potions Professor, Horace Slughorn. With that in mind, Dumbledore manipulates his old colleague into returning to his previous post with promises of more money, a bigger office and the chance to teach the famous Harry Potter. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry's long friendship with Ginny Weasley is growing into something deeper, but standing in the way is Ginny's boyfriend, Dean Thomas, not to mention her big brother Ron. But Ron's got romantic entanglements of his own to worry about, with Lavender Brown lavishing her affections on him, leaving Hermione simmering with jealousy yet determined not to show her feelings. And then a box of love potion-laced chocolates ends up in the wrong hands and changes everything. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof with far more important matters on his mind. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again. [Warner Bros. official plot summary] [D-Man2010]

10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Global Warming

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Do your part to reduce waste by choosing reusable products instead of disposables. Buying products with minimal packaging (including the economy size when that makes sense for you) will help to reduce waste. And whenever you can, recycle paper, plastic, newspaper, glass and aluminum cans. If there isn't a recycling program at your workplace, school, or in your community, ask about starting one. By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually. 

2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

Adding insulation to your walls and attic, and installing weather stripping or caulking around doors and windows can lower your heating costs more than 25 percent, by reducing the amount of energy you need to heat and cool your home.
Turn down the heat while you're sleeping at night or away during the day, and keep temperatures moderate at all times. Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year. 

3. Change a Light Bulb

Wherever practical, replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. Replacing just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL will save you $30 over the life of the bulb. CFLs also last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use two-thirds less energy, and give off 70 percent less heat.

If every U.S. family replaced one regular light bulb with a CFL, it would eliminate 90 billion pounds of greenhouse gases, the same as taking 7.5 million cars off the road.

4. Drive Less and Drive Smart

Less driving means fewer emissions. Besides saving gasoline, walking and biking are great forms of exercise. Explore your community mass transit system, and check out options for carpooling to work or school.

When you do drive, make sure your car is running efficiently. For example, keeping your tires properly inflated can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gas you save not only helps your budget, it also keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products

When it's time to buy a new car, choose one that offers good gas mileage. Home appliances now come in a range of energy-efficient models, and compact florescent bulbs are designed to provide more natural-looking light while using far less energy than standard light bulbs.

Avoid products that come with excess packaging, especially molded plastic and other packaging that can't be recycled. If you reduce your household garbage by 10 percent, you can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

6. Use Less Hot Water

Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly. Wash your clothes in warm or cold water to reduce your use of hot water and the energy required to produce it. That change alone can save at least 500 pounds of carbon dioxide annually in most households. Use the energy-saving settings on your dishwasher and let the dishes air-dry.

7. Use the "Off" Switch

Save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights when you leave a room, and using only as much light as you need. And remember to turn off your television, video player, stereo and computer when you're not using them.
It's also a good idea to turn off the water when you're not using it. While brushing your teeth, shampooing the dog or washing your car, turn off the water until you actually need it for rinsing. You'll reduce your water bill and help to conserve a vital resource.

8. Plant a Tree

If you have the means to plant a tree, start digging. During photosynthesis, trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth, but there are too few of them to fully counter the increases in carbon dioxide caused by automobile traffic, manufacturing and other human activities. A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

9. Get a Report Card from Your Utility Company

Many utility companies provide free home energy audits to help consumers identify areas in their homes that may not be energy efficient. In addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades.

10. Encourage Others to Conserve

Share information about recycling and energy conservation with your friends, neighbors and co-workers, and take opportunities to encourage public officials to establish programs and policies that are good for the environment.

These 10 steps will take you a long way toward reducing your energy use and your monthly budget. And less energy use means less dependence on the fossil fuels that create greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming.

(Source: environment.about.com)

10 Ways to Spend 10 Minutes

1. Write a thank you note to someone who deserves it. Do you remember the last time you received a genuine THANK YOU from someone? It made you feel good all day, right?

2. Call a friend you lost touch with. Check in, say hello, and tell them you have missed them.

3. Read an article that is of no interest to you. It's great to be well rounded. In addition, learning a new writing style is a great way to better your own, and even give you additional ideas for your next blog post, book, or article.

4. Ask yourself this question. Look yourself straight in the eyes using a mirror, and ask yourself "Am I truly happy in life?" If not, what can you do more of to increase your happiness? What can you do less of to increase your happiness?

5. Write a poem for someone you love. It can be 3 lines or 20 lines. It's the thought that counts. Take 1 second right now and imagine walking into your house and your spouse wrote a poem for you. Feels great, right?

6. Turn off your phone or pda. What is happening to this world?! In the following years, expect to see an increase in neck pain- as most people are hunched over all day texting and typing into their phones.

7. Exhale twice as long. A great breathing pattern that may also help lower your blood pressure and resting heart rate: Inhale then exhale twice as long. Try to breathe only 10 times per minute or less. This will relax you in no time at all. (But don't fall asleep, as you may have to go back to work!!)

8. Do 5 sets of pushups. Sounds silly, but you can increase your mood by simply getting a little exercise during your day. Don't believe me? Just try it. Tomorrow, take 10 minutes to perform 5 sets of pushups and have a bottle of water!

9. Learn a food label. Learning about food labels can save your life, or the life of someone you love. Do you know how much sodium you are consuming in a day? My guess: 3 times the daily recommended.

10. Start a journal. First, identify the purpose of why you are starting the journal. Once that is clear, the journal can help you make all the necessary changes you need in your life. For example, if you track the food you are eating every day, you can look back and simply identify where you need to make changes.

(Source: ezinearticles.com)

10 Signs That You Are Still Rich!

Indeed these are troubled time. We are all feeling the financial crunch. Jobs are being lost every day. Prices are getting higher all over the world.

During all this we might think that we are not rich anymore. Think again!

As I stumbled across the web, I found inspiration from the following post. No one has ever put this point so beautifully before me. It really opened up my eyes. I hope you will find all or some of these signs around you.

1. You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night.
2. You didn’t go to sleep outside.
3. You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning. 
4. You hardly broke a sweat today.
5. You didn’t spend a minute in fear.
6. You have access to clean drinking water.
7. You have access to medical care.
8. You have access to the Internet.
9. You can read.
10. You have the right to vote.

Some might say you are rich, so remember to be grateful for all the things you do have.

(Source: www.fairloanrate.com)

The Top 10 Richest People In The World

1. William H. Gates III
Age: 43
Nationality: American
Martial Status: Married
Children: 2
Education: Harvard dropout
Worth: $90 Billion

We should all just face the fact that Bill Gates will one day rule the world. By the time Windows 2015 comes out, all will fear Bill’s wrath. But you gotta admit that it doesn’t look like it went to his head; the richest human on Earth, and he has the dorkiest haircut money could buy.

The son of a lawyer father and teacher mother, Gates dropped out of preschool to devote all of his time to inventing Microsoft with chum Paul Allen, then just 3 years old. After drooling all over the HVAC tubes, Bill decided to go back to school for a few more years, eventually dropping out of Harvard University to work on Microsoft.

The rest, as they all too frequently say, is history. Microsoft became this huge international corporate behemoth, and is currently fighting off anti-trust investigations and accusations that it holds a monopoly. When Bill rules the world, he’s going to come down and fire those federal court judges with extreme prejudice. They’ll never work on his planet again!

Gates relinquished his role as President of Microsoft in 1998, and as CEO on January 13, 2000; both posts are now held by Steve Ballmer. However, Bill remains Chairman and “chief software architect” of the company, as well as its largest shareholder. So they still let him come to board meetings.

Mr. Bill once gave $17 Billion to charity, which makes Ted Turner’s paltry offering of $1 billion to the UN look like chump change. He’s also written a couple of books and is heavily invested in biotechnology and cellular and satellite technology. Investors, call your brokers

2. Warren Edward Buffet
Age: 68
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Married
Children: 3
Education: Columbia
Worth: $36 Billion

A distant second, Warren Buffet also has a quarter century on Mr. Gates, so he’s had lots of time to build up his not-too-shabby cache of $36 billion. Frankly, we don’t know what he’s been doing with his time… apart from heading up investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, that is. Warren took over 30 years ago, and the company has averaged a 25% annual rate of return since.

Strangely enough, Buffet’s investment style is conservative, leaning more to the long-term buy. Warren owns about 40 percent of the company, and at over $47,000 a share, it will be a while before anyone buys him out. Much better to try to get in at Microsoft, or strike oil, where you don’t need money up front.

3. Paul Gardner Allen
Age: 46
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Single
Children: 0
Education: WSU dropout
Worth: $30 Billion

Another Microsoft billionaire, Paul Allen is the buddy who dropped out with Bill Gates to build the software company that now holds a monopolistic stranglehold on the world. Paul dropped out of Microsoft some time ago to spend his time privately investing his money and sipping piña coladas, but he still holds a stake in the company. His current baby is Vulcan Ventures, with which he pursues his dream of a “wired world” by buying up cable operators and other technology-related companies.

It’s not all boring tech stuff, though. Paul was also smart enough to invest in sports teams like the Portland Trailblazers and Seattle Seahawks. Single guy, 30 billion, owns a couple sports teams, knows Bill Gates personally… poor baby.

4. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
Age: 53
Nationality: Bruneian
Marital Status: Married
Children: 10
Education: Sandhurst Royal Military Academy
Worth: $30 Billion

The 29th Sultan of Brunei was educated in his early years by tutors and private institutions before winging his way north to Britain. There, he entered Sandhurst Royal Military Academy as an officer cadet. The training seems to have paid off, as he is now Sultan and Ruler of Brunei, as well as Prime Minister, Defense Minister, Finance Minister, Religious Figurehead, and Grand High Poobah. All elected offices. Kidding! This guy can go to the bathroom and still have a cabinet meeting.

All of his money is in, say it with me now, oil, gas, investments, and yes, the ever-popular sweat of his people. Especially that oil thing, which has made so many billionaires in the Middle East. The illustrious Sultan also has two wives and ten kids. So lets see… 6 jobs, 2 wives, 10 kids, 2 turtledoves, 1 dictatorship, and he’s an avid polo player. So much accomplished, and a mere 53 years old.

5. King Fahd Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud
Age: 77
Nationality: Saudi Arabian
Marital Status: Married
Children: 1
Worth: $28 Billion

Born in Riyadh in 1923, the King has spent his life on one diplomatic mission after another. He has also held such posts as Minister of Education, Minister of the Interior, and, of course, the King. He was present at the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945, the coronation of Queen Liz the second in 1953, and a meeting with Richard Nixon in the U.S. in 1974 (taped recordings of this meeting still exist to this day, but no one knows where).

He came to power in 1982, and all of his money is in oil, investments, property, and the sweat of his people (sound familiar?). All because of the great defining factor of birth. Yes, birth and dumb luck. Ya gotta love it.


6. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Age: 66
Nationality: Abu Dhabian
Worth: $20 Billion

Sheikh Zayed’s home country of Abu Dhabi has grown over the last half century into one of the richest in the United Arab Emirates. Educated by local clerics and later by wandering Bedouin tribesmen in the desert, the Sheikh’s defining achievement has been the management of supply and distribution of water. This is an important thing in the desert, so you can imagine he is quite popular there.

All of his money is in oil, investments, vast property, and the sweat of his people. And water. For the love of God, don’t forget the water.

7. Steven Anthony Ballmer
Age: 43
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Married
Children: 2
Education: Stanford and Harvard
Worth: $19.5 Billion

The first of the Microsoft Billionaires on our list, Steve actually lived down the hall from Bill Gates at Harvard, and is now the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mr. Bill’s little venture. Many revere/blame him for the supposed monopoly Microsoft Corp. now holds, because of his tenacity and amazing business know-how.

He joined the company in 1980 and has held a number of positions, starting as Bill’s personal towel boy, and leading up to VP of Sales and Support before becoming the Prez in ‘98. Ballmer was appointed CEO of Microsoft on January 13, 2000. Not a bad little gig.

8. Amir Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al sabah
Age: 77
Nationality: Kuwaiti
Worth: $17 Billion

The man’s money is in oil, investments, property, and the sweat of his people. And this is just what’s left over since we kicked Saddam Hussein out of the neighborhood. Imagine the filthy stinkin’ riches that he had prior to the burning of thousands of his oil wells. This is why we recommend Microsoft or oil baron as the best way to becoming a billionaire. You’re born, you inherit oil fields, you live the easy life in the Middle East… you just can’t beat it.

9. Phillip F. Anschutz
Age: 59
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Married
Children: 3
Education: Kansas
Worth: $16.5 Billion

Phil is the kind of guy whose father was a rich oil billionaire, but decided he didn’t like the family business. Phil preferred real estate and railroads, and he still made a bundle. Rather than just being born lucky (although we’re sure that didn’t hurt), Anschutz is a savvy businessman. He has interests in fiber optics companies such as Qwest Communications International, LA sporting interests, huge cattle ranches in Wyoming, and lots of downtown Denver real estate interests. But let’s face it: the biggest chunk was inherited.

10. Michael Dell
Age: 34
Nationality: American
Marital Status: Married
Children: 4
Education: U. Texas
Worth: $16.5 Billion

Just barely squeaking in at number ten is the youngest of all of our billionaires, the young pup who founded Dell Computers. Mike dropped out of U. Texas at 19, put up his BMW to get a business loan, and started selling people PCs by mail order. The day his former classmates were graduating, his sales had already hit $70 million a year. Today, of course, he sells $2 million a day, and the company revenues are about $7.8 billion a year. He has passed IBM in annual sales, and is closing in on industry leader Compaq. The bastard.

(Source: readingshouts.wordpress.com)

Joke: Computers: She or He?

Why computers seem female:
-- No one but the Creator understands their internal logic.
-- The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.
-- The message "Bad command or file name" is about as informative as, "If you don't know why I'm mad at you, then I'm certainly not going to tell you."
-- Even your smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory for later retrieval.
-- As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories.

Why computers seem male:
-- They have a lot of data but are still clueless.
-- They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time, they are the problem.
-- As soon as you commit to one you realize that, if you had waited a little longer, you could have obtained a better model.
-- In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
-- Big power surges knock them out for the rest of the night.

Michael Jackson’s life cut shockingly short

equal parts as the world’s greatest entertainer and perhaps its most enigmatic figure, was about to attempt one of the greatest comebacks of all time. Then his life was cut shockingly — and so far, mysteriously — short.

The 50-year-old musical superstar died Thursday, just as he was preparing for what would be a series of 50 concerts starting July 13 at London’s famed 02 arena. Jackson had been spending hours and hours toiling with a team of dancers for a performance he and his fans hoped would restore his tarnished legacy to its proper place in pop.

An autopsy was planned for Friday, though results were not likely to be final until toxicology tests could be completed, a process that could take several days and sometimes weeks. However, if a cause can be determined by the autopsy, they will announce the results, said Los Angeles County Coroner Investigator Jerry McKibben.
Jackson died at UCLA Medical Center after being stricken at his rented home in the posh Los Angeles neighborhood of Holmby Hills. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him at his home for nearly three-quarters of an hour, then rushed him to the hospital where doctors continued to work on him.

“It is believed he suffered cardiac arrest in his home. However, the cause of his death is unknown until results of the autopsy are known,” his brother Jermaine said.

Cardiac arrest is an abnormal heart rhythm that stops the heart from pumping blood to the body. It can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems.

Jackson’s death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music’s premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.

His 1982 album “Thriller” — which included the blockbuster hits “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller” — is the best-selling album of all time, with an estimated 50 million copies sold worldwide.

As word of his death spread, MTV switched its programming to play videos from Jackson’s heyday. Radio stations began playing marathons of his hits. Hundreds of people gathered outside the hospital. In New York’s Times Square, a low groan went up in the crowd when a screen flashed that Jackson had died, and people began relaying the news to friends by cell phone.
“No joke. King of Pop is no more. Wow,” Michael Harris, 36, of New York City, read from a text message a friend had sent him. “It’s like when Kennedy was assassinated. I will always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died.”

The public first knew him as a boy in the late 1960s, when he was the precocious, spinning lead singer of the Jackson 5, the singing group he formed with his four older brothers out of Gary, Ind. Among their No. 1 hits were “I Want You Back,” “ABC” and “I’ll Be There.”

He was perhaps the most exciting performer of his generation, known for his backward-gliding moonwalk, his feverish, crotch-grabbing dance moves and his high-pitched singing, punctuated with squeals and titters. His single sequined glove, tight, military-style jacket and aviator sunglasses were trademarks, as was his ever-changing, surgically altered appearance.
“For Michael to be taken away from us so suddenly at such a young age, I just don’t have the words,” said Quincy Jones, who produced “Thriller.” “He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever. I’ve lost my little brother today, and part of my soul has gone with him.”

Jackson ranked alongside Elvis Presley and the Beatles as the biggest pop sensations of all time. He united two of music’s biggest names when he was briefly married to Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie. Jackson’s sudden death immediately evoked comparisons to that of Presley himself, who died at age 42 in 1977.
“I am so very sad and confused with every emotion possible,” Lisa Marie Presley said in a statement. “I am heartbroken for his children who I know were everything to him and for his family. This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me.”

As years went by, Jackson became an increasingly freakish figure — a middle-aged man-child weirdly out of touch with grown-up life. His skin became lighter, his nose narrower, and he spoke in a breathy, girlish voice. He often wore a germ mask while traveling, kept a pet chimpanzee named Bubbles as one of his closest companions and surrounded himself with children at his Neverland ranch, a storybook playland filled with toys, rides and animals. The tabloids dubbed him “Wacko Jacko.”
“It seemed to me that his internal essence was at war with the norms of the world. It’s as if he was trying to defy gravity,” said Michael Levine, a Hollywood publicist who represented Jackson in the early 1990s. He called Jackson a “disciple of P.T. Barnum” and said the star appeared fragile at the time but was “much more cunning and shrewd about the industry than anyone knew.”

Jackson caused a furor in 2002 when he playfully dangled his infant son, Prince Michael II, over a hotel balcony in Berlin while a throng of fans watched from below.

In 2005, he was cleared of charges that he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor at Neverland in 2003. He had been accused of plying the boy with alcohol and groping him, and of engaging in strange and inappropriate behavior with other children.

The case followed years of rumors about Jackson and young boys. In a TV documentary, he acknowledged sharing his bed with children, a practice he described as sweet and not at all sexual.

Despite the acquittal, the lurid allegations that came out in court took a fearsome toll on his career and image, and he fell into serious financial trouble.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born Aug. 29, 1958, in Gary. He was 4 years old when he began singing with his brothers — Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Tito — in the Jackson 5. After his early success with bubblegum soul, he struck out on his own, generating innovative, explosive, unstoppable music.
The album “Thriller” alone mixed the dark, serpentine bass and drums and synthesizer approach of “Billie Jean,” the grinding Eddie Van Halen guitar solo on “Beat It,” and the hiccups and falsettos on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”

The peak may have come in 1983, when Motown celebrated its 25th anniversary with an all-star televised concert and Jackson moonwalked off with the show, joining his brothers for a medley of old hits and then leaving them behind with a pointing, crouching, high-kicking, splay-footed, crotch-grabbing run through “Billie Jean.”
The audience stood and roared. Jackson raised his fist.

During production of a 1984 Pepsi commercial, Jackson’s scalp sustains burns when an explosion sets his hair on fire.

He had strong follow-up albums with 1987’s “Bad” and 1991’s “Dangerous,” but his career began to collapse in 1993 after he was accused of molesting a boy who often stayed at his home. The singer denied any wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the boy’s family, reported to be $20 million, and criminal charges were never filed.

Jackson’s expressed anger over the allegations on the 1995 album “HIStory,” which sold more than 2.4 million copies, but by then, the popularity of Jackson’s music was clearly waning even as public fascination with his increasingly erratic behavior was growing.
Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, and they divorced in 1996. Later that year, Jackson married Deborah Rowe, a former nurse for his dermatologist. They had two children together: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., known as Prince Michael, now 12; and Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, 11. Rowe filed for divorce in 1999.

Jackson also had a third child, Prince Michael II. Now 7, Jackson said the boy nicknamed Blanket as a baby was his biological child born from a surrogate mother.

Billboard magazine editorial director Bill Werde said Jackson’s star power was unmatched. “The world just lost the biggest pop star in history, no matter how you cut it,” Werde said. “He’s literally the king of pop.”

Jackson’s 13 No. 1 one hits on the Billboard charts put him behind only Presley, the Beatles and Mariah Carey, Werde said.

“He was on the eve of potentially redeeming his career a little bit,” he said. “People might have started to think of him again in a different light.”

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

A long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, a war was being waged between the noble Autobots (led by the wise Optimus Prime) and the devious Decepticons (commanded by the dreaded Megatron) for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it. The Autobots managed to smuggle the Allspark off the planet, but Megatron blasted off in search of it. He eventually tracked it to the planet of Earth (circa 1850), but his reckless desire for power sent him right into the Arctic Ocean, and the sheer cold forced him into a paralyzed state. His body was later found by Captain Archibald Witwicky, and before going into a comatose state Megatron used the last of his energy to engrave a map, showing the location of the Allspark, into the Captain's glasses, and send a transmission to Cybertron. He is then carted away by the Captain's ship. A century later, Sam Witwicky, nicknamed Spike by his friends, buys his first car. To his shock, he discovers it to be Bumblebee, an Autobot in disguise who is to protect Spike, as he bears the Captain's glasses and the map carved on them. But Bumblebee is not the only Transformer to have arrived on Earth - in the desert of Qatar, the Decepticons Blackout and Scorponok attack a U.S. military base, causing the Pentagon to send their special Sector Seven agents to capture all "specimens of this alien race," and Spike and his girlfriend Mikaela find themselves in the middle of a grand battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, stretching from Hoover Dam all the way to Los Angeles. Meanwhile, within the depths of Hoover Dam, the cryogenically stored form of Megatron awakens... 

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Ellie and Manny (Queen Latifah, Ray Romano) are expecting their first child, and Manny is obsessed with making life perfect and safe for the family. At the same time, Diego (Denis Leary) finds himself unable to catch an antelope he has been stalking and decides to leave the herd, believing that he is losing his predatory nature as a tiger. Sid (John Leguizamo) grows jealous of Manny and Ellie and “adopts” three apparently abandoned eggs that he finds in an icy underground cavern. Manny tells him to put them back, but Sid instead looks after the eggs, which hatch into baby Tyrannosaurus the next morning.

Although Sid tries his best to raise the three dinosaurs, their rambunctious behavior scares away all the other animals’ young and ruins a playground Manny built for Ellie’s baby. The mother dinosaur soon returns and carries both Sid and her youth underground, with Diego in pursuit. Manny, Ellie, Crash, and Eddie (Seann William Scott, Josh Peck) follow as well and discover that the icy cavern leads to a vast jungle populated by dinosaurs thought to be extinct. Here, an Ankylosaurus threatens the herd despite Diego’s efforts to fend it off; they are saved from a further crowd of angry reptiles by a one-eyed, slightly crazed weasel named Buckminster, or Buck (Simon Pegg).

Buck has been living in this jungle for some time and chasing Rudy (a giant white Baryonyx that is this world’s biggest dinosaur), intending to avenge the eye he lost to it. He agrees to lead the herd through the jungle’s perils to Lava Falls, where “Momma” has taken Sid and her babies. In the meantime, Sid and the mother try to outdo each other in feeding the offspring; he loses this contest, but is soon welcomed into the family regardless. The next day, however, Rudy attacks the family and Sid is knocked onto a loose rock slab that is floating on a river of lava and about to plummet over the falls.

As the herd moves toward Lava Falls, Ellie goes into labor and a Guanlong pack strikes, causing a rockslide that separates her from Manny and Diego. Manny doubles back to protect her and Diego fends off further attacks, while Buck takes Crash and Eddie ahead to rescue Sid. Just as the sloth goes over the falls, the trio swoops in on a commandeered pterosaur and saves his life. Manny reaches Ellie just as their baby is born, a girl they decide to name Peaches (the codeword they had chosen for Ellie to use if she went into labor during the trip). Sid is saddened at the fact that he never had a chance to say goodbye to "his" children as he is reunited with the herd.

Before they can exit the jungle, Rudy attacks at full force; Buck helps the others ensnare him briefly, but he escapes and resumes his onslaught. The herd is saved by the timely arrival of Momma, who charges at Rudy and knocks him off a cliff. As she and her children wish Sid well, Buck – now without a purpose in life since Rudy is gone – decides to join the herd and live on the surface. However, a distant roar tells him that Rudy is still alive; he changes his mind and sends the herd home, blocking off the path to the underground jungle at the same time so that no one else can go down there. Manny and Ellie welcome Peaches into their frozen world and admit that Sid did a good job looking after Momma's children. Diego decides to remain with the herd, while Buck stays where he wants to be: underground, matching wits with Rudy.

(Source: en.wikipedia.org)

Megan Fox is A Man!

LOS ANGELES, CA – The internet has been abuzz since this Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony, where Megan Fox jokingly remarked that she looked like a man.

When interviewed on the red carpet, she said “I look like Alan Alda in drag. I’m a tranny. I’m a man.”

At the time, reporters passed it off as a jovial attempt to cover for her nerves.

However, today she has cleared the air and officially reported: she’s really a man.

Megan Fox was born Mitchell Reed Fox in Rockwood, Tennessee. From an early age, Mitchell showed an interest in both performing and women’s clothing. When having a preacher lay hands on him did not ‘cure’ him of these interests, his parents simply put him on the pageant circuit.

By the age of 13, Mitchell had already started a career as a female child performer called ‘Megan Fox’. Making her debut on an Olsen Twins straight-to-video release, the twins have kept his secret all this time.

As a sweet 16 present, Fox’s parents offered him sexual reassignment surgery, which, given their child’s career, they’d hoped to write off as a business expense. Unfortunately laws prohibit such surgery to be done to minors.

Since then Megan has been working non-stop, and been included on many Hottest Women lists in publications around the world.

Megan, as she goes by now exclusively, also noted this Sunday how much she wants Salma Hayek’s figure. She has even scheduled surgery later this month to get it. After the two met in New York this week, Hayek offered to have a cast made of her bust so doctors can match them exactly on Megan Fox’s chest.

The internet is already speculating whether this news will be worked into the plot of the upcoming Transformers sequel.

(Source: weeklyworldnews.com)