WebCogito

The Cat in the Hat movie download Waiting… dvd Pleasure Factory dvdrip Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer release

• 10 Items or Less buy

[THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED AS NEWS HAPPENS. PLEASE REFRESH CONSTANTLY]

Risky Business dvd

download Bruce Almighty movie

Judge Denny Chin has sentenced Bernard L. Madoff to 150 years in prison. Chin gave Madoff the maximum of 20 years on several of the counts, which will be served consecutively. For a brief moment, the courtroom erupted with applause.

Disgraced financier Bernie Madoff, 71, who pleaded guilty to 11 charges in March, was sentenced to prison by District Judge Denny Chin.  Madoff  got the maximum sentence of  150 years.

Madoff’s lawyer asked for a 12-year sentence. “We seek neither mercy nor sympathy,” said Ira Sorkin, Madoff’s lawyer. He had asked Judge Chin to “set aside the emotion and hysteria attendant to this case.”

Prosecutors had recommended that the New York court show Madoff no mercy, and give him 150 years in jail, the maximum permitted for the type of crime.

According to U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, the federal probation department had recommended that Bernard Madoff get 50 years in prison for the multibillion-dollar fraud scheme.

Bridget Jones's Diary movie

buy Lange flate ballær II

Killer Nurse divx

Bernie Madoff, Monster

On Monday eight of Madoff’s victims addressed the court to describe the devastation wrought by his fraud. Victims had already described Madoff as “a thief and a monster,” “a psychopathic lying egomaniac,” “ruthless and unscrupulous,” and a devil, in statements given to the court.

The first victim to speak was a retired corrections officer.  He said that he and his wife lost their entire life savings on December 11–the day Madoff turned himself and “everything was robbed right under our nose.” Since then, he’s had to sell his house and take a temporary job as a construction supervisor in Arizona.

The second was a 64-year old widow. The third victim ended his statement by saying the following to Madoff: “May God spare you no mercy.”

A fourth victim asked Judge Chin to “not fail us” and give Madoff the maximum sentence allowable.

The fifth victim told the court of how she lost everything to Madoff’s scheme.

The sixth victim, Burt Ross, went off on Madoff for betraying fellow Jews. He specifically mentioned a Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. “As if Elie Wiesel hadn’t suffered enough”, he said.

The seventh victim, Michael Schwartz, used his trust fund to care for his disabled brother. Now it has been wiped out by Madoff’s scheme, and he has had to move back with his parents, he said.

The eighth victim says that she feels a sadness that another human being could do something like this to her.

The ninth and final victim to speak was Sheryl Weinstein

buy The Other Man

• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End hd

, the former chief financial officer of Hadassah, a Jewish women’s organization dedicating to supporting Israel and promoting social welfare and education. Weinstein said that in hindsight, being introduced to Bernard Madoff was the worst thing to ever happen to her in her life.

Madoff’s attorney then addressed the court, saying that it would be absurd for the court to sentence a “deeply flawed” Madoff to 150 years.  “Vengeance is not the goal here,” Sorkin said. “The guidelines to the court to not speak of vengeance and revenge.”

Madoff later addressed the court himself, and stated he did not seek forgiveness. “How do you excuse lying and deceiving thousands of investors. How do excuse lying and deceiving over 200 employees. How do you excuse lying and deceiving a wife of 50 years, who still stands by you. There’s no excuse for that, and I don’t seek any forgiveness,” he said.

During sentencing, Judge Chin said that Madoff did not do all he could do to aid investigators to help them recover swindled money or tell all he knows.

Chin recounted one letter that strongly affected him. It told the story of a Madoff investor who had died of a heart attack. Madoff, presumably at the man’s funeral, put his arm around the the widow and said, “Your money is safe.” The widow then gave Madoff more money, all of which is gone.

On Friday, Ruth Madoff, Bernard’s wife, agreed to give up her jewelery, Manhattan flat, and other assets worth almost $80m.

The only other person who has been charged in the world’s largest Ponzi scheme is Madoff’s accountant David Friehling, 49, with aiding and abetting fraud, and four counts of filing false audit reports. He has been released on bail.

Though Mr Friehling was not charged with knowledge of the Madoff Ponzi scheme, he was charged with deceiving investors by falsely certifying that he audited the financial statements.

[UPDATE: AFTER SENTENCING, RUTH MADOFF ISSUES STATEMENT DISTANCING HERSELF FROM HER HUSBAND] The Story of Anyburg U.S.A. video

• Short Circuit 2 film

In her first statement since Bernie Madoff’s enormous Ponzi scheme was discovered in December, Ruth Madoff distanced herself from her husband, and called herself “betrayed”.  The full text of her statement follows:

I am breaking my silence now, because my reluctance to speak has been interpreted as indifference or lack of sympathy for the victims of my husband Bernie’s crime, which is exactly the opposite of the truth.

From the moment I learned from my husband that he had committed an enormous fraud, I have had two thoughts — first, that so many people who trusted him would be ruined financially and emotionally, and second, that my life with the man I have known for over 50 years was over. Many of my husband’s investors were my close friends and family. And in the days since December, I have read, with immense pain, the wrenching stories of people whose life savings have evaporated because of his crime.

My husband was the one we (and I include myself) respected and trusted with our lives and our livelihoods, often for many, many years, and who was respected in the securities industry as well. Then there is the other man who stunned us all with his confession and is responsible for this terrible situation in which so many now find themselves. Lives have been upended and futures have been taken away. All those touched by this fraud feel betrayed; disbelieving the nightmare they woke to. I am embarrassed and ashamed.

Like everyone else, I feel betrayed and confused. The man who committed this horrible fraud is not the man whom I have known for all these years.

In the end, to say that I feel devastated for the many whom my husband has destroyed is truly inadequate. Nothing I can say seems sufficient regarding the daily suffering that all those innocent people are enduring because of my husband. But if it matters to them at all, please know that not a day goes by when I don’t ache over the stories that I have heard and read.

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West dvdrip Wit licht ipod

Well, the hits just keep on coming.

First it was Ed McMahon. Then, three days later, Farrah Fawcett dies in the morning. That afternoon, Michael Jackson

dies.  A scant three more days, and Fox News is reporting that Billy Mays, who had just found great mainstream success with his new TV show “PitchMen”, was found dead in his home the morning of June 28, 2009.

Pitch Men

Mays rose to prominence as the pitchman for OxyClean, a cleaning product made by OxyClean International.  He parlayed that momentum into success with the Home Shopping Network, and eventually being the co-star of a documentary show based on his life in direct mail marketing.  He and his co-host Anthony “Sully” Sullivan had just made an appearance this past week on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.

[UPDATE]

Here’s more late-breaking updates from Foxnews.com:

Mays was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Police said there were no signs of forced entry to May’s residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.

Mays, 50, was on board a US Airways flight that blew out its front tires as it landed at a Tampa airport on Saturday, MyFOXTampa.com reported.

US Airways spokesman Jim Olson said that none of the 138 passengers and five crew members were injured in the incident, but several passengers reported having bumps and bruises, according to the station.

Authorities have not said whether Mays’ death was related to the incident.

[UPDATE #2]

Here’s some unnerving news from MyFoxTampaBay.com:  Billy Mays had travelled from Philadelphia to his home in Florida on US Airways flight 1241 from Philadelphia to Tampa:

Fresh from filming an Oxyclean commercial in Philadelphia, ‘Pitch Man’ Billy Mays was also thankful to be on the ground and back home in the Bay Area.

“All of a sudden as we hit you know it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping. It hit me on the head (emphasis mine), but I got a hard head,” said Mays.

If you recall, a scant three months ago, on March 19th, actress Natasha Richardson lost her life after sustaining a blow to the head, and initially feeling fine. From her Wikipedia entry:

On 16 March 2009, Richardson sustained a head injury High Tide video

Unbreakable full movie

, when she fell while taking a skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec, about an hour and a half from Montreal. The injury was followed by a lucid interval

The Shining movie

, when Richardson seemed to be fine and was able to talk and act appropriately. Paramedics and an ambulance which initially responded to the accident were told they were not needed and left. ^{Keeping Up with the Steins film [15]}

Jack Said video

Refusing medical attention, she returned to her hotel room and about three hours later was taken to a local hospital after complaining of a headache. She was transferred from there by ambulance to the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal in critical condition and was admitted about seven hours after the fall.^{[ buy Home of the Brave}

The Master of Disguise full movie

16 Run Silent Run Deep rip

Kramer vs. Kramer movie

]

The Poker House release

[17]

Little Miss Sunshine buy

• Inhabited film

• download Catch and Release movie

The following day she was flown to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, where she died on 18 March.^{[1 The Lazarus Project ]} An autopsy conducted by the New York City Medical Examiners Office on 19 March revealed the cause of death was an “epidural hematoma due to blunt impact to the head”, and her death was ruled an accident.^[15]

Now, this is all pure speculation from my part at this point, but I think until all the details are out, speculating is all we can do.

[UPDATE #3]
Billy’s wife Deborah Mays just released the following statement:

Although Billy lived a public life, we don’t anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times.

Slaughter hd

[UPDATE #4]

Discovery Channel spokeswoman Elizabeth Hillman released a statement

The Trial of Billy Jack ipod

Sunday extending sympathy to the Mays family.

”Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth,” Hillman’s statement said. ”Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend.”

[UPDATE #5]

Preliminary results of an autopsy for TV pitchman Billy Mays were released at noon showing no sign that external factors caused his death.

The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner Department began conducting the autopsy this morning.

During a noon a news conference, Dr. Vernard Adams said the autopsy revealed signs of heart disease and cholesterol, but no evidence of any external or internal injuries.

“There has been speculation about an impact to the head that Mr. Mays received during a recent hard aircraft landing. The autopsy found no external or internal head trauma,” Dr. Adams said.

Dr. Adams said heart disease is capable of causing sudden death, but stopped short of ruling it the cause of death.

Feel free to add your comments below:

Michael Jackson died in an LA hospital today, after suffering cardiac arrest. I never was much of a fan, but he certainly was an iconic figure in music. I doubt any album will ever top “Thriller”.

California is the new Mexico, and Californians are the new Mexicans: They emigrated during boom times to what they saw as greener pastures.  Even in good times, they were seen with annoyance by the locals.  Now, when the tide has gone down and everyone is in dire straits, that local annoyance has turned to resentment.  They shouldn’t be here.  They should go back to where they came. They shouldn’t have come here in the first place. We don’t want any more of their kind.

Blue Velvet dvdrip

The Great Waldo Pepper dvd

Once Bitten film

• Auntie Mame hd

Christine psp The Fantastic Planet buy Why I Wore Lipstick to My Mastectomy hd

Reversible Errors Final Destination 3 video

You think I’m going overboard with the comparisons?  Read the following:

Bend [Oregon], a former timber town that now has 80,000 residents, was particularly popular among those drawn to the often rainy Northwest because it is located on the sunny side of the Cascade Range. Now the Mexicans who contributed to Oregon’s growth are in some cases adding to its economic struggle. As of May, Oregon had the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 12.4 percent, behind Michigan.

Not all of the newcomers are from Mexico, of course. Lost equity, lost jobs and the possibility of foreclosure also threaten people who moved here from just across the Cascade Range, on the wetter western side of Oregon, as well as some from Seattle or the East. Measuring Mexico’s economic impact on Oregon and its struggles is difficult, and economists say that Oregon, which has less than a tenth of the population of Mexico, has not always been directly affected by its neighbor’s fortunes.

“Mexico immigrants can never win in Oregon,” said Philip J. Romero, an economist who has advised governors in both states. “In a boom, ‘They are crowding the roads and bidding up house prices.’ In a bust, it’s: ‘They alone caused the price of my house to drop by hundreds of thousands of dollars. They came up here without a job, and now we can’t absorb them and they’re competing for my job.’”

“Shhh,” Biff Ingels, a transplant of four years, standing outside the main job counseling center here, said when asked where he had lived before. “Mexico,” he said in a whisper.

Zachary Lauritzen, a student teacher at Summit High School, on Bend’s west side — the side some residents call “Little Mexico” — said he was teaching a lesson in government when the topic prompted him to ask how many students had lived in Mexico.

“Half of them raised their hands,” Mr. Lauritzen said.

• Buddy Buddy dvd

SpaceCamp divx

Stay Out

The previous paragraphs could have been written almost anytime in the last decade, almost anywhere in the Southern US.  However, they were originally not written about Mexicans.  They were written about Californians.

Those lines were taken almost verbatim from a 6/18/2009 article in the New York Times.

24: Redemption dvd Why “almost”? Because the words “California” and “Californian” were replaced with “Mexico” and “Mexican”, respectively.  This is how they read originally:

Bend, a former timber town that now has 80,000 residents, was particularly popular among those drawn to the often rainy Northwest because it is located on the sunny side of the Cascade Range. Now the Californians who contributed to Oregon’s growth are in some cases adding to its economic struggle. As of May, Oregon had the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 12.4 percent, behind Michigan. California, which has not released its May figures, ranked fifth in April.

Not all of the newcomers are from California, of course. Lost equity, lost jobs and the possibility of foreclosure also threaten people who moved here from just across the Cascade Range, on the wetter western side of Oregon, as well as some from Seattle or the East. Measuring California’s economic impact on Oregon and its struggles is difficult, and economists say that Oregon, which has less than a tenth of the population of California, has not always been directly affected by its neighbor’s fortunes.

“California immigrants can never win in Oregon,” said Philip J. Romero, an economist who has advised governors in both states. “In a boom, ‘They are crowding the roads and bidding up house prices.’ In a bust, it’s: ‘They alone caused the price of my house to drop by hundreds of thousands of dollars. They came up here without a job, and now we can’t absorb them and they’re competing for my job.’ ”

“Shhh,” Biff Ingels, a transplant of four years, standing outside the main job counseling center here, said when asked where he had lived before. “California,” he said in a whisper.

Zachary Lauritzen, a student teacher at Summit High School, on Bend’s west side — the side some residents call “Little California” — said he was teaching a lesson in government when the topic prompted him to ask how many students had lived in California.

“Half of them raised their hands,” Mr. Lauritzen said.

Welcome to the unwanted club, Californians. Firestorm download

.

Know Thy Enemy download

Neolibrarium, a site which specializes in Books, Book Reviews, and pretty much anything having to do with literary works, is in the early stages of a daunting mission: to publish 40 posts (mostly book reviews) over the span of 40 days.

Read the rest of this entry »

What do you do when your residents are suffering through the worst economic climate since the Great Depression? Well, if you are a state in the U.S., you tax them some more.

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (yes, there is such a group. I imagine their conventions must be loads of fun.), the total cost of new taxes and fees to states’ residents would total up to $23.9 BILLION dollars, and that is on top of the $726 million tax and fee increases in 2009.

States need money

Recommended net tax and fee changes would result in $23.9 billion in additional revenue based on governors’ recommended fiscal 2010 budgets. For fiscal 2010, 29 states recommend net increases while five states recommend net decreases. This amount well exceeds fiscal 2009, when states recommended $726 million tax and fee increases, as sixteen states recommended net decreases while eleven state recommended net increases.

Fortunately, it doesn’t look like Texas is on the list of worst offenders. At a glance, that title seems to go to New York. Just look at the list of proposed increases in Sales Tax alone:

Revenge of the Boarding School Dropouts psp
And if you think THAT’S bad, wait you haven’t seen the fee changes for New York yet:

Get ready for Government Motors: General Motors Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy early Monday

Antitrust video

, marking the humbling of an American icon that once dominated the global car industry and setting up a high-stakes gamble for U.S. taxpayers. The move was once viewed as unthinkable but became inevitable after years of losses and market share declines that were capped by a dramatic plunge in sales in recent months.

Police Academy 6: City Under Siege move

Once Upon a Time in America full movie

Still Waiting…

Immortel (ad vitam) buy

General/Government Motors

The bankruptcy filing marks the climax of a lengthy debate over the auto maker’s future after it sought a bailout from the U.S. government in December to stay alive. In the end, GM couldn’t complete its restructuring out of court and filed for bankruptcy-court protection to get billions more in aid from U.S. taxpayers.

In the end, even $19.4 billion in federal help wasn’t enough to keep the nation’s largest automaker out of bankruptcy. The government will pour another $30 billion into GM to fund operations during its reorganization. The Canadian and Ontario governments are putting in $9.5 billion for a 12.5% stake.

The reorganization faces myriad risks, ranging from legal challenges to the uncertainty of when consumer demand for new cars will rebound. In becoming GM’s new owner, the government is also entering largely unexplored terrain filled with political minefields, notably the possibility of meddling by Congress in the company’s daily operations and business plans.

In bankruptcy, the auto maker will split apart into two companies: a leaner new GM and a so-called old GM, which will include the pieces that will be wound down. GM intends to accomplish the split through a Section 363 sale, which would transfer the new GM assets to an entity owned by the U.S. and Canadian governments, the United Auto Workers union and the company’s unsecured creditors.

The question now facing 56,000 auto workers, 3,600 GM dealers and the Obama administration: Will it work?

buy Nights in Rodanthe

• download Sex in the Ancient World: Prostitution in Pompeii
  The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement buy

  download Atonement movie

Pig Hunt dvdrip