Headlines/News links

[s dot carter]

www.tmz.com/2006/11/20/kramers-racist-tirade-caught-on-tape/

"Kramer's" Racist Tirade -- Caught on Tape

Apparently, theres video in this story showing the racist tirade. I can't view it at work though.

Michael Richards exploded in anger as he performed at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday, hurling racial epithets that left the crowd gasping, and TMZ has obtained exclusive video of the ugly incident.

Richards, who played the wacky Cosmo Kramer on the hit TV show "Seinfeld," appeared onstage at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. It appears two guys, both African-American, were in the cheap seats playfully heckling Richards when suddenly, the comedian lost it.

The camera started rolling just as Richards began his attack, screaming at one of the men, "Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a f***ing fork up your ass."

Richards continued, "You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherf**ker. Throw his ass out. He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger!"

The crowd is visibly and audibly confused and upset. Richards responds by saying, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a nigger."

One of the men who was the object of Richard's tirade was outraged, shouting back "That's un-f***ing called for, ain't necessary."

After the three-minute tirade, it appears the majority of the audience members got up and left in disgust.

Attempts to reach Richards' reps were unsuccessful.

ni99er = black person on the filters, which makes this story funnier in my opinion

[vinnypunditsheros]

I wonder if this was staged, like Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler on Letterman. If it wasn't staged, then Kramer's nuts.

I didn't even realize the censors kicked in until I read, "They're going to arrest me for calling a black man a black person."

[rimrockajrbitch]

Last March, Colombia seized a homemade sub near San Buenaventura, Colombia. No drugs were found but officials estimated it was capable of transporting four tons of drugs.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15811689/

[mikenice]

The Richard's video is hard to see and hear... but you can make out enough of his epithets.

I was wondering the same thing, Vinny, while I watched it. It could be Kaufman-like, as in it's his own personal joke and he just wanted to offend people. Although, I thought Richards and Kauffman had that little spat back in the day on that improv show.

I'll be interested to see what happens.

[CosmonautLaunchPad]

mikenice said:

The Richard's video is hard to see and hear... but you can make out enough of his epithets.

I was wondering the same thing, Vinny, while I watched it. It could be Kaufman-like, as in it's his own personal joke and he just wanted to offend people. Although, I thought Richards and Kauffman had that little spat back in the day on that improv show.

I'll be interested to see what happens.

I just watched it on my computer at home, and I could hear him clear as a bell. Sounds like he just snapped.

[vinnypunditsheros]

He was on Letterman via satelite last night. He apologized using a couple wacky hand movements like Kramer. He said it was eating him up inside. The audience laughed, and Seinfeld (the real guest) told them it wasn't funny.

Kramer said the classic line, "I'm not a racist!"

[vinnypunditsheros]

I just read a story on CNN.com and 'related links' listed struck me as funny.

Related Links:
Michael Richards
Racism
Comedy
Jerry Seinfeld

[rimrockajrbitch]

hes lucky he went off in hollywood because i think if he was anywhere else he would have gotten a nice well deserved beating.

[CosmonautLaunchPad]

Kramer's tirade can be broken down into these parts:

The first outburst (fork up your ass): If he had stopped here, he would have been fine. A lot of comedians do a lot worse as part of their regular act.

2nd outburst (He's a N- He's a N-!!!) That's where it all went down hill. Obviously not trying to be funny, just exploding.

Remainder: Ackward attempts to try and spin it into part of the act. Now saying sexual chocolate and emphasizing the "a" part of it. And the "There's still those words, still those words" as if it was all just part of the show or he was just trying to demonstrate a point.

End: Realizes what he just said and what's going on, and just leaves.


Here's an interesting clip of Andy Kaufman and Kramer on YouTube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1wip6a2fMQ

[mikenice]

Yeah, Cosmo, that was the clip I was talking about in my post above.

[mikenice]

sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=2673087

Long hitter: Cosmonaut drives golf ball into orbit
Associated Press


WASHINGTON -- Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin was late for his tee time in space Wednesday, but he still managed to launch a super-lightweight golf ball into orbit -- even if he shanked his shot.
Tyurin hit the golf ball 77 minutes behind schedule after delays to fix an overheating spacesuit and a stuck exterior hatch.

Using a gold-plated six-iorn and an American astronaut in the role of caddie and safety holder, Tyurin hit the drive from a spring-like tee outside the international space station, 220 miles over the northwest Pacific Ocean. The shot, which veered a little to the right, kicked off a planned six-hour spacewalk.

"I can see it as a little dot moving away from us," Tyurin said.

But just how far did that baby go?

As in any golf story, it depends on who you talk to.

That drive went a billion miles -- or will by the time it eventually comes down in a couple years -- said Nataliya Hearn, the president of Element 21 Golf Company. The Toronto firm is paying the Ca$h-starved Russian space agency an undisclosed amount for the golf stunt to promote its new golf club that includes a space-program-derived metal.

That's a huge exaggeration, according to NASA's lead spacewalk flight director, Holly Ridings. She said NASA's calculations are that golf Ca$h & Prizes! would only stay up two to three days, which would put the drive closer to a mere million miles.

Just how far the golf ball travels won't be known until the ball burns up and enters Earth's atmosphere. The ball weighs 3 grams, only about 1/15th the weight of a normal golf ball. It weighs less to minimize any damage should it actually strike something.

Like many golfers, Tyurin spent several minutes trying to get comfortable addressing the ball, but unlike his Earth-bound counterparts, at times he was upside down. He was tethered to the space station and had astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria holding on to him.

With Moscow Mission Control deliberating on how to position the ball on the tee, Tyurin, a veteran spacewalker but rookie golfer who was already more than an hour late, was cranky about the advice.

"The ball is the least of our concerns," Tyurin said. "It's me that is supposed to be positioned properly."

NASA spacewalk commentator Rob Navias, who was not broadcasting in golf's traditional hushed tones, noted that Tyurin's shot sliced to the right. An agitated Tyurin opted not to take a planned second or third shot.

For a few tense minutes it looked like Tyurin might miss his tee time and spacewalk entirely when his space suit overheated and the bulky hatch door got stuck.

Tyurin told flight controllers in Moscow that his spacesuit was too hot, probably because of an excessively kinked cooling hose. Eventually, the suit started cooling, Tyurin got back in, and the tee time was a go.

After Tyurin's golf shot, Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria were slated to install science experiments, retract a stuck antenna on an attached cargo ship, and check out some bolts.

Tyurin's shot was not the first in space. Astronaut Alan Shepard took a swing on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.


Bevelwagon keeps me going my 14th hour of a work day.

[ricksmith80]

CAT DIALS 911

January 1, 2006 - COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Police aren't sure how else to explain it. But when an officer walked into an apartment Thursday night to answer a 911 call, an orange-and-tan striped cat was lying by a telephone on the living room floor. The cat's owner, Gary Rosheisen, was on the ground near his bed having fallen out of his wheelchair.

Rosheisen said his cat, Tommy, must have hit the right buttons to call 911.

"I know it sounds kind of weird," Officer Patrick Daugherty said, unsuccessfully searching for some other explanation.

Rosheisen said he couldn't get up because of pain from osteoporosis and ministrokes that disrupt his balance. He also wasn't wearing his medical-alert necklace and couldn't reach a cord above his pillow that alerts paramedics that he needs help.

Daugherty said police received a 911 call from Rosheisen's apartment, but there was no one on the phone. Police called back to make sure everything was OK, and when no one answered, they decided to check things out. That's when Daugherty found Tommy next to the phone.

Rosheisen got the cat three years ago to help lower his blood pressure. He tried to train him to call 911, unsure if the training ever stuck.

The phone in the living room is always on the floor, and there are 12 small buttons - including a speed dial for 911 right above the button for the speaker phone. "He's my hero," Rosheisen said.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

what can all the cat haters say now?

[mrsmiff]

I genuinely really like cats. I think they are cool animals. I know southhampton and rick share these feelings, anyone else?

[doogiehowsermd]

I am a big fan of "puss" too.

[doogiehowsermd]

Deputies: Naked man on crack when alligator attacked

LAKELAND -- Deputy Billy Osborne heard the man's cries for help but couldn't see him through the thick brush and pre-dawn darkness.

" 'I have two broken arms, and an alligator's got me pinned. I can't move. Please help me,' " the Polk County deputy sheriff recalled the man saying at a news conference Wednesday.

As Osborne listened, he followed the pleading voice through more than 20 yards of weeds in Lake Parker's murky, chest-deep water about 4 a.m.

Then he saw them: a naked man slumped over, caught in the jaws of a huge alligator amid thick cattails in bloodied water. He said the man, who had been using drugs and lost a lot of blood, seemed oddly calm.

Two other deputies came after, following the man's cries, Osborne's voice and the sounds of the alligator thrashing in the water.

Osborne grabbed the man's arm and tried to pull him free.

"We were pretty much playing tug of war," Osborne said.

After about 30 seconds, the alligator released the man, whom the Polk County Sheriff's Office identified as 45-year-old Adrian Apgar of nearby Polk City.

The gator nearly severed Apgar's left arm, broke his right arm, and took significant bites out of his buttocks and the back of a thigh. He underwent surgery Wednesday and was in critical condition, sheriff's officials said.

"We don't know whether he'll make it or not," Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said.

In all, it took three deputies and their sergeant about 20 minutes to find and rescue Apgar in Lake Parker.

Bringing the 6-feet-1, 250-pound victim to shore was a daunting task, the deputies said. They sank into the muddy lake bottom with every step.

"They were very tired," said Sgt. Andrew Williams, who joined the three deputies in the water to help bring Apgar to shore.

Judd said Apgar told deputies he had been smoking crack cocaine at the adjacent park, but it was unclear why he was naked or how he was attacked by the alligator.

A state wildlife official said investigators don't know whether Apgar was on land or in the water when he was attacked. Apgar told deputies he had fallen asleep on the beach before the gator dragged him into the water, but Judd said deputies aren't sure the man's account is accurate because of his drugged condition.

No one answered the door of Apgar's home, and neighbors knew little about him.

A Lakeland Regional Medical Center spokeswoman said Apgar's family had decided not to talk with reporters and asked that news of his condition not be released.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the attack.

A trapper caught a nearly 12-foot, 600-pound alligator Wednesday afternoon that investigators think could have been the one involved in the attack because it was feeding near where Apgar was found, agency spokesman Gary Morse said. The animal was to be destroyed later.

The deputies responded to Lake Parker, which is north of U.S. Highway 92 in east Lakeland, about 4:10 a.m. after receiving several calls about a man screaming for help.

Lakeland resident Lee Dominguez said he was fishing off a pier on the south side of the lake when he heard a man yelling for help, but he did not call 911.

"I thought someone was fighting," Dominguez said. "He was hollering for about 20 minutes."



Like the deputies, Dominguez said he couldn't see anyone in the dark.

Judd said he is "very proud" of his deputies and their rescue.

"[Apgar] is alive today, in extremely critical condition today, because of these deputies," Judd said.

At a news conference nearly 12 hours after the rescue, the deputies said they were fearful of the alligator and of possibly being attacked themselves as they waded through Lake Parker, known as a haven for the mammoth reptiles.

Osborne, who was about 2 feet from the gator when he engaged in the "tug of war," said he didn't hesitate to go after Apgar.

"He was dying. He needed help," Osborne said.

Deputy David Clements, the third to arrive at the site, said he heard the alligator thrashing and then silence.

"I was definitely afraid," Clements said. "We haven't had this training before, I can assure you that."

The deputies did not consider themselves heroes.

"We're here to serve the public," Williams said.

But Judd said otherwise. "They're absolutely heroes."