Friends and family that know me are aware that I’m not a super hero, but if I were my super power would be sarcasm. No, I’m not that good, but since it’s one of my more noticable traits it’s often looked upon as one of my strengths. Of course, this only helped me to find people that disliked me in school (they were stupid anyway, that’s why they were in school – which is where I was).

In order to get some good karma (just in case.. you never know when you may need it) I decided to buy a new computer for a family member. Since this someone that doesn’t necessarily need a high end computer system, I decided to avoid buying an Alienware computer and instead bought a Dell. Looking back, I should have bought some Taiwanese made HP or Gateway (are they still in business?).

Since I bought the computer, I was somehow volunteered to hook it up. I removed the old computer and figured that within minutes I would be finished… nope. Karma really dislikes me and everything I do. I must have been re-incarnated from an animal-abusing, child-hating, hippy-loving, homophobic or something else really bad. The computer powered on, but the hard disk was not seen by the BIOS. Here comes the wrath of good deads back upon me and up my ass sideways with a ping pong paddle.

I spent a few minutes diagnosing the problem. I opened the case removed the SATA cables from all three devices, two optical units and the HDD (hard disk drive). Then I removed the devices power cables and ran one of the power cables from the BIOS recognized optical unit to the HDD. Then placed one of the SATA cables from optical onto the HDD and into the SATA slot 0 on the motherboard. Still no recognition in the BIOS. I plugged everything back in, putting all connections back into the way the computer was sent and pulled out a SATA laptop HDD, plugging it into the desktop’s HDD cables. The BIOS was happy and wanted to boot into Windows. I’ve diagnosed the problem, and only spent like 4 minutes doing it. Now comes the pain…

I called Dell tech support (800-624-9896) and waited on hold for 19 minutes before getting a hold of someone I usually buy Slurpee’s from, I should have just headed down to 7/11 and picked up a Big Gulp while I was there. After being given a series of useless questions about power cables and USB devices, I got transferred to someone in the laptop support department (800-624-9897), who told me that I would need to speak with someone in the desktop support department. No sh*t Sherlock, thanks!

Of course I was disconnected, because the phone transferring for the Indians (dots, not feathers) is too difficult. I called back and waited on hold for another 13 minutes, which was quicker most likely due to the disconnecting phone callers. I started speaking with someone that was able to give me a case number which I would later be asked for, later, when I was disconnected again because manuals aren’t available in India and putting someone on hold is too hard for the computer support department in Nepal.

I called back, a third time, and waited about 9 minutes until my cell phone battery started giving up on me (Motorola V557 cell phones suck the ball-sweat between a marathon runners legs). It wouldn’t be until the next day that I got to speak with someone from “Dell”.

One Day Later

I’ve decided that getting Dell on the phone might not be enough, so I decided that I would call Dell and also communicate with someone online (http://www.dell.com/chat) and see if either one would maintain an open line of communication throughout the process. If both ways worked, I would be able to write a post about the double-teaming of Dell. You’ll notice that this post isn’t about that though.

I called Dell and started out with giving my case number. That didn’t do any good for the support tech that told me nothing was listed in my case except my name. Wonderful. After speaking for about 30 more seconds the rep on the phone asked my name. What? Didn’t he just tell me that my name was the only information on file? Great start Habib!

Simultaneously I started a chat session with Kanhaya_148312 (funny, they have so many Kanhaya’s that they give them numbers – India must not have many unique names available, though I’ve heard a comedian mention that in order spell the name of an Indian you would need to periodic chart of elements to show (the sign of boron).

Well.. as I’m writing this post I realize that it’s about to be as long as my support time from Dell so I’m going to start shortening it from here.

Phone support asked me to do crazy things with the computer (thankfully I have no shame and felt lonely), including unplugging all cables externally and holding the power button down for 30 seconds. Eventually (after about 30 minutes of ridiculous and time wasting steps and lots of hold times) phone support came through the victor, as they were going to send a replacement hard disk!

As for the chat support.. it ended like my first phone calls. I was hung up on through chat. Here’s the chat log for those of you interested though, it ended with me being hung up on through chat.. I’m telling you, karma just isn’t something I think that I’ll be worrying about anymore.

7:02:07 AM System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat

7:02:07 AM System Connected with Kanhaya_148312 : 

7:02:07 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Thank you for contacting Dell Technical Chat Support. My name is Kanhaya and my rep ID number is 148312. How may I assist you?

7:02:29 AM Michael : I bought a new computer. The hard dik is not recognized.

7:03:00 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Michael, I apolozise for the inconvenience caused to you.

7:03:35 AM Michael : The computer is an Inspiron 530.
7:03:52 AM Kanhaya_148312 : I understand your concern and I will personally attend to the issue. Please give me 2 to 3 minutes to pull up your account information.

7:04:17 AM Michael : case # *** *** 051
7:04:37 AM Michael : I’ve been somehow disconnected like 3 times from support over the last 12hours.

7:05:07 AM Kanhaya_148312 : I apolozise for the disconnects and inconvenience caused to you.

7:05:12 AM Kanhaya_148312 : As per our records you are using an Inspiron D 530 with Windows VISTA HOME PREM Edition installed on it. Is that correct?

7:05:37 AM Michael : I don’t know what OS is installed on the hard disk. The computer won’t boot into Windows. It’s suppose to have that OS though.

7:05:57 AM Kanhaya_148312 : How long have you been facing this issue?

7:06:15 AM Michael : The problem has been happening since last night when I unboxed it. Besides that it’s been great.
7:06:32 AM Kanhaya_148312 : I see.

7:06:57 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Michael, are you near to the system with which you are facing the issue?

7:07:16 AM Michael : I have the system here.
7:07:46 AM Michael : When I turn on the computer is shows “No boot device available, press Enter key to retry”

7:08:12 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Michael, please do not worry, we will perform some steps and we will surely fix the issue.

7:10:03 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Michael, please restart the system and press F2 key as the system is powering on.

7:10:31 AM Michael : Alright, I’m in the BIOS.

7:11:42 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Please let me know if you see a hard drive detected there.

7:12:14 AM Michael : There are no hard disks detected.

7:12:29 AM Kanhaya_148312 : I see.

7:13:10 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Michael, you will need to check the power connections of the hard drive with the system.

7:13:53 AM Kanhaya_148312 : You will need to remove the system cover and reseat the cables attached to the hard drive.

7:13:58 AM Kanhaya_148312 : I will provide you with the link to do that.

7:15:38 AM Kanhaya_148312 : http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/inspd530/EN/OM/parts.htm#wp1508953

7:16:23 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Please open this link to remove the system cover.

7:16:53 AM Michael : I have unplugged the cables and plugged them back in.

7:17:11 AM Michael : I restarted the computer, the BIOS is not showing a HDD (hard disk drive).

7:17:12 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Great.

7:17:35 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Are you able to see the CD drive there?

7:18:01 AM Michael : I AM . Both CD drives are present (CD-RW and DVD-RW).

7:18:06 AM Michael : I’ve already attempted to switch SATA positions of the CD-ROM and the HDD, it did not work.

7:18:23 AM Kanhaya_148312 : I see.

7:18:31 AM Michael : I’ve also tried powering the HDD with the power cable from the CD-ROM, it did not work.

7:19:04 AM Michael : I then took the data cable from the CD-ROM and used that cable instead, that did not make a difference.

7:20:18 AM Kanhaya_148312 : I see.

7:20:33 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Michael : , we will need to replace the hard drive.

7:21:03 AM Kanhaya_148312 : May I know the address where you want me to send the hard drive?

7:21:56 AM Michael : (address removed to save me from getting more death threats in person)

7:22:31 AM Michael : When you send the new HDD, will it be pre-installed with whatever s/w was suppose to be installed upon this HDD?
7:22:43 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Yes, that is correct.

7:23:15 AM Kanhaya_148312 : may I send the service technician to replace the hard drive or can you do it yourself?
7:23:47 AM Michael : Whichever is easier for Dell. I’m fully capable of replacing the HDD myself.
7:24:43 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Michael, may I send the service technician to replace the hard drive or can you do it yourself
7:24:57 AM Michael : Umm.. Whichever is easier for Dell. I’m fully capable of replacing the HDD myself.
7:25:49 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Michael, I will send the service technician to your place to replace the hard drive for you.
7:26:10 AM Kanhaya_148312 : May I have the best number where the service technician can contact you?
7:27:33 AM Michael : If you send the hard disk, I can replace it myself. If you would rather have a technician do it, that’s fine with me but not necessary.
7:28:27 AM Michael : Replacing the HDD would only take a few minutes, seems unnecessary to have someone else do it.
7:28:58 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Al right, then I will send the hard drive to you and you will need to replace it yourself.
7:29:06 AM Michael : Understood.
7:29:28 AM Michael : Will you be including the means for me to return the failed HDD (like a return shipping sticker)?
7:29:29 AM Kanhaya_148312 : Kindly stay online for 2-3 minutes while I provide you the dispatch number for future reference.
7:29:42 AM Michael : ok
7:30:42 AM System The session has ended!

1.	The Third World The kyoto protocol and the press in general give third world countries a pass on pollution. The problem is that third world countries have the largest populations and the fewest pollution saving technologies. As a result of China will surpass the United States as the global leader in carbon emissions by 2009 and seven of the ten most polluted cities in the world are in China. Each year China’s pollution increase is greater than all of the pollution produced by the United Kingdom. PC SOLUTION: Encourage third world countries to focus on native/aboriginal life rather than the hassle and bussle of developed nations. FASTER SOLUTION: Carpet bomb the third world back into the stone age, we need the save what little gas there is for the good countries.
2.	Children They are cute, and who doesn’t love a little kid (especially Catholic priests – but their coming up next). The problem is that the land can only support so many humans. In 1900 there were less than 1.5 billion people, today there are 6 billion and this is expected to increase to 9 billion by 2050. Each person produces a certain amount of waste and without industrialization the environment could only support a tiny fraction of today’s population. PC SOLUTION: Institute a one-child policy like China to start reducing world population. FASTER SOLUTION: Pet owners have to spay and neuter their pets to be responsible – institute a similar requirement for children.
3.	Catholics, Mormons & Muslims The Catholic church, Mormons and Muslims all have a well established track record of discouraging birth control. Well intentioned missionaries also brought with them goats and other non-indigenous cattle whose overgrazing of pastures led to soil erosion and desertification. Sorry but all three of these religions have to be banned for the sake of the planet. PC SOLUTION: Continue to pass laws that require churches to conform to modern life, eventually people will quit going to church like in Europe. FASTER SOLUTION: Ban religions that don’t conform to reduced population, we can have an environmental inquisition (no-one expects the green inquisition).
4.	Technology Remote controls, TVs, iPods and computers are all cool to play with but all have very short shelf lives and are typically obsolete before production ever begins. Most gadgets require plastics, rare metals and their production and disposal is spoiling the planet. Electrical infrastructure alone requires millions of miles of cables, outlets, cords and that doesn’t even get into producing the power in the first place. PC SOLUTION: Require a tax on new products and encourage products that can be upgraded. FASTER SOLUTION: Go for the Taliban approach and start destroying technology, let the streets run red with dead iPods.
5.	Immigrants People from less developed nations are surging into developed nations contributing to population growth in nations that would have shrinking populations. Increasing populations in developed worlds that consume huge amounts of energy per capita is an import that should be discouraged. PC SOLUTION: Encourage economic growth in poorer countries, the rich countries should pay for the poor ones so everyone is equal. FASTER SOLUTION: Forget fences, go for minefields and lasers – it worked in East Germany.
6.	Cars It is estimated that between production and disposal half of the pollution created by a vehicle is accomplished without ever driving the car a mile. Even electric powered cars have zinc batteries which is horrible to mine, have short life spans and the electricity still has to come from somewhere. PC SOLUTION: Encourage cleaner and cleaner vehicles, eventually we will have cars that run on water and last for decades. FASTER SOLUTION: People are too fat, make them walk to their home sand back.
7.	Buildings Modern construction with carpets, paint, electric lighting, insulation, concrete, wood all of these elements combine to make many of our homes more toxic inside than out. PC SOLUTION: Encourage eco-friendly buildings and with a smaller population the planet can forgive us this one luxury. FASTER SOLUTION: Abandon our cities and run for the forest and caves – it’s how man was meant to live.
8.	Shoplifters / Criminals The fastest growing industries in many countries are police and security. Prison populations are swelling and the impact of all the CCTV security cameras, gates, locks, alarms are staggering. Simply look at the packaging for many products used to combat shoplifting with dozens of times the necessary packaging used to make products harder to steal. PC SOLUTION: Explain to people that stealing is bad, and that it hurts the environment and if they don’t stop the planet will die. FASTER SOLUTION: The oldest laws written in the world (the Code of Hammurabi) sentenced criminals to hand chopping’s – these sorts of extreme punishments actually deter crime.
9.	Drug Use Drugs can permanently damage developing fetuses in a similar fashion to alcohol abuse. Humans are literally polluting their own bodies with drugs that frequently contain toxic chemicals and cause brain damage. Technically drugs qualify as pollution so they need to be banned. PC SOLUTION: As global warming fears subside and the planet comes into harmony people won’t need drugs anymore. FASTER SOLUTION: Prisons are too expensive, summary executions are a huge deterrent and further reduce the population.
10.	Books Nearly 4 billion trees worldwide are cut down each year for paper, representing about 35% of all harvested trees. The production of paper has toxic side effects and those trees could be busy cleaning up carbon dioxide and saving us from global warming. PC SOLUTION: Let’s go paperless, we already have laptops people can just download their books and save a tree. FASTER SOLUTION: Let’s burn ban books and make everyone tell stories again like in the good old caveman days.

Honorable Mention: Genetically deficient people reproducing, makeup, fluorescent lights (full of mercury), bottled water, and soap (French are ahead of the curve on this one).

Sadly humans are to blame for this and the planet would be a whole lot better off without us, perhaps the least politically correct solution is for us to all kill ourselves before the planet is destroyed.

In recent days, the Dutch prime minister has reiterated warnings that his country’s citizens and businesses could be attacked because of the film; the European Union’s executive commission has confirmed it sent talking points on the film to E.U. missions abroad; and NATO’s secretary general has voiced concern that the film could increase the risk to Dutch troops serving in Afghanistan.

Outspoken right-wing Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders said he made the movie to support his contention that the Koran — which Muslims revere as the revealed word of Allah to the prophet Mohammed — inspires “intolerance, murder and terror.”

A Dutch court has agreed to examine a lawsuit filed by a Muslim group to ban an anti-Qur’an film by a hot-headed far-right lawmaker as the government launched a diplomatic offensive to limit the expected fallout.

“It’s a request for summary judgment,” Hague District Court spokeswoman Paula Koning was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The Islamic Federation has asked the court to appoint a panel of experts to review the documentary prepared by MP Geert Wilder and see if it should be banned.

The court will rule on the Muslim lawsuit by March 28.

A majority of Dutch people want an anti-Koran film made by a politician to be broadcast even though they fear it will stoke tension with Muslims and harm relations with Arab countries, a poll showed on Wednesday.

The poll by TNS NIPO for RTL television showed that 54 percent thought the film should be broadcast although 76 percent expected it to increase tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims and 74 percent saw worsening relations with Arab nations.

The video is controversial and Wilders comments “The Koran is a facist book which incites violence,writes Geert Wilders. That is why this book, just like Mein Kampf, must be banned.”

A moderate Islam does not exist. It does not exist because there is no difference between Good Islam and Bad Islam. There is Islam and that it the end of it. Islam is the Koran, and nothing other than the Koran. And the Koran is the Mein Kampf of a religion that desires to eliminate others- non –Muslims-who are called infidel dogs, and inferior creatures. Read the Koran, that Mein Kampf, yet again. In whatever version and you will see that the evil which the sons of Allah against us and themselves has perpetrated comes from that book”.(Oriana Fallaci”The Force of Reason” post-script page 305 February 2006)

Ehsan Jami is one such infidel dog who had the courage to call the Prophet Mohammed a criminal and for referring to some of the strictures of the Koran as backwards and who got it into his head to stand up for other apostate dogs and even organized a committee for them. Allah finds that the death penalty is warranted for apostasy. Last Saturday that was almost a reality: the infidel Jami was beaten bloody by two Morrocans and one Somalian.

In various Sura’s Muslims are called upon to oppress, persecute, or kill Jews, Christians and others, believers and non –believers and to beat women and to rape and to use violence to implement a worldwide Islamist state. Numerous other Sura’s are used by Muslims to incite to death and destruction.

Rioting will begin in 3, 2, 1…

Geert Wilders website

Wiki on Geert Wilders

Because some of my email addresses have been around for many years, I get to sift through pounds and pounds of email. Within the last couple weeks, I’ve received the same message on multiple email accounts, questions about it from friends, and today a question about it from family. Time to me to warn people about the phishing site “paypal-secure-login.com” before anyone gets scammed.

I went to the site and noticed that it took a long time to load. I pinged the domain name in order to find out what IP address the server responds with, which is 212.199.95.108. I went to Arin and put in the IP address. The result made sense for the website being slow to load, it’s hosted in Amsterdam. The website connection seems slow because chances are the servers are all high.

Looking at the website, it doesn’t look too dissimilar from the real Paypal login site.

Let’s take a quick look at the site and compare it to the real Paypal site though, only we won’t just look at it quickly, we’ll compare it more closely.

The main horizontal link structure looks the same. It even has the same links. Of course, this is pretty smart that most phishing sites don’t take the time to replicate (or steal), because the don’t want you to leave their site. This site takes the chance of you leaving, but gives you a realistic opportunity while you are on the page. We’ll get to the different color address bars in a minutes.

There is definitely something not matching when you look at the bottom status bar, that would be the JavaScript error. Since not all browsers show the status bar (in IE 7 it needs to be enabled for viewing) this is something that might go undetected. Something you can see more obviously in a side-by-side comparison is the lock picture next to the “Account login” words. Though this detail is so minute that it might be missed by even daily Paypal visitors.

The URL looks pretty legit, it has the word “paypal” in it. Notice that it’s not a secure login though. SSL is something that phishing sites don’t attempting to fake (though it is easy to generate SSL certificates). The reason is that phishing sites aren’t trying to get you or me, they are trying to get people not paying attention or just ignorant. The links on both sites are almost entirely the same… including the “Log In” link.

One click on the SSL certificate shows that there the real Paypal site has a certificate from one of the trusted certificate issuers on the Internet.

Small differences continue, this time with the arrow icon next to the language drop down. Both drop down menus have the same options. Without that SSL cert, this looks really realistic.

Sloppiness apparently occurred when the new bottom horizontal links menu was created. Those bottom window links don’t exist on the real Paypal site.
Actually, the only non-Paypal link on the fake-Paypal site was for the “Developers” link. The link doesn’t go anywhere, it just errors out on the fake site, but it’s still one of very few errors on this copy-site.

This is a really good fake phishing site, and should be taken down immediately. Chances are the Amsterdamians are too high to react to requests for the site to be taken down.

If you have any questions about potential phishing sites, please let us know.

The State Department says Serbian security “wasn’t adequate” at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade when protesters overran it and set it on fire.

Spokesman Sean McCormack also says U.S. officials warned Serbian leaders that the U.S. would hold them personally responsible for further damage to the embassy.

Serb rioters set fire to an embassy office Thursday and police clashed with protesters outside other embassy buildings after an estimated 150,000 people demonstrated against Kosovo’s declaration of independence.

Serbian TV showed someone trying to set fire to the U.S. flag at the embassy, which was closed and unstaffed when the masked protesters attacked.

Riot police fired tear gas at the rioters and lines of armored vehicles were on the streets before the embassy perimeter was secured. A State Department official told CNN “things are under control.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said; “We are in contact with the Serbian government to ensure that they devote the appropriate assets to fulfill their international obligations to help protect diplomatic facilities in this case.”

Kosovo declared independence last Sunday and the United States was among the first countries to offer official recognition of its split from Serbia.

Bratislaw Grubacic, chief editor of VIP magazine in Belgrade, said police reported 32 people injured, including 14 police officers. Video Watch as a protester tries to set fire to the embassy flag »

Teresa Gould, a translator for Belgrade TV, said the Croatian Embassy next door also was attacked. Police quickly rounded up the demonstrators, witnesses said. Video Watch as witness says protestesters threw rocks, Molotov cocktail »

Smaller groups attacked police posts outside the Turkish and British embassies in another part of the city but were beaten back, The Associated Press reported.

The violence was part of a much bigger, peaceful demonstration where up to 150,000 people chanted ‘Kosovo is Serbia,” and vowed to never accept the province’s independence.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who earlier addressed the peaceful rally, said “Kosovo is Serbia’s first name.” He called the declaration of independence last Sunday illegal and said will do all he can to get it annulled.

State railroads provided free transport to protesters, and schools across the country were closed Thursday for the “Kosovo is Ours” rally in the Serb capital, The Associated Press reported.

News Article

So much for her perfect season…

Read More

The Archbishop of Canterbury is now facing demands to quit as the uproar over his comments has intensified.

Lord George Carey, Dr Williams’ predecessor, criticised his comments on sharia law and said that accepting the Islamic code would be a disaster for Britain.

Other leading bishops publicly contradicted Dr Rowan Williams’s call for Islamic law to be brought into the British legal system.

With the Church of England plunged into crisis, senior figures were said to be discussing the archbishop’s future.

One member of the church’s “Cabinet”, the Archbishop’s Council, was reported as saying: “There have been a lot of calls for him to resign. I don’t suppose he will take any notice, but, yes, he should resign.”

It was said that he could not believe the fury of the reaction. The most damaging attack came from the Pakistan-born Bishop of Rochester, the Right Reverend Michael Nazir-Ali.

He said it would be “simply impossible” to bring sharia law into British law “without fundamentally affecting its integrity”.

Sharia “would be in tension with the English legal tradition on questions like monogamy, provisions for divorce, the rights of women, custody of children, laws of inheritance and of evidence.

“This is not to mention the relation of freedom of belief and of expression to provisions for blasphemy and apostasy.”

Hitchens is decidedly on the left and a devout atheist but has such integrity that his internal compass steers beyond ideology, and just listening to his prose makes me feel like a total retard. I recommend listening to anything this guy has to say, you’d learn a lot and he’s got a very good sense of humor.

Hitchens Articles

Pedro Zapeta worked hard for three years, saving all his money until he had enough to attempt to sneak it across the border, out of the United States.  Unfortunately for Pedro, he decided to leave the U.S. on an airplane, which I’m positive is not the way he got into the U.S. several years ago.

Zapeta, who speaks no English, said he didn’t know he was running afoul of U.S. law by failing to declare he was carrying more than $10,000 with him. Anyone entering or leaving the country with more than $10,000 has to fill out a one-page form declaring the money to U.S. customs.Pedro also apparently wasn’t aware of other laws, like paying taxes.  Zapeta earned $5.50 an hour at most of the places where he washed dishes. When he learned to do more, he got a 25-cent raise.

Robert Gershman, one of Zapeta’s attorneys, said federal prosecutors later offered his client a deal: He could take $10,000 of the original cash seized, plus $9,000 in donations as long as he didn’t talk publicly and left the country immediately.

According to Gershman, the Internal Revenue Service wants access to cash that has been donated to Pedro in order to cover taxes on the donations and on the money Zapeta made as a dishwasher. Zapeta admits he never paid taxes.  Wow… what a surprise, don’t you think?

On Wednesday, Zapeta went to immigration court and got more bad news. The judge gave the dishwasher until the end of January to leave the country on his own. He’s unlikely to see a penny of his money.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Zapeta was given official status in the United States — voluntary departure — and a signed order from a judge. For the first time, he can work legally in the U.S.

By the end of January, Zapeta may be able to earn enough money to pay for a one-way ticket home so the U.S. government, which seized his $59,000, doesn’t have to do so.

Source

The latest victim

Give grandma a big kiss

Apparently Elizabeth is more comfortable in her ocean home, here seen swimming off of the coast of Hawaii. Where are the eskimos when you need them…

VILLAGER #1: If… she… weighs… the same as a duck,… she’s made of wood.

BEDEVERE: And therefore?

VILLAGER #2: A witch!

The WItch Test scene from Monty Python’s The Holy Grail.

Eight-times married Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor could be heading for yet another trip down the aisle as she declared her love for a wealthy businessman she met last year in Hawaii.

The veteran actress, 75, has ended months of speculation about her relationship with African-American businessman Jason Winters, who she described as “one of the most wonderful men I’ve ever known”.

Winters, who met Taylor while promoting her jewellery line, accompanied the actress to the Macy’s Passport 2007 AIDS event in Los Angeles last night.

She told showbiz bible Variety: “Jason Winters is one of the most wonderful men I’ve ever known and that’s why I love him.

“He bought us the most beautiful house in Hawaii and we visit it as often as possible.”

Despite years of crippling ill-health – she has been confined to a wheelchair for the past decade – Taylor was pictured swimming with sharks off Hawaii last year.

She plans to return to her new Hawaiian adopted home next week with Winters.

Dame Elizabeth, has been married eight times to seven men – twice to actor Richard Burton. Her last marriage, to construction worker Larry Fortensky ended in 1996 after five years.

Earlier this year, she celebrated her 75th birthday in Las Vegas in March with a star-studded party.

I’m not sure what can explain this, maybe he watched some Elizabeth Taylor movie as a child when she was in her prime…

But if you ask me that perfume she came up with has got to be front loaded with something, nearly 80 year old women don’t typically date people they aren’t paying. This guy has lots of cash and doesn’t look like a myspace horror story – there has to be something evil going on here.

She sold Richard Burton’s soul to the devil – this poor guy is next. She’s a witch! I mean when is the last time a guy saw some old lady in a wheel chair and thought he wanted to ride that.

News Article

After speaking with someone about doing a better job next time when edging my lawn, Juan (or Paco or Jesus or whatever his name is) complained that he was working harder than I was and I should mind be happy for getting the job I was. For purposes of this article, I asked Juan the Lawn Jockey if he was from Mexico or another South American location, his response was extremely aggressive. Apparently Juan and his friends and family and cousins and more cousins come from many places and consider themselves to be of different nationalities, including: Hispanics, Hispanic-Americans, Latinos, Latino-Americans.

Since I didn’t have the time to put down my champagne and didn’t want to pick up a cerveza, I pondered where on the map of “Hispanic-America” was located. If course, being mixed, Juan assured me that there is no place titled “Hispanic-America” yet but that could very well be where I’m living if I stay still for a few years.

From a census standpoint, being of Hispanic or Latino origin means a person identifies himself in one of four listed categories: Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or “other Spanish, Hispanic or Latino” origin. In the latter more open-ended category, respondents can write in specific origins, such as Salvadoran, Argentinean or Dominican. So I spoke with Maritza, my long-time maid of 4 months (fresh off the coyote truck). I was informed that being of different categories means as much to her and others like her as it does to me and my fellow super-anglo-master-race friends.

The U.S. government came up with the term “Hispanic” in the 1970s to generally refer to people who could trace their origin to Spanish-speaking countries. The term “Latino” refers to origins from Latin America, which includes non-Spanish speaking countries like Brazil. The terms are often used interchangeably, which is a point of some contention in the wider community. Though the truth is that before “Hispanic” was the term, there were dirtier and darker terms that most people will only hear during a Mexican Yo-Mama contest.

Overall it seems unclear what part of America is still white, or yellow, or brown, or black, or polk-a-dot. The easy to see truth is that America is a big mixing put, but eventually when you add enough light brown all things getting muddy looking.

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