KILLSWITCH ENGAGE: Midwest, Canadian Dates Announced

Source: Blabbermouth.net

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=91909

Massachusetts KILLSWITCH ENGAGE will hit the road with THROWDOWN, POISON THE WELL and THE END as support acts.

May 10 – The Sound Academy – Toronto, ONT
May 11 – Elements Night Club – Kitchener, ONT
May 13 – Capitole du Quebec – Quebec City, QUE
May 14 – The Metropolis – Montreal, QUE
May 16 – The Orbit Room – Grand Rapids, MI
May 17 – Rock On The Range Festival – Columbus, OH (Radio show)
May 18 – Point Fest – St. Louis, MO (Radio show)
May 19 – The Eagles Club – Milwaukee, WI
May 20 – Val Air Ballroom – Des Moines, IA
May 22 – Community Auditorium – Thunder Bay, ONT
May 23 – Burton Cummings – Winnipeg, MAN
May 24 – Odeon Events Centre – Saskatoon, SAS
May 26 – Edmonton Events Center – Edmonton, AB
May 27 – MacEwan Hall Ballroom – Calgary, AB
May 29 – Croatian Cultural Center – Vancouver, BC

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Yet Another Reason EXXON/MOBIL Is The World’s Number 1 A**HOLE

Source: CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/27/scotus.exxon/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear whether Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages awarded to Alaskans for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster. The case has been through courts in a nearly two-decade dispute over Exxon’s legal and financial culpability in the infamous maritime environmental disaster.

Eleven million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound and the nearby Gulf of Alaska, at the southern end of the state, after the supertanker Exxon Valdez hit an offshore reef.

Exxon Mobil Corp. is going into the arguments Wednesday asking the high court to erase a federal court’s awarding of punitive damages to nearly 33,000 fishermen, Native Alaskans, landowners, businesses and local governments. The company claimed it had already paid many millions in government fines, as well as $3.4 billion in cleanup costs.

A jury awarded $5 billion to the plaintiffs in 1994. A federal court later cut that amount in half.

Much of the initial blame for the accident was placed on Capt. Joseph Hazelwood, who was cited by various courts for relapsed alcoholism that contributed to mistakes, leaving his vessel helplessly stuck on Bligh Reef.

Exxon still argues that it remains “hotly contested” whether Hazelwood was drunk at the time of the March 23, 1989, incident, and that a state court later cleared him of operating a vessel while intoxicated.

United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has withdrawn from the case. Although no reason was given, financial disclosure reports indicated the newest justice had owned substantial amounts of Exxon stock. Without him, the high court could wind up deadlocked 4-4, which would leave in place the lower court ruling favoring the Alaska residents.

A ruling is expected by late June.

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  How many of you remember when the spill happened in 1989? Well they STILL haven’t paid up. Remember I just posted a bulletin saying that Exxon/Mobil was in court with Venezuela? Well they’re fighting Alaska too. They are so big as a multi-national corporation that they are in court with entire states and countries. Exxon/Mobil are the reason people are fighting and dying in the Middle East. Oil Addiction. Perpetrated in the worlds biggest scam. A conspiracy you and I can BELIEVE in.

They won’t man up. It’s ‘not fair’ by Exxon Implication. ‘We wouldn’t be able to pay our CEOs 400 MILLION dollar bonus checks while everyone else nickel and dimes their way to the gas station, paying more and more of our beer and fuck-off money to line THEIR pockets.

‘We’re LOW on CASH’. This DESPITE the OTHER headline of this very day; ‘Oil Prices Highest EVER @ $102.08 a barrel’. This isn’t fiction here people. Or even science-fiction. It’s a FACT of our daily life. While you and I have been skipping merrily along on our happy little smurf trail la la la-ing the days and nights away Exxon/Mobil have been deliberately positioning themselves as the future rulers of Mankind. It will be Exxon/Mobil who heads off into space. It will be Exxon/Mobil who writes the destiny of the Human Race.

STOP buying ANYthing from these ASSholes. They are the Evil of the Modern World. They are LAUGHING at ALL OF US to our face, goading us to try and stop them. They have so much power and they don’t even try to hide it anymore. They HATE you and, in the grand scheme of things, you and I are NOTHING but a little gullible sheep (spelled: B-I-T-C-H) to them.

Exxon/Mobil RULES the world behind the scenes. According to the article above, they OWN at least ONE of our Supreme Court Justices. Is it so hard to imagine they are the puppet-masters behind the current crop of world leaders? Never mind George W. Bush.

Buy your cigarettes, Red Bull, morning coffee, beef jerky, early morning muffin, beer, peanuts, porno mags, etc. SOMEwhere else.

Be a part of the effort to save the world (from itself) and BAN Exxon/Mobil from your LIFE.

PROVE to Exxon/Mobil that WE see them for what they are. I encourage you to comment YOUR thoughts on my blog and to forgo any private messages on this topic.

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BLACK CROWES Puts the FLAP-Down On MAXIM Mag for Bogus Review

Source: CNN, The Associated Press

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/02/27/music.blackcrowes.maxim.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) — Maxim has apologized to its readers, but the Black Crowes are still waiting for the magazine to say sorry to the band for publishing a negative review of their new CD without listening to the full album.

“It comes as no surprise that Maxim has elected to apologize to their readers now that the world has been informed of their deception; however, that is not full accountability,” said the Crowes’ manager, Pete Angelus, on Tuesday.

Maxim editorial director James Kaminsky issued a statement earlier Tuesday apologizing to readers for the review in its March issue. The writer gave the Crowes’ “Warpaint” a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five — but hadn’t actually heard the entire disc.

The mea culpa came a few days after the Crowes posted a statement on their Web site saying such a review was impossible since advance copies of the CD, out on March 4, weren’t made available.

“It is Maxim’s editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety,” Kaminsky responded. “Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers.”

Angelus said Maxim was just doing “self-serving damage control.”

“The appropriate action from Maxim is to immediately issue a public apology to the Black Crowes for disparaging both the band and their soon-to-be released new album ‘Warpaint’ without having heard the material,” he said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the magazine declined comment when contacted by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

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The Flap-Down people.

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‘JUSTICE LEAGUE’ Movie Update: 2009 Release Planned

Source: Variety, ComingSoon.net

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=42372

Now that the writers strike has been resolved, Warner Bros. is pushing ahead with its plans to make Justice League in time for a 2009 debut, reports Variety.

Writers Kieran and Michele Mulroney are busy polishing up the script, which is expected back at the studio in several weeks, and the cast has been advised to keep training for their superhero roles. Director George Miller is in pre-production in Australia.

Adam Brody, cast as the Flash, is the biggest star in the superhero lineup. Rapper Common nabbed the Green Lantern role; other roles went to lesser-known actors such as Armie Hammer Jr. (Batman) and Megan Gale (Wonder Woman).

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Good news. CanNOT wait.

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DISTURBED: “INDESTRUCTIBLE” Album Sample, “PERFECT INSANITY”, Available For Streaming

Source: Blabbermouth.net

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=91674

A short audio sample of a new DISTURBED song, entitled “Perfect Insanity”, has been posted on the group’s MySpace page. The track is expected to appear on the band’s fourth studio album, “Indestructible”, due in late May via Reprise/Warner Bros.

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CHRISTIAN BALE to Star In TERMINATOR Sequel(s)

Source: Variety

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=42346

Warner Bros. Pictures has set a May 22, 2009 release date for Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, to be directed by McG and starring Christian Bale (The Dark Knight) and Sam Worthington (Avatar).

“Terminator Salvation” begins filming in New Mexico for two months on May 5. The film is part of a planned three-picture arc that begins after Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust. A group of survivors led by John Connor (Bale) struggles to stop the machines.

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I had no idea. I must’ve blinked. Starting to wonder if Bale was ever planning on sleeping again.

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MAXIM Magazine Apologizes For Bogus BLACK CROWES Review

Source: Yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080226/ap_en_ot/music_black_crowes_maxim

NEW YORK – Maxim magazine has apologized for publishing a negative review of the Black Crowes’ new album by a writer who hadn’t listened to the whole CD.

The review in Maxim’s March issue gives the Crowes’ “Warpaint” a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five. The band posted an exasperated statement on its Web site last week saying the Maxim writer hadn’t heard the entire album because advance copies weren’t available. The Crowes’ manager, Pete Angelus, said the magazine explained that its review was an “educated guess.”

Maxim editorial director James Kaminsky responded Tuesday with this statement: “It is Maxim’s editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers.”

A spokeswoman for the magazine contacted by The Associated Press declined to say whether the writer would face disciplinary action.

“Warpaint,” the Black Crowes’ first album in seven years, is set for release March 4. The blues-rock group, fronted by Chris Robinson, has released only one song from the disc, “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution.”

The band’s hits include “Hard to Handle” and “She Talks to Angels.”

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Hmmph… Nothing new to add other than the editor who filed thebogus review should be named and of course demoted to lifetime latrine duty, not for the Black Crowes sake, but more for all of the reviewers who sit through movies and music they genuinely don’t like and still manage some honest feedback.

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NORWAYs Fascinating Contribution to Mother Earth: ‘Doomsday Vault’

Source: Pierre-Henry Deshayes, Yahoo

http://green.yahoo.com/news/afp/20080224/sc_afp/norwayarcticenvironmentwarmingcrops.html

LONGYEARBYEN, Norway (AFP) – An Arctic “doomsday vault” filled with samples of the world’s most important seeds will be inaugurated this Tuesday. The vault, made up of three spacious cold chambers each measuring 27 x 10 metres (89 x 33 feet), create a long trident-shaped tunnel bored into the sandstone and limestone. It has the capacity to hold up to 4.5 million batches of seeds from all known varieties of the planet’s main food crops, making it possible to re-establish plants if they disappear from their natural environment or are obliterated by major disasters. The vault has been carved into the permafrost of a remote Arctic mountain, just some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the North Pole.

“The facility is built to hold twice as many varieties of agricultural crops as we think exist,” explained Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and project mastermind.

Norway has assumed the six million euro (8.9 million dollar) charge for building the vault in its Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, where ironically no crops grow and no trees can grow due to the permafrost and where the mercury plummets to an average 14 degrees Celsius below zero (6.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in winter.

Secured behind an airlock door, the three airtight chambers have the capacity to house duplicates of samples from all the world’s more than 1,400 existing seed banks. Many of the more vulnerable seed banks have begun contributing to the “doomsday vault” collection, but some of the world’s biodiversity has already disappeared, with gene vaults in both Iraq and Afghanistan destroyed by war and a seed bank in the Philippines annihilated by a typhoon. Pakistan and Kenya, both undergoing periods of serious unrest, have sent seed collections, while samples sent from Colombia have been closely scrutinised by police to avoid the project becoming a vehicle for drug trafficking.

By the time of the inauguration on Tuesday, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault should hold some 250,000 samples, which will remain the property of their countries of origin.

The Norwegian archipelago, which is home to some 2,300 people, was selected not despite but because of its inhospitable climate, as well as its remote location far from civil strife.

The seeds of wheat, maize, oats and other crops will be stored at a constant temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius, and even if the freezer system fails the permafrost will ensure that temperatures never rise above 3.5 degrees Celsius below freezing. Protected by high walls of fortified concrete, an armoured door, a sensor alarm and the native polar bears that roam the region, the “doomsday vault” has been built 130 metres (425 feet) above current sea level — high enough that it would not flood if the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melt entirely due to global warming.

The concrete cocoon has also been built to withstand nuclear missile attacks or a plunging plane, something that could come in handy in light of the 6.4-scale tremor — the biggest earthquake in Norway’s history — registered near the archipelago on Thursday.

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Thank you Norway.

Quite a task for the last remaining surviving humans (If there are any). Or I suppose some future alien visitors.

Can seeds really survive that long frozen?

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SEVENDUST Drops Off Of ROCKSTAR ENERGY MAYHEM Tour

Source: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=91579

SEVENDUST has dropped off the first Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour “due to changes in [the group's] touring schedule,” according to a statement released by the band. No further information was made available.

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Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour is currently being anchored by headliners Slipknot and Disturbed and will also feature Mastodon, Machine Head, Dragonforce and others on one of the biggest announced 2008 summer metal tour packages.

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LESTAT To Return In Final ANNE RICE Vampire Chronicle

Source: Carolyn Sayre, TIME Magazine

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1716849,00.html?cnn=yes

“One more book.”

Those are the words Anne Rice fans have been dying to hear about the Vampire Chronicles ever since her shocking — and dismaying to many of his followers — turn to religious writing. Long seen as a committed atheist, four years ago the best-selling author drove a stake through the hearts of her followers when she vowed to abandon her sinister stories and instead write only of the Lord.

Turns out, vampires aren’t that easy to kill. In an interview with TIME, the best-selling author of Interview with the Vampire and The Queen of the Damned, has revealed that she plans to write one last book about Lestat, the feared, yet beloved, blood-sucking main character in her gothic novel series. “When I published my first book about the Lord I said I would never write about those characters again,” Rice acknowledged. “But I have one more book that I would really like to write. It will be a story that I need to tell.”

Upon returning to the church after a more than three decade absence, the author in 2005 dramatically and publicly declared that she would never again return to writing about vampires. Said Rice in an interview with Christianity Today: “I would never go back, not even if they say you will be financially ruined. I would be a fool for all eternity to turn my back on God like that.”

But never say never. While Rice justifies her decision by saying the book will have a definite Christian framework and a focus on the theme of redemption, she admits that the future chronicle will once again involve the character Lestat and a fictional organization known as the Talamaska that is responsible for investigating the supernatural. Much like the author herself, Lestat will be wrestling with the existence of God throughout the story. “I don’t see it as a violation of my promise, because I won’t be writing about vampires in the same way,” Rice maintains.

Still, it is difficult to see it as anything but a change of heart. Rice says her next book will be a continuation of her multi-part series chronicling Jesus Christ’s life; the second novel in that saga, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, comes out March 4. She plans to write a third installment in that series before tackling what she now claims to be her final vampire book. For a prolific author who writes a book approximately every 15 months, that means it may be at least another three years before we once again see blood dripping off her pages.

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MAXIM Magazine Can Eat a Turd: Here’s Why

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/577/story/359279.html

NEW YORK –The Black Crowes are lashing out at Maxim magazine for reviewing the band’s new album – apparently without actually hearing it first.

The review, published in Maxim’s March issue, gives the Crowes’ “Warpaint” a rating of two-and-a-half stars out of five.

“The writer – who has not heard the album since advance CDs were not made available – wrote what appears to be a disparaging assessment anyway, citing, ‘it hasn’t left Chris Robinson and the gang much room for growth,’” said a statement on the band’s official Web site.

The band’s manager, Pete Angelus, said the magazine explained that its review was an “educated guess.”

“It speaks directly to the lack of the publication’s credibility,” Angelus said in a statement. “In my opinion, it’s a disgrace to the arts, journalism, critics, the publication itself and the public. What’s next – Maxim’s concert reviews of shows they never attended, book reviews of books never read and film reviews of films never seen?”

A representative for the magazine would not confirm or deny to The Associated Press whether the writer actually listened to the album. Instead, Maxim released this statement in response: “Maxim will continue to provide our readers with information that is important to them, whether it is about fashion, lifestyle, technology, music, movies and more.”

“Warpaint,” the band’s first album in seven years, is set for release March 4. The blues-rock group, fronted by Chris Robinson, has released only one song from the disc, “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution.”

The band’s hits include “Hard to Handle” and “She Talks to Angels.”

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F*** MAXIM Magazine. The explanation of the bogus review as an ‘educated guess’ is not just insulting to the band (and seriously folks I have no opinion on The Black Crowes by any stretch of the imagination) but to the two and a half million monthly discriminating (spelled: lol) readers of the wonderful periodical itself.

Is it that shocking that a journalist who indulged a little too much with the cocaine and strippers over the weekend while yelping “F*** muh deadlines… Imma party like a Rock Star and F*** like a Porn star’ would file a bogus review for a CD he hadn’t even heard? I don’t think so.

A good question to ask oneself though is if people are buying Maxim Magazine for journalistic integrity or is it just an ‘edgy’ girl-on-girl picture book with those annoying doodles in the corner of the page aka WORDS.

If opinions are like assholes then Maxim is a shitty irregular asshole that you can’t count on or take seriously. And in a world where we the people need to rely on our asshole, Maxim is NOT there for us.

So somebody please get Maxim Magazine’s editorial staff some of that new fangled Super Colon Cleanse. Maybe that’ll help.

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MUNKY Rejoins KORN on World Tour

Source: Blabbermouth

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=91194

According to a posting on his MySpace page, KORN guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer — who left the group’s European tour last month for “personal and family reasons” — will rejoin his bandmates on February 23 in Milan, Italy.

In a January 2008 MySpace bulletin, Munky stated about his decision to leave the tour, “If you want to better understand my departure, then listen to the words in the song ‘Watching the Wheels’ by John Lennon.” Singer Jonathan Davis said, “We fully support Munky’s need to be home right now and because we want to come through for all of our European fans, the tour will go on. It’s what Munky wants us to do, too. We promise to give it our all every night!”

KORN’s current touring lineup includes guitarists Shane Gibson and Rob Patterson, and ex-ARMY OF ANYONE drummer Ray Luzier, in addition to remaining original members Davis and bassist Reginald “Fieldy” Arvizu.

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Hollywood Writers Strike Ends

Source: Associated Press, CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/02/13/writers.strike/index.html

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Striking Hollywood writers will be back at their keyboards Wednesday after voting overwhelmingly to end a 100-day walkout that essentially shut down the entertainment industry.

More than 92 percent of the Writers Guild of America members who cast ballots Tuesday in Los Angeles and New York voted to end their work stoppage over residuals for writing in the digital age, including new media and the Internet. The new deal is for three years.

“The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work,” said Patric Verrone, president of the WGA’s West chapter.

Michael Winship, president of WGA’s East guild, said, “The success of this strike is a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future.”

WGA members walked off the job November 5 after talks broke down over how writers are paid for the use of their material on the Internet and DVDs, among other issues.

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Cool beans. I want the Justice League movie, Battlestar Galactica, and Jericho hitting the ground running damnit!

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