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Best documentary feature winners Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn accept their award onstage for "Searching for Sugarman," about the reclusive Detroit musician Rodriguez, at the 85th annual Academy Awards.

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'Searching for Sugar Man' Wins Oscar, and More Praise for Rodriguez
"Searching for Sugar Man," honored with more than 30 awards in the last year, won the big one when it was named best documentary at the 85th annual Academy Awards. Director Malik Bendjelloul's film about the forgotten musician Rodriguez capped its journey that began at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where Sony Pictures Classics acquired the film, leading to a theatrical release in July.

(below content may contain spoilers for the film)

Sixto Díaz Rodríguez (born July 10, 1942) is a folk musician, wildly popular, extremely successful and influential in South Africa, mistakenly rumored to have committed suicide. In his home country - America, no one knows about him, about his music - two little-sold albums in the early 1970s.  read more »

Newt Gingrich: Rand Paul is a Pioneer of The Future 3/7/13

A typical American tradition is shaking the world on March 6, 2013. Old school Filibuster, unheard of anywhere else in the world, well-portrayed in the famous movie “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” (starring the handsome James Stewart, added by Library of Congress to the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant").

Few do not know Jimmy Stewart as “Mr. Smith”, but no one would imagine such an old-fashioned filibuster was happening on Wednesday, March 6 – Senator Rand Paul held the floor for 12 hours 52 minutes, talking into midnight (official start time was 11:47am), simply to demand a direct answer to a direct question... Senator Paul: "at about 6:30 p.m., something extraordinary happened. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), who has been recovering from a stroke, came to the floor to give me something. I was not allowed to drink anything but water or eat anything but the candy left in our Senate desks. But he brought me an apple and a thermos full of tea — the same sustenance Jimmy Stewart brought to the Senate floor in the movie 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.' That was a moment I will never forget."  read more »

*update* 21 Aug, 2014 Before any international trip Pope Francis visits Benedict XVI, a key Vatican archbishop revealed, noting the good relations between the two and how Pope Francis is carrying forward Benedict's vision.
Pope Francis: "He [Benedict XVI] opened a door that is institutional, not exceptional." "Let us think about what he said, I have got old, I do not have the strength. It was a beautiful gesture of nobility, of humility and courage." "He is a man of wisdom, of nuance that is good for me to hear him. And he encourages me sufficiently too."
*update* 06 June 2013 Pope Benedict XVI is on Facebook
*update* 23 March 2013 - Together Pope and Pope Emeritus make history with most powerful message: Beauty of Humility and Harmoney goes beyond religion Historic moment: 'We're brothers': Pope meets ex-pope: they kneel, side-by-side, pray together before lunch Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus BenedictThe two men dressed in white embraced warmly on the helipad in the gardens of Castel Gandolfo [photo by Osservatore Romano
] And in a series of gestures that ensued, Benedict made clear that he considered Francis to be pope while Francis made clear he considered his predecessor to be very much a revered brother and equal.  read more »

"Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit." - Baltasar Gracian
*update* March 7, 2013 -

*update* February 21, 2013 - Japan halts whale hunt after Japanese factory ship rammed Sea Shepherd ships one after another, and 4 times rammed/damaged their own supply tanker, S Korean Sun Laurel" Video - Nisshin Maru rams Bob Barker, Steve Irwin, and Sun Laurel (now oil spill in S Ocean - Antarctic Whale Santuary)

Feb. 20, 2013 “I don’t think we have ever had a more eventful few hours in the 9 years we have been opposing the whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and certainly there has never been a day when all of our ships were rammed one after another,” writes Paul Watson on Facebook. “It is also the first time we have ever been rammed by the Nissin Maru, and to top it all off, the Japanese factory ship four times rammed and damaged their own supply tanker, the Sun Laurel.”  read more »

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Kindergartner Suspended Over Bubble Gun Threat
A 5-year-old girl was suspended from school earlier this week after she made what the school called a "terrorist threat."

Her weapon of choice? A small, Hello Kitty automatic bubble blower.

The kindergartner, who attends Mount Carmel Area Elementary School in Pennsylvania, caught administrators’ attention after suggesting she and a classmate should shoot each other with bubbles.

"I think people know how harmless a bubble is. It doesn’t hurt," said Robin Ficker, an attorney for the girl’s family. According to Ficker, the girl, whose identity has not been released, didn’t even have the bubble gun toy with her at school.

The kindergartner was ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation during her 10-day suspension, which was later reduced to two days. The evaluation deemed the girl normal and not a threat to others, Ficker said.

The girl’s family is considering a lawsuit against the school to get the blemish - all because of bubbles - off their daughter’s record.

"The mother has tried to get the girl in another school since this time, and they won’t take the little girl because of this mark on her record," Ficker said.  read more »

Two most famous French stars, cultural icons, are indeed very much French - they act on passion. Brigitte Bardot is determined to defend elephants (population shockingly dropped from 13,000,000 to 400,000 within 20 years) while Gerard Depardieu is extremely upset that 85% of his hard-earned money is not his: "I will neither complain nor brag, but I refuse to be called 'pathetic'". Per Daily Mail UK - 'Over 45 years, Depardieu has paid €145million euros' since he started working at age 14 as a printer. [Guardian UK] In protest not at tax hikes but at treatment of elephants, Brigitte Bardot threatens to follow Gérard Depardieu's move to quit France.

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*update* Jan. 14, 2013 EU releases all data on GM corn linked to cancer Monday's move "aims to make data used in risk assessment publicly available," Geslain-Laneelle said, by promoting research and working with scientists.

*update* Siding with EU's ban on animal testing, Dec. 21 2012 Air Canada can refuse to ship monkeys for research

Seven Food Products Banned in Europe Still Available in the U.S.
1. Genetically Modified Foods
2. Stevia, the Natural Sweetener
3. Bovine Growth Hormone
4. Chlorinated Chickens
5. Food Contact Chemicals
6. Herbicides, Fungicides and Insecticides  read more »