Jon Hamm To Undergo Throat Surgery To Remove Polyp

His performance as the perpetually smoking Don Draper brought him an Emmy nod, but it looks like the rasp in Jon Hamm's voice isn't just due to method acting. The 42-year-old actor is set to undergo throat surgery next week after coughing up blood recently, according to multiple reports.

A rep for the actor confirmed to The Huffington Post that Hamm would be having surgery, calling it a "routine outpatient procedure to remove a single polyp from his throat." Previous reports suggested that Hamm was to remove two, not one, polyps (abnormal tissue) from the region.

Meanwhile, a report in Life & Style magazine claims the surgery news is not new for Hamm's "Mad Men" cast mates. "January Jones was talking about [Hamm's throat surgery] at the Governors Ball after party last night," a source for the publication said.

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Gwyneth Paltrow On Why Cheating Can Be Forgivable & Sex Addiction Is Not A Dealbreaker

Gwyneth Paltrow is committed to living the Goopiest life possible and that means being "extremely open-minded." All those years of living off of a macrobiotic diet have prepared the Goopster for anything -- even the possibility of infidelity.

Now, Paltrow's husband of 10 years, Chris Martin, hasn't cheated on her, but she does deal with the issue in tandem with the topic of sex addiction in her new movie "Thanks For Sharing," which co-stars Mark Ruffalo as a man who suffers from the affliction.

In an interview with Refinery 29, the 40-year-old actress got pretty candid about both topics, telling the website that she wouldn't run if she ended up falling for a sex addict:

“I’m an extremely open-minded person, so I think if it was something I knew I was getting myself into, I wouldn’t let it deter me from exploring the relationship," Paltrow said, though she wasn't so confident when asked if she would stay with someone who cheated.

“I think that if the idea of being committed to someone is important to you, you begin to value certain parts of your social life over another. No couple is the same, and as such, every couple takes on different challenges," she explained. "I would like to think that I would be forgiving and/or forgiven, but I can’t give an honest answer as I haven’t really experienced that.”

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Narendra Modi, Mamata Banerjee, 11 other CMs skip NIC meet

 The National Integration Council (NIC) met late in the evening on Monday in the shadows of the recent Muzaffarnagar riots. Prime minister Manmohan Singh was present. So were 16 chief ministers, most of them of Congress ruled states. But the 13 notable absentees sent the message that there’s a lack of integration in the thinking of the UPA, and that of the combined opposition.

Singh, of course, told political parties to refrain from taking advantage of communal tensions. He also asked the states to crack down on elements fanning such violence. Forget their political affiliations, he added, for good measure.

But the fact that such an important meet saw only 16 chief ministers turning up stood out like a sore thumb. The 13 chose to send their representatives. Among the ones who did not turn up was Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who is also the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, her Tamil Nadu counterpart J Jayalalithaa, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, Punjab CM Prakash Singh Badal, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot.

Taking a dig at Modi for his absence, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said it was essential for a leader of Modi’s stature to have come to the meeting. “I feel as a chief minister it was his first duty to attend this meeting. The NIC meet happened after two years and was very significant in the present context. I do not know why he did not come,” Shinde said.

Expressing concern on the recent increase in incidents of communal violence, particularly those that happened in UP, the PM said effective steps should be taken by the administration to ensure that small issues don’t snowball into a big controversies.

“The state government should lose no time to control communal violence. It should use all means at its disposal to punish those guilty of fanning communal violence and must ensure a speedy crackdown on such elements irrespective of their political affiliations or influence,” the PM said, urging the political parties and the media to refrain from giving any political colour to the incidents.

The meeting saw some sparks with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav blaming the BJP for trying to convert UP into a Gujarat. “Meetings are being conducted past midnight to carry out activities against one particular community,” Yadav said prompting a quick rebuttal from BJP leaders.

Rejecting the argument that communal incidents could benefit or harm the prospects of certain political parties, Singh said: “This argument is unfortunate. In reality, communal enmity does not benefit anyone but could threaten our identity as a civilised society.”

The PM also broached reining in anti-social elements misusing the social media to promote communal hatred. In Muzaffarnagar, social media was used to distribute a morphed video clip of an incident in Sialkot, Pakistan, to terrorise people.
SOURCE

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BJP central panel to decide from which seat Narendra Modi will fight Lok Sabha polls

 BJP's central election committee will decide from which seat its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, BJP chief Rajnath Singh said today.

"These things are decided by party's Central Election Committee and any individual cannot say whether he can fight from a place A or B," Singh said at a press conference here.

He was replying to a question on possibility of Modi fighting the next Lok Sabha polls from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, a state where the party is eyeing electoral gains.

To another question on the Gujarat Chief Minister, he said, "The fact cannot be denied that if there is most popular leader at this time in the country, it is Narendra Modi." When asked that BJP had lost allies after Modi's elevation in the party, he indicated that there will be pre-poll and post-poll alliances.

Singh asserted that senior party leader L K Advani had no problem with Modi's elevation.

"He is our senior most leader, our guardian and our everything. He has every right to point it out to me (referring to Advani's recent letter)...he has no grudge against Modi. You must have seen that after Modi's name was declared, he expressed happiness, during a visit to Chhattisgarh," Singh said.

He sought to downplay the absence of Modi and some other Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states from the National Integration Council meeting in Delhi today.

"Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj was there...whatever our top leaders say, for us that is the party's line," he said.

To another question, he said the party will soon make its vision document public, under which it will spell out how it intends to take the country forward, among other issues.

When asked if Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal would be made the NDA convenor after JDU chief Sharad Yadav's party parted ways with BJP and the post fell vacant, he said Advani, who is NDA chairman, can give answer this question.
SOURCE

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Pope Francis Gays, Abortion Too Much Of Catholic Church's Obsession

Pope Francis faulted the Roman Catholic church for focusing too much on gays, abortion and contraception, saying the church has become "obsessed" with those issues to the detriment of its larger mission to be "home for all," according to an extensive new interview published Thursday.

The church can share its views on homosexuality, abortion and other issues, but should not "interfere spiritually" with the lives of gays and lesbians, the pope added in the interview, which was published in La Civilta Cattolica, a Rome-based Jesuit journal.

“We have to find a new balance, otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance of the Gospel," Francis said in the interview.

"The church has sometimes locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules,' Francis said. "The people of God want pastors, not clergy acting like bureaucrats or government officials."

The 12,000-word interview ranges widely, touching upon the pope's personal faith, the role of women and nuns in the church, Latin Mass and even the pope's favorite artists.

"He's very open honest and candid like we have not seen in a pope before. He critiques people who focus too much on tradition, who want to go to time in the past that does not exist anymore," said Fr. James Martin of America Magazine, which published an English translation of the interview. "He reminds people that thinking with the church, in obedience, does not just mean thinking with the hierarchy, that church is a lot bigger than its hierarchy."

In the interview, Francis does not come out in support of gay marriage, abortion rights or contraception, saying that church positions on those issues are "clear," but he added that the "the proclamation of the saving love of God comes before moral and religious imperatives.”

“A person once asked me, in a provocative manner, if I approved of homosexuality,” he said to Jesuit priest Fr. Antonio Spadaro, who conducted the interview for La Civilta Cattolica. “I replied with another question: ‘Tell me: when God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person?’ We must always consider the person.”

The comments on gays and lesbians follow up on remarks Francis made aboard the papal airplane in July when asked about gay priests. "Who am I to judge?" the pope then said, in a quote that made international front-page headlines. In Thursday's interview, Francis clarified that those comments were about all gay people and not only priests.

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Apple iPhone 5S & iPhone 5C India price and features

 Apple launched the iPhone 5S & the iPhone 5C amidst huge hype and brouhaha over its features and pricing, most of which were already leaked out pretty accurately.

So we bring to you all the information you would need to know about the iPhone 5S & iPhone 5C.

Apple iPhone 5S Features & Pricing in India

Display & Body

The display on the iPhone 5S remains the same at 4.0 inches with a pixel density of 326 ppi. As expected, the design is also the same as the iPhone 5.

64 bit A7 chip and M7 motion co-processor

The iPhone 5S comes with the new A7 chip which Apple claims to be the world’s first 64 bit desktop-class architecture in a smartphone. Apparently Huawei Ascend D Quad launched in Feb 2012 last year also boasted of a 64 bit chipset.

M7 motion coprocessor gathers data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass to offload work from the A7 for improved power efficiency. Apple has allowed developers’ access to the new CoreMotion APIs that take advantage of M7, thus allowing them to create better fitness and activity apps.

Touch ID – Fingerprint Scanner

Built into the home button, Touch ID uses a laser cut sapphire crystal, together with the capacitive touch sensor, to take a high-resolution image at about 550ppi of your fingerprint. Touch ID will allow you to authenticate Appstore purchases and app updates besides providing security lock to the iPhone 5S.

8MP iSight Camera with True Tone Flash

The iPhone 5S boasts of a new 8MP iSight camera, which features a larger f/2.2 aperture and a new, larger sensor with 1.5μ pixels for better sensitivity and low-light performance. The camera has capability to shoot 10 frames-per-second in burst mode, and 120 frames-per-second slow motion video at 720p.

The dual LED Flash, called the True Tone Flash by Apple adjusts colour and intensity for over 1,000 combinations to give better images under dark light conditions.

Colours

The new iPhone 5S now comes in three new different colours called Gold, Silver and Space Grey. Apple has also introduced new leather covers for the device with 6 colours to choose from i.e. beige, black, blue, brown, yellow and red.

iOS 7

The iPhone 5S comes with iOS 7, Apple’s latest redesigned UI along with the option to download the iWorks apps Suite for free which includes iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps that are otherwise paid for apps.

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Apple Event Live How To Follow The Big iPhone Unveil As It Happens

At around 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. ET), CEO Tim Cook will go on stage at Apple's Cupertino, Calif. headquarters to prove that the tech giant still has the mojo to make killer products. The company is widely expected to show off its new lines of iPhones -- a top-of-the-line "iPhone 5S" and a cheaper "iPhone 5C" -- which should go on sale in the coming weeks.

So where can an overcaffeinated Apple fanboy get up-to-the-millisecond coverage of the new gold-colored casings and fingerprint technology that could do away with passcodes? Your best bet is to watch the Apple event live on the company's website. If Apple decides not to livestream the event, as they have occasionally done in the past, USTREAM is a good place to look for unofficial livestreams from Cupertino.

In the absence of a video stream, The Verge, Engadget and Gizmodo historically have had great liveblogs. We'll also be liveblogging the event ourselves as it happens, which you can check out below. And of course, check out HuffPost Tech for full coverage of the every new product announced.

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Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking Ball' Video Makes Its Debut

Miley Cyrus debuted the music video to her song "Wrecking Ball" on Monday morning, offering fans a more vulnerable look at the singer.

The "Wrecking Ball" video is directed by the ever-controversial fashion photographer Terry Richardson, best known for boundary pushing editorials in glossy magazines. Cyrus is seen emoting in a cinderblock diorama of sorts, stripping down and riding a not-very-clean looking wrecking ball and even tearing up. When she's wearing clothes, she's dressed in white — a look the singer has stayed true to for most of this album cycle.

The track is the latest single off of Cyrus' upcoming album, "BANGERZ." Due out on Oct. 4, "BANGERZ" is led by Cyrus' hit single, "We Can't Stop."

"We Can't Stop" has offered its fair share of controversy for the 20-year-old singer. Cyrus made waves with the lyrics of the song, as the party track alluded to drug usage, as well as the accompanying visuals, as the music video showed a scantily clad Cyrus doing the twerking dance moves she is now famous for.

Cyrus performed the song at MTV's Video Music Awards last month, teaming up with singer Robin Thicke for her own track as well as his summer hit, "Blurred Lines." The performance caused a stir as Cyrus was shown in a nude-colored barely there ensemble, twerking on Thicke.

After rising to fame with her title role on the Disney Channel show "Hannah Montana," Cyrus entered the music business with early hits like "The Climb" and "Party in the U.S.A." Cyrus' fourth studio album, "BANGERZ," shows a departure from the singer's previously family-friendly image.

"I feel like I can really be myself," Cyrus told Billboard about her album. "I really have more of a connection of who I am, and I feel like I can maybe express that more in my music now."

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Scientists Assess Damage From Yosemite-area Fire

Scientists are assessing the damage from a massive wildfire burning around Yosemite National Park, laying plans to protect habitat and waterways as the fall rainy season approaches.

Members of the federal Burned Area Emergency Response team were hiking the rugged Sierra Nevada terrain Saturday even as thousands of firefighters still were battling the four-week-old blaze, now the third-largest wildfire in modern California history.

Federal officials have amassed a team of 50 scientists, more than twice what is usually deployed to assess wildfire damage. With so many people assigned to the job, they hope to have a preliminary report ready in two weeks so remediation can start before the first storms, Alex Janicki, the Stanislaus National Forest BAER response coordinator, said.

Team members are working to identify areas at the highest risk for erosion into streams, the Tuolumne River and the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, San Francisco's famously pure water supply.

The wildfire started in the Stanislaus National Forest on Aug. 17 when a hunter's illegal fire swept out of control and has burned 394 square miles of timber, meadows and sensitive wildlife habitat.

It has cost more than $89 million to fight, and officials say it will cost tens of millions of dollars more to repair the environmental damage alone.

About 5 square miles of the burned area is in the watershed of the municipal reservoir serving 2.8 million people - the only one in a national park.

"That's 5 square miles of watershed with very steep slopes," Janicki said "We are going to need some engineering to protect them."

So far the water remains clear despite falling ash, and the city water utility has a six month supply in reservoirs closer to the Bay Area.

The BAER team will be made up of hydrologists, botanists, archeologists, biologists, geologists and soil scientists from the U.S. Forest Service, Yosemite National Park, the Natural Resource Conservation and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The team also will look at potential for erosion and mudslides across the burn area, assess what's in the path and determine what most needs protecting.

"We're looking to evaluate what the potential is for flooding across the burned area," said Alan Gallegos, a team member and geologist with the Sierra National Forest. "We evaluate the potential for hazard and look at what's at risk -- life, property, cultural resources, species habitat. Then we come up with a list of treatments."

In key areas with a high potential for erosion ecologists can dig ditches to divert water, plant native trees and grasses, and spray costly hydro-mulch across steep canyon walls in the most critical places.

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Altuzarra’s Imaginative Take on Humble Threads

Two things are essential to talented designers: time to create meaningful fashion and investment. This week, Joseph Altuzarra announced that the French luxury company Kering (formerly PPR) has become a minority partner. Kering owns Balenciaga, Gucci and Alexander McQueen, among others, and is an equal partner in Stella McCartney’s company. The group has generally shown that it knows how to turn small names into larger ones, while letting those brands operate independently.

“We’ll work on building our infrastructure and accessories,” Mr. Altuzarra said before his show on Saturday night, when asked about his immediate plans for the Kering investment. He added, “I want to do things in our own way and time.”

As it happens, Mr. Altuzarra delivered a very compelling bunch of clothes, one of the most polished collections he has shown in awhile. It often seems as though Mr. Altuzarra is pulled by two opposing ideas — hard-edged chic or soft sportiness. He is good at both but he is far more inventive and surprising with the latter. A year ago he did that terrific collection with the railroad striped cotton, and he reinterpreted the dress-and-jacket combination.
Altuzarra Spring 2014.Jason Decrow/Associated Press Altuzarra Spring 2014.

Altuzarra’s Imaginative Take on Humble Threads

This time the collection was all about a blouse and skirt, more or less. “I wanted it to be super easy — a skirt and a shirt,” he said. The red-and-cream striped prints for long-sleeved blouses were based on enlargements of French ticking stripes. They were shown with slim, below-the-knee cream skirts with lacing or ties at one side. There were other variations in navy and French blue, with delicate white specks of embroidery on the yoke of one Oxford shirt. Still another style had a round collar, a slightly nipped waist, and a wide band of powder blue at the hem.

Mr. Altuzarra said the collection was influenced by Japanese Boro clothing, with its patched and worn utilitarian element. “There’s something very humble about it,” he said. One silk print (used for a jacket and a shirt) resembled denim patchwork. Most of the skirts and some of the slim silk shirt dresses (or what appeared to be shirt dresses) had dangly ties or cords at the sides. If there was a fault with the collection it was the ties made things look a bit messy. They could stand some pruning.

There were a lot of desirable clothes in the show, in particular a striped cream poncho, a boxy cream jacket with off-white embroidery and rows of tiny buttons, and a slim navy dress in washed silk with a trompe l’oeil black pullover embroidered with small, clear stones. There were a few one-piece dresses or tops that looked layered, and they were among the best-looking garments in the show.

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'Sacro GRA' Wins The Golden Lion At 70th Venice Film Festival

The Italian film "Sacro GRA," a documentary about life along the highway that circles Rome by director Gianfranco Rosi, won the Golden Lion for best film at the 70th edition of the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.

Rosi called the award a breakthrough for documentaries, which were included this year for the first time in the main competition.

"I didn't expect to win such an important prize with a documentary," Rosi said. "It was truly an act of courage, a barrier has been broken. Now finally documentaries are being seen alongside fiction, therefore documentary is cinema."

Rosi , who spent two years in a minivan circling the ring road filming conversations with such diverse subjects as a count, a paramedic and a botanist tending the highway's palm trees, dedicated the prize to the characters in the film "who allowed me to enter in their lives. Some of them became involuntary protagonists, without knowing it."

It was the first time an Italian film has won the top prize at Venice in 15 years, when Gianni Amelio won for "The Way We Laughed" in 1998.

"Sacro GRA" won a standing ovation during its official world premiere, but mixed international reviews.

"Without trying to make a big point or push a political agenda, he taps into the everyday life of society's fringe dwellers in a series of sketches," the Hollywood Reporter wrote, saying the film "holds its own" in competition, while Variety said Rosi's "idea remains more absorbing than the final product. Docu fests await."

 'Sacro GRA' Wins The Golden Lion At 70th Venice Film Festival

The Silver Lion for best director went to Alexandros Avranas of Greece for "Miss Violence," a disturbing look at sexual violence and abuse perpetrated by a grandfather, played by Greek actor Themis Panou, who won the best actor prize.

Best actress went to Italian actress Elena Cotta, who didn't utter a word in director Emma Dante's "A Street in Palermo," about two women blocked in a standoff when their cars meet on a narrow street, but managed to use facial expressions to portray intense emotions throughout the film. Cotta dedicated the award to her husband, with whom she recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

Tye Sheridan, 16, won the best young actor award for his role opposite Nicolas Cage in David Gordon Green's "Joe" as a boy who looks to Joe, an ex-con played by Cage, for guidance as he struggles with an abusive and drunkard father. Sheridan has appeared previously in Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" and Jeff Nichols' "Mud."

The Grand Jury Prize went to Tsai Ming-liang's "Stray Dogs," about a father and two children living on the margins of modern-day Taipei. The director, who won the Golden Lion in 1994 for "Vive L'amour," thanked the Venice audiences "that slowed their pace to watch my movie."

"Philomena" won best screenplay for Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope. The film by Stephen Frears stars Judi Dench in the real-life role of an Irish woman who was forced by nuns to give up her son for adoption, and keeps it secret for nearly 50 years until she sets off on an unlikely journey to the U.S. with a jaded journalist to search for her son.

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Monkey Rips Testicle Off Eight-Month-Old Baby and Eats it as Mother Watches in Horror

A monkey has attacked and injured an eight-month-old baby in a wildlife park in China. The incident took place in the Guiyang Qianling reserve in southwest China, where a monkey tore off one of the infant boy's testicles and ate part of it before being caught.

According to the Mail Online, the mother was changing her son's nappy when the attack occurred and was left shocked. The monkey initially dropped the testicle but returned to grab it for a second time and then began to eat it.

Chinese news reports say the baby boy is recovering at a hospital and that his injuries are not fatal.

It is believed the population of monkeys at the park has increased considerably in recent years, jumping from 70 to 500. The management feeds the animals three times a day but the monkeys are emboldened by visitors who feed them and encourage close contact, despite being warned against doing so.

Additionally, monkey attacks on children are not uncommon, either in China or other parts of the world.

In July, an angry monkey attacked a boy in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The incident happened at a local animal centre and it took two adults to prise the monkey off the child.

A similar incident occurred in Arkansas in the US, around the same time, but with a dog. A 39-year-old man was forced to have an adopted stray dog put to sleep after it bit off one of his testicles while he was asleep.

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Could the 'Egyptian Mummy' Discovered in German Attic be a 20th Century Murder Victim?

German police and forensic experts have been left mystified following examination of an Egyptian-style mummy discovered by a German boy in his grandmother's attic.

Many believed the mummy, discovered by 10-year-old Alexander Kettler inside a sarcophagus complete with hieroglyphic inscriptions, was a fake. It was found in August at the boy's grandmother's house in Diepholz, northern Germany.

However, X-ray and CT scans have now revealed a relatively intact skeleton wrapped up inside the bandages, including a well-preserved human skull with an arrow sticking out of the left eye socket.

To further add to the mystery, examinations also show a metal layer covering the bones of the skeleton and the cotton used to wrap the body dates from the 20th century and are machine-woven.

The bandages have not been removed for fear of damaging the remains. A death mask was also discovered inside the sarcophagus.

German police, prosecutors and forensics experts are now facing a genuine mystery as to the origins of the body.

Pathologist Andreas Nerlich of Munich's Bogenhausen hospital told Spiegel Online: "There's no way this is a typical Egyptian mummy. We're dealing with an imitation.

"But a human body, and perhaps more than one, were used to make it."

Experts are also baffled by the metal which is covering the skeleton.

"Someone went to a lot of trouble to wrap the bones in this covering," Nerlich added. "Perhaps because they anticipated an X-Ray examination, because this is definitely a hindrance."READ MORE

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Lady Gaga's Nude Photos Posted By Perez Hilton As Feud Continues

The feud between Lady Gaga and Perez Hilton is heating up, big time. The gossip blogger recently posted naked photos of the singer from her latest magazine shoot and linked to an interview in which the pop star admits she may not be such hot commodity anymore.

On Sept. 3, Hilton tweeted a topless photo of the 27-year-old singer grabbing her crotch -- a photo that was taken for V magazine -- and noted that her nipples were covered in lipstick as some kind of tribute to the movie "Showgirls."

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has taken his cold war with Lady Gaga a step further and posted nude pictures of the singer on Twitter. These have also been linked to her interview with the Guardian, where she admits a drop in popularity.

In the newspaper story Lady Gaga: People Think I'm Finished, the 27-year-old Telephone singer says: "I certainly feel that at this time it's almost as if people are surprised they haven't already destroyed me."

"It's literally not even been two weeks since my first single came out and it's all, 'She's over', or because I'm not No 1 yet, 'She's finished'. People focus less on the music and focus more on how the music's doing; how it's faring from a numbers perspective, from a financial perspective. If you think I give a damn about money then you don't know me as an artist at all," she added, "I think that once you've had a few No 1s in your career that you've kind of proven yourself and I don't feel the need to prove anything anymore."

Although the 35-year-old blogger did not comment on the article, he posted a topless photo of the singer on Twitter - the image was taken for V magazine -  and added a link to the interview. 

He later added more images, one of which shows Lady Gaga grabbing her crotch. He then tweeted: "@LadyGaGa really loves getting fully naked! And it looks like she doesn't have any hair on her vagina."

Gaga and Hilton, who were once close friends, locked horns after Hilton allegedly sent the Poker Face singer a photo of her in a wheelchair following her hip accident. 

"Still have the text Perez sent me of me in a wheelchair w the words KARMA written across + Madonna pointing a gun at me. Day of my accident," she tweeted.

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Teachers' Day being Celebrated across the Country Today

 Teachers’ Day is being celebrated across the nation today to commemorate the birth anniversary of former President and eminent scholar Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakhrishnan.

President Pranab Mukherjee will present the National Awards to meritorious teachers from across the country at a function here today.

The awards were instituted in 1958 to give public recognition to outstanding teachers working in primary, middle and secondary schools.

It is the day that Indians honour the teachers for their immense contribution to the country and the community.

Dr. Radhakrishnan, who was an Indian philosopher and statesman, was the first Vice President of India (1952–1962) and the second President of India from 1962 to 1967.

Dr Radhakhrishnan believed that ‘teachers should be the best minds in the country’. Since 1962, his birthday is celebrated in India as Teachers' Day on 5 September.

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Johns Hopkins researchers reverse Down syndrome in mice

U.S. researchers said Wednesday they have found a way to reverse Down syndrome in newborn lab mice by injecting an experimental compound that causes the brain to grow normally.

While the study in the journal Science Translational Medicine offers no direct link to a treatment for humans, researchers are hopeful it may someday offer a path toward future breakthroughs.

There is no cure for Down syndrome, which is caused by the presence of an additional chromosome, leading to extra copies of more than 300 genes and causing intellectual disabilities, distinctive facial features and sometimes other health problems.

The team at Johns Hopkins University used lab mice that were genetically engineered to have extra copies of about half the genes found on human chromosome 21, leading to Down syndrome-like conditions such as smaller brains and difficulty learning to navigate a maze.

On the day the mice were born, scientists injected them with a small molecule known as a sonic hedgehog pathway agonist.

The compound, which has not been proven safe for use in human, is designed to boost normal growth of the brain and body via a gene known as SHH.

The gene provides instructions for making a protein called sonic hedgehog, which is essential for development.

“It worked beautifully,” said lead author Roger Reeves of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“Most people with Down syndrome have a cerebellum that’s about 60 percent of the normal size,” he said.

“We were able to completely normalize growth of the cerebellum through adulthood with that single injection.”

The injection also led to unexpected benefits in learning and memory, normally handled by a different part of the brain known as the hippocampus.

Researchers found that the treated mice did as well as normal mice on a test of locating a water platform while in a swimming maze.

However, adjusting the treatment for human use would be complicated, since altering the growth of the brain could lead to unintended consequences, like triggering cancer.

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'Defined Lines' Is The Robin Thicke 'Blurred Lines' Parody That Trumps All Others

Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" may have been unofficially declared one of the songs of the summer, but we're happy to end the season with this amazing parody of the decidedly sexist hit.

In response to the criticism surrounding "Blurred Lines," an Auckland University student group, the Law Revue Girls, created "Defined Lines." The parody reverses the original video's gender roles in an attempt to "define those supposedly 'blurred lines'" and declares: "What you see on TV / Doesn't speak equality / It's straight up misogyny." We could not love it more.

"The message really is just that we think that women should be treated equally, and as part of that, we're trying to address the culture of objectifying women in music videos," Olivia Lubbock, one of the women featured in the video, told the AAP.

The Independent reported that "Defined Lines" was removed from YouTube briefly on Monday after being flagged for "inappropriate" sexual content, but has since been restored. Lubbock called the video's removal a "massive double standard," since the models in Thicke's original video are arguably far more sexualized.

"It's just funny that the response has been so negative when you flip it around and objectify males," Lubbock told the AAP.

We're glad YouTube put "Defined Lines" back up. This is one music video the masses should see.

The New Zealand parody takes aim at pop videos that objectify women, with students Zoe Ellwood, Olivia Lubbock and Adelaide Dunn singing: “What you see on TV/ Doesn’t speak equality/ It’s straight up misogyny.”

Rather than playing up to the air-headed female stereotypes often seen in music videos, the trio proudly declare “We are scholastic/ Smart and sarcastic” and urge listeners to “resist chauvinism”.

“The message really is just that we think that women should be treated equally, and as part of that, we’re trying to address the culture of objectifying women in music videos,” Lubbock told New Zealand Newswire.

She said she was surprised when the video was taken down.

Thicke’s video, complete with topless cavorting models, remains on the website and has more than 17 million hits, with users needing to sign in to verify their age before viewing it.

“It’s just funny that the response has been so negative when you flip it around and objectify males,” Lubbock said.

She was not the only one nonplussed at the decision to remove the video, with British author Caitlin Moran pointing out the inconsistency of banning it for alleged indecency while leaving Thicke’s video online.

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Rosh Hashanah 2013: The Jewish New Year Explained

Though Rosh Hashanah literally means "head of the year," the holiday actually takes place on the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which is the seventh month on the Hebrew calendar. This is because Rosh Hashanah, one of four new years in the Jewish year, is considered the new year of people, animals and legal contracts. In the Jewish oral tradition, Rosh Hashanah marks the completion of the creation of the world.

Rosh Hashanah is the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days, or Yamim Noraim (the "Days of Awe"), and is followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur, the "day of atonement." The Mishnah refers to Rosh Hashanah as the "day of judgment," and it is believed that God opens the Book of Life on this day and begins to decide who shall live and who shall die. The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are viewed as an opportunity for Jews to repent (teshuvah, in Hebrew) and ensure a good fate.

Jews traditionally gather in synagogues on Rosh Hashanah for extended services that follow the liturgy of a special prayerbook, called a mahzor, that is used during the Days of Awe. At specific times throughout the service, a shofar, or ram's horn, is blown. The mitzvah (commandment) to hear the shofar, a literal and spiritual wake-up call, is special to this time of year.

The new year is the only Jewish holiday that is observed for two days by all Jews (other holidays are observed for just one day within the Land of Israel) as it is also the only major holiday that falls on a new moon.

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Cressida Bonas' Tatler Cover Makes Her Relationship With Prince Harry Official

First they vacation together, and now Cressie has landed her very own cover of Tatler, introducing her to the glossy world as the royal's one and only. The stunning headshot is featured on the magazine's October 2013 issue with a headline that reads "Harry Loves Cressy." Awww.

Rumors began to swirl about the couple when Harry brought Cressida as his date to the premiere of "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises" back in July of 2012, and by February of this year, pictures of the couple getting cozy on the slopes in Switzerland served as confirmation of the budding relationship. But a full-blown Tatler cover touting Cressy as Harry's girl? Well, that certainly speaks volumes. (The Daily Mail cleverly points out that Kate Middleton didn't get her own Tatler cover until 2011, 8 years into her relationship with Prince William.)

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Blue Alien Planet Has Molten Glass Rain & Unusual Atmosphere, New Observations Show

This super-hot glass rain is just one consequence of the close proximity between the gas giant alien planet HD189733b and its sun. which causes daytime temperatures to soar as high as 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit (930 degrees Celsius), scientists said.

A fresh set of observations of the planet in X-rays also suggest HD189733b has an outer atmosphere that is far larger than expected. [See more images of the blue alien planet HD 189733b]

These surprise finds are all signals that so-called hot Jupiter alien planets are worthy of study on their own, even though they are hostile planets to life, researchers said.

Hot Jupiters are large, roughly Jupiter-sized planets that become very hot by circling tight around their stars. These worlds have been described as planetary daredevils because they orbit so close to their parent stars that they risk being consumed. Often, one side of the planet is tidally locked to the star, exposing that side to scorching hot temperatures, while leaving the other side permanently turned away.

Hot Jupiters are easy to spot from a distance because as they pass in front of a star, their disc blots out a large portion of the star's light; HD189733b causes a three per cent drop in its star's light, for example. The planets' gravitational pull often causes their parent stars to wobble, too.

While common in the universe, however, Hot Jupiters are totally different than what denizens of Earth's solar system encounter. In our case, small, rocky planets orbit close to the star and the gas giants are much farther out.

The latest observations of HD189733b are challenging some theories of planetary formation and are just one of the reasons Hot Jupiters are earning more attention from astronomers these days.

"At first considered to be the 'chaff' researchers would have to wade through to get to the fainter Earth-like worlds, hot Jupiters are now attracting their own attention," NASA scientists wrote in a recent Science@NASA post about these planets.

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Sinai Militants Targeted By Egyptian Army Helicopters As Peninsula Violence Grows

 An Egyptian doctor once close to Osama bin Laden is bringing together multiple al-Qaida-inspired militant groups in Egypt's Sinai to fight the country's military, as the lawless peninsula emerges as a new theater for jihad, according to Egyptian intelligence and security officials.

There have been other signs of a dangerous shift in the longtime turmoil in the peninsula bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip since the military's July 3 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the officials say. With the shifts, Sinai's instability is becoming more regionalized and threatens to turn into an outright insurgency.

Sinai has seen an influx of foreign fighters over the past two months, including several hundred Yemenis. Several militant groups that long operated in the area to establish an Islamic Caliphate and attack their traditional enemy Israel have joined others in declaring formally that their objective now is to battle Egypt's military.

Also, Sinai has become the focus of attention among major regional jihadi groups. A leader of al-Qaida's Iraqi branch, Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, last weekend called on Egyptians to fight the military, as did al-Qaida's top leader, Ayman al-Zawahri. The militant considered the most dangerous man in the Sahara – one-eyed terror leader Moktar Belmoktar, a former member of al-Qaida's North Africa branch – joined forces with a Mali-based jihadi group last month and vowed attacks in Egypt.

Topping the most wanted list in Sinai is Ramzi Mawafi, a doctor who joined al-Qaida in Afghanistan in the 1990s. Mawafi, 61, escaped from an Egyptian prison in 2011 in a massive jailbreak that also sprung free Morsi and more than a dozen Muslim Brotherhood members during the chaos of the uprising against autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Mawafi is now believed to be in Sinai coordinating among militant groups and helping arrange money and weapons, security officials told The Associated Press. The four officials were from military intelligence, the military and the security forces and spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

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Antiq Hennis, 1-Year-Old Boy, Shot To Death In Stroller On New York City Street

Police investigating the death of a 1-year-old boy shot in the head in his stroller said Monday they believe his father was the target.

Authorities have some leads in the killing of Antiq Hennis on a Brooklyn street on Sunday night and believe his death may be gang-related, police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. Antiq's father, Anthony Hennis, has a criminal record and wasn't cooperating with police in their investigation, said Kelly, who didn't elaborate.

Hennis, 21, had just gone to pick up Antiq at the home of the baby's mother, Cherise Miller, and take him to visit Hennis' grandmother, police said. Hennis put the boy in the stroller and was pushing him across a street in the Brownsville neighborhood when shots rang out, police said.

Hennis' grandmother, Lenore Steele, said she heard shots before Hennis ran up to her.

"And he fell on the ground and said, `Grandma, my baby got shot! My baby got shot, Grandma!'" said Steele, flanked by community group leaders and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson. "He was such a beautiful little baby, smiling and talking to everybody."

Grief and outrage over Antiq's shooting loomed over the annual West Indian Day Parade about a mile and a half away, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the killing "a tragedy for his family, for this community, for the entire city" and political candidates talked about gun violence.

Four shots were fired, and one hit Antiq in the left side of his head; he was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.

Hennis and Miller couldn't immediately be reached for comment Monday. Possible phone numbers for their homes were disconnected or rang unanswered, the offices of attorneys who may have represented Hennis were closed and activists who spoke at a news conference said Miller wouldn't be making a statement Monday.

Bishop Willie Billips, who drove the parents to the hospital to identify the body of their only child, said, "The family is suffering right now."

"To have to take a young couple to identify their baby's body is horrible," said Billips, of the Church of Faith, Hope and Charity.

While killings hit a record low in the city last year and are on track to drop further this year, Bloomberg said, "that is cold comfort to any grieving parent or friends."

As of Aug. 25, killings and shootings were down about 26 percent compared to the same time last year, the mayor's office said. In the police precinct that includes Brownsville, there had been seven killings this year, half as many as during the same period last year.

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American Model Becomes Princess After Glamorous Weekend Wedding

Going from model to princess sounds like a life plan out of an 8-year-old's fantasy, but Kendra Spears has proven that this trajectory is actually quite possible. The American model married her prince on Saturday in a private ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland.

Spears and Prince Rahim Aga Khan, the eldest son of the Imam of Shia Ismaili Muslims, had a traditional Muslim wedding at Château de Bellerive (she converted to Islam before the ceremony). The 25-year-old Seattle native wore a sari by Indian designer Manav Gangwani Couture, who was recommended to her by model pal Naomi Campbell.

 American Model Becomes Princess After Glamorous Weekend Wedding

Although she's now known as Princess Salwa Aga Khan, Spears was touted as the "next Cindy Crawford" after launching her career in 2008. As the face of Escada, Prada and other top brands, she enjoyed a successful run as a model before announcing her engagement to Prince Rahim in April. Luckily, she'll have plenty of fellow fashionable faces to welcome her into the family -- Prince Rahim's father was married to British model Sarah Croker-Poole, and Rahim's grandfather was married to Rita Hayworth.

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David Bowie Shows Reportedly On The Table

The story of whether or not David Bowie would tour in support of his latest LP, "The Next Day," has been a twisted one.

A new report in the Mirror (consider this your grain of salt) suggests that Bowie has been presented with a "multimillion pound offer" to play East London's Olympic Park. The British tabloid says the first offer came in from Live Nation, and that an AEG proposal for a Hyde Park Bowie gig is also expected.

The Huffington Post has reached out to Live Nation and did not immediately receive comment. Between "The Next Day" and the ensuing music videos Bowie's latest projects have essentially been state secrets before their official announcements and/or releases, so it's not extremely likely that any advance news on concerts and/or a tour would be leaked out.

It was first generally accepted (and messaged) that the legendary rocker would not hit the road. There were even rumors of Bowie's ailing health, though the severity of the concern tapered in the wake of stellar music videos starring none other than Ziggy Stardust himself. (See: "Valentine's Day", "The Next Day," "Where Are We Now?" and "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)".)

Iman, Bowie's wife, confused the matter by hinting at an upcoming tour in March, candidly discussing how the family would arrange to visit their rockstar patriarch while he's on the road.

Billboard had a quick note on why next year could be a smart time for a Bowie comeback:

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Zuma may be called to testify on Guptagate

A Waterkloof Air Force Base officer plans to call President Jacob Zuma to testify in a military court on the Gupta plane landing scandal.

“President Jacob Zuma has not been called to testify although he seems to be the central figure [in the scandal]… he must come and answer,” SA National Defence Union (Sandu) national secretary Pikkie Greeff said today.

“If he’s not on the State’s witness list then, as the defence team, we need the court to subpoena him.”

This would be done in terms of the Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act.

Lt-Col Christine Anderson, who was implicated in a report by the task team appointed to probe the landing, and two other air force members, appeared in the military court on August 30. They would appear again on September 13.

Greeff said the decision to subpoena Zuma would probably be taken after the September 13 appearance.

“We haven’t seen the charge sheet yet. We might ask for further particulars.”

The full report on the landing of the plane was released in May by the justice, crime prevention, and security (JCPS) cluster of ministries.

It stated that a collusion of officials resulted in the irregular clearance of the plane for landing at the base.

It found the correct clearance procedures for landing were followed, but were based on “false pretences, as a result of the manipulation of the process” by the Gupta family, individuals in the Indian High Commission, chief of state protocol ambassador Bruce Koloane, and Anderson.

It found the actions taken by Koloane and Anderson were a serious dereliction of duty.

Anderson was found to have inverted command and control and unduly influenced the processing of the clearance. She was put on compulsory leave.

Last week, Anderson lodged a complaint against the task team with Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

In May, Greeff said the findings against Anderson, who was the base’s officer commanding movement control, were not objectively reached.

He said the report’s findings had been made even though Anderson was not formally involved in the investigation.

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Some Thoughts On Deaths At Electric Zoo, Dance Music And Drugs

The deaths of two Electric Zoo attendees and hospitalization of at least four others prompted the cancellation of the third day of the festival on Sunday. As a music journalist who covers dance music for one of the nation's biggest media outlets, it's a story I can't say I'm shocked to hear.

I recently watched "Gimme Shelter," a vintage documentary on the tragic events of Dec. 6, 1969, when a massive, free rock festival headlined by The Rolling Stones turned into a bloody, disorganized mess that left one man killed and scores more injured. Meredith Hunter, who died that day, returned to a fight with a gun and was stabbed. He was reportedly high on methamphetamine to the point of incoherence. With the benefit of some distance, many cultural observers marked the festival as the day the end of the peace-loving, feel-good era that is popularly remembered by events such as Woodstock.

To compare Electric Zoo, a festival whose organizers (Made Event) have spent years developing with careful attention to detail, to the Altamont Free Concert would be reckless. Altamont was tossed together after multiple venues refused to host the proceedings, and the Hell's Angels ended up playing the role of a de facto police force. It was hardly the type of event that Zoo organizers Made Event would ever put on (nor, it's worth noting, could such a major event happen in today's America, much less in New York City).

But just like rock and roll culture cannot be fully considered without taking the events at Altamont into consideration, dance music will also have to come to terms with the fact that the broader society now views it as underscored by drug use and reckless behavior.

There's an understandable resistance to this idea within the dance music community, and it generally rests on the following points: that not all ravers or festival attendees do drugs; that most who use drugs "do so responsibly" and that artists and festival promoters cannot be held responsible for the actions of a few. There's a meta claim too: That it's "unfair" that dance music gets victimized when these incidents occur.

Except for the first, which is almost too obvious to matter, those assertions are at once true and false. Of course "all" dance music fans don't use drugs. It's unclear what percentage of fans do and how that compares to other genres. The second assertion, that "plenty" of EDM fans "do drugs responsibly," is the type of thought that keeps D.A.R.E. counselors and parents up at night. It's impossible to do drugs -- particularly those in powder, rock or pill form, like MDMA and ecstasy -- responsibly. In the absence of on-site pill testing, it's virtually impossible that the vast majority of fans have any reasonable idea what's in their drugs. That's to say nothing of latent health conditions which can cause serious injury and/or fatalities when revealed by drugs that put additional stress on the body. At the very least, an organization such as DanceSafe should play a more prominent role in festivals.

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Pregnant Halle Berry Looks Gorgeous In Blue And White Maxi Dress

The expecting mother was spotted in Beverly Hills, Calif., last Thursday with her 5-year-old daughter Nahla. Berry dressed up her blossoming bump in a blue and white maxi dress and looked absolutely gorgeous while running errands.

The Oscar-winning actress and her husband, Olivier Martinez, are expecting a baby boy together this fall.

Berry has been keeping busy this summer, pushing for a bill which will restrict paparazzi from photographing celebrities' children.

It’s not always easy to look your best while pregnant.
But that’s no sweat to Halle Berry, who has been looking nearly better than ever during her recent pregnancy, and she’s getting more beautiful each day!
The Oscar award-winning actress was spotted out in LA rocking a long, tight maxi dress with her baby belly out in full view.

Donning some stunner shades to throw together her fabulous look, Halle kept her expression pretty serious, despite her bright summertime outfit.
She’s making sure to stay healthy and fit throughout her pregnancy, and showed it off while munching on an energy bar as she did her shopping.
Halle is currently looking for some furniture for her new bundle of joy that’s expected to arrive later this year and we can wait for the tot to arrive!
Photo Credit: Splash

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Plastic Surgeon David Matlock Sculpts, Marries His Perfect Woman

When plastic surgeon David Matlock first walked into a consultation with Veronica, he thought he'd just be giving her information about his famous vaginoplasty procedure. Little did he know, he'd soon be giving her an engagement ring, as well.

Matlock, who rocketed his Los Angeles Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute to fame on "Dr. 90210," told Barcroft Media that it was "love at first sight." Without blinking an eye, he'd persuaded Veronica to go under the knife and get his "Wonder Woman Makeover," which includes liposuction of the chin, arms and thighs. (Hey, romance isn't always pretty.) She agreed to all of the procedures.

The doctor proposed on the first date and has been using his Michelangelo-like sculpting skills to make her more beautiful ever since. Matlock's not one to be outdone by his muse, though. He notes that he's also taken advantage of the plastic surgery procedures that he pioneered to craft his own perfect body.

While Matlocks might call themselves an aesthetically "perfect" couple, not every member of the family is in favor of these artificial enhancements.

"I would never really wanna get surgery, cause it's not really you. I'd want to be myself," Veronica's 9-year-old daughter, Isabella, said.

But the girl is not the only person to question the couple's enthusiasm for surgically altering any perceived flaws: Matlock's encountered his fair share of backlash, sometimes in the legal arena. According to a 2007 Washington Post article, Matlock was sued for malpractice 10 times in just a decade. He has also been disciplined by the Medical Board of California, which tried to revoke his license in 1998 for negligence, fraud and dishonesty, according to the Wall Street Journal. He settled with the board and was given four years of probation.

As a Reuters article discusses, many doctors question the ethics of aesthetic vagina surgeries, like the ones Matlock pioneered. According to a 2007 statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the procedure is "not medically indicated." The committee elaborates that, "Women should be informed about the lack of data supporting the efficacy of these procedures and their potential complications, including infection, altered sensation, dyspareunia, adhesions, and scarring." The organization confirmed to The Huffington Post that it still maintains this position.

Ultimately, however, the Matlocks say their love isn't about liposuction or botox injections. As Matlock puts it, he'll care for Veronica "for richer or poorer, till death do us part!" She chimes in: "But not fat!"

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Electric Zoo Festival Canceled After 2 Reportedly Die From Drug Use

The New York City Mayor's office announced on Sunday that Electric Zoo Festival would be canceled.

The third and final day of the popular musical festival was scheduled for Sunday, but due to suspected drug overdoses, it will not go on.

From the city's official statement:

"During the first two days of the Electric Zoo music festival, two concert-goers have died and at least four others became critically ill and have been placed in intensive care at area hospitals. Definitive causes of death have not yet been determined, however, both appear to have involved the drug MDMA (ecstasy, or molly)."

The festival takes place annually over Labor Day Weekend on Randall's Island. This year's biggest acts included David Guetta, Avicii, and Benny Benassi.

A little less bummed that we weren’t approved for press this year (after we got it last year)? MADE Events and city official announced the closing due to 2 deaths, which they believe were due to Molly, which most of the festival goers and 2013 have found. Our condolences go out to family and friends of those affected, and of course the fans and artists who are unable to play.

“The founders of Electric Zoo send our deepest condolences to the families of the two people who passed away this weekend. Because there is nothing more important to us than our patrons, we have decided in consultation with the New York City Parks Department that there will be no show today.”

“During the first two days of the Electric Zoo music festival, two concert-goers have died and at least four others became critically ill and have been placed in intensive care at area hospitals. Definitive causes of death have not yet been determined, however, both appear to have involved the drug MDMA (ecstasy, or molly).”

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