Modern radio drama Paranoria, TX releases 100th episode

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Paranoria, TX, a modern radio drama hosted at internet-based AstroNet Radio, released its 100th episode. The episode is titled The People’s Choice and aired on Monday.

The station’s web site describes the show as “old school radio theater with a new and outrageous geeky spin!” In its early days, the show was featured solely at the long-running internet radio site TogiNet Radio, a site focused on talk radio. In late 2015, TogiNet established AstroNet Radio as a subsidiary station. The show originally featured amateur voice actors, local to East Texas. After some time, professional actors/talent came to be featured intermittently. Some of those were

  • Kevin Betzer from television series Deep South Paranormal.
  • Clu Gulager notably from The Virginian and The Fall Guy.
  • John Gulager notably as director of Piranha 3DD.
  • Diane Ayala Goldner notably from horror film franchise Feast.
  • Vernon Wells notably from the films Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and Weird Science.

Wikinews caught up with the show’s producer, George Jones, to discuss the show.

((WN)) First, tell our readers about Paranoria, Texas.

George Jones: Paranoria, TX started out as a little show that could. We really didn’t know what we were doing but we wanted to do Old School radio in a brand new format which consisted of a new script every week with a cast of voice actors. The result was a surprising hit and now the show has grown into something completely different than what it was in the beginning and we have followers worldwide. The basic premise of the story is that there is a group of nerds who come together plotting to take over the world but end up saving it time and again.

((WN)) When did the idea for the show first come to you?

GJ: I was called into the [TogiNet] studio for an interview about one of my events and while I was there the DJ asked me if I had ever thought about doing a radio show myself. I had no idea what I was going to do but I was intrigued and after a little brainstorming and utilizing my own creativity the show was born.

((WN)) You’ve written most of the scripts, right? Has anyone else helped you with writing?

GJ: I have written 90% of the scripts for the show. Eric Nivens, Alan Mendez, Jeremy Nagel and Matt McBride have also written a few scripts. It gets tough running a brand new 20-page script every week but somehow we’ve managed for almost a hundred weeks. We thank God for fans who keep us going, otherwise it would not have made it for so long.

Jones estimates since the first episode, the show has been downloaded roughly 30,000 times. The show is set to feature a spin-off series soon.

Dining Chairs A Great Way To Enhance And Accentuate Your Decor}

Submitted by: Jesse Akre

As the most customary place for eating and entertaining, the dining room is one of the most frequented rooms in the house. The dining table is the foundation of this significant room, and the chairs that accompany it either add or subtract from that significance. Great food and great dining provisions are what make for a great dining experience, but having a fantastic dinette set will set this dinner experience apart from any other. Dinette sets enhance and accentuate the dcor of the room that contains them, and the dining chairs that are part of the set help to tie the whole thing together.

Dining chairs that were made to accommodate the dining table are usually the best choice of chairs, especially since they are designed to compliment the table itself. However, you dont necessarily have to choose the chairs that are featured with a dinette sets table. Therefore, if you are selecting different chairs to accompany your table, choosing the right dining chairs becomes very important. A set of awkward or mismatched chairs will detract from the beauty of a dining room table. It will also diminish the overall theme and purpose of the dining room dcor.

There is always the possibility that you will need to purchase dining chairs without purchasing the dining table; for example, when the dining chairs wear out or break before the table itself. Yet if you are not ready to purchase new chairs, or you cannot decide on a dining chair design that compliments your table well, there are a few alternatives. Reupholstering your dining chairs is one of these alternatives. After many years of being sat upon, the dining chairs often suffer as their padding and fabric wear out. This sort of wear and tear is quite embarrassing, but can be easily remedied with some fabric and hardware.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCRc-5HE5A4[/youtube]

Dining chair slip covers are another alternative, and can give your current dining chairs a face-lift of sorts. Since the selection of slip covers is massive, you can get a style and pattern to suit any preference. In a variety of fabrics, colors and textures, dining chair slip covers will give your existing dining chairs a new and different look. And they can do this without the added expense that purchasing new dining chairs will do. Dining chair slip covers can take any outdated furniture and make it look brand new again.

Whatever the desired style of the dinette set is, the dining chairs will accentuate your dining room dcor. The will serve as the perfect addition or renovation to your dining space providing not only a functional purpose but a taste of your personality as well. The original dining chairs that accompany a dining table are recommended as the best choice. However, if this is not your preference, remember that the selection of chairs is as vital to the dinette set as the table itself is. They can make or break even your best intended decorative efforts.

About the Author: As an owner of numerous home decor sites, Jesse Akre shares consumer reviews on

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French parliamentarian questions Jacques Chirac’s Elysée budget

Thursday, October 6, 2005

A member of the French National Assembly, René Dosière, denounces the “opacity” in the budget of the Élysée Palace, the office of the President of the French Republic.

According to him, the president’s real budget is approximately three times the budget given for his services in the yearly national budget voted by the French Parliament, because many employees and services are provided by other ministries and public services free of charge to the presidency, and thus are counted in other budgets. As an example, the French Ministry of Defense provides republican guards and other soldiers, as well as aerial transportation; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs funds official foreign trips; and repairs, furnitures etc. to presidential offices are funded by the Ministry of Culture. Mr Dosière reports that in 2003, the total spending was 82.6 million Euros, while the official budget of the presidency was 30.5 million.

Mr Dosière started inquiring about presidential expenses about four years ago, and since then has been a critic of the opacity of accounting at the presidency. In order to obtain the necessary information, he has had to ask numerous questions to the executive and administrations.

In addition, he points out that the official budget of the presidency has boomed under Jacques Chirac’s term: between 1995 and 2005, it climbed from 5,21 millions to 26,14 millions. In 1995, the president also had at his disposal some “secret funds”, the total amount of which was voted by parliament, but which could be spent at his discretion. “Secret funds” were originally meant to fund specific missions that could not be funded within the exacting rules of public accounting, such as secret operations abroad, but they gradually also came to serve to pay various gratifications to government officials. Since 2002, secret funds have been cut and are reserved for paying for secret operations, while services that used them for normal operations were given special compensation. In 2005, the special compensation for the presidency was 5.5 million Euros.

In 2001, the French Parliament voted a law known as the LOLF (Loi d’orientation relative aux lois de finances) reforming the budget system, with a timetable for gradual implementation. This law mandates that any public spending should be traced to an identifiable “mission” of government.

American Academy of Pediatrics supports dairy for lactose intolerant children

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in the September 2006 issue of its journal Pediatrics, supports the use of dairy by lactose intolerant children.

Dr. Melvin B. Heyman, author of the article, says that just because a child is lactose intolerant, does not mean that they should avoid dairy altogether. Many lactose intolerant people can consume small amounts of dairy.

Heyman says that dairy consumption is important, especially for children, because of its high calcium content. The calcium is, in turn, important for stengthening growing bones. “If dairy products are eliminated,” the article says, “other dietary sources of calcium or calcium supplements need to be provided.”

Lactose intolerance is a condition, present in the majority of human population above the age of infancy, due to which the body cannot tolerate lactose, a sugar present in milk and other dairy products. Lactose intolerance causes a range of unpleasant abdominal symptoms, including stomach cramps, bloating, flatulence and diarrhea.

As lactose intolerance is inherent, its prevalence varies by ethnic group. For example, while only 12% of American Caucasians have it, its prevalence is 75% among African Americans, 93% among Chinese, 60%-80% among Ashkenazi Jews,and 100% among American Indians. Many people do not realize that they have this condition simply because they have eaten dairy all their lives and view the symptoms of lactose intolerance as “normal”.

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has long stated that the risks of consuming dairy far outweigh the benefits. According to PRCM’s fact sheet, called “Parents’ Guide to Building Better Bones”, there are many healthy ways of getting enough calcium and promoting bone health. Many foods contain calcium, not just dairy. Also, it is important to consider the amount of calcium absorbed, not just the amount of calcium present in a food. For example, more than three times as much calcium is absorbed from one serving of Total Plus cereal as from one serving of 2% milk.

PCRM promotes a strictly vegetarian diet. Despite its name, it claims only 5 percent of its members as physicians. PCRM has also been accused of having links with animal rights “extremists”, in particular Jerry Vlasak, a former PCRM spokesman who called for the murder of scientists who use animals in research.

The report in News-Medical.Net says that Ann Marie Krautheim, with the National Dairy Council, a dairy lobbying group, says

she hopes the report will educate parents on how to continue to include dairy in the diets of children sensitive to lactose and also help improve their nutrient intake. Krautheim says calcium-fortified beverages and other foods which seek to provide an alternative source of calcium, do not provide an equivalent nutrient package to dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt.

This last statement, however, that dairy products are superior to calcium-fortified foods, is not supported by the article in Pediatrics.

Acid Glass Etching As A Unique Art Form

Acid Glass Etching as A Unique Art Form

by

Bahah Eyal

This technique is often confused with sandblasting, however, acid etching offers many more finishes and degrees of transparency and diffusion of light.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlPalHu-4I8[/youtube]

Acid glass etching has been used for centuries dating back to the Victorian times where examples of this art form can be witnessed through mirrors and pub windows during the Victorian era. This type of etching was used to add decoration and color to glass and mirrors. The original process for acid glass etching was to use a wax stencil that was placed on areas of the glass or mirror that the artist did not want exposed to the acid. Artists used Hydrofluoric Acid which is the best type of acid to be used for glass etching yet it is lethal to a human being. When the glass or mirror was dipped into the acid, the fumes that it produced were poisonous and if the Hydrofluoric Acid touched a part of the artists body, it would dissolve the skin and tissue. Many artists have even lost their fingers and hands due to the use of this acid. Now in the modern era many new techniques are introduced. Chemical creams and solutions are used for glass etching. When compared to Hydrofluoric acid these solutions are very cheaper and they serve better to produce their masterpiece. These solutions and creams are not harmful and they never create side effects to the artists. Thus they can do their work without fear. There is actually a difference between sand blasting and glass etching. In sand blasting artist need to carve the glass or mirror but in glass etching it is not required. Artist need to spend more time in case of sand blasting and not in glass etching. Nowadays artists use chemicals and not hydrofluoric acid. We can very well find the difference between a glass etching that is done with the help of hydrofluoric acid and with the help of chemicals. The one that is done with the hydrofluoric acid will be very attractive and the other will give a dull look. Sand blasting will also give a good look when compared to the glass etching done with the help to chemicals and solutions. Artists should be very careful while preparing a glass etching. In acid and sand blasting various techniques are available to produce different types of glass etching and sand blasting but in chemical glass etching varieties are minimum and hence there is always a draw back in case of chemical glass itching when compared to the other two types. This is one of the lost arts and few people are able to offer this technique today. It is also more expensive as it is much more specialised and uses very dangerous chemicals which are potentially lethal. Hydrofloric Acid is the only acid which is corrosive to glass but unfortunately disolves human tissue as well so strict safety precautions need to be adhered to.

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Acid Glass Etching as A Unique Art Form

Australian refugee contractor accused of breaching its duty of care

Friday, December 30, 2005

Contents

  • 1 Richard Niyonsaba
  • 2 Denial of food
  • 3 Background and Criticisms
  • 4 Sources

The Australian Centre for Languages, a company which has a multi-million dollar contract with the Australian government to provide refugee services, has been accused of breaching its duty of care following the death of a chronically ill child and allegations of failing to provide three women in their care with food.

Bodies of 2 children allegedly thrown from bridge are found

Sunday, January 13, 2008

The bodies of two of the four Alabama children allegedly thrown off a bridge by their father have been found. On Saturday, Danny Luong, the youngest of the children at four months old, was discovered by a duck hunter in a marshy area near Bayou la Batre, about 5 miles west of the 80 foot high Dauphin Island Bridge. A second child, 3-year-old Ryan Phan, was found near Barton Bay by a search and rescue team today at 10:30 am local time. Barton Bay is about 10 miles northwest of the bridge.

The father, Lam Luong, a 37 year old shrimp fisherman, has been charged with four counts of capital murder. If convicted, he faces either the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole.

“The inevitable nightmare we have feared has now been confirmed. We believe, certainly now, that the father of these children threw these children off the Dauphin Island bridge,” Mobile County sheriff Sam Cochran said on Saturday.

Luong and his wife, Kieu Ngoc Phan, reported the children missing on Monday. When questioned, Luong claimed responsibility for the act, saying that he threw the children into the river after an argument with his wife. However, he later retracted his confession, instead claiming that two women, one of whom is named “Kim”, took the children and drove off in a van.

Kieu Ngoc Phan was informed of the body’s discovery on Saturday. “Why didn’t he kill me instead of the children? It’s too much hurting,” Phan said through an interpreter while weeping. She was being comforted by an associate pastor from a Vietnamese church.

According to the family, Luong called from jail and told them he wanted to be “more famous than the 9/11 hijackers” and that he “wasn’t afraid of the electric chair“.

The search continues for the other two children – Hannah Luong, 2, and Lindsey Luong, 1. The search area has been expanded across the state border towards Pascagoula, Mississippi, as authorities believe the strong currents may have moved the bodies westward. Mobile County Commissioner Steve Nodine reports that the search is costing an estimated $100,000 per day.

Spelbound declared winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2010

Monday, June 7, 2010

An acrobatic group known by the name of Spelbound has been declared as the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2010, a televised variety talent show competition broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom. As the winning act of the show, Spelbound have won £100,000 (US$144,580, €120,313, A$175,079) and a place at The Royal Variety Performance, an annual gala evening that is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family.

In no particular order, the top three acts were revealed to be two dancers known by their stage name of Twist and Pulse, gymnastic group Spelbound and Kieran Gaffney, whose act involves playing on the drum kit. After Kieran Gaffney was revealed to be in third place, Anthony McPartlin, who hosts Britain’s Got Talent with Declan Donnelly, said to Kieran: “Well done Kieran. Kieran, you’re a star, you came back, you got all the way to the final. I know you’ve loved this. You’ve loved this, haven’t you?” In response to this, Kieran Gaffney stated: “Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone for supporting me. Thank you.”

Shortly afterwards, on the episode that was broadcast live on ITV1 on Saturday, Anthony announced: “After tens of thousands of auditons, five semi-finals and an amazing final, this…this is it. One of you is about to walk away with £100,000 and a place at this year’s Royal Variety Performance. The winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2010 is…Spelbound!” Glen Murphy from Twist and Pulse commented about finishing in second place, stating: “Yeah, it’s amazing. I can’t even believe it. I can’t believe it at all.”

Alex Uttley, a 24-year-old member of Spelbound, commented on the gymnastic group’s victory, commenting: “Oh, my god. This is unbelieveable. We just want to say thank you to everyone out there. It just shows that all our hard work has paid off.” One of the coaches of Spelbound, named Neil Griffiths, stated about Spelbound: “Oh, they’ve worked so hard over the last few weeks. Um, since the semi-final, we…we really had to pull out the stops to try and up the game. They’ve not known they’ve worked in the gym from six in the morning till twelve…twelve o’clock of the night. I couldn’t have asked for more. Um, it’s a team of coaches. I don’t take all the credit myself. There’s, uh, two people up there that know who they are who’ve been fantastic.”

Spelbound consists of 24-year-old Alex Uttley, Nicholas Illingworth, aged 24, Adam Buckingham, aged 21, 20-year-old Adam McAssey, 19-year-old Douglas Fordyce, 18-year-old Edward Upcott, 18-year-old Leighanne Cowler, 17-year-old Katie Axten, 17-year-old Lauren Kemp, 15-year-old Jonathan Stranks, Abigail Ralph, aged 15, 13-year-old Hollianne Wood and Amy Mackenzie, aged 12. Bookmakers had previously predicted that Spelbound would be the most likely act to become the winner of the series.

The running order for the final started with Twist and Pulse. The second act to perform was Liam McNally, a 14-year-old singer. The running order subsequently continued with 40-year-old impressionist Paul Burling, singer Christopher Stone, aged 28, Tina & Chandi, a woman and dog dancing act, Connected, a five-piece singing group, Kieran Gaffney, aged 12, 22-year-old Tobias Mead, a dancer, 80-year-old singer Janey Cutler and Spelbound in that particular order.

Earlier on in the final, Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden has stated to Spelbound: “We are hosting the 2012 Olympics and I think ‘what a brilliant opening act’.” Fellow judge Piers Morgan also commented that “[t]he purpose of this show is to identify hidden great British talent. You are that act.” After Spelbound won in the final, another judge, named Simon Cowell, stated that “the right boys and girls won on the night” and that he could “only say on live TV that that was one of the most astonishing things I have ever seen. Seriously.”