Eat, Pray, Love - Finding Inspiration Off The Beaten Track (by Elizabeth Gilbert)

Eat, Pray, Love is a short yet powerful book by Elizabeth Gilbert. The full title of the book is "Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia".

Part memoir about the author's breakup from an unfulfilling (yet not terrible) marriage and part travelogue, Eat, Pray, Love is a chatty book that reads like one long letter from a girlfriend.

She's unsparing about her own failings and problems and doesn't place the blame for her divorce on her ex - instead, she beautifully expresses the existential "Is this all there is?" angst that so many women feel who have bought into the American dream of husband, house in the suburbs, and child, only to realize that in their heart they desire none of those things.

When Elizabeth Gilbert realizes that marriage and kids aren't for her (at least, with this particular man, at this particular time in her life,) she embarks on a personal, funny, and moving quest to find out just what IS right for her.

And she takes us on the journey with her.

Through the author's optimistic and breezy recounting of her adventures, we get to travel with her to Italy, India and Indonesia. Part spiritual quest, part journey of self-discovery, and part hedonistic escapade, her experience echoes what so many women go through. How do you find meaning and spirituality while also fully celebrating the wonderful things that life in a physical body can offer you? Through her, we taste the gourmet wonders of Italy, learn about repose and meditation at an Indian ashram, and embark on an unpredictable yet entertaining affair while pursing mystical knowledge with a funny medicine man in Bali. (Yes, it turns out there are such things as funny medicine men. Spiritual advisors and healers aren't all deadly serious, Gilbert discovers.)

This is a great stocking stuffer type of book -- a short, breezy read. I'm giving copies to the girlfriends in my life who have pursued all the trends like yoga, Pilates, crystals, massage, and so forth while at the same time finding those traditions (which are too often into denial of bodily pleasure) stultifying and restrictive.

I love Gilbert's message about how we can all find a balance between the pleasures of the body and the joys of the soul. I fully believe that that's what we're here to achieve, anyway.

I mean, c'mon. We're spiritual beings, sure, but we've chosen to hang out in these bodies for a while. Why not charge them with passion, joy, and pleasure? Doesn't that make us more able to extend love and positive energy to others, because we ourselves are experiencing life as JOY instead of LACK?

Repressing desire, repressing fun, or cutting out too many carbs only lasts so long on the spiritual path. As with all things, eventually we must come full circle - and as this happens we usually strive for a balance of living in both worlds. We're spiritual beings having a material experience. Both aspects of our nature should be honored and celebrated, and this book inspires readers to do just that.

This book is perfect for the armchair traveler in your life interested in gaining a glimpse into exotic places, and it will also resonate with women in your life who have loved and lost, loved and hated, and loved and despaired only to later find joy again. Inspiring and fun, you've got to check out this book!

I don't always agree with Oprah's book recommendations, but this was actually a book I wanted to write a review on for some time, and when I saw that Oprah was featuring it on her show today, I said - let me share my own impressions of this entertaining and enlightening book.

In short, I say get a copy - and consider stocking up on a few extra editions for those women in your life who are seeking ways to remain "good girls" while still craving some "bad girl" experiences. This book shows you that craving love, wanting good food, or desiring more than what you have doesn't make you "bad." It simply means that your spirit is expanding in what it needs to feel fulfilled.

And that's a good thing.

Source: lipstickmystic.com

Did Filomena Kill Seth Tobias?

The death of investment manager Seth Tobias is becoming the center of controversy Tuesday after his brothers claim Tobias' widow planned his death.

Brothers brothers, Samuel, Spence, Scott and Joshua, claim that Filomena Tobias drugged her husband and lured him into the pool, where he drowned.

A former assistant to Seth Tobias has told the police that Filomena Tobias confessed to him that she had lured her husband, who was on a cocaine binge, into the water, promising him sex with a male go-go dancer know as "Tiger." A lawyer for Filomena Tobias has called the claims outrageous.

The plot thickened when it emerged that Filomena Tobias had paid $9,628 to have the pool drained and resurfaced just days after her husband died.

Seth Tobias formed Circle T in 1996, with $4 million, and parlayed that into a $300 million hedge fund and brokerage firm. Circle T is in the process of returning investors’ funds; clients have not lost money.

Tobias counted among his investors Samuel Zell, the billionaire who recently agreed to buy the Tribune Company.

He managed to make a name for himself on financial-news television, appearing on “Squawk Box” and “Kudlow & Company” on CNBC.

His lavish lifestyle led to heavy expenditures, cocaine use and frequent visits with his wife to Cupids, a gay bar in West Palm Beach with televisions constantly showing with hardcore gay pornography. Cupids is where he met "Tiger".


Source: news.finditt.com

9/11 Mystery Plane Spurs Conspiracy (Plus Video)

The events surrounding 9/11 have prompted one of the fastest growing conspiracy movements in American history (perhaps even set to eclipse the conspiracy theories surrounding the Kennedy assassination in scope and popular interest). Adding fuel to this fire is a new CNN report on the "mystery plane" -- a Boeing 747 identified as the E-4B, the National Airborne Operations Center -- that flew over the White House on Sept. 11.

Conspiracy theorists say the airplane is proof that the government coordinated the attacks (that raises the question: why then would the government do something so obvious as to fly the "attack coordination" aircraft over the White House). Complicating attempts to refute such theories is that the government apparently won't confirm this is the E-4B, or to explain why it was flying over the White House on 9/11.

Source: CNN

Facebook Founder Loses Court Battle Against 02138 Magazine

A federal judge ruled against Facebook Inc. on Friday, denying two emergency motions to force 02138 magazine to take down documents regarding Mark E. Zuckerberg, the company’s founder.

The documents—which included Zuckerberg’s Harvard College application, his personal diary, and an e-mail he wrote to the College’s Administrative Board—are evidence in an ongoing court battle between Facebook and ConnectU, a social networking site founded by Harvard students who employed Zuckerberg before he went on to found Facebook.
The ConnectU founders allege that Zuckerberg, formerly of the Class of 2006, stole their ideas, including some of the source code for their site.

In the copy of the diary that is posted on the magazine’s Web site, Zuckerberg detailed potential features for the original Facebook, as well as how he would acquire the photographs and data for the first version.

“The Kirkland facebook is open on my computer desktop and some of these people have pretty horrendous facebook pics,” he wrote in a diary entry in October 2003, referring to the undergraduate House where he resided at the time. “I almost want to put some of these faces next to pictures of farm animals and have people vote on which is more attractive.”

Facebook argued that the documents were under court seal and should not have been released. The company’s lawyers notified 02138 on Thursday morning that they had filed the motions, giving the magazine less than two days’ notice to appear in court on Friday.

Bom S. Kim ’00—the founder of 02138, a magazine geared toward Harvard alums—said in a phone interview that the reporter who wrote the story about Zuckerberg simply walked into federal court and asked for the documents.

“We obtained them legally—it’s a matter of free speech,” Kim said. “This isn’t a new tactic—a big company trying to suppress information by harnessing their resources and lawyers to overwhelm media outlets.”

According to Kim, U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock recognized 02138’s First Amendment right to publish the information.

“We were relieved and happy,” Kim said. “It’s a good day for journalism.”
Richard Bradley, the executive editor of the magazine, echoed Kim in an entry he posted on his blog, “Shots in the Dark.”

“[T]his is a victory for the ability of the American press to do its job,” Bradley wrote, “even when a $15 billion company brings its legal guns to bear on you.”

Representatives from Facebook did not respond to requests for comment

Source: thecrimson.com

Story Of Jesse James Hollywood - "Alpha Dog"

Jesse James Hollywood (born January 28, 1980 in Los Angeles, California) is an American drug dealer and fugitive. He allegedly kidnapped and ordered the murder of Nicholas Markowitz. Ryan Hoyt, a "posse member" of Jesse James Hollywood, has been convicted of the slaying of Markowitz on August 9, 2000. Hoyt reportedly owed Hollywood money for drugs and was offered the opportunity to kill Markowitz as a way of erasing his debt. Hoyt was convicted of 1st degree murder and was sentenced to death. He currently is on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California.

Hollywood's drugs trade allowed him to acquire a small fortune with which he bought a $200,000 property in the San Fernando Valley area of Southern California and numerous exotic sports cars.

He was profiled on America's Most Wanted on June 12, 2004. Upon being captured, AMW showed him again on March 12 and April 2, 2005. Hollywood was found to be living in Saquarema, Brazil. American authorities worked with Brazilian agents and found out that Hollywood was supposed to meet a cousin in a mall. He was arrested by Interpol agents in Saquarema on March 8, 2005, at 11:35am, and was returned to the United States on March 10, 2005.

He is currently awaiting trial in California, starting after 2007. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.


Alpha Dog

In January 2007, the movie Alpha Dog, based on Jesse Hollywood and the kidnap and murder of Nicholas Markowitz, premiered at the Sundance Film festival. The film stars Emile Hirsch (as Hollywood, under the name Johnny Truelove), Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Ben Foster and Harry Dean Stanton. Universal Studios originally set a release date in May 2006, but the film was pushed back to be released on January 12, 2007.

During filming, Santa Barbara County Deputy District Attorney Ronald J. Zonen provided copies of virtually every document in his file and served as an unpaid consultant to the film, citing his desire to have Hollywood captured. Zonen prosecuted Hollywood’s co-defendants and was poised to prosecute Hollywood. This alleged conflict of interest led to the decision by the California Court of Appeal for the Second District, who ruled on October 5, 2006 that, based on Zonen's disclosure of the files—which included confidential information and service as consultant to the film—he should be recused from further involvement in prosecuting Hollywood.

On December 20, 2006, the California Supreme Court granted review on Hollywood and a factually-unrelated case, Haraguchi v. Superior Court, involving the recusal of another prosecutor from Zonen's office, thus effectively staying the order to recuse Zonen. It is unclear how long it will take for the California Supreme Court to decide whether Zonen or his colleague will remain on their respective cases.

NBC's Dateline and Fox Network's America's Most Wanted have been covering this story extensively. You can get the Alpha Dog DVD Here>>>