Puppy Meant for Girl with Leukemia Retrieved from Woman Responsible for Delivering It

A woman entrusted in delivering a pug puppy meant for a sick girl may face criminal charges after police say she kept the dog for herself 

Riverside Police Department

A pug puppy that was supposed to be delivered to a 7-year-old girl sick with leukemia on Christmas but was instead kept by the woman in charge of delivering it has been retrieved by police.

Riverside resident Shawna Hamon purchased a pug after hearing about a sick girl’s condition and her desire for a pug for Christmas. Hamon entrusted an acquaintance to deliver the puppy to the girl in Sacramento, according to a statement from the Riverside Police Department.

But the puppy never arrived.

Police said Hamon sent an animal delivery service and an attorney to the acquaintance’s Los Angeles home, but the woman refused to give the dog back. Hamon eventually filed a police report and a search warrant was served in the 3900 block of Edenhurst Avenue, officials said.

The dog wasn’t found at the residence. Police said they searched several other locations and eventually found the pug at a house in the 5500 block of Carlton Way.

Officers learned later that the woman somehow found out about the dog search and left the puppy at a neighbor’s house before their arrival, police said.

Officer Anthony Watkins retrieved the dog and gave it back to Hamon, officials said.

The child, currently receiving experimental treatment in Philadelphia will now have the dog hand-delivered by Hamon herself, police said.

Watkins is working with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in pursuing potential theft charges.

Do small apartments really pose a health risk?

© nARCHITECTS In today's economic climate, there are a lot of advantages to living in a smaller space -- affordability, potentially better location, in addition to consciously paring one's "stuff" down to the essentials. But could smaller apartments -- especially in cramped, urban areas like New York City -- be detrimental to one's health?
A recent piece in The Atlantic raises this very question, focusing on a recent micro-apartment development of units ranging from 250 and 370 square feet that will be located on a city-owned site at East 27th street in Manhattan. Made possible by the waiving of certain zoning laws , the units have been designed with 10-foot ceilings and Juliet balconies by Brooklyn-based firm nARCHITECTS . The city's pilot project has been described as one possible solution to NYC's growing housing crisis, characterized by a shortage of affordable housing and a booming "underground housing market" (illegally converted lofts, basements and apartment shares).

Great for singles, but not families 

Some observers are, however, skeptical about how effective micro-units might be in alleviating the crisis. Though the project's target demographic is young professionals in their twenties, if micro-units like these are to be NYC's wave of the future, some experts believe that there may be negative mental health impacts of living in a small space, especially for older adults or families with children. Says Dak Kopec, director of design for human health at Boston Architectural College:

Sure, these micro-apartments may be fantastic for young professionals in their 20's. But they definitely can be unhealthy for older people , say in their 30’s and 40’s, who face different stress factors that can make tight living conditions a problem.

© nARCHITECTS

How small is too small?

It's a valid debate that is bound to happen sooner or later: some of these single, young professionals will be having families of their own, and living in a small space with kid(s) would probably pose a huge challenge. Yet, it begs the question of how small is too small; this can vary from person to person and also from country to country .Design matters too: these micro-units certainly won't be the cramped tenements of NYC's once-infamous slums either; the building will be well-situated, well-lit, and its modular design places an emphasis on shared community areas to compensate for smaller living spaces, boasting a rooftop garden, gym and shared lounges on almost every floor. Hardly the squalid cubicle apartments of Hong Kong .

It's really about affordability 

Of course, micro-apartments should not displace housing stock intended for families, but it seems rather tenuous to link mental health risks with a micro-unit design that incorporates generous common spaces to improve the overall living experience.But Susan Saegert, a professor of environmental psychology and director of the Housing Environments Research Group, rightly highlights the possibility that "ground rent" (dollar per square foot that developers earn from their investment) might actually increase with micro-apartments. The Atlantic explains :

So over time, New Yorkers may actually face more expensive housing, paying the same amount to rent a studio in the neighborhood where they used to be able to afford a one-bedroom. With the gradual erosion of zoning rules, the micro-apartment could very well become the unit of the future, the only viable choice for a large number of renters.

© nARCHITECTSIt's something we've discussed before: how micro-apartments may be small, but rents are not . It seems then, that the issue is less about the size of the apartments -- as New York already has a sizeable population (33 percent) who are singles living alone, who might actually not mind living in a micro-apartment -- and more about long-term affordability of housing .
This is a particularly sobering point emphasized by a recent report by the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHP), which found that in half of the city’s community districts, the majority of affordable units are, in fact, too expensive for the average income of neighborhood residents.
As ANHP policy director Barika X. Williams explains in the New York Times :

Starting in 2017, the city will begin losing an average of 8,500 affordable units each year because of expiring short-term affordability limits. The city cannot continue to give developments public financing, zoning or tax incentives if they do not produce permanently affordable units. We should return to the Koch model of working with community-based nonprofit developers who achieve long-term affordability and provide the greatest neighborhood benefit.

There's no doubt that New York needs more housing, as more and more people are wanting to live there , and with limited real estate, new apartments are inevitably going to be smaller. Of course, regulations are needed to oversee future micro-developments, to avoid coffin-sized apartments . But as we've seen in dense European and Asian cities, good design can actually make small spaces quite agreeable, but good design cannot replace sound policy.
Read the whole piece over at The Atlantic .

Shia LaBeouf Retires?

Retirement..or something else?

Shia LaBeouf says he’s “retiring” from the public eye in the wake of his recent plagiarism scandal.
The Transformers star has endured weeks of public ridicule following the revelation that his short film HowardCantour.com was a rip-off of cartoonist Daniel Clowes graphic novel Justin M. Damiano. Shia purposely plagiarized apologies from the likes of Kanye West, Rob Ford, Tiger Woods, Lena Dunham and Mark Zuckerberg and posted them on his Twitter feed as a mea culpa to Clowes.
He even hired a skywriter to write “I’m Sorry Daniel Clowes” over the Hollywood sky. Clowes’ publisher, Eric Reynolds, has branded the efforts “insincere” and claims the writer is “exploring his legal options.”
Reynolds quipped:

“I imagine airplane messaging is the norm in Hollywood, but someone really should have informed Mr. LaBeouf that Mr. Clowes lives in the Bay Area [in Northern California] before he went to all that trouble.”

The controversy has apparently proven too great for Shia, who now says he’s taking a step back from the limelight. He made the announcement on Twitter Friday, writing:

“In light of the recent attacks against my artistic integrity, I am retiring from all public life…My love goes out to those who have supported me. #stopcreating.”

Whether LaBeouf intends to quit acting altogether or just halt press interviews and Twitter remains to be seen.

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Shia LaBeouf Retires?

Beyonce Heading Back to No. 1 on Billboard 200

After a one-week vacation from the top slot on the Billboard 200 chart, Beyonce is heading back to No. 1.
The diva's self-titled set could sell around 85,000 to 90,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, Jan. 12, according to industry forecasters. If it returns to No. 1, it will mark the fourth non-consecutive week atop the list for "Beyonce."
Meanwhile, the current chart champ, the soundtrack to Disney's "Frozen" movie, will probably dip to No. 2 with around 75,000.
The "Frozen" set stormed to No. 1 this past week on the chart, selling 165,000 copies in the week ending Jan. 5, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It bumped "Beyonce" out of the No. 1 position after a three-week reign.
The top 10 of next week's Billboard 200 chart will be revealed on Wednesday, Jan. 15.
The highest new entry on next week's list will likely be rapper Kid Ink's major label full-length album, "My Own Lane," with around 40,000 or so. That should place it around No. 3 on the chart. It should be the only debut in the top 10 next week.
The rest of the top 10 should be populated with holdovers by the likes of Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" (maybe 35,000), Lorde's "Pure Heroine" (30,000) and One Direction's "Midnight Memories" (25,000).
On SoundScan's Building chart (below), "Beyonce" leads at No. 1, while Kid Ink and the "Frozen" soundtrack are Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. The Building tally is a precursor to the final Billboard 200 ranking -- reflecting the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking week as reported by six major merchants.
As for the rest of the top 10: Eminem, Lorde and One Direction are Nos. 4-6, while Katy Perry's "PRISM" is No. 7. Miley Cyrus' "Bangerz" is No. 8, Imagine Dragons' "Night Visions" is No. 9 and Drake's "Nothing Was the Same" rounds out the Building Chart's top 10 at No. 10.

Nielsen SoundScan Building Chart
Rank	LW BB 200	Artist	Title
1	2	Beyonce	"Beyonce"
2	NEW	Kid Ink	"My Own Lane"
3	1	Soundtrack	"Frozen"
4	3	Eminem	"The Marshall Mathers LP 2"
5	5	Lorde	"Pure Heroine"
6	6	One Direction	"Midnight Memories"
7	4	Katy Perry	"PRISM"
8	13	Miley Cyrus	"Bangerz"
9	10	Imagine Dragons	"Night Visions"
10	15	Drake	"Nothing Was the Same"
The Building Chart reflects the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking week (which ends Sunday) as reported by six major merchants: iTunes, Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Starbucks, Target and Anderson Merchandisers. Billboard estimates that they make up about 85% of all U.S. album sales.

Beyonce Heading Back to No. 1 on Billboard 200 | Billboard

Zach Braff Reacts to Shia LaBeouf's Retirement Announcement

Zach Braff weighs in on Shia LaBeouf 's latest outburst in which the latter announced his plan to retire following his plagiarism scandal. The "Scrubs " star tweeted a GIF image with a mocking caption, "Stop. Don't. Come back."

Hours earlier, LaBeouf wrote, "In light of the recent attacks against my artistic integrity, I am retiring from all public life," before adding, "My love goes out to those who have supported me." He also skywrote a "#stopcreating" message following his retirement announcement.

Braff is not the only celebrity who mocked the "Nymphomaniac " star who was slammed for ripping Daniel Clowes and accused of being insincere with his bizarre apologies. Seth Rogen wrote, "This is by far the most I've ever been entertained by Shia LaBeouf," in response to LaBeouf's skywriting apology addressed to Clowes.

"Not easy to pull off crazy AND moronic, but you did it, Shia LaBeouf. Sheer a**holery ahead," Patton Oswalt posted. "Dear Shia LaBeouf (@thecampaignbook): If you're gonna be that dumb, delusional AND boring when you speak, just go ahead and plagiarize."

"I've always felt, utterly and unchangeably, that only sociopaths hire skywriters," Lena Dunham deadpanned, before adding, "The worst part is I'd probably totally drop my morals, and my pants, if someone skywrote to me."
© AceShowbiz.com
Zach Braff Reacts to Shia LaBeouf's Retirement Announcement

Shia LaBeouf Announces Retirement From Public Life And Other Things Nobody Cares About on The Soup

As a result of the public scandal surrounding him plagiarizing a famous comic book artist and then pretty much handling the public response to that in the worst way possible and making himself look like a total dick, Shia LaBeouf  announced via twitter that he's retiring from "public life."

But he didn't stop there. He continued tweeting about all of the new life changes he's making.

Um, Shia, you just plagiarized Casper the ghost! It's shocking how much of a tactless, immoral ghost Shia LaGhost has become.

Katy Perry's 'PRISM' Hits 1 Million Sold

Katy Perry has officially scored three million-selling albums.
Her newest effort, "PRISM," passed the 1 million sales mark this week, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan. The album sold 51,000 copies last week, bringing its cumulative tally to 1,020,000 in 11 weeks on sale.
 
The album follows 2008's "One of the Boys" and 2010's "Teenage Dream" in the million-selling category in the U.S. The latter took 20 weeks to hit that amount, going on to be certified double-platinum by the RIAA.
The success of "PRISM" stems largely from its first single, "Roar," which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. While second single "Unconditionally" found a No. 14 peak, newest single "Dark Horse" (featuring Juicy J) rises 11-6 this week, becoming the singer's 13th top 10 Hot 100 hit.


The sales could keep coming in droves if "PRISM" yields more hit singles. "Teenage Dream" hit the top of the Hot 100 with five singles (tying Michael Jackson's record set with "Bad" in 1987-88 for the most No. 1s from an album), with the set's "Complete Confection" re-release adding a sixth in "Part of Me."

Katy Perry's 'PRISM' Hits 1 Million Sold | Billboard

Justin Bieber to Face FELONY Charges for Egg Tossing Incident?

Los Angeles County Sheriff detectives reportedly have their sights set on Justin Bieber… and they are taking aim.
In the wake of Bieber allegedly throwing as many as 20 eggs at his neighbor's house (an incident that prompted a curse-filled confrontation, the audio from which is posted below) insiders tell TMZ that law enforcement officials are seeking to nail the singer with a FELONY .

Justin Bieber Neighbor Films Egg Tossing Incident

In California, damage in excess of $400 qualifies a crime to be raised to this level; repair estimates from the homeowner are expected to come on Monday.
Considering the items that were hit with eggs - Venetian plaster, expensive doors - the bill may actually end up well into the five figures.
Seriously, homes in Calabasas aren't exactly cheap. It's where numerous celebrities, such as the Kardashians and Keyshawn Johnson, reside.
And because Bieber has run afoul of the law on so many occasions (driving recklessly , throwing loud parties, drinking underage), officials see this as a prime opportunity to set the star straight.
This is the first time in the past year or so since Justin fell off his respectable cliff that the Sheriff's department has real evidence against Bieber - and it plans to put it to very serious use.
The District Attorney will likely receive the case next week and will then decide whether to press charges.
So... with this latest incident in mind, tell us: Do you still like Justin Bieber?
 Justin Bieber to Face FELONY Charges for Egg Tossing Incident? - The Hollywood Gossip

Israelis pay last respects to warrior-statesman Sharon

(Reuters) - Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's body lay in state on Sunday outside parliament in Jerusalem, where thousands of Israelis waited to bid farewell to the maverick warrior-statesman who reshaped the Middle East.
Sharon died at the age of 85 on Saturday after eight years in a coma caused by a stroke he suffered at the pinnacle of his political power. He will be buried on Monday in a military funeral on his farm in southern Israel .
"They say old soldiers do not die, they fade away. Arik Sharon faded away eight years ago, and now we truly say goodbye to him," Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, using Sharon's nickname, wrote in a tribute on Sunday.
Sharon was one of Israel's finest military strategists and most powerful political figures, spearheading military invasion, Jewish settlement-building on land the Palestinians want for a state, and making the shock decision to withdraw from one of those territories, the Gaza Strip.
Prime minister from 2001 to 2006, Sharon's stroke happened shortly after he quit the right-wing Likud party and founded a centrist faction to advance peace with the Palestinians, whose 2000-2005 "Intifada" uprising he had battled as prime minister.
LOVED AND HATED
Sharon was widely hated by Arabs over the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinian refugees at the Sabra and Shatila camp in Beirut by Lebanese Christian militiamen allied to Israel .
But the United States and other foreign powers mourned him as a peacemaker, noting his pursuit of dialogue with the Palestinians. Those negotiations continue under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though differences remain wide.
"He was bound to the land. He knew that the land must be protected. And he understand above all else that our existence is predicated on our ability to protect ourselves by ourselves," Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday after ministers stood for a minute's silence as a mark of honor.
Many Israelis will remember Sharon as a brilliant but unpredictable military leader who fought in the 1948 war of Israel's founding and went on to earn a reputation for trigger-happy disobedience.
But he was also hailed in Israel for the crucial counter-attack across the Suez Canal that helped to turn the tide the 1973 Middle East war with Egypt and Syria .
In 1983 an Israeli state inquiry found Sharon, who as defense minister engineered Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and war against Palestinian guerrillas there, indirectly responsible for the Sabra and Shatila killings, and he was forced to resign his post.
"The Palestinian people remember what Sharon did and tried to do to our people and their dream of forming a state," Wael Abu Yousef, a senior member of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organisation, told Reuters.
Palestinians in Gaza handed out sweets to passersby and motorists in celebration of Sharon's passing.
"We have become more confident in victory with the departure of this tyrant (Sharon)," said Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesman for Hamas, the Islamist faction governing Gaza.
MEMORIAL
Sharon's body was to lie in state for several hours on Sunday, and a memorial service will be held in parliament on Monday morning before an afternoon funeral at Sycamore Farm. Top Israeli generals will serve as pallbearers.
Among foreign dignitaries expected to attend the ceremonies are U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Israeli-Palestinian peace mediator and former British prime minister Tony Blair, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and delegates from Russia , Canada, Spain and the Czech Republic.
"As Israel says goodbye to Prime Minister Sharon, we join with the Israeli people in honoring his commitment to his country," said U.S. President Barack Obama .
"We reaffirm our unshakable commitment to Israel's security and our appreciation for the enduring friendship between our two countries," said Obama, whose relationship with Netanyahu has been strained by issues such as Iran's nuclear program and Israeli settlement-building.
Palestinians also accuse Sharon of sparking their "Intifada" with a provocative visit to the al Aqsa mosque plaza in Jerusalem's Old City in 2000, a year before he took power.
He further angered them with a crushing army sweep of self-rule areas of the West Bank in 2002 after a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings and with his siege of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his Ramallah compound.
But Sharon surprised many by withdrawing soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005 under a policy of "disengagement" from conflict and a pursuit of dialogue with the Palestinians.
The pullout, however, led to Gaza's takeover by Hamas, which, unlike the West Bank-based President Mahmoud Abbas, spurns co-existence with Israel and often trades fire with it.
Sharon was resented by many settlers who once saw him as their champion. Israeli media quoted lawmaker Orit Strouk of the Jewish Home, an ultranationalist party in Netanyahu's coalition, as thanking God that Sharon was removed from power before he could order West Bank withdrawals. The remarks sparked outrage and she later apologized.
As Sharon's finance minister in 2005, Netanyahu quit in protest at the Gaza plan. Netanyahu points to Hamas's rise as vindication of his stance.
A lifelong farmer renowned for his big appetite, Sharon was known as "the Bulldozer", in part for his headlong pursuit of hardline policies that included the settlement expansion in territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israelis pay last respects to warrior-statesman Sharon | Reuters

Please Let Justin Bieber Get Thrown In The Clinker

Justin Bieber has started growing some pubes on his upper lip in an effort to distract us all from the fact that he still resembles a 16 year old lesbian on ‘roids.  To really drive the point home that he is a man and a total bad ass, he also decided to attack his neighbor and vandalize his house.  Show the annoying dude next door that he will not be disrespected. ‘CAUSE BIEBS IS A GROWN ASS MAN! Except his idea of going hard is acting like a freshman on Halloween night and chucking some Eggland’s Best at his neighbor’s windows.  Shit, why didn’t he just ding dong ditch on top of it?  Maybe have a bunch of pizzas delivered that the dude didn’t actually order.  Really drive home the point.
As we all know, Justin Bieber is a terrible person to live in the same neighborhood as.  In my opinion, he’s a terrible person in general, but that’s another blog.  Bieber gives no fucks about children and speeds through the streets like he’s an extra in Fast and the Furious, he throws obnoxiously loud parties until the wee hours of the morning on Tuesdays, and he plays his own shitty music at an unacceptably loud volume (that last one is by far the worst offense).  Because of his behavior, Bieber is definitely not a favorite in his richy rich gated community.  And some of his property line buddies don’t try to pretend otherwise.
I guess it’s Justin’s time of the month, because the Prince of Pea Nipples decided to throw a bitch fit and vandalize his no fun having neighbor’s home.  And like the mature gangsta boy that he is, he felt the best course of action was to cover the house in dead baby chicken fetuses.  The neighbor caught Justin chucking cluck clucks and called the cops.
Now. considering the Biebs is rich and lucky as shit, the normal outcome of this would be a whole lot of nothing.  The world hates poor people but loves those with mediocre talent and large bank accounts.  But wait wait wait!  Thanks to the world of smart phones, the neighbor decided to record him catching Bieber, and their argument.  Which means maybe, justtttt maybe, Justin might actually get in some actual trouble.
Justin decided to post some ridiculously phony ass pictures with his younger siblings on Instagram afterwards, trying to look all non Problem Child.

I like the one with his brother.  I feel like Tiny Biebs is saying “Yup, his dick is thissss small!”
Allegedly, the police are looking to charge Bieber with a felony because the damages are over $400.  Come on 2014, make this the best year ever!

'G.I. Joe 3' Will Mix New & Returning Characters; Channing Tatum Could Return

G.I. Joe 3is happening . Despite the debacle that was G.I. Joe: Retaliation‘s production (with a last minute year-long delay in release), the franchise continues to make enough money (especially overseas) to convince Paramount that another installment is worthwhile.
The series saw a major overhaul between Rise of Cobra  and Retaliation; the sequel was also a semi-reboot that saw most of the cast of the original swapped out for new headliners like Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis. One of the biggest missing elements in part 2 for a lot of fans was the lack of Channing Tatum’s Duke – but could G.I. Joe 3  correct that?
Retaliation director Jon Chu is coming back for the third installment, and in a recent interview he basically said that the idea of Channing Tatum’s Duke somehow coming back into the fold after (SPOILER) seemingly meeting his death in a Cobra ambush isn’t an impossible thing in the G.I. Joe world.
While speaking to MTV :

“You never know, Storm Shadow died in the first one and came back in the second one, and then other characters have died and never come back. The G.I. Joe world, the best thing about it is you never know who’s coming back and who’s not.”

Channing Tatum as Duke

Chu fails to mention some key facts – such as the fact that Storm Shadow (Snake Eyes’ ninja nemesis) did die in the first film and come back in the second film, without a shred of information about how he was able to do so! So yes, Chu is right, there are basically no rules (and no discernible logic) when it comes to this G.I. Joe movie franchise. So Duke could – somehow, someway – be resurrected.
Of course, bringing back Duke is less important than the obvious benefits of bringing back Channing Tatum. The actor has hit it big since his Rise of Cobra days, and having him share headlining status with Dwayne Johnson is a guaranteed box office draw. On a less cynical note: the scenes of Johnson and Tatum hanging out and trading quips were some of the most fun parts of Retaliation, and the mix of buddy chemistry and action chops is definitely there. The only question is: can the franchise now afford Tatum?

In other news, Chu says that the third film will feature  both returning characters and “exciting” newcomers, which should lead to plenty of speculation about who will be in G.I. Joe 3 . Chu also said the the new film (which will once again be in 3D – hopefully filmed in the format this time) will be ‘next level’ stuff; though I’m sure more than a few of the franchise’s detractors are hoping that the new film is simply on the level, rather than below it, let alone above it.
________________________________________________
G.I. Joe 3is currently getting underway on production. A release date has yet to be set.