This week, we bring you a special edition of the Listening Post. Richard Gizbert sits down with Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone to talk about his new film ‘South of the Border’ and the surprising role that media, both Latin American and North American play in shaping and reflecting the narrative of South America’s political history.

I think many people need a reminder.

EJAF
Damien Hirst Donates Audi A1 ‘Art Car’ For Sir Elton’s Charity
Annual White Tie and Tiara Ball to auction unique work of art this week.

This year’s White Tie and Tiara Ball, which takes place on Thursday 24 June and will be held – as always – at the home of Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish, will feature an extraordinarily special auction item. Audi, which has been one of the Ball’s key supporters over many years, is donating an A1 car that has been made into a work of art by Britain’s foremost contemporary artist, Damien Hirst.

The unique Audi A1 has been spin painted by the artist in his studio in Gloucestershire, and is fully driveable and road legal.

“This is one of the most exciting auction items we have ever had for White Tie” said Elton John, pictured with partner David Furnish in front of the Hirst Audi. David adds “Audi has been a wonderful partner with us, and this year they have really produced something fantastic. I am sure it will be a huge hit with our guests”. As part of the same Lot, the car will be auctioned with a 6ft diameter canvas spin painting, which Hirst completed at the same time.

The A1 is so new it will not be seen on UK roads until November 2010, and this special artwork has been created even in advance of the car’s mainland European launch dates. The uniquely finished example of the premium compact hatchback was produced in close collaboration with Audi AG in Germany, which has been engineering the production for more than six months.

2010 is the eighth year Audi has supported EJAF with special auction lots. The A1 art car is the most remarkable and exclusive donation Audi has ever made. Bidders on the night will have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own this piece of Hirst’s exceptional work.

“We are enormously proud to support Sir Elton John’s remarkable fundraising ball for the eighth year in succession with the donation of a priceless and unrepeatable work of art for auction” commented Audi UK Director Jeremy Hicks.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) was established in 1993. It is amongst the 10 largest AIDS grant making organizations in the world, currently managing over £14 million in programmes across 15 countries supporting thousands of men, women and children with life saving medication, as well as information, nutrition, education, shelter and support. The White Tie & Tiara Ball, now in its 12th year, is the EJAF’s foremost fundraising event, generating some £40 million since its launch in 1993. For more information visit: www.ejaf.com.

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Cool, and not serious about 50 Cent snatching up one of these vehicles, he’s not in need of Army type protection any more, at least I wouldn’t think so..since he’s now an actor. Check these joints out, article written at FastCompany.com by BY CLIFF KUANG.

Mercedes-Benz is muscling into the defense business: Today the German automaker has announced four new, heavily armored models. The concepts will be first shown on June 11th at Eurosatory, a European trade show for the defense industry.

All of the machines are geared toward modern wars, and the need for nimble all-terrain vehicles rather than tanks: The Actros 4151 AK, pictured above, is an eight-wheeled, all-wheel drive “protection class” transport that offers high grade armor against artillery and landmines. (Specifically, level 4 protection against ballistics, which means enough armor to stop a 155mm explosive shell at 30 meters; and level 4b protection against landmines, enough to stop an explosion directly under the vehicle.) Meanwhile, three lighter trucks are also in the works.

Here, the FGA 14.5, a chassis platform that’s intended to be customized for specialized use. It’s built on MB’s G-class SUV’s–which themselves were engineered to be modular, so that they could eventually be reconfigured for myriad uses:

And finally, MB is producing two trucks similar to armored Humvees, the LAPV 6.X and 7.X (pictured below), both of which will allow Mercedes investments in modular truck designs to pay dividends via military business. The 6.X is built upon the same modular system as the G-class SUV, while the 7.X uses the system from the Unimog, MB’s legendary go-anywhere vehicle. Both are intended to serve as heavy duty recon trucks, with level 3 protection–that is, enough to stop a 7.62mm shell at 30 meters. (In short, don’t shoot at these things unless you’ve got a gun that’s too big to carry comfortably.) The German military has already ordered up the 6.X.

Military vehicles are a natural fit for the company–they’ve already got 5,000 heavy service centers in 160 countries, which means they can send parts and mechanics almost anywhere in the world on short notice.
But you probably won’t be seeing these in the U.S. military anytime soon–American armed forces are heavily invested in the Humvee platform, and that means billions and billions sunk into a supply chain that can’t readily be re-engineered for another vehicle. (Not to mention the politics of sending a contract for vehicles abroad.)

Read among other very interesting things found at the great magazine I subscribe too.. Fast Company

(CNN Wire Staff ) –May 26, 2010 A former Colombian model wanted on drug trafficking charges was captured Wednesday in Argentina, a spokesman for the Argentina Airport Security Police said.

Angela Sanclemente, 30, was picked up the K-Lodges Hostel in Buenos Aires’ Palermo neighborhood, police spokesman Maximiliano Lencina told reporters Wednesday afternoon.

Lencina said Sanclemente was registered at the hostel — popular with foreign university students — under the name “Annie” and had told people at the hostel she was from Mexico. She had dyed her brown hair to blonde and was alone in the hostel when detained.

Lencina said Sanclemente has been in touch with her lawyer and will be questioned on Thursday by an Argentine federal judge. She will be transported Wednesday afternoon from the hostel to Airport Security Police offices at the Ezeiza International Airport, he said.

Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for Sanclemente in March. Investigators at the time said they believed she might be in Argentina, where authorities suspected she may be the “queen-pin” of an international operation that uses models as drug mules to move suitcases loaded with cocaine out of the Buenos Aires airport.

“We believe she played an important role in the drug trafficking organization,” said Lencina.
Argentine authorities had already detained several alleged members of the trafficking gang, and sources told CNN that some of those arrested named Sanclemente and her Argentine male model boyfriend — now in custody — as ringleaders.
In Facebook messages posted earlier this year, Sanclemente maintained her innocence.

“I’m very sad and hurt by the bad information. I don’t know how the press can destroy an innocent person,” she wrote. “I don’t want to go to jail. I don’t deserve it. I am innocent.”
Sanclemente’s mother, Yaneth Valencia, arrived at the hostel, where she was denied permisssion to see her daughter. She told reporters outside the hostel that “there is a plot against her.”

“They are using my daughter,” she said, without specifiying who she meant. “My daughter is innocent.”
She told the reporters that she would be “happy to give you an interview in a studio,” but would charge them, “because I need the money to help my daughter.”

Sanclemente first hit the headlines in 2000 when she was 20. She won Colombia’s prestigious Queen of Coffee beauty pageant. Victory was short-lived. Judges dethroned her after two days when they found she had been married, contrary to competition rules.
That marriage — to a Barranquilla, Colombia, businessman — lasted three months in 1998. He paid for her to study journalism at Barranquilla’s university.

A university friend, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said Sanclemente dropped out of college after three semesters and spent tuition fees on silicone breast implants instead. That friend said Sanclemente idolized Colombia’s then-top model Natalia Paris. She dyed her hair blond and imitated Paris’ distinctive accent to appear more like her.

Paris married a drug trafficker turned DEA informant, known as Julio Correa. He was killed in 2001 by his former associates when he returned to Colombia from Miami, Florida. Drug underworld sources said he was cut up in a meat grinder.

Sanclemente left Colombia around 2005 and headed to Mexico, where she continued to pick up modeling assignments and bit-part roles as a TV actress, according to friends.

So first I blogged about Angie Sanselmente Valencia here and this is the update…apparently, she detained by police this afternoon at a hostel in Buenos Aires. I don’t know the true spelling of her last name, since I’ve come across her story at different sites with spellings like Sanselmente & Sanclemente.

Pappas Restaurants is suing BP over the Oil Spill claiming that the disaster has raised the cost of sea food and also made some of your tasty sea food treats harder to find. I am not an expert or familiar at all with any laws in this respect. I do know this law suit is making a lot of sense in the cities where ‘Pappas Restaurants’ operates their famous sea food restaurant known as “Papadeaux Sea Food Kitchen”. The customer will end up footing the bill for higher priced sea food in result of this oil spill, which can most certainly drive away business.

The ‘Pappas’ lawsuit, was filed in Galveston County, and it claims BP, Transocean, Halliburton & others have acted in “flagrant and malicious disregard … to all those who serve gulf seafood.”

Source

I’m starting to feel like they bragging about the disaster. I know they’re not releasing the videos to brag about it, it’s just crazy & interesting.

Ben Stiller & Citibank are victims of that good ole Nigerian Hustle..

telegraph.co.uk reports that Adedamola Olatunji, a native of Nigeria who is currently living in Chicago, called Citibank to report lost credit cards under the names Ben Stiller, David Duchovny and Crash director Paul Haggis. Citibank (with they stupid asses) sent the cards to Adedamola’s requested address and he went gutter with them. Adedamola Olatunji allegedly ordered a lot of music off Itunes (so Steve Jobs let em stick you for ya paper) and paid for services on a dating site as well as sent .

The alphabet boys and Citibank both started to become suspicious so they sent “NEWMAN” (Seinfeld joke) to his pad for the setup. Adedamola ordered 2 more cards in the name of directors Paul Schrader and Noah Baumach, problem is Adedamola’s address is on the Southside of Chicago. LOL, he got Citibank (With they stupid ass) sending credit cards to the Wild 100′s. LOL.

Prosecutors say, “The bank eventually became suspicious when cards for two more famous directors, Paul Schrader and Noah Baumach, were redirected to the same modest address in Chicago’s poor South Side.
When an undercover agent from the US Postal Inspection Service delivered the new cards to the address, Mr Olatunji, 29, allegedly told him that he was “Paul” and that Noah was “in the back”.

Mr.Olatunji is facing  charges of forgery, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and computer fraud.

Source

Hey Citibank ! I’m trapped in a bank with 400 Million Dollars worth of Lottery Winnings from the EAAS Lottery Inc. in the Euro-Afro American Sweepstakes. These winnings belong to you and all I need is your account number and the names & Social Security numbers of all your board members and I will sign it all over to you.

VIA The AP x IN.COM

London’s Harrods sold for 1.5 billion pounds

“Mohamed Al Fayed, a flamboyant businessman who has controlled Harrods department store in London for a quarter-century, has sold the landmark business to Qatari investors for around 1.5 billion pounds, his financial advisers said on Saturday.

The sale price was not announced but the British broadcasters BBC and Sky News reported that it was around 1.5 (b) billion pounds (2.2 billion US dollars).

The Al Fayed family trust agreed to sell Harrods Group to Qatar Holding, Lazard International confirmed.

Al Fayed, a native of Egypt, joined with his two brothers to buy Harrods in 1985.

His son Dodi died with Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris in 1997, and in recent years Al Fayed has devoted much time and money to pursuing his claims that the couple were the victim of an establishment conspiracy.

“After 25 years as chairman of Harrods, Mohamed Al Fayed has decided to retire and to spend more time with his children and grandchildren,” said Ken Costa, chairman of Lazard International.

“He has built Harrods into a unique luxury brand with worldwide recognition. In reaching the decision to retire, he wished to ensure that the legacy and traditions that he has built up in Harrods would be continued, and that the team that he has built up would be encouraged to develop the foundations that he has laid.”

Qatar Holding will be the fifth owner of Harrods since Henry Charles Harrod started the business as a small grocery shop opened in 1849.

Qatar Holding is an investment arm of the Qatar Investment Authority.

“It is a privilege for us to acquire Harrods, a unique company that combines an iconic luxury brand and one of the most prestigious retail properties in the world with best-in-class financial metrics,” said Ahmad Mohammed Al Sayed, chief executive officer and managing director of Qatar Holding.”

Soho Salon Donates Hair for the Gulf Oil Spill Cleanup

High-end Soho salon Ion Studio is pitching in to aid the cleanup efforts for the oil spill in the Gulf. But instead of going the usual route — say, donating proceeds from weekend blowouts or hosting a Champagne-fueled event — the salon shipped off fifteen pounds of human hair this week. Apparently this is a valid strategy: The hair is shaped into “dreadlock-type mats” that soak up oil. “They make a little mattress, dump it in the water, and it sucks up the oil,” says co-owner Leonardo Manetti. Ion donates anywhere from 15 to 30 pounds of hair every few months through Matter of Trust’s Hair for Oil Spills Program. The organization is now sending 450,000 pounds of hair from salons and pet groomers to the Gulf. By: Lauren Murrow “ION Studio collects all discarded hair for the Hair for Oil Spills Program, which collects hair to make large scale mats to clean up oil spills around the world.

If you wish to recycle your old nylon stockings, we send them to the non-profit organization as well, as they are used to stuff the hair in during mat production. It’s an easy way to do your part in keeping our earth green and beautiful, just bring them in on your next visit.”