Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Turner Broadcasting System will pay as much as $2 million to Boston-area authorities to settle claims following last week's bomb scare in the Hub. The money includes $1 million to Boston and neighboring cities Somerville and Cambridge, plus the MBTA, Massport, state police and the U.S. Coast Guard to cover for the costs of responding to the incidents. Turner will pay another $1 million to Boston, Somerville, Cambridge and the state to fund homeland-security awareness programs and other initiatives. This will settle all civil and criminal liability for Turner and its guerrilla marketing agency, Interference Inc. Monday's settlement closes the book on a marketing campaign for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" that was mistaken Wednesday for a plot to bomb bridges, roads and other infrastructure in Boston, Somerville and Cambridge. In a statement Monday that was mandated by the settlement. Turner and Interference Inc. took full responsibility and apologized for the marketing tactic and the trouble it caused.

Reuters 

I wonder how many people lost their jobs over this bad idea?

Nobel Peace laureate and Holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel was dragged from an elevator and roughed up, possibly by a Holocaust denier, during a peace conference at a San Francisco hotel last week, police said Friday. According to San Francisco Police Sgt. Neville Gittens, a man approached Wiesel in an elevator and requested an interview with the acclaimed author on the evening of Feb. 1 at the Argent Hotel, which was hosting the forum sponsored by the San Francisco-based RockRose Institute. When Wiesel consented to talk in the hotel’s lobby, the man insisted it be done in a hotel room and dragged the 78-year-old off the elevator on the sixth floor, Gittens said. The assailant fled after Wiesel began to scream, and Wiesel went to the lobby and called police. Gittens said police are investigating the incident as a crime. Wiesel couldn’t be immediately reached for comment at Boston University, where he teaches, or through his institute in New York. A posting on a virulent anti-Semitic Web site Tuesday by a person identifying himself as Eric Hunt claimed responsibility. "I had planned to bring Wiesel to my hotel room, where he would truthfully answer my questions regarding the fact that his non-fiction Holocaust memoir, Night, is almost entirely fictitious," Hunt wrote on the site. The poster also said "I had been trailing Wiesel for weeks" and had hoped to get "Wiesel into my custody, with a cornered Wiesel finally forced to state the truth on videotape." Gittens said investigators were aware of the posting and declined to comment further on the investigation. The anti-Semitic Web site was disabled late Friday. It is registered to Andrew Winkler in North Sydney, Australia.

KPIX 

I don’t understand why the police are having such a hard time investigating this hate crime?

Rocker Marilyn Manson is romantically involved with 19-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood, sources close to the situation tell PEOPLE. The sources say his relationship with the Thirteen actress was a factor in the Dec. 29 divorce filing by Dita Von Teese, 34, Manson’s wife of one year. "Dita is heartbroken, she didn’t see this coming," says a source close to the burlesque dancer and MAC cosmetics model. "His partying contributed to the split as well." Manson, 38, and Wood have been friends for some time. According to his official Web site, Manson first met Wood when he asked her to be in his upcoming horror film, Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll. In addition, she posed for a watercolor that he painted, and attended the opening of his new Hollywood art gallery, the Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art, last Halloween. "It came as kind of a shock," Wood told Rolling Stone about being asked to pose. "I was beyond flattered." Manson, who is currently in Paris, was unavailable for comment. A rep for Wood would not confirm the relationship. A spokeswoman for Von Teese did not return calls for comment.

People 

Ewww Ewww Ewww Ewww. Seriously this story creeps me out in so many ways. I mean his looks always freaked me out, but he is dating a woman half his age who is 19…she could be his daughter. Yuck

The body of soul singer James Brown has yet to be buried as attorneys and his children work to settle issues surrounding his estate, including where he will be laid to rest. For now, his body lies in a sealed casket in his home on Beech Island, said Charles Reid, manager of the C.A. Reid Funeral Home in Augusta, Ga., which handled the services. Brown died of heart failure Dec. 25 at age 73. His will has yet to be filed, said Buddy Dallas, an attorney for the singer. The room where Brown’s body lies is being kept at a controlled temperature, and security guards keep watch, Reid said. The funeral home delivered Brown’s body after services Dec. 30, Reid said. Brown’s home has been locked since hours after his death to protect his memorabilia, furnishing, clothes and other personal items, Dallas said. "Just imagine what would have happened," Dallas said. "Items of James Brown would have left there like items off the shelves of Macy’s in an after-Christmas sale." The trustees for his will, along with Brown’s children, will determine the burial site, Dallas said. Tomi Rae Hynie, Brown’s partner, said shortly after his death that she encountered locked gates as she tried to get into the home she says she shared with the singer and their 5-year-old son. She wouldn’t discuss the incident Tuesday, but her lawyer said Hynie should be granted access to the home, although he would not talk about whether Hynie might take legal action. "The hope is that all parties can sit down and figure out what the problem is and what the challenges are," attorney Thornton Morris said. "And once we figure out what the challenges are we’ll see if we can’t resolve something that’s a win for everybody."

AJC 

That is just so sad, his family and the lawyers should be ashamed. I can’t wait for Jesse Jackson and Rev Al Sharpton to get involved in this because you know they will be vocal about this and imagine what they are going to say. And worse comes to worse maybe Michael Jackson can make a bid on his remains, I am sure that would get the family to put him 6 feet under.

The 1,400 or so James Brown fans who had planned on seeing the "Godfather of Soul" perform at B.B. King’s Blues Club in New York City will still get to see an act along the line of soul royalty. The club announced Wednesday that the reining Queen of Soul, Chaka Khan, will take Brown’s spot for his New Year’s Eve performance. "We here at the club feel extremely blessed to have had to opportunity to work with the late, great Mr. James Brown on many occassions. His legend will forever ring true within our halls and we vow to continue to celebrate his life and music in all upcoming performances," B.B. King’s spokesperson Rena Siwek said in a statement. "In commemoration of his memory as the Godfather of Soul we now present the Queen of Soul, Chaka Khan." Khan is no consolation act for soul lovers. The diva has won eight Grammy Awards over her career that’s spanned more than three decades. Her top hits include, "Tell Me Something Good," "Ain’t Nobody," and "I’m Every Woman."

WCBS 

Seriously would you want to replace a dead person’s job? To me that feels like negative karma just waiting to happen.

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