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Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust, warns Prince Charles The Prince of Wales has said that "Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust" in an apocalyptic warning that the Earth is on the brink of environmental disaster. By Urmee Khan, Digital and Media Correspondent 08 Jul 2009 Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust, warns Prince Charles Delivering this year's Richard Dimbleby Lecture, the Prince said that the next generation will face a "living hell" unless governments urgently tackle climate change and stop plundering the Earth's natural resources. "In failing the Earth, we...

Read how I got kicked out of Hollywood here! Read my screenplay Global Village Idiot here for free! Every blog needs a signature buzzword or catchphrase that immediately identifies the site in the mind of the reader. Instapundit has "Heh." Michelle Malkin has "Unhinged."  And Daily Kos has "Chimpy". In fact, Daily Kos has 11,100 "Chimpys."    Heh. Unhinged. To close this buzzword/catchphrase blogging-gap, I hereby announce "The Global Village Idiot of the Week" award. Yes, each week I will scan the globe to bring you the biggest environmentalist whacko that the World Wide Web can offer. And no, Al...

"Charles, I told you not to have the fish and chips."

The British media is in one of its periodic fits of moralizing hysteria and convulsion over the fact that Prince Harry called a fellow officer a "Paki" -- a not-particularly-derogatory diminutive of "Pakistani" -- during Army training three years ago when aged 21, and long before his recent front-line service in Afghanistan. (Perhaps I could still sue someone over the fact that as an Australian in London I was frequently called an Aussie, but that's another story.)

Prince, the gender-bending Minnesota rocker who now lives in California and makes the rounds as a Jehovah's Witness, spoke out in a newly released interview that the Bible opposes homosexuality and God has said "enough." The comments from the Grammy-winning musician, who for decades has graced concert stages in high heels, makeup and flamboyant garb, appear in the Nov. 24 issue of New Yorker. "So here's how it is," Prince began, "You've got the Republicans, and basically they want to live according to this." He pointed to a Bible. "But there's the problem of interpretation, and you've got some churches,...

I attend the "fine" learning "establishment" known as LHS, Laurel High School (and before anyone says anything, I chose to go to this school because I felt it was my duty as a Catholic Republican to actually be someone who's gonna stand up for what I believe, evangilize, if you will.) I'm in AP Government there along with two honors courses and three regular (one which is a Junior/Senior class, Psychology, while I, myself, am a Sophomore) classes. Our lunch period is known as "Spartan Hour" (our school mascot is the Spartan -which is SO epic, only reason I like...

Prince Charles personal income up by £1 million but income tax down By Andrew Pierce Last Updated: 10:28PM BST 30/06/2008 The Prince of Wales's income from the Duchy of Cornwall soared by £1.1 million last year to £16.3 million but he paid less in income tax. The Prince's financial advisers shrewdly switched out of shares last September Despite the above inflation seven per cent rise in profits the tax bill for the heir to the throne fell by £5,000 to £3.429 million. Sir Michael Peat, the Prince's private secretary, said the reduction was caused by higher expenses and costs involved...

Bronx teen was arrested Tuesday on charges of scrawling graffiti over a Bronx mural honoring a fallen 9/11 hero - and promptly told cops he was sorry he'd done it. Avery Prince, 17, put his tag, "SIPS," over the face of Firefighter Peter Bielfeld on a mural near the Bravest's former home in Olinville, cops said. Prince's father, Curtis Rushing, a city sanitation worker, reiterated his son's apology and added one of his own. "He said he was deeply sorry. He didn't know that it represented 9/11 and meant so much to so many people," Rushing said. "I always told...

Despite the british government's concerted effort to preserve the secret, a veteran Taliban field officer claims he was scarcely surprised by the disclosure that Prince Harry was serving with Britain's troops in southern Afghanistan. Fearing that insurgents would specifically target Cornet Wales (the prince's military title) and his fellow soldiers if his presence in the battle zone were publicly revealed, the top British brass did everything possible to prevent leaks about his deployment on Dec. 14 to Helmand province. But talking to newsweek via satellite phone from that region last week, deputy commander Mullah Abdul Karim recalled getting an urgent...

LONDON (AFP) - Prince Harry, who has been fighting the Taliban on the front line in Afghanistan, admitted in an interview released Thursday that he sometimes wishes he was not a privileged, well-known royal. Speaking to reporters before he left for the war-torn country in an interview that was supposed to be held back until his safe return, the 23-year-old said he hoped that he would be treated as "just a normal officer". And asked whether, following an about-turn by Britain's top military brass that meant he would not be posted to Iraq last year, he ever wished he was...

Prince Andrew angers Palace with US attack By Andrew Pierce Last Updated: 2:44am GMT 06/02/2008 The Duke of York has angered the Queen and senior politicians with his extraordinary attack on the White House on the eve of his trade mission to the United States. Downing Street and the Foreign Office were also dismayed by the timing of his comments so close to the Super Tuesday primaries. The Duke of York is about to embark on a 10-day mission to the US as British trade envoy The duke's criticism, in a newspaper interview, of President Bush's post-war strategy for Iraq...

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Talk about royal humiliation. Prince Frederic von Anhalt—known for being husband to Zsa Zsa Gabor and supposed lover of Anna Nicole Smith—was mugged by three women who stole his money and jewelry, stripped him of his clothes and left him handcuffed naked to the steering wheel of his Rolls Royce Thursday morning. The self-proclaimed royal entered the public consciousness earlier this year when he came forward shortly after Smith's death to announce that he had carried on an affair with the former Playmate and could have fathered her daughter, Dannielynn. After DNA testing proved that...

My Way may have been the signature tune of another giant of popular music but no artist has so enthusiastically embraced the philosophy of that song as Prince. The maverick from Minneapolis has been doing things his way since 1977 when, at the age of 19, he signed a three-album deal and blew the budget for all three albums on the first one, and this after insisting that he play all the instruments himself, record all the vocals himself – and produce it himself. He had assumed full artistic control from the off and he has never relinquished it. He...

LONDON -- Prince has angered the music industry and stirred up trouble among British retailers by giving away his new album with a tabloid newspaper this weekend. "Planet Earth" will be packaged with the Mail on Sunday at a price of $2.80. The giveaway has been roundly criticized as a major blow for an industry already facing rapidly declining CD sales. It has led Sony BMG U.K., Prince's local label, to pull the plug on its own sales release of the CD in Britain. International sales launch for "Planet Earth" is July 16; the U.S. launch is July 24. "The...

Australians reject role for Prince William By Nick Squires in Sydney Last Updated: 1:27am BST 30/06/2007 Australia yesterday rejected a suggestion that Prince William could become governor-general. The nation reacted indignantly to claims in a new biography of Diana, Princess of Wales that the prince would love the ceremonial position. Even the prime minister John Howard, a monarchist, said that only an Australian could fulfil the role. "We have embraced the idea that the person who occupies that post should be an Australian citizen," he said. Kevin Rudd, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, said: "There is a great...

LONDON --Britain's Prince Harry will not be sent with his unit to Iraq, Britain's top general said Wednesday, citing specific threats to the third in line to the throne. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt said the changing situation on the ground exposed the prince to too much danger.Prince William and Prince Harry, right, parade in suits and bowler hats with the Combined Cavalry Old Comrades' Association, in Hyde Park, London, on Sunday, May 13, 2007. The tradition of officers wearing black bowler hats and carrying umbrellas goes back to the First World War.

Prince Abdul-Majid bin Abdul-Aziz, the governor of the Islam's holy city of Mecca, died Saturday after a long illness, a Saudi Arabian royal statement said. He was 65. Abdul-Majid, who was the half brother of Saudi King Abdullah, was flown to the United States where he died after sudden health deterioration, the statement said. The brief statement did not provide any other details about the cause of death or say exactly where the prince died in the U.S. It said he had undergone a surgery earlier and had traveled back to Saudi Arabia, but was flown back to the...

Poor Kate Middleton, dumped by the second in line to the British throne then displayed humiliatingly to the world as Prince William's "practice chick", the mere recipient of some of his wild oats. But judging by the astonishing Pommy snobbery unleashed in the week since the break-up of her almost five-year relationship, Middleton, 25, is well off out of it. British newspapers are full of quotes from the supposed upper classes about how Kate was too "common" to marry William, 24. Her mother, Carole Middleton, was "pushy, rather twee and incredibly middle-class", according to a royal source quoted by the...

THE Queen has appointed environmental consultants to turn the royal palaces into models of green efficiency, under pressure from her eldest son to provide a lead for the nation. Sources say that the Queen intends to emulate the Prince of Wales, who will announce in his annual review in July that he and his household at Clarence House are now “carbon neutral”. The Buckingham Palace consultants are expected to recommend significant changes in the conduct of official functions to reduce the use of helicopters and chartered planes. However, critics are likely to argue that genuine cuts in emissions can be...

Charles accused of 'green hypocrisy' By Caroline Davies Last Updated: 1:50am BST 31/03/2007 The Prince of Wales's aides have defended his decision to fly by private jet to Scotland for an Easter break with the Duchess of Cornwall yesterday, saying it was necessary because of his wife's health. The couple used a Royal Flight Hawker Siddeley 125 jet to fly to Aberdeen from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire - risking further accusations of hypocrisy by the prince in taking the least green option for the 500-mile journey. But Clarence House maintained the decision was made because of the duchess's ongoing convalescence...

NEW YORK - In the sensitive post-wardrobe malfunction world, some are questioning whether a guitar was just a guitar during Prince's Super Bowl halftime show. Prince's acclaimed performance included a guitar solo during the "Purple Rain" segment of his medley in which his shadow was projected onto a large, flowing beige sheet. As the 48-year-old rock star let rip, the silhouette cast by his figure and his guitar (shaped like the singer's symbol) had phallic connotations for some. A number of bloggers have decried "Malfunction!" — including Sam Anderson at New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer. Daily News television critic David...

Alas, Justin Timberlake didn't expose anyone's nipple this year. But, Super Bowl XL did offer a fries-with-that K-Fed, a surprising Letterman-Oprah cuddle, and - our personal favorite - an unsubtle allusion to what Prince usually hides behind his guitar (for the full effect, check out this YouTube clip.) And without any further foreplay, here are Usmagazine.com's Super Bowl celebrity highlights: It's one thing to pay celebrities to pimp your products, it's another to get celebrities to whore themselves out shamelessly for you! That's what GM did in this brilliant ad showing a demure and gorgeous Mary J. Bligeand others singing...

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS VS CHICAGO BEARS Sunday February 4, 2007 At Dolphin Stadium, Miami, FL 6:25PM ET TV Network: CBS

I have a strategy for the Vikings: Next time Brad Childress doesn’t want to hold a press conference, they should just hire Prince. Prince just (and I mean just, like three minutes ago) finished his Super Bowl press conference. He, like Childress, didn’t answer any questions. The difference is, this time nobody in the room cared. He played three songs, and again established that he’s one of the all-time great guitarists. I cover sports and play guitar, and watching Prince play guitar up close is much more impressive to me than watching Joe Mauer hit or Marian Gaborik skate. I...

Most men would jump at the chance to watch scantily-clad beauties dance on stage - but it seems pop star Prince is not impressed. The pop singer, 48, was in a Hollywood strip club when he offered gyrating dancers double their wages to stop dancing, according to The Sun. The ladies were strutting their stuff at top club Xenii when Prince reportedly told them that it was "wrong to dance like that". He added: "What would your parents think if they could see you now? "You're too good for this. You shouldn't be selling yourself so cheap." The dancers refused...

JAPAN'S Princess Kiko gave birth today to a baby boy – the first male heir to be born into the ancient imperial family in more than four decades, Japanese media reported. Princess Kiko, 39, the wife of the emperor's younger son, Prince Akishino, gave birth by Caesarean section after complications in her pregnancy, public broadcaster NHK said. The child will be third in line to the throne after crown prince Naruhito, the baby's uncle, and his father, Akishino. The birth is likely to stall debate on revising the 1947 imperial succession law to allow women to inherit the Japanese throne....

LONDON - British police arrested three men - including a newspaper section editor - Tuesday in an investigation that began with complaints from Prince Charles' office about possible phone-tapping, police and the paper said. Police said they did not believe the phones of any members of the royal family had been tapped. But other public figures may have had their calls intercepted, raising potential security issues, the police said. They refused to specify who. Police did not identify those who were arrested, but the News of the World tabloid said Clive Goodman, editor of its section on royalty, was among...

Tonga prince, wife die in Calif. crash By TERENCE CHEA, Associated Press Writer Fri Jul 7, 11:34 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO - A Tongan prince known for promoting political reform in his South Pacific island nation died along with his wife in a crash with a teenager's car, authorities said. Prince Tu'ipelehake, 56, Princess Kaimana, 46, and their driver died Wednesday night, according to Senter Uhilamoelangi, a distant relative and longtime friend of the prince. The 18-year-old driver who hit their sport utility vehicle was traveling as fast as 100 mph in Menlo Park, about 30 miles south of San...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (UPI) -- A dancer for Minneapolis-based funk/rocker Prince was busted at the Rio de Janeiro Airport with 44 pounds of cocaine. Cecilia Maximilia was arrested Monday as she was waiting to board an Air France flight to Paris, the New York Daily News reported Friday. Her companion, Jennifer Salgnac, allegedly had three bags of drugs as well, the newspaper said. The cocaine was discovered under false bottoms in the ladies` luggage by airport X-ray equipment.

MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- England’s Prince Andrew awarded Capt. John Peterson the Honorary Order of the British Empire (OBE) during an investiture ceremony Jan. 25 at the British Embassy in Manama, Bahrain. Peterson, chief of staff for Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, was given the prestigious award for his leadership of coalition forces, which included a large number of Royal Navy sailors and marines, in the campaign to secure Iraqi oil assets during the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Prince Andrew, who is the Duke of York, knight commander and aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II, congratulated Peterson...

Yard calls on Charles over death of Diana David Leppard THE Prince of Wales has been formally interviewed by Scotland Yard detectives investigating the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in a Paris car crash in 1997. Lord Stevens, the former Metropolitan police commissioner, saw the prince at Clarence House last week to question him for several hours about the events that led up to the death of his former wife. The prince’s spokesman declined to release details of the interview, but it is known that Stevens had planned to ask Charles about his response to the bizarre allegation that...

A Monarchy in Danger Freedom Today Magazine The United Kingdom By William John Hagan New Labour has become the greatest threat to the future of the British Monarchy since Oliver Cromwell. The only people to blame for this current state of affairs are those most loyal to the Crown who have somehow failed to confront the issue of public antipathy, illogically hoping that the problem would just disappear. It won’t, as long as today’s incarnation of British Labour controls Parliament. I will say this only once: what works for the United States will not work for the United Kingdom. However,...

Forget empress, let's have concubines, says prince By Colin Joyce in Tokyo (Filed: 04/11/2005) A Japanese prince has shocked the country with an attack on plans to let women ascend the imperial throne. Prince Tomohito, 59, the emperor's cousin and fifth in line to the throne, became the first member of the imperial family to speak out on the issue when he called on the nation not to abandon tradition. Under the constitution, the monarchy plays a purely symbolic role and members of the royal family are forbidden from making political statements, even on matters of direct concern to them....

(AP) Spain's Crown Princess Letizia gave birth Monday to her first child, a girl who becomes second in line to the throne after her father Crown Prince Felipe. With Felipe by his wife's side, Leonor was delivered through a Caesarean section at Madrid's Ruber International Clinic, three weeks before the scheduled due date. Both mother and child were doing fine, said a visibly moved and happy Felipe accompanied by the team of doctors who assisted in the birth. "This is the most beautiful thing that can happen in someone's life," Felipe told reporters. "Both Princess Letizia and myself are absolutely...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia appointed his half-brother on Saturday to head his Gulf country's general intelligence forces, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The post has been vacant since King Fahd, before his death in August, accepted the resignation of the former chief of the intelligence, Prince Nawaf bin Abdel Aziz, for health reasons. The new intelligence chief, Prince Mogrin bin Abdel Aziz, 60, has served as a Saudi Air Force pilot and governor of the holy city of Medina. Last week, Abdullah signed a decree forming the National Security Council, which will be in...

Denmark's Princess Mary and her new-born son have made their first public appearance, with the Tasmanian-born princess showing off her baby to the media just 84 hours after birth. The appearance at Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, where Mary delivered the boy at the weekend, was watched by a crowd of several hundred people waving Danish and Australian flags. She said it had been a "truly wonderful" experience. "I am feeling wonderful - it's been a truly wonderful life experience," Mary said. "Words can't describe how happy one feels. "We are very excited by all the messages and well-wishers. "It's really very touching."...

At A mere 5ft 3in, Prince has always relied on the highest of heels to give him a lift. But his penchant for platforms could have stacked the odds against him. At 47, he has been told he needs a hip replacement. The singer believes years of strutting on stage (and energetic dance routines) have taken a toll on his joints. "He used to wear high-heeled boots every day and doctors told him that may have contributed to his condition," a source told U.S. magazine the National Enquirer.

When American bombs were raining down on what is left of Afghanistan, fellow Muslims in the neighbouring Islamic republic of Iran took out to the Streets. Contrary to our expectations in the West, they did not rally to denounce the 'Great Satan' - the name given to America by the late Ayatollah Khomeini. Instead, ordinary Iranians, in one of the most extraordinary shifts in the geopolitical landscape since September 11, challenged their own hard-line Islamic clerics who swept Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi from power in 1979. Tens of thousands of men and women also demonstrated, in several cities, after World...

Marc Emery has built a multimillion-dollar business selling marijuana seeds and paraphernalia while thumbing his nose at authorities in his native Canada, even challenging them to arrest him. Yesterday, the man known as Canada's "Prince of Pot" was arrested in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on a U.S. indictment charging him with selling millions of dollars worth of marijuana seeds to customers throughout the United States. Emery, the 47-year-old leader of British Columbia's Marijuana Party, has earned about $3 million a year selling the seeds through his Internet Web site and by mail, federal officials said. Emery and two accomplices, Gregory Williams,...

6 July 2005: The US FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) have sought assistance of the CBI, the Narcotics Control Board and covert agencies to investigate the notorious crown prince of Nepal, Paras, after an American ally in South East Asia tipped off about his rapidly expanding drug network. Paras has been allegedly in the drug business for seven years, but his stakes and that of the Nepalese royal family have grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years, alarming the DEA, and panicking the US, and the crown prince is now reported to be operating his network...

Marty Johnson first met his mom and dad in a park in Nebraska. He was 4. He had no idea he was getting a family when the nuns brought him there from his home, a foster farm in Iowa. And so he began his life, always slightly the outsider, and always slightly curious about his past. "I'd never seen anyone who looks like me," he said. Nearly four decades later, Johnson, 41, recalls being similarly unprepared to meet his biological parents. He knows that's hardly an unusual sentiment for a child of adoption. But how his story unfolds — what...

/begin my translation   Budda who went to the West....   "Not as a religion, but as a legend, spreading from Persia to Greece to Spain"Institute for East-West Cultural Exchange: "revered as a saint in the Middle Age" Lee Han-soo hslee@chosun.com  Date : 2005.06.24 Buddha went to the East as well as to the West, according to a new research. The life and teaching of Buddha born in India spread to China and Korea, eventually to Japan, while it spawned Tibetan Buddhism in the North. It was established as a 'religion' in the East. It spread to many S.E. Asian countries in the South,...

FAIRFAX, Va., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Reza Pahlavi of Iran, in response to a direct invitation by political prisoners in Iran, pledged his solidarity and announced his plans to go on a three day hunger strike starting Friday, June 10. "Solidarity with political prisoners of Iran and support for the legitimate quest for freedom, human rights and economic opportunity in Iran transcends all political boundaries and ideologies," said Reza Pahlavi, opposition leader to the clerical regime of Iran. Yesterday, in a communique, signed by numerous political prisoners, in Iran, the June 17 presidential elections were rejected as "sham and undemocratic."...

PARIS, 3 June (IPS) Prince Reza Pahlavi joined his voice to other Iranian dissidents inside and outside Iran to urge Iranians not to participate in the coming presidential elections and do not give popular legitimacy a “discredited regime”. “With more than 20 million votes, (outgoing President) Mohammad Khatami was not able to implement his reform program, what can a Hashemi Rafsanjani do, a man who is also very unpopular?”, the 45 years-old son of the late Iranian Monarch observed during a press conference held in Paris on 2 June on the invitation of the French-American Press Association, referring to reports...

PRINCE CAUGHT SMOKING Prince Harry has been pictured holding a cigarette next to a young orphan while carrying out charity work in South Africa. Harry, whose wayward behaviour has never kept him far from the headlines, was snapped crouched on the ground with the cigarette hidden by a shadow. Ironically, the officials pictures were issued by Clarence House as part of a campaign to boost the Prince's image after a series of negative tabloid stories. A spokesman for Prince Harry said Clarence House was unaware the cigarette was in the picture. He added that "far too much" was being made...

MONACO - A former flight attendant from Togo claimed in an interview in a French magazine that Monaco's new ruler, Prince Albert II, is the father of her 20-month-old son. Nicole Coste is quoted in Paris Match as saying she met Albert on a flight in July 1997, leading to a relationship and the birth of a child in August 2003. The interview is illustrated with pictures of the prince holding and feeding a young boy with dark curly hair and eyes. Coste said she went public with the story because "I want Alexandre to grow up normally with a...

Staff at Windsor Castle have spoken of their frustration over "shambolic" preparations for Prince Charles's wedding. As recently as Monday many at Windsor were convinced that the wedding was going to be relocated to Balmoral to avoid further intrusive coverage. But they have been thrown into "utter confusion" by the rescheduling at such short notice - confusion which has grown greater every day this week amid a flurry of conflicting instructions from Clarence House. One senior member of Windsor's administrative staff said today: "You would expect a royal reception to run like clockwork - but this one is likely to...

LONDON (Reuters) - The wedding of Britain's Prince Charles to Camilla Parker Bowles will go ahead Friday even if it clashes with the funeral of Pope John Paul, a spokeswoman for Clarence House said Sunday. "If the funeral falls Friday, the wedding will still go ahead," a spokeswoman said. The Pope's funeral was expected to be held between Wednesday and Friday.

MIAMI -- Federal prosecutors are tying a Saudi prince with diplomatic immunity to a 2-ton Colombian cocaine smuggling run from Venezuela to Paris on his personal aircraft and $10 million in artwork seized by drug agents pursuing the prince's ex-girlfriend. In opening statements Tuesday, the defense responded that the government's case is built on the word of an enormously successful Colombian drug dealer who "duped" everyone by laundering drug money from behind bars while cooperating with federal agents. Doris Mangeri Salazar, the ex-girlfriend and a Coral Gables real estate agent, and Ivan Lopez Vanegas, who was extradited from Colombia, are...

March 9, 2005 — A Glendale Heights club has been sued by the legendary band Led Zeppelin. The club has apparently been playing the songs of Zeppelin and other groups without having paid the yearly licensing fee required of clubs, restaurants and bars. Chances are the surviving members of Led Zeppelin have no idea this suit even exists. But lawyers for the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, or ASCAP, has filed suit against the owners of the club 602 North in Glendale Heights. The suit claims that during an October investigation of 602 North, songs by not only...