Justin Bieber illegally tattoos man with the non-word 'swaggy' and a picture of a mouse

Justin Bieber famously has a lot of tattoos -- particularly given the fact that he's only been legally old enough to get them without parental consent for about six minutes. But the tables turned this week when Justin took a seat on the other side of the tattoo gun. Yes, someone -- an adult, even -- let Justin Bieber tattoo him. 

Tattoo artist Keith McCurdy, who is apparently better known as "Bang Bang," let Justin draw a muscle-bound mouse on his leg. Permanently. Justin also wrote "swaggy" next to the mouse, which is not a word, but is defined on Urban Dictionary as "one of Justin Biebers favorite words meaning to have swag" or "Having swag. Being able to portray swag in the way a person walks, talks and dresses." 

Unfortunately, Bieber does not have a tattoo license, so the facility where he tattooed "swaggy" on "Bang Bang" could be fined for operating with an unlicensed tattoo artist on site.

Source - zap2it

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Was it an angel?

Decide for yourself! As showed in this recording of a traffic camera, some say it was an angel that saved this man's life from being hit by an oncoming truck. Psalm 91:11 "For He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."

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Must-Hear Poem From Dad To Boys (Or Girls) Who Might Want To Date His Daughter

Jesse Parent wrote a poem addressed to the boys who might want to date his daughter.

He begins with threats ("If you break her heart, I will hear it snap"), but continues with words of tremendous love and awe for this human he helped raise.

"I have been teaching her love all of her life, and all that I ask is that you continue the lesson," Parent, who describes himself on his website as a software engineer and performance poet, recited in a presentation of his poem at the 2014 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational last month. "Love her, befriend her, protect her. Be there when I can't. And when my body gives up to the grave let the grin that eternity carves into my face be a reflection of the peace that your love brings to her, and we should get along just fine."

Watch the video of Parent's spoken-word poem below. Trust us, you'll want to see it through to the end: There's an unexpected twist you shouldn't miss.

As the video of Parent's poem went viral this week, some netizens raised concerns about its content, particularly its violent themes. In response, Adam Mordecai of Upworthy, who shared the clip online Monday, reminded viewers of the poem's satirical nature.

"To those of you who think this is advocating violence or perpetuating stereotypes, you are mistaken," Mordecai wrote on Facebook. "[Parent] is joking about his inner voice and how to squash it to respect his daughter's wishes and intent. Almost every dad I've met has that irrational voice in his head. The key is to acknowledge it, so you can find ways to actually communicate with your kids in a responsible fashion."

Parts of Parent's poem certainly made us cringe, but his brutal honesty and his willingness to acknowledge his own hypocrisy is worthy, we think, of praise. His poem lays bare his flaws as a dad, and reveals the earth-shattering love he feels for his child. It may challenge you, it may move you. We recommend you watch it and judge for yourself..

Source - HuffNews

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McDonald's Profit Slides As Taco Bell Launches Breakfast Taco

NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald's said that its profit slipped in the first quarter as global sales remained weak for the world's biggest hamburger chain.

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said global sales edged up 0.5 percent at established restaurants. In the flagship U.S. market, the figure fell 1.7 percent as customer traffic declined. The company cited "challenging industry dynamics and severe winter weather."

It said global sales for April are expected to be modestly positive. April would reflect the first full month that Taco Bell has offered its national breakfast menu, which it has pitched a challenge to McDonald's dominance in the morning hours.

Taco Bell launched a breakfast menu last month featuring a widely anticipated Waffle Taco. Taco Bell's breakfast ads took direct aim at McDonald's. The burger giant's breakfast menu accounts for 25 percent of sales in the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal.

The decline in sales and customer traffic in the U.S. reflects the struggles McDonald's is facing as eating habits change and competition intensifies. After a decade of growth, annual sales at established U.S. locations fell for the first time last year. The continued decline in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2014 is in stark contrast to Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., which last week said sales at established locations rose 13.4 percent.

McDonald's CEO Don Thompson has noted in the past there seemed to be a split in the fast-food industry, with people who have more spending money heading off the chains that charge more. He said McDonald's will focus on underscoring value for its more cash-strapped customers, but the chain is also offering more premium offerings such as its new Bacon Clubhouse Burger.

In a statement Tuesday, Thompson said McDonald's is focusing "creating the best overall experience for our customers." To adapt to shifting trends, for instance, the chain has been rolling out new prep tables in its U.S. kitchens that can hold more sauces and toppings.

The idea is to eventually offer greater customization on its menu while keeping orders easy to assemble for workers. Speed and accuracy have been an issue for McDonald's as it stepped up the pace of new menu items in the past year.

In Europe, McDonald's said sales rose 1.4 percent at established locations in the latest quarter. The figure rose 0.8 percent in the unit that encompasses Asia, the Middle East and Africa, despite a decline in traffic.

For the quarter ended March 31, net income fell to $1.2 billion, or $1.21 per share. Analysts expected $1.24 per share.

A year ago, the company earned $1.27 billion, or $1.26 per share. McDonald's Corp. noted that the year-ago results were boosted by income tax benefits.

Revenue edged up to $6.7 billion, but was shy of the $6.71 billion Wall Street expected.

Shares of McDonald's edged up 83 cents to $100.50 in pre-market trading.

Source - HuffLive

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Is Coconut Oil Really All It's Cracked Up To Be?

Welcome to Ask Healthy Living -- in which you submit your most burning health questions and we do our best to ask the experts and get back to you. Have a question?Get in touch here and you could appear on Healthy Living!

"Ask Healthy Living" is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Please consult a qualified health care professional for personalized medical advice.

So ... is coconut oil actually healthy or just a passing health fad? And, if it is healthy, why did we used to think it was so bad for us?

Coconut oil is everywhere these days -- as a butter substitute in vegan baking, a smoothie topper for natural health nuts and even a beauty treatment, for moisturizing skin and hair and improving oral health via oil pulling.

But ... wasn't it just a generation ago that we were decrying coconut oil as the worst of the worst, due to its high levels of heart-harming saturated fat? Did we get it very wrong back then or is the reemergence of the tropical oil nothing but a slick stunt?

According to Tom Brenna, a professor of nutritional sciences at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology, the answer is some combination of both. Not all coconut oils are created equal. The flakey, fragrant stuff you might find in a superfood smoothie is a very different type of coconut oil than the partially-hydrogenated fat found in junk food in the '80s, which was a highly-processed version of the plant oil, containing trans fats and other dangerous, cholesterol-promoting compounds.

"The older refined-deodorized bleached coconut oil causes rapid and very unhealthy looking rises in cholesterol, for sure, no doubt," Brenna said in an email to HuffPost Healthy Living. "There is no evidence that that is the case for virgin coconut oil, which is available today but was not in the 1970s and '80s when people were using RDB coconut oil."

Virgin coconut oil and even a refined version (most studies have beenconducted on refined coconut oil) are now available in grocery stores and health stores and are being touted for their ability to help us lose weight, stave off illness and even prevent Alzheimer's. Sure, it's better than its junk food predecessor, but is it quite all that?

"It has properties that are promising, but we need a lot more research before we can say this is the superfood of 2014," says Kristin Kirkpatrick MS, RD, LD, manager of wellness nutrition services for the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.

Recently, a study conducted on mouse cells and published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease got some attention when it found that treatment with coconut oil helped protect cortical neurons in a lab setting. Can we extrapolate that to a protective brain effect in living humans quite yet? Of course not.

Coconut oil may also help encourage weight loss, as in a 2009 study during which women with abdominal obesity who supplemented their diet with coconut oil were able to lose more weight than those who were given a soy bean oil supplement. But Kirkpatrick cautions against the "health halo effect," in which we give a pass to foods that we think are healthy and lose sight of portion control. "Just because we think there are some health benefits doesn't mean you can use a whole jar of coconut oil to cook," she says.

Natural coconut oil is made of 90 percent saturated fat (butter, a distant second, contains a comparatively puny 64 percent saturated fat), but the kind of saturated fat matters just as much as the amount. About half of virgin coconut oil's saturated fat is lauric acid, a medium-chain triglyceride that turns out to have a number of health-promoting properties, including the ability to improve levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. People can also more easily digest medium-chain triglycerides andconvert them to energy, according to The Wall Street Journal, making coconut oil a good choice for athletes. That said, because it's so high in saturated fat, even the purest, most natural coconut oil could be problematic for longterm heart health, according to a Harvard nutrition professor.

"Most of the research so far has consisted of short-term studies to examine its effect on cholesterol levels. We don't really know how coconut oil affects heart disease," wrote Walter C. Willett, M.D., chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School for Public Health, in a newsletter. "And I don't think coconut oil is as healthful as vegetable oils like olive oil and soybean oil, which are mainly unsaturated fat and therefore both lower LDL and increase HDL."

Kirkpatrick herself cooks with coconut oil about once a week for taste, but is hesitant to use any more than that until there's more research. "I really stick with olive oil," she says. "It's not as sexy, but there are so many more studies about its benefits."

Source - HuffLive

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Unwilling To Be An Obese Parent, Dave Douglas Lost 220 Pounds

Name: Dave Douglas
Age: 36
Height: 6'1"
Before Weight: 400 pounds

How I Gained It: I'm a third-generation obese American who grew up fat. I was 250 pounds by age 16, and I didn't stop there. While I had tried to lose weight with diet and exercise growing up, it never resulted in much. Being obese was a family affair, and I chose the love and security of my family over my personal health and fitness.

In college and my early adult life, I typically skipped breakfast. Lunch was optional and usually consisted of a small snack. I would then come home after a long day and eat a large dinner with dessert. I rarely ate fruit or vegetables. I loved eating hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.

Breaking Point: My wife and I were pregnant with our first child. I knew I owed it to my son to try to break the family tree of obesity. There are so many compromises to being an obese parent: I was simply forfeiting the ability to participate in so many wonderful moments. I used to sweat so much before. I couldn't fit in some amusement park rides. It is a tragedy to work so hard, only to find yourself too exhausted to enjoy your life.

How I Lost It: My weight-loss journey took more than eight years. I found wonderful success with the low-carb system. The biggest change was actually thinking about what I should eat. It was a big deal for me to be conscious about my health. I dropped from 400 pounds down to 225. Our second son came, and I soon found myself back at 250. I then spent two years working out with a personal trainer, but I never found a trainer I connected with. Despite the exercise, my weight continued to climb. I eventually realized that in order to lose weight, I needed to focus on my food choices first. Adding exercise to my life wouldn't work if I was still unable to come to terms with my obesity and its relation to my food choices.

Finally, my doctor offered me the choice between gastric bypass or Weight Watchers. As a parent of two and a committed husband, I was unwilling to take the risk of the surgery, so I chose Weight Watchers online. While doing Weight Watchers, I abstained from all exercise. It was a really big shift to measure and document my food choices, but building that discipline has given me the freedom to eat anything I want. My favorite foods now are fresh fruits like apples, oranges and bananas, and carrots. Thanks to my incredible wife, the iPhone app and my relentless focus, I was able to finally achieve a healthy BMI on March 10, 2010.

I am full of energy now. At my all-time lowest weight of 165 pounds, I began to bring exercise back into my life. I quickly fell in love with running. I've now completed five marathons, reaching my goal of completing the 2014 L.A. Marathon in under four hours. I'm a totally different person now, and I love who I am. Running has given me additional confidence to be the man I want to be. I have reinvented who I am and no longer live under the shadows of being "the fat kid." I am now committed to helping others during their weight-loss journey. I have begun a blog atthingineering.com and my mission is to help lose 1,000,000 pounds. I've already helped coworkers and friends lose over 500.

Source - HuffLive

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Schoolboy survives ordeal

Kota Kinabalu: Just looking at the photo of the boy which went viral over social media was enough to make netizens grimace but the 10-year-old survived his ordeal rather gallantly, here, Monday.

SK Sacred Heart pupil Huguan Isaac Linus was playing near a drain with a group of friends when one of them apparently stepped on a loose iron rod, which sprang up, went through the boy's mouth before one end of it exited through his right cheek about 12.50pm.

The three-foot long iron rod was lodged in the boy, who remained calm despite the severity of the freak mishap and the fuss the adults were making all around him, until he got to hospital where doctors had to surgically remove it.

Women and Children's Hospital Likas Director Dr Tan Bee Hwai said doctors successfully withdrew the metal bar during a 35-minute operation.

"The rod went in through the mouth and punctured through the right cheek," he said.

Dr Tan said the boy was taken to the operating room at 3.55pm for removal of the metal rod, clean the wound and to stitch the puncture back.

"The boy is now well, stable and awaiting recovery," he said, adding that the boy is still being warded.

"After surgery we need to check the wound to see whether or not it is clean and see if we missed anything and see if we need to put on the next stitch, all this needs to be reviewed a few hours after the procedure," he said.

"All looks well, not a complicated removal. However, it is most unfortunate that a person got his cheek injured in such manner which is not normal, we are all relieved and happy that the patient is well," he added.

Nine personnel from the Kota Kinabalu Fire and Rescue Department who rushed to the scene escorted the injured boy to the hospital.

State Education Director Datuk Jame Alip also visited the site after being alerted of the incident.

"We will instruct every school management to inspect and make necessary repairs to locations which might put our children's safety at risk, particularly in school compounds," said Jame.

City Police Chief ACP Jauteh Dikun confirmed the case but said no police report was lodged.

Source - Daily Express

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Katy Perry Makes Controversial Joke In 'Birthday' Promo

Katy Perry is a chameleon in the trailer for her music video (how is this a thing?). She plays the "world's worst birthday party entertainers," which include an old woman with a revealing neckline, a Jewish bar mitzvah emcee, a despondent clown, a creepy animal trainer and a princess with a Valley girl accent.

There's a not-so-funny joke about rabbis and circumcision, and some off-color stereotyping in here, Salon points out. Perhaps "Birthday" can still take the coveted "song of the summer" title, as Vulture wrote, but maybe it's time for Perry to quit the whole pissing-people-off-with-cultural-costumes thing.

Perry has yet to release the actual music video for her single "Birthday," but has already debuted a lyric video and this bizarre trailer. Where, we must ask, is the actual video? And can it please be free of "Yosef Shulem"? (The creepy animal trainer can take a walk too.)

Source - Huffnews

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Selangor trying to ‘wash its hands’ of seized bibles, say lawyers

KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — The Selangor government is worsening the confusion over the seizure of 300 indigenous language bibles by trying to force the federal government to resolve the state matter, lawyers critical of the decision have said. 

Pointing out that while the raid was conducted in January by the Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) using a Selangor state enactment, the legal practitioners said the state was now shifting the burden to the Bible Society of Malaysia, from whom the Malay and Iban language bibles were seized, and Putrajaya. 

Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan said that even if it is accepted that the state government does not have direct control over Jais, the department is still part of the executive setup of the administration 

“The Selangor government is basically washing their hands of this matter... I personally think this is irresponsible.

“At the very least they should be the bridge between Jais and BSM to try and assist them, try and solve this matter in a way that is amicable,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Syahredzan noted that despite being largely independent of the state administration in the enforcement of Islamic law, Jais is still subject to oversight by the Selangor Islamic Council (Mais), on which the state executive councillor in charge of Islamic affairs has a seat.

“At the very least they should be the bridge between Jais and BSM to try and assist them, try and solve this matter in a way that is amicable,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Syahredzan noted that despite being largely independent of the state administration in the enforcement of Islamic law, Jais is still subject to oversight by the Selangor Islamic Council (Mais), on which the state executive councillor in charge of Islamic affairs has a seat.

He stressed that that seat on the council affords the state government, through the executive councillor, the leverage to query and pressure Jais to come to a clear decision on the matter.

“If they (Jais) are not going to charge them (BSM), then they should return these bibles. On what basis are you still keeping them? If they had not committed any offence, why keep the bibles 

Yesterday, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim told a press conference that the state government has decided not to interfere with the ongoing controversy, and that BSM would have to officially write to Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail if it wants the holy books returned. 

He said the state executive council decided that the onus falls entirely on BSM to “show their determination and desire” to recover the bibles confiscated by Jais over the use of the word “Allah” in the translations.

Human rights lawyer Andrew Khoo argued, however, that the burden rested on the state to clearly say if the raid was illegal, unlawful or in any other way improper; if so, the responsibility fell on Jais — and, by extension, the state government — to return the bibles.

“Why is it that they are trying now to pass the buck to the Attorney-General, because they were acting not under federal law but under state law?

“Jais was applying what they interpreted state laws to be as the basis for the raid, and now they shouldn’t hide behind the skirt of the Attorney-General in trying to say that if you want the bibles back, go talk to the federal government.

“If they (BSM) go to the federal government, what will they say? They will say ‘we didn’t do it, go to Jais’,” Khoo said.

The outspoken lawyer noted that by abdicating its responsibility to make Jais accountable for its actions, the Selangor state government is effectively limiting BSM to legal action as its only remedy.

Khoo said it was “shocking and tremendously disappointing” for the state to make BSM into a “legal football” by passing the matter to the A-G.

“One would have hoped that common sense would have prevailed and that Jais would have had the decency of returning the bibles, since there’s not going to be any prosecution.

“They are putting BSM in a very difficult position, because people who did the act are now denying their responsibility to account for their actions... so if you want to use the term irresponsible, it would apply to Jais,” he said.

Previously, The Malay Mail Online reported that Jais was expected to return “most” of the bibles seized in the January 2 raid, save for a few for further investigations.

The department was also said to have been in consultation with the A-G on whether to press charges against BSM over the use of the word “Allah” in the 300 bibles and whether the books should be returned to the society.

A 1988 state enactment prohibits non-Muslims from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faiths, including “Allah” as part of measures to control the propagation of other religions to Muslims.

Besides Selangor, nine other states have similar enactments banning non-Muslim usage of “Allah” and other Arabic words, except Sabah, Sarawak, Penang and the Federal Territories.

BSM had said that they distribute most of their Malay-language bibles to churches in Sabah and Sarawak, but also cater to Malay-speaking Christians in the peninsula, including the Orang Asli and those who come from East Malaysia.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/selangor-trying-to-wash-its-hands-of-seized-bibles-say-lawyers#sthash.CmRsrgrX.dpuf

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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Underwater black box hunt begins

2 ships will search a targeted 240-kilometre track of remote ocean for any pings from the black box 

Two ships with sophisticated equipment zeroed in Friday on a remote stretch of the Indian Ocean in a desperate underwater hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet's black boxes, whose batteries will soon run out.

An arduous weeks-long hunt has not turned up a single piece of wreckage, which could have led the searchers to the plane and eventually to its black boxes containing key information about the flight. But the searchers have apparently decided to make a direct attempt to find the devices, whose batteries last about a month.

• Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Objects seen search not debris
• Malaysia Airlines MH370: maps, background, search details

Two ships with equipment that can hear the black boxes' pings were slowly making their way along a 240-kilometre route that investigators are hoping may be close to the spot Flight 370 entered the water after it vanished March 8 on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.

But the head of the joint agency co-ordinating the search acknowledged that the search area was essentially just a best guess — and noted that time was running out for search crews to find the coveted data recorders.

"The locator beacon will last about a month before it ceases its transmissions — so we're now getting pretty close to the time when it might expire," Angus Houston said.

'The locator beacon will last about a month before it ceases its transmissions — so we're now getting pretty close to the time when it might expire.'- Angus Houston, head of the joint agency co-ordinating the search

The Australian navy ship Ocean Shield, which is dragging a towed pinger locator from the U.S. Navy, and the British navy's HMS Echo, which has underwater search gear on board, were looking for the black boxes in an area that investigators' settled on after analyzing hourly satellite pings the aircraft gave off after it disappeared. That information, combined with data on the estimated speed and performance of the aircraft, led them to that specific stretch of ocean, Houston said.

"The area of highest probability as to where the aircraft might have entered the water is the area where the underwater search will commence," he said. "It's on the basis of data that only arrived very recently and it's the best data that is available."

Because the U.S. Navy's pinger locator can pick up black box signals up to a depth of 6,100 metres, it should be able to hear the devices even if they are lying in the deepest part of the search zone — about 5,800 metres below the surface. But that's only if the locator gets within range of the black boxes — a tough task, given the size of the search area and the fact the pinger locator must be dragged slowly through the water at just one to five knots, or 1.6 to 9.6 km/h.

'Lengthy search' likely

Finding floating wreckage is key to narrowing the search area, as officials can then use data on ocean currents to try and backtrack to the spot where the Boeing 777 hit the water — and where the black boxes may be. The devices would provide crucial information about what condition the plane was flying under and any communications or sounds in the cockpit.

But with no wreckage found despite weeks of searching, officials can't be confident that they're looking for the black boxes in the right place, said Geoff Dell, discipline leader of accident investigation at Central Queensland University in Australia.

A Towed Pinger Locator (TPL) is used to detect black box recorders underwater.(Rob Griffith/The Associated Press)

"They might be lucky and they might start smack bang right over the top of it," Dell said. "But my guess is that on the balance of probabilities, that's not going to be the case and they're in for a lengthy search."

The area where crews are looking for the devices lies within a larger 217,000-square-kilometre search zone that 14 planes and nine ships were crisscrossing Friday in the hopes of spotting debris on the ocean surface. The search zone is about 1,700 kilometres — or a 2½-hour flight — northwest of the Australian west coast city of Perth. Several ships also had helicopters on board.

The search area has shifted each day, as the investigative team continues to analyze what little radar and satellite data is available while factoring in where any debris may have drifted due to ocean currents and weather.

"I think we've probably got to the end of the process of analysis," Houston said. "And my expectation is that we're into a situation where the data we've got is the data we've got and we'll proceed on the basis of that."

Houston said it was unlikely that any additional pinger locators would join the search any time soon because they are in scarce supply.

'It is probably the most difficult search that's ever been mounted.'- Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott

Although Australia is co-ordinating the ocean search, the investigation into the plane's disappearance ultimately remains Malaysia's responsibility, though Australia, the U.S., Britain and China have all agreed to be "accredited representatives" of the investigation, Houston said.

Four Australian investigators were in Kuala Lumpur to help with the investigation and ensure that information on the aircraft's likely flight path is fed back to search crews, he said. The two countries are still working out who will be in charge of the analysis of any wreckage and flight recorders that may be found.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott met with staff Friday at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which is running the search efforts, and acknowledged that officials have no idea how long the hunt would continue.

"It is probably the most difficult search that's ever been mounted," Abbott told staffers. "A large aircraft seems like something that would be easy enough to locate — but a large aircraft that all but disappeared, and disappeared into inaccessible oceans, is an extraordinary, extraordinary challenge that you're faced with."

Source - CBC news

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