Best and Worst Celebrity Couples of the Decade

The breakup of Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon was a bitter ending to a decade fraught with numerous divorce and cheating scandals and sparse golden couples in Tinseltown.

Over the years, there have been celebrity couples whose commitment to each other have been nothing short of inspirational: Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Linda and Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, and Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. There have also been celebrity couples that have completely disappointed: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, Michael Jackson and Debbie Rowe, Elizabeth Hurley and Hugh Grant, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Gisele Bundchen.

With the new decade drawing near, online dating websites Date.com, Matchmaker.com, and Amor.com, polled thousands of single online daters and Twitter followers, asking who they thought represented the best and worst celebrity couples of the decade. Read more

Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2009

The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) has announced the top five Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of the Year for 2009. Nominees were drawn from the monthly Most Ridiculous Lawsuit poll winners chosen by visitors to FacesofLawsuitAbuse.org – a public awareness campaign website that aims to show how abusive lawsuits affect small businesses and average families in very real ways.

The top five Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of 2009 are:

1. Illegal immigrants sue rancher who stopped them on his property at gunpoint and turned them over to the Border Patrol
16 illegal immigrants accused Arizona rancher, Roger Barnett, of conspiring with authorities to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the US-Mexico border. According to The Washington Times, the Mexican nationals were seeking $32 million in damages from Barnett, his wife, his brother and a local sheriff.

2. Tourist sues hotel, claiming swimming pool got daughter pregnant
The Sun reported in July 2009 that a Polish woman was suing an Egyptian hotel claiming her daughter got pregnant from using the swimming pool. Magdalena Kwiatkowska alleged her 13 year old daughter conceived from stray sperm in the hotel’s  pool.

3. Holocaust denier sues Auschwitz survivor alleging memoir contains “fantastical tales”
Notorious Holocaust denier, Eric Hunt, is suing 80 year old Irene Weisberg Zisblatt who appeared in the 1998 Academy Award-winning documentary The Last Days, produced by Steven Spielberg. According to the Sun Sentinel, 25 year old Hunt has also named Spielberg, Zisblatt’s co-author and the publishers of the memoir, in his law suit. Read more

Australia’s Best Cars for 2009

The Volkswagen Golf and Subaru Outback have won two of the most popular categories in the Australia’s Best Cars awards, presented at a gala industry dinner in Melbourne last night.

The Golf 118 Tsi Comfortline won the award for Best Mid-size Car over $30,000, while the Outback 2.5i picked up the popular Best Recreational 4WD category in Australia’s Best Cars, an independent awards program conducted by the Australian Automobile Association and constituent motoring clubs.

Founder and Managing Director of HerCar.com.au, Melissa Pye, told Australian Women Online, “There were very few surprises in terms of which models took out the gongs. Some manufacturers even had multiple wins, like Audi, Subaru and Hyundai.”

Judges noted other highlights among the winners as the improved quality of small cars, with the Ford Fiesta LX winning the Best Small Car and Hyundai continuing its emphasis on safety across its range with the i30 SX (pictured) again picking up Best Mid-size car under $30,000.

“If you’re after a small car the Fiesta is brilliant. It looks great and performs incredibly well for a small car. And you can’t go wrong with a Volkswagen Golf. I’ve had 4 in my life! And the Hyundai i30 continues to win awards. I believe that this is the 8th Australian award,” said Melissa Pye.

In the Prestige Car categories, Audi continued its Best Cars’ success of last year to win the Best Luxury Sports Car, Best Luxury Car and Best Luxury 4WD – the BMW 135i Coupe won the Best Sports Car award.

“Audi have for a long time produced very good quality cars, but have lived in the shadows of their German counterparts. Their cars are finally being recognised for their styling, performance and value for money, taking out 3 Best Car Awards. In saying this, I was a little surprised that the Audi Q5 took out the award Best Luxury 4WD. I thought the Volvo XC60 may have just pipped it.”

Winners of Australia’s Best Cars for 2009:

• Best Small Car – Ford Fiesta LX
• Best Mid-size Car under $30,000 – Hyundai i30 SX diesel
• Best Mid-size Car over $30,000 – Volkswagen Golf 118 Tsi Comfortline
• Best Large Car – Toyota Aurion AT-X
• Best People Mover – Hyundai iMax diesel
• Best Sports Car – BMW 135i Coupe
• Best Luxury Sports Car – Audi TT-S TFSI Quattro
• Best Prestige Car – Subaru Liberty 3.6R Premium
• Best Luxury Car – Audi A6 TFSi
• Best Recreational 4WD – Subaru Outback 2.5i
• Best Luxury 4WD – Audi Q5 3.0 TDI
• Best All Terrain 4WD – Land Rover Discovery 4 SE TDV6

“These cars are assessed against three important criteria for consumers – value for money, design and on-road performance,” said AAA Chief Executive, Mike Harris.

“Each year we are seeing better produced, safer and more affordable vehicles on the Australian market and we congratulate the winning manufacturers and all finalists.”

Australia’s Best Cars winners and all vehicles assessed can be viewed on www.australiasbestcars.com.au or by purchasing the Australia’s Best Cars magazine at newsagents and Club outlets.

Australia’s Most Trust People of 2009

Pioneering burns surgeon Dr Fiona Wood has again topped the list of Australia’s 100 Most Trusted People, and
we still believe in The Wiggles. New entrants into the Top Ten include Glenn McGrath, Hugh Jackman, and soldier Mark Donaldson VC, who stood in the line of fire in Afghanistan to deflect attention from wounded colleagues.

The fifth annual Australian Reader’s Digest Trust Survey reveals the people we believe in and those we don’t. Those surveyed – a representative sample of 750 Australians – were asked to rate how much they trusted 100 well-known people, on a scale of one-to-ten.

AUSTRALIA’S MOST TRUSTED PEOPLE

1. Dr Fiona Wood
2. Mark Donaldson VC
3. Professor Ian Frazer
4. Ian Kiernan
5. Glenn McGrath
6. Hugh Jackman
7. Dr Harry Cooper
8. Dick Smith
9. Princess Mary
10. The Wiggles
Read more

The World’s 70 Best New Hotels Unveiled

Virgin Atlantic have teamed up with Condé Nast Traveller to unveil the most stylish, innovative and luxurious hotels in the world – in their ‘Red Hot List 2009′.

With settings ranging from desert islands to capital cities, the list was chosen to cater for all tastes, and includes hotels from across the globe – and it appears it would take a little more than pool cabanas and Wi-Fi to impress in order to make the world’s top list. Read more

Worst ‘Corporate Scrooges’ of 2008

The worst corporate “Scrooges” of 2008 – the CEOs who exhibited the worst kinds of unbridled greed and a lack of compassion or concern for others over the last year – are being named today by Co-op America, in conjunction with its Responsible Shopper program.

In order to make the list, the actions of the CEOs had to have had a decidedly negative impact in 2008, a year in which the greed of corporate managers helped create a severe downward economic spiral. Read more

‘Best and Worst’ Celebrity Baby Names of 2008

Harlow Winter Kate Madden and Caleb James Bice are the best celebrity baby names of 2008, according to a poll taken on the popular website BabyNames.com. Harlow is the daughter of actress Nicole Richie and singer Joel Madden, while Caleb is the son of American Idol runner-up Bo Bice and his wife Caroline.

“The celebrities did pretty well this year in baby naming,” says BabyNames.com founder and CEO Jennifer Moss. “Harlow Winter Kate is a glamorous name, without being too unusual. Caleb James is a solid, old-fashioned name — Biblical, but not overused.” Read more

NASA’s Top Science, Exploration and Discovery Stories of 2008

NASA landed on Mars, photographed distant worlds, added to the International Space Station, took part in a lunar science mission with India and made major progress toward returning astronauts to the moon as the agency celebrated its 50th birthday in 2008.

Here on Earth, NASA researchers recorded the continued decline of Arctic sea ice, won awards for aviation breakthroughs, discovered the cause of storms that brighten the Northern Lights and helped create state-of-the-art swimsuits worn by Olympic gold medalists. Ten of the top accomplishments of America’s space agency in its golden anniversary year are listed below: Read more

Top Food Stories of 2008

When asked to recall the top food-related stories of 2008, the nation’s food editors in the US focused on issues with global significance. Topping the list was the spike in food prices across the world, followed by the tainted milk scandal in China — a crisis that spanned five continents.

The sixth annual year-end survey was conducted by Hunter Public Relations (www.hunterpr.com), one of the nation’s leading public relations agencies serving the food and beverage industry. Hunter PR reached out to more than 900 food editors and bloggers across the United States and asked them to rate the top ten food-related stories of 2008.

The biggest food story of the year was decidedly the rise in food prices around the world. Countries across the globe faced food crises due to high oil prices, growing demand, lower food reserves and unexpected weather patterns. As a result, the hunger rate grew rapidly, especially in Haiti, Cairo, Niger, Malaysia, Senegal, Indonesia and many Latin American countries. Rice prices hit a record high in Asian countries, and this caused major concern since rice is a staple for the world’s hungry. Read more

Guinness World Records Names the ‘Best Record Moments of 2008′

Hollywood, Height And Heavy Metal Headline As “Brangelina”, The World’s Tallest Man And Guitar Hero Top List of Record Breakers for 2008.

From Britney Spears’ unparalleled comeback to Brangelina’s Hollywood ascension, 2008 has been a year marked by record-breaking achievements from around the globe. Grabbing headlines throughout the year, Guinness World Records has chronicled hundreds of amazing feats from all across the globe, perhaps none as captivating as the improbable meeting between Svetlana Pankratova, Longest Legs, and the Worlds Smallest Man – He PingPing. Read more

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