3 dead, 56 injured in horrific Reno air show crash

By MARTIN GRIFFITH - Associated Press,SCOTT SONNER - Associated Press | AP – 10 mins ago

• Click photo to view more images. (AP/Reno Gazette-Journal, Andy Barron)

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RENO, Nev. (AP) — A vintage World War II-era fighter plane plunged into the grandstands Friday during a popular annual air show, killing at least three people, injuring more than 50 spectators and creating a horrific scene strewn with body parts and smoking debris.
The plane, flown by a renowned 80-year-old air racer and movie stunt pilot, spiraled suddenly out of control and appeared to disintegrate upon impact. Bloodied bodies were spread across the area as people tended to the victims and ambulances rushed to the scene.
Maureen Higgins of Alabama, who has been coming to the show for 16 years, said the pilot was on his third lap when he lost control.
She was sitting about 30 yards away from the crash and watched in horror as the man in front of her started bleeding after a piece of debris hit him in the head.
"I saw body parts and gore like you wouldn't believe it. I'm talking an arm, a leg," Higgins said "The alive people were missing body parts. I am not kidding you. It was gore. Unbelievable gore."
Among the dead was pilot Jimmy Leeward, 80, of Ocala, Fla., a veteran airman and stunt pilot who named his P-51 Mustang fighter plane the "Galloping Ghost," according to Mike Houghton, president and CEO of Reno Air Races.
Renown Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Carter confirmed that two others died, but did not provide their identities.
Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, told The Associated Press that emergency crews took a total of 56 injury victims to three hospitals. She said they also observed a number of people being transported by private vehicle, which they are not including in their count.

Kruse said of the total 56, at the time of transport, 15 were considered in critical condition, 13 were serious condition with potentially life-threatening injuries and 28 were non-serious or non-life threatening.
"This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades," Kruse told The Associated Press. "The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it."
The P-51 Mustang crashed into a box-seat area in front of the grandstand at about 4:30 p.m., race spokesman Mike Draper said. Houghton said Leeward appeared to have "lost control of the aircraft," though details on why that happened weren't immediately known.
KRNV-TV weatherman Jeff Martinez, who was just outside the air race grounds at the time, said the plane veered to the right and then "it just augered straight into the ground."
"You saw pieces and parts going everywhere," he said. "Everyone is in disbelief."
Tanya Breining, off Hayward, Calif., told KTVU-TV in San Francisco: "It was absolute carnage. ... It looked like more than a bomb exploded."
Another witness, Ronald Sargis, said he was sitting in the box seat area near the finish line.
"We could see the plane coming around the far turn — it was in trouble," Sargis told KCRA-TV in Sacramento. "About six or seven boxes down from us, it impacted into the front row."
He said the pilot appeared to do all he could to avoid crashing into the crowd. Response teams immediately went to work, Sargis said. After the crash Sargis went up a few rows into the grandstand to view the downed plane.
"It appeared to be just pulverized," he said.
Leeward, the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team, was a well-known racing pilot. His website says he has flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."
In an interview with the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner last year, he described how he has flown 250 types of planes and has a particular fondness for the P-51, which came into the war relatively late and was used as a long-range bomber escort over Europe. Among the famous pilots of the hot new fighter was WWII double ace Chuck Yeager.
"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed," Leeward said.
Houghton described Leeward as "a good friend. Everybody knows him. It's a tight knit family. He's been here for a long, long time," Houghton said.
The National Championship Air Races draws thousands of people to Reno every year in September to watch various military and civilian planes race. They also have attracted scrutiny in the past over safety concerns, including four pilots killed in 2007 and 2008. It was such a concern that local school officials once considered whether they should not allow student field trips at the event.
The competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.
The FAA and air race organizers spend months preparing for air races as they develop a plan involving pilot qualification, training and testing along with a layout for the course. The FAA inspects pilots' practice runs and brief pilots on the route maneuvers and emergency procedures.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he was "deeply saddened" about the crash.
"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and with those who were wounded in this horrific tragedy," he said. "I am so grateful to our first responders for their swift action and will continue to monitor this situation as it develops."
----
Associated Press writer Cristina Silva contributed.

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Reno Air Show Plane Crash: Airplane Crashes Into Stands At National Championship Air Races In Nevada

AP/The Huffington Post   By SCOTT SONNER and MARTIN GRIFFITH   First Posted: 9/16/11 08:34 PM ET Updated: 9/16/11 10:51 PM ET

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By SCOTT SONNER and MARTIN GRIFFITH, The Associated Press
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A vintage World War II-era fighter plane plunged into the grandstands Friday during a popular annual air show, killing at least three people, injuring more than 50 spectators and creating a horrific scene strewn with body parts and smoking debris.
The plane, flown by an 80-year-old pilot, spiraled suddenly out of control and appeared to disintegrate upon impact. Bloodied bodies were spread across the area as people tended to the victims and ambulances rushed to the scene.
Maureen Higgins of Alabama, who has been coming to the show for 16 years, said the pilot was on his third lap when he lost control.
She was sitting about 30 yards away from the crash and watched in horror as the man in front of her started bleeding after a piece of debris hit him in the head.
"I saw body parts and gore like you wouldn't believe it. I'm talking an arm, a leg," Higgins said "The alive people were missing body parts. I am not kidding you. It was gore. Unbelievable gore."
Among the dead was pilot Jimmy Leeward, 80, of Ocala, Fla., who flew the P-51 Mustang named the "Galloping Ghost," according to Mike Houghton, president and CEO of Reno Air Races.
Renown Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Carter confirmed that two others died, but did not provide their identities.
Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, told The Associated Press that emergency crews took a total of 56 injury victims to three hospitals. She said they also observed a number of people being transported by private vehicle, which they are not including in their count.
Kruse said of the total 56, at the time of transport, 15 were considered in critical condition, 13 were serious condition with potentially life-threatening injuries and 28 were non-serious or non-life threatening.
"This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades," Kruse told The Associated Press. "The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it."
The P-51 Mustang crashed into a box-seat area in front of the grandstand at about 4:30 p.m., race spokesman Mike Draper said. Houghton said Leeward appeared to have "lost control of the aircraft," though details on why that happened weren't immediately known.
KRNV-TV weatherman Jeff Martinez, who was just outside the air race grounds at the time, said the plane veered to the right and then "it just augered straight into the ground."
"You saw pieces and parts going everywhere," he said. "Everyone is in disbelief."
Tanya Breining, off Hayward, Calif., told KTVU-TV in San Francisco: "It was absolute carnage ... It looked like more than a bomb exploded."
Another witness, Ronald Sargis, said he was sitting in the box seat area near the finish line.
"We could see the plane coming around the far turn - it was in trouble," Sargis told KCRA-TV in Sacramento. "About six or seven boxes down from us, it impacted into the front row."
He said the pilot appeared to do all he could to avoid crashing into the crowd. Response teams immediately went to work, Sargis said. After the crash Sargis went up a few rows into the grandstand to view the downed plane.
"It appeared to be just pulverized," he said.
Leeward, the owner of the Leeward Air Ranch Racing Team, was a well-known racing pilot. His website says he has flown more than 120 races and served as a stunt pilot for numerous movies, including "Amelia" and "Cloud Dancer."
In an interview with the Ocala (Fla.) Star-Banner last year, he described how he has flown 250 types of planes and has a particular fondness for the P-51, which came into the war relatively late and was used as a long-range bomber escort over Europe. Among the famous pilots of the hot new fighter was WWII double ace Chuck Yeager.
"They're more fun. More speed, more challenge. Speed, speed and more speed," Leeward said.
Houghton described Leeward as "a good friend. Everybody knows him. It's a tight knit family. He's been here for a long, long time," Houghton said.
The National Championship Air Races draws thousands of people every year in September to watch various military and civilian planes race. They also have attracted scrutiny in the past over safety concerns, including four pilots killed in 2007 and 2008. It was such a concern that local school officials once considered whether they should not allow student field trips at the event.
The competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.
The FAA and air race organizers spend months preparing for air races as they develop a plan involving pilot qualification, training and testing along with a layout for the course. The FAA inspects pilots' practice runs and brief pilots on the route maneuvers and emergency procedures.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., issued a statement saying he was "deeply saddened" about the crash.
"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives and with those who were wounded in this horrific tragedy," he said. "I am so grateful to our first responders for their swift action and will continue to monitor this situation as it develops."

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Video: Plane crashes at Reno air show

By Terri Rupar

The Associated Press is reporting that a plane crashed into the stands at the National Championship Air Races.
According to the races’ Web site, the event started Wednesday and goes through Sunday. The site describes it as an event for the “World’s Fastest Motorsport,” with speeds of more than 500 mph.
The Post’s Steve Hendrix reported earlier this week that Heather ”Lucky” Penney and her father were at the races in Reno. Penney was one of the first fighter pilots in the air over Washington on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001; she was prepared to ram the 757 that was feared headed for Washington. It was a United plane, and at the time, her father was a United pilot.
The pilot of the plane was identified as Jimmy Leeward. “We’re as fast as anyone in the field, or maybe a little faster,” he told an interview in a video posted on liveairshowtv.com. The segment on Leeward starts at 2:24.

Mass casualties US air show plane crash

LOS ANGELES - Dozens of people were injured and possibly some killed Friday when a vintage aircraft crashed into the ground at an air show in the U.S. state of Nevada, a spokesman and video images showed.

Initial reports suggested 60 people were injured, 30 of them seriously, after the crash at the Reno National Championship Air Races, in which the small plane smashed almost headlong into the ground.

"We're being told that there are likely fatalities," race spokesman Mike Draper told CNN, adding that there were "mass casualties" in the crash, amateur video of which was posted on YouTube and shown on the news network.Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, said 25 people were critically injured and another 25 people were seriously injured in the crash.
She says the critically injured were considered to have life-threatening injuries. She says more than 25 other people were treated for minor injuries.Besides the Federal Aviation Administration personnel already there to assist the National Transportation Safety Board in any investigation, the show's spokesman said that National Guard members -- who were on-site practicing before the incident -- are helping emergency personnel to clear the area.The competition is like a car race in the sky, with planes flying wingtip-to-wingtip as low as 50 feet off the sagebrush at speeds sometimes surpassing 500 mph. Pilots follow an oval path around pylons, with distances and speeds depending on the class of aircraft.

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In the News: HPV Vaccine

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was in the news this week after U.S. Rep.  Michele Bachmann (R.-Minn.) made some statements about possible safety issues on NBC’s Today Show. Bachmann said  that she was told by one mother that her daughter suffered from mental retardation after receiving the vaccine.
To protect against cervical cancer and genital warts, the HPV vaccine is recommended to be routinely given to girls at age 11 or 12, and can be given up to age 26 to those who did not get all doses when they were younger.
Are there safety issues with the vaccine?
Before HPV vaccines Gardasil and Cervarix were approved, the FDA  conducted clinical studies involving thousands of participants to ensure its safety.
Since it was approved, the FDA and CDC continue to monitor its safety. One system for doing so is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). The agencies analyze adverse events (possible side effects) that are reported. As with all vaccines, the HPV vaccines does have some documented side effects. Pain and redness where the injection is given is the most common, according to the CDC.  One in 10 people will get a mild fever, one in thirty will experience itching in the area the shot is given.  About 1 in 60 people will have a moderate fever. The HPV vaccine has not been linked to mental retardation or other serious neurologic conditions affecting the brain.
A recent report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM)  that examined research on eight vaccines, including HPV, also found that it was safe.

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O ocaso do MST

O Movimento dos Sem-Terra é um arremedo do que foi. Está sem rumo e é incapaz de promover grandes assentamentos. O Brasil avançou e os novos líderes da organização acabaram isolados numa disputa por dinheiro público

Pedro Marcondes de Moura/ Fotos: Rafael Hupsel

Menos de 60 quilômetros separam três cenários distintos: o berço, o pal­co da consolidação e a demonstração definitiva da decadência atual do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST). O primeiro cenário está à beira da rodovia RS-324. Um monumento de ferro retratando um casal de camponeses sinaliza o embrião mítico do MST no Rio Grande do Sul, a “Encruzilhada Natalino.” Ali, cerca de 600 famílias expulsas de uma reserva indígena mostraram, em 1981, o poder de resistência de um grupo organizado em prol da reforma agrária. Apesar da forte repressão, em pleno governo militar, eles não arredaram pé do acampamento. A poucos minutos da Encruzilhada ficam as terras que testemunharam a primeira grande prova de força do movimento, a fazenda Anoni, invadida, na chuvosa madrugada de 29 de outubro de 1985, por cerca de sete mil pessoas. A organização que cortou as cercas da propriedade ameaçava incendiar os campos brasileiros e despertava o medo nos latifundiários. É um sentimento muito diferente do que hoje pode ser experimentado em Sarandi, a pequena cidade vizinha da Anoni. Barracos abandonados e outros trancados com cadeados, mas também vazios, atestam a decadência do MST. Das 83 famílias teoricamente instaladas no acampamento, um quarto só aparece aos sábados, domingos e feriados. Durante os dias úteis, tocam suas vidas. Moram e trabalham nas zonas rurais e urbanas de cidades próximas. Para eles, a peleja pela terra virou uma atividade de fim de semana.

CRISE
O assentado Rodrigo Rodrigues tenta sustentar a família com um emprego numa escola pública

As estatísticas confirmam o declínio. Dados da Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) revelam que, em uma década, a quantidade de famílias acampadas sob a bandeira do MST diminuiu seis vezes de tamanho. Durante o governo Lula, a queda foi ainda maior: desabou de 32.738 famílias acampadas para 1.204, excluindo as fileiras comandadas por José Rainha, considerado “dissidente” pela cúpula nacional do MST. “O momento está difícil mesmo”, admite Laércio Barbosa, um dos dirigentes na região do Pontal do Paranapanema, no sudoeste paulista. “Não vemos sinal de desapropriações e assentamento por parte dos governos ou do Incra. Não tem jeito. Isso afasta as pessoas da luta mesmo”, diz ele. Barbosa deu essa entrevista em meio a um acampamento à beira de uma estrada vicinal de acesso a Sandovalina. Consta que ali estariam abrigadas 220 famílias. As lideranças dizem que 40% delas vão ao local apenas nos fins de semana. Mas, na verdade, foi impossível contar mais do que 80 pessoas no local.

Parte do encolhimento das fileiras do MST pode ser explicada pela situa­ção econômica do País. Viver anos a fio sob barracos de lona, à espera de um lote de terra, deixou de ser a única opção para uma legião de trabalhadores rurais. O Brasil cresceu, em média, 3,65% nos últimos dez anos. Novas oportunidades surgiram no campo e nas cidades. A poucos metros do marco da Encruzilhada Natalino, por exemplo, funcionam hoje duas grandes agroindústrias. Antes só havia por ali campos de soja e fazendas improdutivas que geravam contingentes de marginalizados. A luta pela conquista de um pedaço de terra, nos braços do MST, era a única perspectiva concreta de futuro. “Hoje a gente tenta mostrar que a crise está aí, fala da situação da Europa e dos Estados Unidos para provar isso, mas muitos só pensam no agora e desistem”, lamenta-se José Machado, coordenador do acampamento em Sarandi. “A luta é dura”, diz ele, que registrou 20 baixas entre seus comandados desde 2009. No Pontal do Paranapanema, os assentamentos também contabilizam dissidentes. Muitos deles estão entre os brasileiros que foram beneficiados pelo 1,8 milhão de empregos formais que o País gerou nos oito primeiros meses do ano. É o caso de Rodrigo Capatto Rodrigues, 30 anos, assentado na fazenda São Bento. Ele arrumou trabalho como auxiliar de serviços em uma escola pública na cidade de Mirante do Paranapanema e agora pode sustentar a mãe e o irmão caçula.

Principal alvo da fúria do MST, o setor agroindustrial também passou por um importante processo de modernização e hoje se tornou um dos pilares da geração de emprego. Com investimentos em técnicas e equipamentos, a produtividade das lavouras nacionais cresceu cerca de 150% nos últimos 35 anos. O MST certamente contribuiu em parte para este avanço, pois o medo de ver terras improdutivas desapropriadas funcionou como impulso para proprietários rurais mais reticentes e tradicionalistas. Na região do Pontal do Paranapanema, um dos principais redutos do MST, a mudança é eloquente. Fazendas que na década de 90 se destinavam a uma pecuária extensiva de pouco investimento deram lugar a canaviais integrados a uma sofisticada cadeia produtiva, que desemboca em grandes usinas. Apenas a ETH Bioenergia, produtora de etanol e açúcar, gera mais de três mil empregos com duas plantas nas cidades de Teodoro Sampaio e Mirante do Paranapanema. “No meu assentamento, dá para montar mais de dois times de futebol com a meninada que foi trabalhar na usina”, conta João Bosco Rodrigues. O filho dele, Irivan, 20 anos, é um dos beneficiados pelo novo ciclo produtivo da região.

O NASCIMENTO E A QUEDA
O padre Arnildo Fritzen testemunhou a fase áurea do
movimento. José Machado, em Sarandi, lamenta as baixas:
"Tem gente que desiste"

Os programas sociais do governo federal, em especial o Bolsa Família, tiveram igualmente um papel relevante para afastar a população do campo do Movimento dos Sem Terra. O be­nefício pago mensalmente a pessoas em situação de miséria (cerca de 20% dos moradores da área rural do País) atacou um dos principais bolsões de captação de novos integrantes da organização. Além disso, a própria ideia da reforma agrária como panaceia do desenvolvimento econômico perdeu seu charme. Ela não integra sequer o principal projeto de erradicação da pobreza extrema do país, o Brasil Sem Miséria. O programa, concebido pela presidente Dilma Rousseff, aposta em regularizar, facilitar as linhas de crédito e melhorar a produtividade de terras já ocupadas. Não contempla investimentos para a ampliação do número de famílias assentadas.

Por todas essas razões, a imagem do MST sofre um sério desgaste na sociedade. Uma pesquisa do Ibope realizada no final de 2009 demonstra o descontentamento dos brasileiros com os rumos adotados pela organização. Mais de 70% dos entrevistados dizem que o Movimento dos Sem Terra prejudica a geração de empregos e o desenvolvimento econômico e social do País. Um cenário bem distinto daquele que embalou o ato de fundação do movimento em 1984, em Cascavel, no Paraná. “Naquele tempo, o MST tinha amplo apoio”, relembra Darci Maschio, um dos nomes da emblemática ocupação da Fazenda Anoni no Rio Grande do Sul. “No final da ditadura, a defesa da luta pela reforma agrária estava presente em quase todos os partidos. As pessoas abraçavam a causa. Hoje, você observa que o PT está no governo e essa questão saiu de pauta.”

O isolamento do MST é resultado direto das políticas escolhidas por seu comando. A relação do movimento com a Igreja Católica talvez seja o melhor exemplo disso. Desde o início, os padres tiveram um papel fundamental na organização e arregimentação dos sem-terra. Religiosos tratavam de amparar as famílias no mítico momento da Encruzilhada Natalino e estavam na linha de frente dos camponeses que romperam os arames da Fazenda Anoni. “Um povo que se emancipa e enfrenta o opressor para chegar à terra prometida” era o lema dessa ala chamada de “progressista”, como lembra o padre Arnildo Fritzen, 68 anos, um dos principais responsáveis pela formação de lideranças do MST no Rio Grande do Sul. Aos poucos, porém, os religiosos foram sendo deixados de lado no comando da organização. A separação ficou mais forte na década de 90, quando a Igreja Católica como um todo acabou se afastando dos movimentos populares, na esteira do declínio da Teologia da Libertação, que, anos antes, assanhava seus setores de esquerda.

SEM PERSPECTIVA
Laércio Barbosa, do Pontal, e Darci Maschio, que ocupou a Fazenda Anoni :
“Com o PT, a questão agrária saiu de pauta”

A direção do movimento passou a apostar numa estrutura altamente hierarquizada, mesmo entre seus pares. Nos seus primórdios, o MST parecia uma assembleia permanente. Hoje, os acampados apenas colocam em prática as decisões tomadas em esferas superiores. Nos assentamentos do Pontal do Paranapanema, em São Paulo, e também da região norte do Rio Grande do Sul, é evidente o fosso que separa o discurso dos dirigentes das práticas adotadas na vida real. É comum ver nessas áreas colonos que já conseguiram prosperar recrutando vizinhos para trabalhar como empregados, miseravelmente remunerados, em suas novas propriedades. Também se vê gente arrendando áreas para aumentar a produção – o que, antes, era denunciado como um pecado pelo MST. Isso sem contar os casos de compras irregulares de lotes de reforma agrária. Na grande vitrine da organização, a Fazenda Anoni, a comercialização das terras, proibida por lei, foi recentemente alvo de uma operação do Incra. Em 19 dos 412 lotes do assentamento, houve flagrantes de venda ilegal. No Pontal do Paranapanema, a negociação é feita sem pudor. Em Mirante do Paranapanema, pagando entre R$ 20 mil e R$ 30 mil, adquirem-se terras de pessoas que ficaram anos embaixo de uma lona.

Durante mais de duas décadas de história, o MST passou por um processo de filtragem ideológica. Lideranças mais pragmáticas ou que divergiam da orientação de cunho stalinista, adotada pela cúpula, foram alijadas. Um caso emblemático é o de José Rainha. Responsável por levar o movimento no Pontal do Paranapanema às manchetes de jornal, ele acabou renegado, em 2007. Rainha foi acusado de não seguir as orientações do movimento e “apoiar candidatos que não eram identificados com a causa da organização”. Pouca gente, no entanto, fala abertamente sobre as divergências internas. Todos temem o poder do grupo dirigido por João Pedro Stédili. Não é à toa que o MST assistiu à criação de uma legião de siglas concorrentes. Essa trajetória levou a um forte enfraquecimento do movimento, situação confirmada por dados da CPT: o Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra representa hoje apenas 33,6% dos acampados brasileiros.

Essa redução do poder de mobilização do movimento não se reflete, no entanto, no acesso a verbas públicas. Mesmo sendo uma organização social semiclandestina que nunca existiu no papel (para evitar a criminalização de seus membros), o MST criou dezenas de ONGs, associações e cooperativas com a finalidade de abrigar os seus líderes e captar dinheiro de prefeituras, Estados e da União. Até o seu site está hospedado em nome da Associação Nacional de Cooperação Agrícola. Segundo levantamento da ONG Contas Abertas, os repasses triplicaram durante a gestão do presidente Lula. De R$ 73,3 milhões, em 2003, cresceram para R$ 282,6 milhões em 2010, embora, no mesmo período, o número de famílias acampadas sob a bandeira do movimento tenha desabado. Sem a aura e a força do passado, o MST sobrevive das verbas do Estado capitalista brasileiro.

• 
  

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"Being welcomed into this community has been a dream come true for me," ... "Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be on Broadway, and here I am."

Ten Things About... Scarlett Johansson

Friday, September 16 2011, 12:26 BST 

By Mayer Nissim, Senior Entertainment Reporter

© WENN

An awful lot has happened in the three-and-half years since we last rounded up ten lesser-known facts about Hollywood superstar Scarlett Johansson. In fact, quite a bit has happened this week alone! In the hope of giving you a fix of Scarlett that won't get her lawyers sending us angry letters (or your boss giving you the sack!) we've looked over the more recent archives for ten newer facts about one of the most talked-about movie stars of our time.

1. Scarlett was born in New York City on November 22, 1984 and has an older sister Vanessa and an older brother named Adrian. She also has a three-minute younger twin brother Hunter, who appeared with her in 1996 comedy drama Manny & Lo.

2. She was just nine when she made her film debut as Laura Nelson in Rob Reiner's North. Scarlett's starred in loads of films since, from The Horse Whisperer and Lost In Translation to Eight Legged Freaks and Girl with a Pearl Earring. She's probably not best known for her part in the Kevin-less sequel Home Alone 3!

3. As well as a hectic movie career, Scarlett has started to spread her wings on the stage. She got her feet wet in off-Broadway play Sophistry and graduated to Manhattan as Catherine Carbone in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge in 2009, her turn winning her the 2010 Tony Award for 'Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play'. "Being welcomed into this community has been a dream come true for me," she said at the time. "Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be on Broadway, and here I am."

Watch a clip of Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow wrestling in Iron Man 2 below:

4. And that's not all! Since we last gave you the 411 on Johansson, she's launched herself into the world of music with the help of some very famous friends. Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio produced her 2008 album Anywhere I Lay My Head. The 11-track album featured ten Tom Waits covers alongside new track 'Song for Jo' and boasted guest vocals from a certain David Bowie.

5. The response to the album wasn't too bad, and she followed it with a cover of Jeff Buckley's 'Last Goodbye', a duet album with Pete Yorn called Break Up and a rendition of Steel Train's 'Bullet'. She recently laid down some sexy vocals on a new version of 'Bonnie & Clyde' featuring Lulu Gainsbourg for a Serge tribute album and another duet with Dean Martin.

6. Some people have noticed this week that Scarlett is quite attractive, but they're not the first. In the past, she's been named the 'Sexiest Woman Alive' by Esquire, the 'Sexiest Celebrity of the Year' by Playboy and the 'Babe of the Year' by GQ. Some people take their adoration of Scarlett a little too far, perhaps, with one eBayer bidding a whopping $5,300 for a tissue the star had used to blow her nose. Ew!

7. Her most prestigious award came in 2009, when she won a 'Best Boobs in Hollywood' gong! Though her expertise on all-things breast-related may have been called into question by her befuddlement over men's nipples. "What is the function of the male nipple?" she wondered. "Maybe we all start as androgynous creatures and then they become men?" [We think she's actually right on that one].

Watch Scarlett Johansson in the full-length 'Eternity Moment' Calvin Klein commercial from 2004 below:

8. We don't know when those pics were taken or for whom they were intended, but one potential past recipient may have been her ex-husband, the Stradivarius actor that is Ryan Reynolds. The pair started dating in 2007 and got engaged in a small ceremony in Tofino, British Columbia in 2008. They split in 2010 and their divorced was finalised in July this year. She's since been linked to hot leading man Sean Penn.

9. As well as directors Woody Allen and Sofia Coppola, Scarlett's been a muse for loads of other artists. Artist Francesco Clemente used Johansson as the Queen of Swords in his star-inspired Tarot Card deck last month. Before that, French synthpoppers The Teenagers wrote a song about her called "Starlett Johansson". In June, the Looney Tunes Show had a character called 'Starlet Johansson' who bore a startling resemblance to our Scarlett.

10. Scarlett was also apparently the inspiration for Katy Perry's cynically catchy slice of sexuality-tourism 'I Kissed A Girl'. Her apparent response? "That's flattering, but my lips are kind of taken."

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Shopping Center Norte, entra para a lista de áreas contaminadas da Cetesb

Shopping de São Paulo

Terreno, que já serviu como depósito de lixo, tem concentração de gás metano

16 de setembro de 2011 | 14h 25

Solange Spigliatti - estadão.com.br

SÃO PAULO - O Shopping Center Norte, localizado ao lado da Marginal Tietê, na Vila Guilherme, na zona norte da capital paulista, entrou para a lista de Áreas Contaminadas Críticas. De acordo com a Companhia de Tecnologia de Saneamento Ambiental (Cetesb), essa situação ocorreu em função da existência de gás metano no terreno, que durante décadas, antes da construção do shopping, no início dos anos 80, serviu como depósito de lixo.

Werther Santana/AE

Segundo Cetesb, responsáveis pelo shopping já foram avisados

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Pais adotivos de irmãos tentam devolver um e perdem os dois

Um casal de Santa Catarina, que adotou há seis anos dois irmãos, tentaram devolver o garoto mais velho, atualmente com 12 anos, e acabaram por perder a guarda da irmã menor, de 10. A Justiça também determinou uma indenização de R$ 40 mil para cada órfão. De acordo com a reportagem publicada nesta sexta-feira (16), no jornal Folha de São Paulo, psicólogos constaram que o menino rejeitado sofria discriminação e maus-tratos psicológicos. A juíza que julgou o caso – que não quis ter o nome relevado – afirmou que a mãe queria apenas adotar a menina, mas a lei brasileira proíbe que irmãos sejam separados em casos de adoção. O caso ainda corre em segredo de Justiça. As duas crianças estão em um abrigo desde o ano passado, quando o casal começou a ser julgado.

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Internautas parodiam fotos de Scarlett Johansson nua

Publicidade

DE SÃO PAULO

As imagens da atriz Scarlett Johansson nua, divulgadas nesta semana, geraram um fenômeno na rede: internautas estão tirando fotos de si mesmos em contextos e posições parecidas. Além disso, imagens antigas no mesmo estilo também fazem parte do fenômeno.
Algumas dessas paródias foram reunidas pelo blog tush.tumblr.com. O fenômeno está sendo chamado de "ScarlettJohanssoning".

	Reprodução
	Uma das imagens divulgadas em blog como parte do fenômeno "ScarlettJohanssoning"

Fotos de Scarlett Johansson nua em um ambiente que parece ser o quarto de uma residência se espalharam pela internet na última quarta-feira. Os internautas se inspiraram nessas fotos para criar o fenômeno. O advogado da atriz pediu que as fotos fossem retiradas de sites, segundo o TMZ.

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Scarlett Johansson and Justin Timberlake 'happy to see each other' following photo scandals

Pair spent the night dancing and talking together 'all night like old friends,' says one witness By Leah Collins, Postmedia News September 16, 2011 1:16 PM Scarlett Johansson and Justin Timberlake: Friends with photo scandals. Scarlett Johansson and Justin Timberlake: Friends with photo scandals. Photograph by: Reuters, Reuters What is it about dangerous situations that brings people together -- Justin Timberlake and Scarlett Johansson specifically? Back in 2007, a fiery car crash saw the two stars sharing the screen. Granted, said disaster was staged -- and really just some flashy excuse for JT and ScarJo to make out for a few minutes in Timberlake's "What Goes Around Comes Around" video. But still, a precedent had been set. And now it seems a horrible, terrible, very-bad thing is reuniting the duo again. Both stars are dealing with the fallout of photo scandals. (The FBI is reportedly tracking hackers who allegedly stole nude photos of Johansson off her cell phone; TMZ reports hackers have also found "compromising" pics of Timberlake.) Leaked photos of Timberlake with panties on his head is hardly a Code Red threat -- and really, he's worn worse. But still, the two stars were spotted together by Life & Style, supposedly "struggling to cope" with their similar scandals...by hanging out at some club in New York City doing mundane, we're-hanging-out-at-a-club things. "They were dancing and talking to each other all night like old friends," one witness, who saw JT and Johansson arrive at New York's 1Oak around 3:30 a.m. Sept. 15, told the magazine. "People were surprised that she showed up with him, but they both seemed to be happy to see each other." The spy suggests that unlike the "What Goes Around Comes Around" video, Timberlake did not have his mouth on Johansson's mouth for much of the evening. "He was all smiles with her," said the source. "Scarlett and Justin left together with two of his friends around 5 a.m. and hopped into a black SUV," the witness continued. "You can tell the two are great friends and had a blast together. Scarlett seemed really into him, but he didn't seem interested because of Jessica Biel. It was like he just considers it a friendship."

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Scarlett Johansson Nude Photos Leaked

Celebrity Buzz On Wednesday, the world marveled at photos of Scarlett Johansson's un-clothed body, which were reportedly stolen from her hacked iPhone. Alas, at her lawyer's request, we had to take them down. But since you're here, perhaps you'd be interested in hearing the backstory?

Donna D. posted about 2 days ago

Well it’s been one wild ride, Internet! Scarlett Johansson nude photos were leaked onto the Net yesterday morning and all hell promptly broke loose.
But how exactly did we end up here? Let’s take a look…

John Shearer/Getty Images

Back on March 20th of this year, Stupid Rumors reported that up to 50 Hollywood celebrities had been victims of a professional group of hackers. In the article, you can see a blurrier version of Johansson’s mirror photo.
At the time, the group reported that they weren’t in it “for the money” but for the thrill.

MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS

Fast forward to yesterday, September 14th. Depending on what time stamp code they’re using, either Phun or Reddit posted the photos first. It is unclear how either user procured these photos and Reddit public inquiries led to no answers.
At around 7am EST, Buzzfeed picked up the story (Link now sans nudity due to a DMCA from Johansson’s lawyers) and was quickly followed by gossip sites large and small, blogging platforms and major media outlets.

AP

As the shots grew more viral, Johansson refused to comment on whether the photos were her or not but did contact the FBI over the incident which in and of itself was pretty damning evidence.
Later, the FBI confirmed that they “…[are] investigating a series of computer intrusions targeting high-profile figures,” but would not confirm if Scarlett was part of that investigation.

But then we got the best confirmation of all: The following takedown notice from Scarlett’s lawyers. Which makes the FBI story all the more believable — where will the story end?

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FBI To Investigate Scarlett Johansson Phone Hacking Way to prioritize, FBI. After several apparently self-shot cell phone pictures of a naked Scarlett Johansson appeared on the web this morning, the actress called in the big guns. Fox News is reporting that according to an FBI official, “the FBI is…

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