This is the archive for July 2008
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
CHICAGO — First-time home buyers have a better shot at the American dream and strapped homeowners may be able to stave off financial ruin under a lengthy set of measures signed into law by President Bush on Wednesday.
But there are plenty of catches in the 694-page housing legislation.
Posted by courier at 09:08 AM. Filed under: News
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British singer/songwriter
Vashti Bunyan MCT
British singer/songwriter Vashti Bunyan was offered her first record deal when she was only 19-years-old. Indeed, her musicianship is highly regarded by colleagues and fans that have virtually saved her music from obscurity; talented, she is — prolific, not so much. Bunyan prefers a quiet life; at times rural/at times urban, living what she calls "an upside down life." She chats with "PopMatters 20 Questions" about music-making at her pace, life without safety nets and her nonconformist nature.
1. The latest book or movie that made you cry?
"Trench Rats," a short animated film about a rat in the first World War trenches who is writing a letter home to his mother and telling her that everything is fine. He is dressed in tin hat and uniform. A new rat called Frank comes along, but he gets shell-shock. The frames where the first rat puts his arm around a shaking Frank made me cry, alright.
Posted by courier at 07:56 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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From wikipedia:
John Ericsson (July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889) was a Swedish inventor and mechanical engineer, as was his brother, Nils Ericson. He was born at Långbanshyttan in Värmland, Sweden, but primarily came to be active in the United States.
John's and Nils's father Olof Ericsson who worked as the supervisor for a mine in Värmland had lost money in speculations and had to move his family from Värmland to Forsvik in 1810. There he worked as a 'director of blastings' during the excavation of the Swedish Göta Canal. The extraordinary skills of the two brothers were discovered by Baltzar von Platen, the architect of the Göta Canal. The two brothers were dubbed cadets of mechanics of the Swedish Royal Navy and engaged as trainees at the canal enterprise. At the age of fourteen, John was already working independently as a surveyor. His assistant had to carry a footstool for him to reach the instruments during surveying work.
Visit the website of the John Ericsson National Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Posted by courier at 07:41 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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Say No to Joe? By Lori Foster
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Zebra (August 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 082177512X
ISBN-13: 978-0821775127“She hadn’t seen him in three long months. The last time he’d asked her out, he’d told her if she refused him, he wouldn’t ask again.
She'd refused.”
Fortunately for Joe, three months later, Luna finds herself in need of him, although not for the reasons he imagines. This novel represents the end of the Winston family series and the beginning of the Visitation series, and does an excellent job of being both an ending and a beginning. It’s a great book for simple summer reading with a bit of substance and spunk.
Luna Clark and Joe Winston have major chemistry, and Joe knows it. But to his chagrin, Luna keeps on rejecting him. He would just move on to another woman like he usually does, but he just cannot get her out of his head, and he finds himself becoming celibate, unheard of for a player like him.
Posted by courier at 10:37 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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"Life with my sister Madonna,"
by Christopher Ciccone with Wendy Leigh
(Simon Spotlight Entertainment, $26)
Pop culture is littered with celebrities and their lesser-than siblings. For every Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears, there's an Ashlee, Ali or Jamie Lynn, yearning to prove they're talented, too. In some cases, it's true — Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine, Maggie and Jake Gyllenhaal, John and Joan Cusack. Occasionally, a younger sibling outshines the elder — Julia and Eric Roberts, say, or Casey and Ben Affleck.
Most of the time, however, the sibs are a pale imitation. Think of Michael Jackson's kin (with the obvious exception of Janet). Or Alec Baldwin's (excepting no one).
Not that it matters. In our LaToya Nation, we are subjected to them all as they follow one of two standard trajectories:
Reality show
(yep, that's Stephen Baldwin on "Celebrity Apprentice," and Daniel Baldwin on "Celebrity Rehab").
Unauthorized biography.
These days Madonna, when not dodging are-they-or-aren't-they rumors about A-Rod, is dealing with No. 2.
Posted by courier at 08:11 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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The economy has Costco struggling to
keep customers spending in its stores.
wikimedia photo
CHICAGO — There's no cheerful way to say it: Get ready for a sober Christmas season.
Yes, it's only July, but retailers already are deep in planning mode for the holiday season, and what they are sensing adds up to potential trouble, with some experts saying this could be the toughest environment in almost 30 years.
Posted by courier at 07:53 AM. Filed under: News
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From wikipedia:
Betye Irene Saar (July 30, 1926 in Los Angeles, California) is an American artist, known for her work in the field of assemblage. Her education included a time at the University of California, Los Angeles, from where she received a degree in design in 1949, and graduate studies in printmaking and education at Pasadena City College, California State University, Long Beach.
Her interest in assemblage was inspired by a 1968 exhibition by Joseph Cornell, though she also cites the influence of Simon Rodia's Watts Towers, which she witnessed being built in her childhood. She began creating work typically consisting of found objects arranged within boxes or windows, with items drawing on various different cultures reflecting Saar's own mixed heritage (African, Native American, Irish and Creole).
Learn more about Betye Saar, see examples of her work, and watch video interviews of her, free from netropolitan.org.
Posted by courier at 12:49 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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"Hellboy: The Science of Evil"
Reviewed for: Xbox 360 and Playstation 3
Also available for: PSP
From: Krome Studios/Konami
ESRB Rating: Teen (blood and gore,
mild language, violence)
Sometimes, even games not licensed after a movie can suffer from the dreaded summertime bug known as movie tie-in disease.
Witness, for instance, "Hellboy: The Science of Evil." Though not based on the current "Hellboy" movie and buoyed by a storyline written expressly for the game, "Evil" bears all the scars and warts of a game that was rushed to market for reasons other than because it was polished and ready.
At its core, "Evil" plays like a "God of War" knockoff, mixing in third-person hand-to-hand combat with the rare environmental puzzle and boss fight. Everything from the semi-fixed-camera perspective to the button-masher-friendly controls should look immediately familiar to any fans of "War." Given the physical similarities between Hellboy and Kratos, it's hard to fault Krome Studios for aping the formula as much as it does.
Posted by courier at 06:23 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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The Nintendo's Wii Fit videogame
Balance Board.
D
avid Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT
ST. LOUIS — I found Nintendo's Wii Fit a wee bit embarrassing.
Perhaps that's just me: A woman designated with the "Wii Fit age" of 46. I'm 42.
Snivel.
Posted by courier at 06:12 AM. Filed under: Sports
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Gen. David Petraeus
U.S. Gov. photo
BAGHDAD — The top U.S. military commander in Iraq isn't buying the increasingly popular idea of a publicly stated timetable for American troop withdrawal.
Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq commander, said in an interview with McClatchy that the situation in Iraq is too volatile to "project out, and to then try to plant a flag on a particular date."
Posted by courier at 07:36 AM. Filed under: News
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From wikipedia
Malcolm Lowry (July 28, 1909 – June 26, 1957) was an English poet and novelist, best known for his novel Under the Volcano.
Lowry was born in Wallasey, in the English county of Merseyside (previously Cheshire), and was educated at The Leys School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. By the time he graduated in 1931, the twin obsessions which would dominate his life—alcohol and literature—were firmly in place. Lowry was already well travelled, having sailed to the Far East as a deck hand on the Pyrrhus between school and university and made visits to America and Germany between terms. After Cambridge, Lowry lived briefly in London, existing on the fringes of the vibrant thirties literary scene and meeting Dylan Thomas, amongst others. Following this, he moved to France, where he married his first wife, Jan Gabrial, in 1934. It was a turbulent union, and, after an estrangement, Lowry followed her to New York (where he entered the Bellevue Hospital in 1936 following an alcohol-induced break-down) and then to Hollywood, where he tried his hand at screenwriting.
Visit the Malcolm Lowry homepage.
Posted by courier at 07:04 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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Sen. Barack Obama
Senate photo
AMMAN, Jordan — As Barack Obama heads into the world's most complicated region in a bid to establish his foreign-policy credentials as a presidential hopeful, Israelis and Palestinians are voicing a mixture of hope, skepticism and curiosity.
The Democratic senator from Illinois, who arrives here Tuesday from visits to Iraq and Afghanistan, has promised a new approach to U.S. diplomacy and a spirit of international healing, and both sides want to see him engage immediately on issues that divide the Middle East.
Many Palestinians worry that Obama will bend over backward in favoring Israel.
Posted by courier at 11:31 PM. Filed under: News
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By Dwight Perry
The Seattle Times (MCT)
Two strikes and they're out—of $900.
Strike one: Seems no one in Union Township, Ohio, did a background check on William Mitchell — whose criminal record includes DUI, criminal mischief and receiving stolen property — before letting him coach the "Little Sluggers" baseball team.
Strike two: The 7- and 8-year-old boys lost the proceeds from their cookie-dough fundraiser — earmarked for team pictures, trophies and season-ending party — and Mitchell was charged with theft for pocketing it.
"Our children are supposed to trust these people," angry parent Jeff Ducklaw told Cincinnati's WCPO-TV, "and we have a criminal teaching our kids baseball."
Posted by courier at 11:26 PM. Filed under: Sports
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From
The Courier's Archives
The Adventures of Fred by Krystal Henderson
Casual Genius by Howard Yang
Posted by courier at 10:44 AM. Filed under: Comics
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From wikipedia:
James Edwin Campbell (1867-1896) was an African American poet, editor, short story writer and educator. He was born in 1867 in Pomeroy, Ohio, and died there in 1896.
According to James Weldon Johnson, there is little known about his early life, which he kept shielded even from his closest associates. He attended public schools in Pomeroy and spent time at Miami College and wrote regularly for daily newspapers in Chicago in the 1880s and 1890s. Campbell participated in a group publication, the
Four O’Clock Magazine, a literary magazine that was quite popular for a time.
Read Compensation, by James Edwin Campbell, free from poetry-archive.com.
Posted by courier at 12:40 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Carol Rosenberg
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba — The U.S. government opened its first war crimes prosecution Tuesday with a narrative of Osama bin Laden's driver overhearing his boss offer an eerie post-mortem in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks:
''If they hadn't shot down the fourth plane, it would've hit the dome,'' declared Navy Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Stone.
And so with his first words to a military jury, the Pentagon prosecutor conjured up a conversation from inside the world of al-Qaida, revealed by the accused, driver Salim Hamdan. Bin Laden told his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahari, that U.S. forces — not heroic passengers — brought down United Airlines Flight 93 in a Pennsylvania field on 9-11 before terrorist hijackers could slam it into ''the dome,'' of the U.S. Capitol building.
Posted by courier at 07:31 AM. Filed under: News
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By Tony Pugh
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
WASHINGTON — More than 2 million low-wage workers will get a small raise on Thursday when the federal minimum wage jumps 12 percent, from $5.85 to $6.55 an hour.
And depending on whom you talk to, it's either the best of times or the worst of times for the nation's base wage to rise.
While most Americans have traditionally supported minimum wage increases, the new rate hike comes at a bad time for businesses, particularly small businesses, struggling through the economic downturn.
Posted by courier at 05:22 AM. Filed under: News
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Posted by courier at 04:08 AM. Filed under: Opinion
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From wikipedia:
Dorothea Towles Church (July 26, 1922—July 7, 2006) was the first successful black fashion model in Paris.
Church was born in Texarkana, Texas. She was the seventh of eight children in a farming family.
She attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, where she majored in biology. After her mother's death, a wealthy uncle invited her to move into his house in Los Angeles. She transferred to the University of Southern California, where she received a master's degree in education.
Read Dorothea Church's obituary in the New York Times.
Posted by courier at 12:08 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Robert Philpot
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
Although they get a lot of hype, movies shot in 3-D have historically been a bit of a headache. You'd put on a pair of flimsy cardboard glasses with red-and-blue gel lenses that looked like they might rip during a strong sneeze, and then watch murky visuals just for the thrill of having some blurrily realistic-looking thing jump off the screen at you.
Lately, though, things have changed. If you go to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D, you'll receive a plastic pair of dark glasses that might give you memories of "Risky Business." They're large enough to fit comfortably over a regular pair of eyeglasses, and solid enough to survive, say, any movement of your head. The movie's 3-D visuals are striking, as well — an audience went ewwww when star Brendan Fraser rinsed out his mouth and spat the water right "into" their faces, and screamed when some ugly piranha-looking fish flew through one subterranean scene.
Posted by courier at 06:20 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Rick Bentley
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
SAN FRANCISCO — The truth may very well be out there. But David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson aren't eager to share it. The stars of the long-running Fox Network series "The X-Files" were special guests at the comic book-pop culture WonderCon 2008 in February. Their mission then was to tease the new "X-Files" movie five months before it was scheduled to open.
They wouldn't offer any details about the feature film that returns the duo to the roles they originated 15 years ago. This goes back to the whole secrecy thing that swirled around the series when it aired from 1993-2002.
So the pair wouldn't talk about the plot, where the film was shot, whether any familiar "X-Files" characters would be popping up or if Dana Scully and Fox Mulder finally find love.
Posted by courier at 06:07 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer
Eager to move forward and intent on maintaining the direction taken during the past four years, the New Haven Unified School District’s Board of Education has initiated a process that could identify a new Superintendent by October.
The Board on Wednesday night appointed veteran New Haven educator David Pava as Interim Superintendent, effective Sept. 1. He will replace Dr. Pat Jaurequi, who was confirmed this afternoon as Superintendent of the San Juan Unified School District in Sacramento County, nearer her home. To facilitate a smooth opening to the school year, she will remain in New Haven through Aug. 31.
The Board also voted Wednesday night to use the California School Boards Association’s (CSBA) executive search service to immediately begin the process of finding a permanent superintendent.
Posted by courier at 05:44 AM. Filed under: News
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THE ALBUM "Breakout"
THE GRADE C+
BOTTOM LINE She's a girl, not yet a woman
and not yet an artist, either.
The push to turn 15-year-old Miley Cyrus into an adult verges on ridiculous these days. She's at that awkward age, where she's part kid and part adult and not really sure she wants to act as either all the time — a problem magnified by her superstar status and the current drought of big new talent — and, generally, she handles it all pretty well.
Her new album "Breakout" (Hollywood), however, captures her awkward in-betweenness and puts it on display. "Breakout" is supposed to be her debut as a "serious" artist, the album that shows she's ready to match up with the adults. Truth is, she's not.
Posted by courier at 08:34 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Apple Computer Inc. (MCT)
Top 10 albums on iTunes Music Store for July 23:
1. "Breakout," Miley Cyrus
2. "Love on the Inside (Bonus Track Version)," Sugarland
3. "Mamma Mia! (The Movie Soundtrack)," Various Artists
4. "Viva la Vida," Coldplay
5. "Live from Paris," U2
6. "iTunes Live from Soho," Counting Crows
7. "The Dark Knight (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)," Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard
8. "One Day As a Lion – EP," One Day As a Lion
9. "Nas," Nas
10. "Tha Carter III," Lil Wayne
For more information, please visit the iTunes Web site at www.apple.com/itunes/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Posted by courier at 06:49 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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PopMatters.com (MCT)
Amy Ray talks the talk her lyrics fearlessly nail issues of violence, environmental issues and other pressing topics; her Indigo Girls concerts often serve as fundraisers for various deserving organizations. And she walks the walk as a human rights activist on many fronts, including co-founder of the human rights / environmental organization, Honor the Earth. While on a flight from New York to her hometown in Georgia, she penned these sometimes poignant, sometimes playful responses to "PopMatters 20 Questions."
Her third solo album, "Didn't It Feel Kinder," with Led Zeppelin, The Shins, and Judy Garland influences, releases August 5th on Daemon Records.
1. The latest book or movie that made you cry?
Actually, it's a song, "Top of The World" by Patty Griffin.
Posted by courier at 05:47 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Rick LaPlante,
New Haven Schools Public Information Officer
Intent on maintaining continuity and assuring a smooth opening to the school year, the Board of Education tonight appointed David Pava as Interim Superintendent of the New Haven Unified School District, effective Sept. 1.
Mr. Pava, 59, who grew up in what became New Haven Unified and has spent more than 30 years as an educator in the District, will replace Dr. Pat Jaurequi, who has accepted an offer to become superintendent in another district. The Board of Education in her new district will vote formally to approve her hiring Thursday, but she will remain in New Haven through Aug. 31.
Posted by courier at 01:15 AM. Filed under: News
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Former New Haven
Superintendent Pat Jaurequi
Courier Photo,
New Haven Schools Public Information Officer
Acting swiftly to maintain continuity, the New Haven Unified School District Board of Education will hold a special meeting tonight to appoint an Interim Superintendent to replace Dr. Pat Jaurequi, who has accepted an offer to become superintendent in another district.
“Certainly, we didn’t want to lose Dr. Jaurequi, but an interim superintendent – and we have excellent candidates within the District – will enable us to continue to move forward along the road we’ve traveled in the past few years, even as we begin the process of finding a new, permanent superintendent,” Board President Kevin Harper said.
Posted by courier at 09:04 PM. Filed under: News
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"When You Are Engulfed in Flames"
by David Sedaris; Little, Brown ($25.95)
I've long held that the power of good writing trumps all other considerations. Is it by chance that sacred ancient texts, from the Pentateuch to the Gospels, the Tao Te Ching to the Bhagavad-Gita, are without exception great literature? I submit their survival and the reverence they command owes more to literary greatness than to doctrinal persuasiveness. Likewise, had Sigmund Freud not been a writer of genius, would his wackadoodle theories be anything more than a minor footnote?
In fairness, this notion sometimes breaks down, as in the case of Freud's acolyte-turned-rival, Carl Jung, whose impenetrable writing is akin to an archaeologist wielding a steam shovel—excavating important artifacts and dumping them in a big pile for others to sort out. Jung's theories may be more useful than Freud's, but the wise seeker approaches them through his more readable disciples.
Posted by courier at 03:15 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer
The Board of Education on last week received a presentation about the Division of Teaching and Learning’s core messages for 2008-09. Chief Academic Officer Glynn Thompson outlined four key messagesat the July 15 meeting:
Systems Alignment: aligning all District initiatives with the Strategic Plan and budgeting accordingly; focusing on rigorous instruction and curricular alignment; coaching to impact the instructional core; emphasizing that “We are all learners! We are all leaders!”;
Posted by courier at 12:36 PM. Filed under: News
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"How to Be Single"
by Liz Tuccillo; Atria ($24.95)
The question makes unattached women of a certain age cringe: Why are you still single? The answer is simple in this captivating debut novel — because men are married, stupid, selfish or all three — and Liz Tuccillo turns the unwelcome query into an international examination of love, heartbreak and singledom.
Narrator Julie Jensen, a 38-year-old book publicist, hasn't been in a serious relationship for six years, and her New York City friends are in various stages of unattachment when the novel begins. Georgia has been dumped by her husband for a "twenty-seven-year-old whore gutter trash samba teacher." Serena is a vegetarian chef and student of Hinduism who has been celibate for four years. Alice has quit her job as a legal-aid attorney to date fulltime, and Ruby is mourning her recently deceased cat and long-dead relationships.
Posted by courier at 12:19 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Self-Portrait
by Norman Lewis(23 July 1909 – 27 August 1979) was an award-winning painter, scholar, and teacher. He is associated with Abstract Expressionism. Lewis was African-American, of Caribbean descent.
Norman W. Lewis was born in Harlem, New York. His parents had emigrated from Bermuda. Always interested in art, he had amassed a large art history library by the time he was a young man. A lifelong resident of Harlem, he also travelled extensively during the two years that he worked on ocean freighters. An important early influence was the sculptor and teacher Augusta Savage, who provided him with open studio space at her Harlem Art Center. He also participated in WPA art projects, alongside his friends Romare Bearden and Jackson Pollock, among others.
Read an interview with Norman Lewis, free from the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art.
Posted by courier at 12:42 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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LogiTech's Harmony One
universal remote control
As enjoyable as it is to add a video-game console, speaker system or other new entertainment device to your living room, there's always one unpleasant thing you have to deal with — a new remote control.
This week I review two new high-end universal remotes that aim to replace your existing remotes and save you button pushes by allowing you to set up "activities" to get you to the entertainment more quickly. For instance, pressing a button for the activity called "watch a movie," will turn your TV on, switch it to the correct input, turn the DVD player on and pop open the disc tray.
Posted by courier at 02:36 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Michael Martinez
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
LOS ANGELES — I came in search of my inner geek.
But was it too late?
Gone were the booth babes, flame-eaters and pyrotechnics.
The $40 billion video game industry's annual convention used to be a house party gone wild — with mom and dad away.
Posted by courier at 02:31 PM. Filed under: Features
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From wikipedia:
Lonette McKee (born July 22, 1954) is an American film and television actress, music composer/producer/songwriter, screenwriter and director.
McKee was born in Detroit, Michigan, the daughter of Dorothy and Lonnie McKee. Lonnie, was a bricklayer and auto manufacturer employee. McKee's career began in the music business in Detroit, Michigan as a child prodigy, where she started writing music/lyrics, singing, playing keyboards and performing at the age of seven. At fourteen, she recorded her first record, which became an instant regional pop/R&B hit. McKee wrote the title song for the film
Quadroon when she was fifteen. She had written and produced three solo LPs, the most recent, "Natural Love", for Spike Lee's Columbia 40 Acres and A Mule label.
Visit Lonette McKee's official website.
Posted by courier at 12:28 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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A woman operates a pump to mist
tomato vines at a farm in Changping,
China, providing vegetables to the
Beijing Olympic Village.Tim Johnson/MCT
CHANGPING, China — Guards carefully monitor the perimeter of Lin Yuan's farm, where carrots, peppers, tomatoes and other vegetables will ripen just in time for the hungry athletes arriving for the Beijing Summer Olympics.
"What is special now is the security," Lin said as he strolled out of a greenhouse and pointed to sentries at the farm's entry gate.
Posted by courier at 07:00 PM. Filed under: Features
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Brandon Keeler, 18, on the first hole at the
Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan.
Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press/MCT
Detroit Free Press (MCT)
DETROIT — You might think $800,000 in scholarships is a bit extreme. You might think the scholar is a nerd. Well, think again. Meet Brandon Keeler of Detroit.
Brandon, 18, graduated from Renaissance High School in Detroit last month with a 3.8 grade point average. He has been accepted to seven colleges — five of them offered him full tuition or more for four years — and has won more than 10 other scholarships. He plans to go to Yale University.
Posted by courier at 06:48 PM. Filed under: Features
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From wikipedia:
Christian Abraham Fleetwood (July 21, 1840–September 28, 1914), was a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army, editor, musician, and government official. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the American Civil War.
Fleetwood was born in Baltimore on July 21, 1840, the son of Charles and Anna Maria Fleetwood, both free persons of color. He received his early education in the home of a wealthy sugar merchant, John C. Brunes, and his wife, the latter treating him like her son. He continued his education in the office of the secretary of the Maryland Colonization Society, went briefly to Liberia and Sierra Leone, and graduated in 1860 from Ashmun Institute (later Lincoln University) in Oxford, Pennsylvania. He and others published briefly the Lyceum Observer in Baltimore, said to be the first African American newspaper in the upper South.
Read Christian Fleetwood's "The Negro As Soldier," free from MedalofHonor.com.
Posted by courier at 12:26 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Renee Schoof
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday that it couldn't propose any regulation of greenhouse gases because the issue was too complex and there were too many objections from other federal agencies.
The Bush administration consistently has objected to mandatory limits on the heat-trapping gases that cause global warming. The EPA's decision to issue a 588-page report that calls for 120 days of public comment means that any regulatory action will be up to the next administration.
ON THE WEB
EPA Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
EPA fact sheet.
Posted by courier at 09:52 AM. Filed under: News
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From wikipedia:
Henry Dumas (July 20, 1934 – May 23, 1968) was an African American writer and poet.
Dumas was born in Sweet Home, Arkansas in 1934 and he lived there until the age of ten, when he moved to New York City; however, he always kept with him the religious and folk traditions of his hometown. In Harlem, he attended public school and graduated from Commerce High School in 1953. After graduating, he enrolled in the Air Force and was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where he met future wife Loretta Ponton. The couple married in 1955 and had two sons, David in 1958 and Michael in 1962. Dumas was in the military until 1957, at which time he enrolled at Rutgers University but never attained a degree. In 1967 Dumas began work at Southern Illinois University as a teacher, counselor, and director of its "Experiment in Higher Education" program. It was here that he met fellow teacher and poet Eugene Redmond, forming a close collaborative relationship that would prove so integral to Dumas' posthumous career.
Read more about Henry Dumas and his poetry, free from Modern American Poetry.
Posted by courier at 12:03 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Lisa Anderson
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
NEW YORK — After pummeling each other on the campaign trail for the better part of a year and a half, Senators Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Clinton of New York stowed the brass knuckles and pulled out the olive branches Thursday. The challenge now is to persuade their supporters to do the same.
At a morning Manhattan fundraiser, a smiling Clinton, with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Obama at her side, indicated the two are as in step with each other as the dancing team of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. "The Democratic Party is a family," however "dysfunctional," she reminded the audience.
Posted by courier at 05:33 AM. Filed under: News
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Posted by courier at 04:43 AM. Filed under: Opinion
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THE DARK KNIGHT 4 stars (out of 5)
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie
Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart,
Morgan Freeman
Director: Christopher Nolan
Running time: 2 hours, 32 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of
violence and some menace
This "Dark Knight" is much more than simply "Batman 2.0." It's a re-tooling, a re-load of the franchise Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale revived three summers ago.
It is crammed with great actors, with a delicious and bittersweet farewell from the late Heath Ledger, sturdy work by the returning players, some chewy bit turns by worthies from Eric Roberts and William Fichtner to Anthony Michael Hall.
And Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as the Batman's bittersweet love interest, the assistant direct attorney Rachel Dawes. Now that's an upgrade.
It's still too long, especially for a comic-book movie. But with Ledger's last performance director Nolan was blessed with the gift of light. As dark as "The Dark Knight" inevitably is, this is a Batman who isn't afraid to strut his stuff in broad daylight. And this is a Joker who isn't afraid to have a few laughs, in between murders, torturing, kidnapping and robberies.
Posted by courier at 09:25 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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MAMMA MIA 3.5 stars
Starring: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda
Seyfried, Julie Walters, Colin Firth, Christine
Baranski, Stellan Skarsgard
Directed by: Phyllida Lloyd
Rated: PG-13 for some sex-related comments
Sunny as its Greek island locations and its attitude, "Mamma Mia!" earns its exclamation point. The adaptation of the long-running stage hit is a crowd-pleasing gusher of escapism, not the least of which is respite from summertime teen action fare.
How refreshing to find a cast in their 50s kicking up their heels, belting out corny Europop and reveling in every campy moment. The ABBA songbook gives me hives, but in a context this joyous, there's no resisting it.
Meryl Streep plays Donna, a onetime singer/single mom who runs a B&B on the Greek island of Kalokairi with her 20-year-old daughter, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried). Sophie, who has never known her father, searches Donna's diary for clues and learns of three men who might qualify.
Posted by courier at 09:11 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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SPACE CHIMPS 1.5 stars
Starring: Voices of Andy Samberg,
Stanley Tucci, Patrick Warburton,
Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenowith, Jeff Daniels
Directed by: Kirk De Micco, Rated: G
Is computer animation still such a novelty that it will pull moviegoers into theaters? Do wisecracking critters still push children's joy buttons? Is "Space Chimps" really necessary?
It's the latest in a long line of animated comedies that are family friendly, vaguely amusing and typically impervious to negative reviews. Although it's executed at a workmanlike level of craft, its entertainment value resides entirely in the so-so quality of its gags (yes, there are slipping-on-banana-peel jokes).
The film's creators haven't learned the Pixar strategy of creating a resonant story as the foundation of a film. So we get a formulaic tale of a lazy nonconformist who learns to take his responsibilities seriously and saves the day. Pretty much like the story of "Kung Fu Panda."
Only in space.
With monkeys.
And not as funny.
Posted by courier at 09:02 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Memorial bust of Matthew (front) and
Jackie Robinson at Pasadena City Hall.
wikipedia photo (July 18, 1912 – March 12, 2000) was an American athlete, setting a world record and winning a silver medal in the Olympics. He was the older brother of Baseball Hall of Fame member Jackie Robinson.
He was born in Cairo, Georgia, in 1912. He and his siblings were left fatherless at an early age, leaving their mother, Mallie Robinson, as the sole support of the children. She performed in a variety of manual labour tasks, and moved with her children to Pasadena, California, while the children were still young. Mack remained in town for school, and set national junior college records in the 100 meter, 200 meter, and long jump at Pasadena City College.
Read Rep. Adam Schiff's (D-Pasadena) speech honoring Mack Robinson.
Posted by courier at 06:47 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Shashank Bengali
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Describing a systematic government campaign to decimate the people of Darfur, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor on Monday charged the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, with genocide and war crimes and called for his arrest.
ON THE WEB
A summary of the case on the
International Criminal Court's Web site.
Posted by courier at 03:33 PM. Filed under: News
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Apple Computer Inc. (MCT)
Top 10 songs on iTunes Music Store for July 16:
1. "Pushin' Me Away," Jonas Brothers
2. "I Kissed a Girl," Katy Perry
3. "Burnin' Up," Jonas Brothers
4. "7 Things," Miley Cyrus
5. "Viva la Vida," Coldplay
6. "Disturbia," Rihanna
7. "When I Grow Up," The Pussycat Dolls
8. "Forever," Chris Brown
9. "Shake It," Metro Station
10. "Pocketful of Sunshine," Natasha Bedingfield
For more information, please visit the iTunes Web site at www.apple.com/itunes/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Posted by courier at 03:12 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Library of Congress photo
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Spring will be the new fall in this strike-struck year of television, a forecast made clear in Monday morning comments from Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Co. Acknowledging that because of the writers strike — which started last November and ended in February — Fox will have only two new shows debuting this fall, Reilly said that the network will have a lot of new shows premiering in January by default.
But that's good, really, the executive went on to explain, because the strike and its consequences are just forcing Fox to change and adapt in ways that an evolving media marketplace and shifting viewer habits would have forced on the networks anyway.
Posted by courier at 06:15 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Mark K. Matthews
The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)
WASHINGTON — One of the biggest lunar discoveries of the decade — proof that the moon may have had water since its formation — was announced Wednesday by a team of researchers whose background is more in Earth science than moon rocks.
In an article published in the journal
Nature, the six-scientist team of geologists and geochemists showed that water from the moon's interior gushed to the surface more than 3 billion years ago in geyserlike jets of molten magma, disproving a long-standing belief that Earth's nearest neighbor is almost bone-dry.
Posted by courier at 04:27 PM. Filed under: News
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Hundreds of Heads (MCT)
Need help getting into college? Here's some advice about what to leave out of your admissions essays, from the book "How to Survive Getting into College" (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $13.95), straight from people who've done it. Here are some things you shouldn't include:
"Anything about boyfriends or music camp."
—Christiana, New York, N.Y., Columbia University
Posted by courier at 04:20 PM. Filed under: Features
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Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed?
(And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries)
by Jared Bernstein
Berrett-Koehler, 225 pages ($26.95)
Economics may be the dismal science, but the extent of its politicization makes it even more dismal. Business is what moves the world, and the vitality of commercial enterprise ensures our well-being, but Americans like to think that we're different. We value the individual, extol hard work and believe that the middle class runs the show. But tax cuts are given to offset minimum-wage increases, and arms manufacturing programs are maintained for economic and political reasons contrary to actual defense exigencies or strategic requirements. And health care? Why is it the fastest growing portion of personal — and the federal government's — budgets?
Posted by courier at 04:03 PM. Filed under: Features
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From wikipedia:
Eunice Roberta Hunton Carter (1899-1970) was one of the first female African American lawyers in the United States, and broke down racial and gender barriers.
She established a lengthy career in both law and international politics. She was the first black woman to receive a law degree from Fordham University in New York City, and in 1935 she became the first black woman Assistant District Attorney in the state of New York.
Learn more about Eunice Carter, free from Stanford University.
Posted by courier at 06:53 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Mike Cassidy
San Jose Mercury News (MCT)
Yelp? Bill Kellinger is ready to scream.
Kellinger and his wife, Selena, own Razzberry Lips, a shop in San Jose, Calif., that specializes in birthday parties featuring beauty makeovers for little girls.
Not long ago a party for an 8-year-old went badly. A few of the guests arrived late and had to settle for partial makeovers. One of the store's teenage employees was in a foul mood. Selena Kellinger, who usually oversees the parties, was out of the store that day.
Posted by courier at 07:16 AM. Filed under: Features
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A Florida Panther and her cubs on
the Picayune Strand.
Conservancy of Southwest Florida photo>By William E. Gibson
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (MCT)
PICAYUNE STRAND, Fla. — When construction workers filled a canal, tore out roads and prepared the land in this corner of the Everglades for a major restoration project, something unexpected happened:
Nature rebounded, even before the real restoration begins.
Today, native plants sprout in what was once a canal. Black bears prowl the pathways. Wood storks and other wading birds swoop into fresh ponds.
Best of all, some highly endangered Florida panthers have turned up on the work site, among them four breeding females, one with kittens.
Posted by courier at 08:35 AM. Filed under: Features
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From wikipedia:
Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier (born July 14, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York) is an African American actor, Christian minister, and former professional football player. He was a noteworthy college football player for Pennsylvania State University who earned a retrospective place in the National Collegiate Athletic Association 100th anniversary list of 100 most influential student athletes. As a professional player, Grier was a member of the original Fearsome Foursome of the 1957 New York Giants and played in the Pro Bowl twice.
Read Roosevelt Grier's account of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, free from Brown Eyed Handsome Man.
Posted by courier at 06:06 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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Vitamin D
If you're celebrating a birthday this month, you're more likely to be nearsighted than those born in the winter.
But if your birth date falls in February, March or April, the news is more distressing: Winter and early spring babies have a greater risk of developing schizophrenia than summer-born ones.
Strange coincidences? Esoteric astrological claims? Neither.
Posted by courier at 08:00 AM. Filed under: Features
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From wikipedia:
George Lewis (13 July,1900 – 31 December 1968) was an American jazz clarinetist who achieved his greatest fame and influence in his later decades of life. Gary Giddins describes him as "an affecting musician with a fat-boned sound but limited technique".
George Lewis' legal name was George Louis Francois Zenon. He was born in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Lewis was playing clarinet professionally by 1917. He played with Buddy Petit and Chris Kelly regularly, and sometimes with trombonist Kid Ory and many other band leaders, seldom traveling far from the greater New Orleans area.
Posted by courier at 12:24 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Rick LaPlante, New Haven Schools Public Information Officer
Ted Hood, who has 15 years of school business management and administrative experience and 14 years of experience in accounting, has been hired as Chief Business Officer of the New Haven Unified School District.
Posted by courier at 07:33 PM. Filed under: News
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By J.R. Labbe
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
The divide between gun-rights advocates and those who think every firearm in the United States should be smelted down into a giant pile of molten mush wasn't narrowed by much with the Supreme Court's ruling on the Washington gun ban.
A 9-0 vote one way or the other couldn't do that.
The gun-rights folks did have more to celebrate after last month's decision was announced. Finally, Americans have a bright-line answer of "yes" to the question of whether the Second Amendment outlines an individual right to keep a firearm, at least in one's home.
Posted by courier at 08:55 AM. Filed under: Opinion
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Amber Druggan and Jeremy Farris.
Chicago Tribune/MCT
Amber Druggan and Jeremy Farris were strolling through Chicago Ridge Mall when Jeremy dropped to one knee, stretched out his hands and asked Amber to marry him.
She was 16. He was 17. But Amber, who was pregnant, did not hesitate.
"I was so excited," she said, a smile spreading across her rosy face, as she recalled that November afternoon. "I was like, 'Yes! Absolutely, yes!'"
Posted by courier at 07:58 AM. Filed under: News
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Posted by courier at 02:02 AM. Filed under: Opinion
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From wikipedia:
Beah Richards (July 12, 1920 – September 14, 2000) was an American actress with a long career on stage, screen and television. She was also a poet, playwright and author.
Born Beulah Richardson in Vicksburg, Mississippi, her mother was a seamstress and PTA advocate and her father was a Baptist minister. In 1948, she graduated from Dillard University in New Orleans and two years later moved to New York City. Her career started to take off in 1955 when she portrayed an eighty-four-year-old-grandmother in the off-Broadway show
Take a Giant Step. She often played the role of a mother or grandmother, and continued acting her entire life. She appeared in the original Broadway productions of
Purlie Victorious, The Miracle Worker, and
A Raisin in the Sun.
Learn more about Beah Richards, and the documentary about her, Beah: A Black Woman Speaks, free from HBO.
Posted by courier at 12:06 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Amanda Erickson
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
WASHINGTON — Thirteen thousand dollars.
That's the average cost of a year of college for in-state students. Make it more than $32,000 for those attending private schools.
But thanks to complicated financial aid formulas, what undergraduates really pay for their degree is a much more complex equation. Now Congress is trying to take the mystery out of the forever-rising costs of higher education by mandating that colleges provide students and their parents more information about how much the average student pays for school, what kind of tuition help they might be able to secure and which universities offer the best bang for the buck. Congress is also calling for an annual "blacklist" of schools with the steepest cost increases.
Critics wonder whether the measures will provide real financial relief or just create extra paperwork for colleges.
Posted by courier at 07:14 AM. Filed under: News
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JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
3 stars
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson,
Anita Briem
Directed by: Eric Brevig
Rated PG for intense adventure action
and some scary moments
"Journey to the Center of the Earth" would be a forgettable summer kiddie action movie except for the novel visual effects that make it a sight to see.
"Journey" is the first fiction feature shot with new-generation digital 3-D cameras. There would be no reason to see the film if it weren't stereoscopic; but in 3-D capable theaters, it's a through-the-looking-glass experience.
A modern reworking of the classic Jules Verne adventure, the film stars Brendan Fraser as Trevor, a genial geology professor whose volcano lab is about to be shut down by the penny-pinching dean. That's a personal outrage to Trevor, who is carrying on research started by his brother Max, who disappeared 10 years earlier hunting "volcanic tubes" that he believed would lead directly to the planet's core. During a visit from Max's bored, bratty adolescent son Sean (Josh Hutcherson), Trevor finds data in Verne's novel of subterranean exploration that parallel his findings. With Josh in tow, he embarks for Iceland to explore Max's expedition site.
Posted by courier at 02:55 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Rick Bentley
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Ron Perlman has a face made for makeup. But he's OK with that.
He says some of the most comfortable roles of his career have been when he wore lots of makeup. That includes parts from the mane man Vincent in the TV series "Beauty and the Beast" to his title character in "Hellboy."
"I was more comfortable behind the mask than naked like this," Perlman says during an interview at the Four Seasons Hotel. He is spending the day talking about his new film "Hellboy II: The Golden Army," which opens Friday. "The makeup made be freer because it was no longer me. It was a transformed version of me. It made acting more possible."
Posted by courier at 01:49 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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ALISON MOYET "The Turn"
Grade: B
BECK "Modern Guilt"
Grade: C-plus
There's a point near the end of "Chemtrails" when elaborate drum fills are exploding like fireworks on the Fourth of July, cymbals are joyously crashing, guitars are raging and all Beck can do is moan over it all like a mopey Brian Wilson with a toothache.
That pretty much sums up the method of operation on Beck's new "Modern Guilt" (Interscope) album. Danger Mouse provides the interesting musical backdrops and Beck provides the misery. As a package, "Modern Guilt" is at least more sonically interesting than Beck's last bummer album, "Sea Change," but the sense of missed opportunities here start to annoy pretty quickly.
Posted by courier at 10:11 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Rahsaan Patterson performs at The Fillmore
New York Irving Plaza recently.
Courtesy Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo/
PopMatters.com/MCT
Regarded by some as the best R&B album of 2007, Rahsaan Patterson's "Wines and Spirits" also begat one of the most creative periods in his career.
Since the album's release, he's toured three continents while gearing up for the debut album by SugaRush Beat Company, a UK-based collective he formed with Jaz Rogers and Ida Corr, which is set for a European release in August on RCA. In October, Patterson will release "The Ultimate Gift," a Christmas album that promises to be imbued with his multi-faceted creativity.
When "PopMatters" caught up with Patterson for a round of 20 Questions, the artist was successfully summoning the Christmas spirit in the 80-degree Los Angeles heat.
Posted by courier at 08:35 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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President George W. Bush greets Prime Minister
Yasuo Fukuda of Japan Tuesday in Toyako, Japan.
White House photo by Eric Draper
WASHINGTON — Leaders of the Group of 8 leading industrial nations on Tuesday set a goal of cutting global emissions of greenhouse gases in half by 2050 and said that all major economies should join the effort.
But the joint statement from the G-8 meeting in Japan didn't say what year would be the baseline for the 50 percent cut, and it didn't impose any tough midterm reduction requirements that would require nations to act quickly.
Posted by courier at 08:19 AM. Filed under: News
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Apple Computer Inc. (MCT)
Top 10 albums on iTunes Music Store for July 9:
1. "Modern Guilt," Beck
2. "Viva la Vida," Coldplay
3. "Where the Light Is _ John Mayer Live in Los Angeles," John Mayer
4. "Tha Carter III," Lil Wayne
5. "Camp Rock (Music from the Disney Channel Original Movie)," Various Artists
6. "Live from Le Cabaret," Maroon 5
7. "Can't Stop Won't Stop," The Maine
8. "All Hope Is Gone," Slipknot
9. "One of the Boys," Katy Perry
10. "Want," 3OH!3
For more information, please visit the iTunes Web site at www.apple.com/itunes/.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
Posted by courier at 05:45 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Terminal Chaos by
George L. Donohue, Ph.D. and
Russell D. Shaver, III, Ph.D.
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Amer Inst of Aeronautics & (May 9, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1563479494
ISBN-13: 978-1563479496
WASHINGTON — Rising jet fuel prices are being cited by airlines as the reason for cancelling service to smaller U.S. cities, but an increasingly broken air travel system is as much to blame, according to a new book by a former high-level Federal Aviation Administration official.
"When it comes to air travel today, everyone has a horror story," writes George Donohue, in the understated opening line of his new book, "Terminal Chaos."
An associate administrator for research and acquisition at the FAA from 1994 to 1998, Donohue offers a detailed explanation of both the causes of and solutions to an aviation system in crisis. Today's mess of delays, cancellations and airport chaos are the product of more than two decades of bad decisions, he said.
Posted by courier at 06:55 AM. Filed under: News
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By Paul Walsh
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)
MINNEAPOLIS — University of Minnesota researchers say they have discovered educational benefits of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
The study also found that low-income students often are just as technologically savvy as their wealthier counterparts. The university says this contradicts results that previous studies suggested.
The information was collected over six months this year from students, ages 16 to 18, in 13 urban high schools in the Midwest and released last month by the university.
Posted by courier at 09:40 AM. Filed under: News
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THE SECRET LIFE OF THE
AMERICAN TEENAGER
8 p.m. EDT Tuesday
ABC Family
For some familiar old friends, like Molly Ringwald and Ernie Hudson (the warden in "Oz") and some promising newbies, like Shailene Woodley. It also marks the return of producer-creator Brenda Hampton, who was show-runner for "7th Heaven," the family-friendliest series since "The Waltons.
What it's about: Late one afternoon, Amy (Woodley) returns home from summer band camp, says hi to mom, Anne (Ringwald), and rushes to the bathroom, where she pulls out a pregnancy kit. Does what she has to do, and then — camera pans in close and hard — her petite teen face seems to age a dozen years. Yes, she's ... And so begin Amy's problems. She confides to school pals Lauren and Madison, but matters are further complicated because the guy who got her pregnant, Ricky (Daren Kagasoff), is a braggart with a history of conquests. His hypersexuality is a result of being abused by his father.
Posted by courier at 09:30 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Mike Antonucci
San Jose Mercury News (MCT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The online Scrabble wars heated up Monday with an announcement that Electronic Arts will launch a licensed version of the game this month on Facebook, where the unauthorized adaptation called Scrabulous is thriving.
The version from Redwood City, Calif.-based EA, free for users and at least initially without advertisements, will be available "mid-to-later this month," said Chip Lange, general manager for EA Hasbro Games.
Scrabulous, which claims more than 450,000 daily active users, has become a cause celebre among fans worried that the game will be shut down because of opposition from rights holders Hasbro and Mattel.
Posted by courier at 09:22 AM. Filed under: News
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By Lisa Anderson
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
NEW YORK — News of a cluster of at least 17 pregnant teenagers at a small Massachusetts high school recently made headlines around the world, but it came at a time when teen pregnancies and abortions in the United States actually are at their lowest points in 30 years.
Pregnancies — whether they end in birth, miscarriage or abortion — among women ages 15 to 19 dropped to 72.2 per 1,000 women in 2004, down from a peak of 117 per 1,000 women in 1990, according to the latest data compiled by New York's Guttmacher Institute, which focuses on reproductive health research, policy analysis and education. While some 700,000 women ages 15 to 19 become pregnant every year, the rate has declined 36 percent since it peaked in 1990.
The rate of abortions among teens also plummeted, to 19.8 per 1,000 women in 2004 from a high of 43.5 per 1,000 in 1988.
That's the good news.
Posted by courier at 07:28 AM. Filed under: News
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By Eric Ferreri
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
DURHAM, N.C. — Abby Alger mentioned she was a Republican during a dinner gathering one night. A friend quickly apologized to the rest of the group on her behalf.
The apology was a joke — sort of. But at the dinner table filled with college students, the message was clear.
"Saying you're a Republican is kind of saying a dirty word," said Alger, a rising senior at Duke.
Posted by courier at 07:15 AM. Filed under: News
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Forest Service Captain Frank
Zabrowski hoses down a fire at the
Basin Complex Fire in Big Sur Wednesday.
Orville Myers/Monterey County Herald/MCT
REDDING, Calif. — Gazing out a wall of windows, Mike Lococo watched lightning stab the horizon, over and over, like a bizarre light show gone awry.
Three decades of battling blazes in remote corners of California told him one thing: That was trouble hurtling from the heavens.
Lococo is part of a unique national network that launches at the first sniff of wildfire.
When hundreds of California wildfires sprang from lightning strikes June 20-21, the Northern California Geographic Coordination Center here geared up. It is part of an 11-center network reporting to a national center in Boise, Idaho.
Posted by courier at 07:05 AM. Filed under: News
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Harold and Kumar Escape from
Guantanamo Bay would be classified
a "dumb" comedy under the proposed
rating system.
Have you ever sat in a darkened theater watching a dumb movie and started thinking about another dumb movie?
Well, that happened to me last week. Three times.
I was watching my third dumb movie in as many days when my mind wandered and I thought about "Dumb & Dumber."
Oh, by the way, those were advance screenings so you have no idea what's in store for you later in the summer.
But I digress.
Posted by courier at 06:54 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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From wikipedia:
Pedro Luis Brión (July 6,1782, Curaçao—September 27, 1821, Curaçao) was a military officer who fought in the Venezuelan War of Independence. He who rose to the rank of admiral in the navies of Venezuela and the old Republic of Colombia.
Merchant Pedro Luis Brión and María Detrox, both from what is now Belgium, were his parents. They arrived in Curaçao in 1777. In 1794 they sent their son to the Netherlands to complete his education. While he was there, he enlisted in the forces of the Batavian Republic to fight the British invasion of the northern Netherlands. He participated in the battles of Bergen (September 19, 1799) and Castricum (October 16, 1799). He was taken prisoner by the British but freed after a short time in the prisoner exchange under the Convention of Alkmaar.
Read more about Luis Brion and Simon Bolivar in the Memoirs of Simon Bolivar by Henri La Fayette Villaume Ducoudray Holstein, free from googlebooks.com.
Posted by courier at 12:23 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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A drilling platform off the California coast.
U.S. Department of Energy photo
At $4 a gallon, the high price of gas is hurting American families and putting a stranglehold on the nation's economy. This month, a survey funded by the nonpartisan Surdna Foundation found that families across the nation are paring budgets to pay for skyrocketing fuel costs, with poor families even scrimping on food and medicine. Days ago, Northwest Airlines' Doug Steenland grimly warned Congress of the risks of "out-of-control" fuel prices for his industry and others.
Posted by courier at 02:52 PM. Filed under: Opinion
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By Donald Munro
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
Nitpicky viewers will love the chipper opening scene of "Hancock." As the film's initial action sequence — which features Will Smith's airborne superhero character wrecking cars, thrashing highways and wiping out several hundred thousand square feet of office space as he brings a group of thugs to justice — comes to an end, a news-reporter voiceover informs us of the price tag for the mayhem: a whopping $9 million. A personal record!
No wonder the taxpaying public is irked at Hancock, the superhero who can't seem to limit his collateral damage even as he fights crime. Finally, a film for the grouch in the bunch who pesters his fellow moviegoers afterward by asking such questions as: "But who pays for all the broken stuff?"
Posted by courier at 06:57 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By Tom Horgen
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)
In this weekend's potential blockbuster "Wanted," Morgan Freeman hands a gun to the film's reluctant antihero and orders him to shoot the wings — and just the wings — off a bunch of houseflies. Several slow-motion gunshots later, the bugs fall to the floor, wingless.
Preposterous? What do you expect from a movie that began life as a comic book? But when J.G. Jones, the original artist, saw the scene, he geeked out like one of those fanboys who fawn over him at comic conventions:
"I got a little excited, like: 'Hey wait, that's right out of the book — I drew that!'"
Posted by courier at 06:50 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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By James P. Miller
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
CHICAGO — U.S. employers chopped 62,000 workers from their payrolls in June, the Labor Department reported Thursday, the sixth consecutive month in which the nation's stumbling economy has lost jobs.
The jobless rate was 5.5 percent, unchanged from May but significantly higher than the 4.6 percent level of a year ago. Many experts expect unemployment to climb above 6 percent by early 2009. In addition, the already soft reports from April and May were revised downward, indicating further weakness in the job market.
Posted by courier at 06:27 AM. Filed under: News
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From wikipedia:
Dr. Pilar Barbosa de Rosario (July 4, 1898-January 22, 1997) was an educator, historian and political activist.
Barbosa born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, was the daughter of Jose Celso Barbosa, also known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican Pro-Statehood Movement". Her father was a member of the Puerto Rican Senate from 1917-1921. Barbosa received her primary and secondary education in Bayamon and was exposed to politics at a young age. As a teenager she enjoyed teaching others. After she graduated from high school, she enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico.
Read Pilar Barbosa's obituary in the New York Times.
Posted by courier at 12:20 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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By Tyler Bridges and Kevin G. Hall
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
CARTAGENA, Colombia — Three American defense contractors held since 2003 by narco-guerillas in steamy jungle captivity were choppered to freedom here, it was announced Wednesday, in a daring rescue operation that resembled a Hollywood action film.
Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos announced Wednesday afternoon that the nation's special forces had rescued 15 hostages, including the three U.S. citizens and a former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, whose captivity had become an international cause celebre.
Posted by courier at 03:38 PM. Filed under: News
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By Glenn Gamboa
Newsday (MCT)
These days, even Beatles get the blues.
Despite good reviews and a decent publicity push, Ringo Starr's latest album, "Liverpool 8" (Capitol), sold only 7,000 copies in its first week of release in January, landing it at No. 94. Its release even managed to generate a bit of controversy for the laid-back Beatle and the equally controversy-averse "Live With Regis and Kelly." (When producers wanted Starr to cut the performance of the title track from 4 minutes, 15 seconds to 2.5minutes, Starr reportedly responded "God bless and goodbye" and walked off the show.)
Posted by courier at 03:12 PM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Prince performing at the at the 2008
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
in April. wikipedia photo
Even before the temperatures started their creep toward the 90-degree mark, the signs were everywhere: Another summer-music-festival season has begun. The e-mails, the colorful banner ads on Web sites, the news flashes with recently added headliners — it all gives the impression that we should be completely obsessed with every little detail about the festivals if we care at all about music. The festivals tout themselves as being important cultural experiences and irresistibly fun musical escapes: mini-Woodstocks designed to make a community of music fans feel like a part of something larger than themselves.
Posted by courier at 07:15 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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From wikipedia:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (July 3, 1860 – August 17, 1935) was a prominent American novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and non fiction, and a lecturer for social reform. She was a utopian feminist during a time when her accomplishments were exceptional for women, and she served as a role model for future generations of feminists because of her unorthodox concepts and lifestyle. Her best remembered work today is her semi-autobiographical short story, "The Yellow
Wallpaper", which she wrote after a severe bout of post-partum depression.
Read The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, one of
five of her works available free from Project Gutenberg.
Posted by courier at 12:48 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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To Distraction
by Stephanie Laurens
Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Avon (August 29, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060839104,
Courier Editor-in-Chief
“’Dear Deverell, of course I know exactly the right lady for you.’ Head high, Audrey Deverell swayed back on the stool on which she was perched, narrowed her eyes at the canvas she was daubing, then delicately touched the tip of her brush to one spot. Apparently satisfied, she regained her equilibrium and looked down at the palette balanced on her arm. ‘I’m only surprised it’s taken you so long to ask.’”
So begins
To Distraction, Stephanie Laurens’s fifth novel in her Bastion Club series. It is one of the best examples of a perfect romance novel, at least in my opinion. It has plot, but separates itself from normal fiction by being equal parts plot and emotion. People do not generally read a romance novel for the plot, but a book based solely on lust, romance and emotion belongs in the Erotica sections of bookstores.
To Distraction is balanced, with the plot and the emotions, romance, and, yes, lust, all intertwined. The fact that it is extremely well-written and clearly based on extensive research of the period (the early 1800s) only add to its greatness. Add characters that are believable and well-developed, including the villains and other minor characters, and you get the perfect romance novel.
Posted by courier at 06:53 AM. Filed under: Entertainment
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Hedda Hopper in 1929. (May 2, 1885 – February 1, 1966) was an American actress and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns.
She was born Elda Furry in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, the daughter of David and Margaret Furry, who were Quakers.
Her siblings included Dora Furry (born March 1880); Sherman Furry (born June 1882); Cameron Furry (born September 1887); Edgar Furry (April 20, 1889-November 1975); Frank M. Furry (born August 1891); and Margaret Furry (born July 1897).
Read The Bitter Feud between Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, free from associatedcontent.com.
Posted by courier at 06:23 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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A moose in Denali National Park
Kennan Ward/National Park Service
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Investigators and prosecutors worked seven months building their case.
Once they found the victim's remains, they returned to the scene six times to collect evidence. They interviewed witnesses and scoured the crime scene by land and air. They measured tire tracks. They collected samples for DNA testing.
And, they say, they determined who killed a moose they believe was shot illegally inside a national park.
Posted by courier at 06:38 PM. Filed under: Features
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By Eric Benderoff
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
CHICAGO — Terri Rossman considers herself a visual learner. So when the 52-year-old marketing professional wanted to learn a new knitting stitch, she turned to the Web.
"I searched for 'knit bobble stitch' on Google and I found a video of someone doing it," said Rossman, who lives in the Detroit area. "It was perfect for me."
Posted by courier at 06:27 PM. Filed under: Features
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Foot Petals Strappy Strips is a tool for
making your shoes more comfortable.
Ross Hailey/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT
Oh, wondrous summer sandals, how you love to teeter atop sky-high wedges and reach strappy stiletto heights.
But at what cost? Are you looking to take our soles — not to mention our heels, arches and every other foot facet?
Well, no more. We are armed (or footed, rather) with a team of tools that allow us to strut without pain.
Posted by courier at 05:56 AM. Filed under: Features
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From wikipedia:
Thomas Andrew Dorsey (July 1, 1899, Villa Rica, Georgia - January 23, 1993, Chicago), is known as "the father of gospel music". Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom.
As formulated by Dorsey, gospel music combines Christian praise with the rhythms of jazz and the blues. His conception also deviates from what had been, to that time, standard hymnal practice by referring explicitly to the self, and the self's relation to faith and God, rather than the individual subsumed into the group via belief.
Learn more about Thomas Dorsey and his music, free from pbs.org.
Posted by courier at 12:27 AM. Filed under: In Quotes
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