cold fire / Western Russia welcomes cold front as wildfires, smog curbed

cold fire  /   Western Russia welcomes cold front as wildfires, smog curbed

Western Russia welcomes cold front as wildfires, smog curbed

A COLD front hit western Russia yesterday, ending the exhausting two-month spell of of heat and clearing skies over Moscow from suffocating smog.

Colder temperatures and rains are expected to help firefighters put out the wildfires that have bedevilled Russia through the summer.

Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said the amount of land on fire has been halved in the last 24 hours.

The heat wave h as triggered thousands of wildfires and drought has cost Russia a third of its wheat crop . — Sapa-AP

Israeli police arrest rabbi

ISRAELI police yester day arrested a settler rabbi who co-authored a book outlining cases in which it is permissible to kill non-Jews, including babies, army radio reported.

Yosef Elitzur, a resident of the hardline Yitzhar settlement in the northern West Bank, was arrested on suspicion of incitement to violence.

The book, The King’s Torah, written by Elitzur and another rabbi, claims that babies and children of Israel’s enemy may be killed since “it is clear that they will grow to harm us”, the Haaretz newspapers said. — Sapa-AFP

Ex-PM Brown ready to speak

BRITAIN’S former prime minister Gordon Brown is offering himself for speaking engagements at a cost of 100000 (R728000) an hour, a magazine reported yesterday.

Brown, whose book on the global financial crisis is due out in November, has asked a London agency to look for possible engagements for him in the Middle East and Asia, the Spectator said.


His wife Sarah is reportedly available to present prizes at events where he speaks for a further 20000 (R144000). — Sapa-AFP

Bull injures 40 in grandstand

FORTY people were injured when a bull leapt into the packed grandstand of a Spanish bullring and ran amok, charging and trampling on spectators, regional officials said yester day.

Video on Spanish media outlets showed the bull jumping several metres high out of the ring, clearing two barriers before landing in the stands.

The animal was brought under control after several minutes and was later killed. — Sapa-AP

Judge says woman must unveil

AN AUSTRALIAN Muslim woman who sought permission to keep her face and head covered while she gives evidence at an upcoming trial was told by a judge yester day she would have to remove her veil.


Western Australia state district court judge Shauna Deane ruled it would be inappropriate for the woman, identified in court only as Tasneem, to be completely veiled while giving evidence because the jury should not be impeded in its ability to assess her demeanour. — Sapa-AP

South blocks N Korean tweets

SOUTH Korea has blocked North Korea’s new Twitter account from being accessed in the South, saying the tweets contain “illegal information” under the country’s security laws, officials said yesterday.

North Korea announced last week that it has a Twitter account and a YouTube channel in an apparent effort to boost its propaganda war against South Korea and the United States. — Sapa-AP

Obama’s faith misidentified

NEARLY two years after Barack Obama’s election as US president, a growing number of Americans misidentify his faith as Muslim, according to a new poll released yester day.

Despite Obama’s attendance in church and his repeated public statements about his Christian faith, nearly one in five respondents in the survey said they believed he was a practitioner of Islam, while only 34 percent of Americans correctly identified him as a Christian, down sharply from a year earlier. — Sapa-AFP

Passengers safe as train falls

TWO carriages of a passenger train fell into a river yesterday after floods knocked out a bridge in southwestern China, but all passengers were able to escape safely, State media reported.

The accident happened in Guanghan when floods loosened piers on the Shitingjiang bridge, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The train began shaking and then stopped moving, dining car supervisor Wang Baoning told China Central Television.

Two carriages of the train were dangling over the muddy, rushing waters of the river in a “V” shape, he said.

It took more than 10 minutes to evacuate passengers from the cars, which were still connected to adjacent carriages, Wang said. — Sapa-AP

Poles get air crash data

RUSSIA yester day handed Poland new documents on the investigation into the death of President Lech Kaczynski in an air crash, after criticism from Warsaw over Russia’s handling of the probe.

Russia’s deputy general prosecutor, Alexander Zvyagintsev, handed 11 volumes of documents containing evidence from witnesses of the crash, protocols from inspections of the crash scene and other data to Polish chief military prosecutor Krzysztof Parulski. —Sapa-AFP

Somali chaos moves north

A POWERFUL Somali warlord and a series of recent clashes are threatening to open a new zone of lawlessness in what was once the peaceful northern region of chaotic Somalia.

Militants loyal to warlord Mohamed Said Atom have repeatedly clashed with government forces in the Puntland region in recent weeks.


Atom was singled out by the UN in March for supplying arms to al-Shebaab, Somalia’s dominant insurgent group based in southern Somalia. The US has declared al-Shebaab a terrorist organisation. — Sapa-AP

Lebanese Islamist killed

HUNDREDS of mourners yesterday laid to rest Abdel Rahman Awad, the head of an al-Qaeda- inspired group, who was killed by the army at the weekend in a southern Lebanese refugee camp.

Awad, a Palestinian, was the presumed chief of the shadowy Fatah al-Islam, an Islamist group which fought a deadly battle in 2007 against the Lebanese army at Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in the country’s north.

The conflict raged for more than three months and cost 400 lives, with 168 soldiers among the dead. Awad was said to have fled to the notorious southern camp of Ain al-Hilweh.

The open-casket funeral of Awad, dubbed the “prince” of Fatah al-Islam and formerly one of Lebanon’s most wanted Islamists, was held at Ain al-Hilweh and attended by his family and members of the group.

south pacific broadway / south pacific, south pacific toronto, kelli o hara, paulo szot

south pacific broadway / south pacific, south pacific toronto, kelli o hara, paulo szot

One (more) enchanted evening: "South Pacific" on KPBS

When Bartlett Sher was doing experimental, politically charged theater in San Diego two decades ago  (and laboring as a waiter to help support his directing habit), staging major musical revivals on Broadway didn't necessarily seem the most likely career path.

But Sher's 2008 production of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic "South Pacific" cemented his reputation as one of the top directors in New York, after he had grabbed attention with earlier, Tony-nominated work on "The Light in the Piazza" and "Awake and Sing!"

Sher earned the Tony as best director for "South Pacific" (which had six other wins), and the show -- in its first return to Broadway since the original 1949 production -- became the longest-running Rodgers & Hammerstein revival in Broadway history, with exactly 1,000 regular performances as of this Sunday.

That 1,000th performance, alas, will be its last; "South Pacific" closes this weekend. And whiie a national tour is under way, San Diego is not on the itinerary, at least for now. (The tour does hit the Orange County Performing Arts Center in October.)

San Diegans who missed the show on Broadway, though, still have a chance to witness Sher's luminous and moving take on this surprisingly modern musical about a wartime romance vexed by racial prejudice. This week, PBS-TV's "Live From Lincoln Center" premieres a telecast of the show, featuring the revival's original stars: Kelli O'Hara as the American nurse Nellie Forbush and Paulo Szot as the French-born plantation owner Emile DeBecque.

The program debuts locally this Saturday at 9 p.m. on KPBS/Channel 15. Even if you've never seen the show (or the glossy, somewhat lightweight 1958 movie), the songs will be familiar -- "One Enchanted Evening," "Bali Hai" and "There Is Nothing LIke a Dame" among them. Definitely worth setting your DVR to save -- and savor -- this one.

(Sher's next project, by the way, is something pretty different: a musical version of the Pedro Almodovar movie "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," featuring ex-San Diegans Brian Stokes Mitchell and Danny Burstein along with Patti LuPone, and with a score by David Yazbek, who also did the music for the Old Globe-sprung "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels." It hits Broadway this fall in a production by Lincoln Center Theater, where Sher is now resident director.)

eli manning injury / eli manning, giants vs jets, new york giants, new york jets, monday night football

eli manning injury / eli manning, giants vs jets, new york giants, new york jets, monday night football

Monday night, the New Meadowlands Stadium opened its doors to its two NFL tenants, the New York Giants and New York Jets. Unfortunately for Eli Manning, he received a rude welcoming to the $1.7 billion monstrosity.

A laceration on his forehead spewed blood all over the turf and his uniform. Manning was deemed OK by the Giants medical staff, but did not return to the game. The Giants would go on to win 31-16, much to the chagrin of Jets head coach Rex Ryan.

The NFL is known for its jarring hits that concuss quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers and anyone else who dares to go head-to-head with the elite defenders. On some rare occasions, the offense gets into the fray with devilish hits.

We're going to take a look at the hardest and bloodiest hits since 2000 and, trust me, there have been plenty. Enough blood has been shed on fields since 2000 that the league could open a blood drive for the American Red Cross. Enough heads have been rattled to keep team doctors busy for years on end.

Whether you're an All-Pro, a future Hall of Famer or journeyman, no one is safe from the vicious hits recorded every Sunday, bloody Sunday.

new york mets / New York Mets (59-59) at Houston Astros (51-66), 8:05 p.m.

new york mets / New York Mets (59-59) at Houston Astros (51-66), 8:05 p.m.

The New York Mets have enjoyed plenty of success in their recent meetings with the Houston Astros. Considering the way Johan Santana has pitched as of late, there seems to be a good chance that mastery will continue.

Santana takes the mound this evening as the Mets aim for a seventh straight victory over the Astros in the second test of this four-game series from Minute Maid Park.

After losing their first meeting with Houston last season, the Mets won the next five 2009 matchups between the teams and extended that streak with a 3-1 verdict on Monday. New York scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to prevail, with David Wright crossing the plate with the eventual winning run on a wild pitch by Astros closer Matt Lindstrom.

Wright and Carlos Beltran had back-to-back singles with one out in the ninth before Lindstrom (2-4) uncorked a pitch that got past catcher Jason Castro and enabled Wright to score from third. Jeff Francoeur then followed with a triple to left center that plated Beltran for a 3-1 Mets' lead.

Entering Monday's contest having gone just 5-for-44 in August, Wright collected three hits in four at-bats for the Mets. Beltran had a solo homer earlier in the night, while Pedro Feliciano (3-6) picked up the win by getting the final out of the eighth.

Hisanori Takahashi threw a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his first major league save and may get some additional opportunities to finish games in the near future, as the Mets revealed on Monday that closer Francisco Rodriguez will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb in the coming days. The four-time All-Star suffered the injury during a well- publicized fight with his girlfriend's father last week that earned him a two- game suspension by the team.

Jon Niese worked the first seven innings for New York and yielded just one run while striking out five in a no-decision.

"He economizes his pitches," Mets manager Jerry Manuel said of Niese. "He keeps the ball on the ground for the most part, keeps the ball in the park. He threw strikes. That's a good combination for a young pitcher."
Niese was matched by the Astros' Wandy Rodriguez, who held the Mets to a run on just four hits while fanning six in a seven-inning stint of his own.

Houston had a three-game win streak snapped with Monday's result, but continued to get hot hitting from Chris Johnson in the loss. The rookie third baseman finished 2-for-3 and knocked in the team's only run with a six-inning double, and is batting a scorching .384 with six homers and 33 RBI since returning from the minors in late June.

Chris Johnson went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Astros, who had a three-game win streak snapped. Wandy Rodriguez matched Niese, allowing one run, four hits and three walks in seven innings, but Matt Lindstrom (2-4) took the loss for allowing two runs in the ninth.

Johnson will be taking his first-ever swings against Santana, who hasn't given up a single run in winning his last two assignments. In his most recent outing, the two-time American League Cy Young Award honoree scattered four hits and struck out 10 Colorado hitters in a complete-game shutout of the Rockies last Thursday.

Santana was just about as good five days earlier, firing 7 1/3 scoreless innings to best Philadelphia on August 7. That effort followed an 11-strikeout performance at Atlanta in which the standout lefty was reached for four runs in seven innings to suffer his most recent loss.

The 31-year-old has held the opposition to one run or less in seven of his last nine starts and sports a strong 2.89 earned run average for the season. Santana is 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Astros, although he was tagged for five runs and 12 hits over 6 2/3 innings in a loss at Minute Maid Park last season.

Santana will be opposed tonight by one-time Met Nelson Figueroa, with the journeyman hurler set to make his first start as an Astro. The right-hander has pitched eight times in relief since being claimed by Houston off waivers on July 21 and has gone 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in 11 1/3 innings during that span.
Prior to being picked up by the Astros, Figueroa had spent the season shuffling between Philadelphia and the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate in Lehigh Valley. He appeared in 13 games with one start for the Phils and was 2-1 with a 3.46 ERA.

Figueroa was a member of the Mets for the 2008 and 2009 campaigns and went 3-8 with a 4.09 ERA in 16 games, 10 of which were starts, last season. He had been waived by the club just prior to the start of this year's regular season.

The 36-year-old has faced his former team six times previously, once as a starter, and has no record and a 3.78 ERA against New York. Figueroa gave up three runs in two innings over a pair of relief stints versus the Mets while with the Phillies back in May.

us news college rankings / us news college rankings 2011, us news and world report, us news and world report college rankings, us news, college rankings

us news college rankings / us news college rankings 2011, us news and world report, us news and world report college rankings, us news, college rankings

US News college rankings -- hot summer reading

One of the most popular, but unofficial, items on summer reading lists for high schoolers and college kids is the U.S. News college rankings, which were released today. I bet more juniors and seniors read that list than "The Catcher in the Rye" or "To Kill a Mockingbird." There aren't a lot of surprises: Harvard, Princeton and Yale sat atop the university list and Williams, Amherst and Swarthmore led the college rankings.

The U.S. News list and other rankings such as the Princeton Review also give students and alums plenty to talk about. I'm sure everyone in New Haven thinks the list is wrong, while students who pass the John Harvard statue every day wouldn't change a thing. (And I'm appalled that the ranking criteria put my alma mater, Wesleyan University, in a tie for #12 among colleges. Go Wes!)

In Maryland, the good news is that the University of Maryland, Baltimore County was at the top of U.S. News' "up-and-coming" list, and the flagship College Park campus was 20th on that list.

dustin johnson bunker / dustin johnson penalty, dustin johnson, dustin johnson girlfriend, bubba watson, steve elkington

dustin johnson bunker / dustin johnson penalty, dustin johnson, dustin johnson girlfriend, bubba watson, steve elkington

Assessing Johnson’s Bunker Bummer

Nick Watney looked like he would be the story Sunday at the PGA Championship, with an epic implosion that saw him fire a nine-over par 81 and lose his grip on the lead he held heading into Sunday’s play. Then poor Dustin Johnson showed up. Johnson received a two-stroke penalty on the 18th hole—knocking him down to fifth place—after he thought he had finished in a three-way tie and was headed to a playoff.


Johnson’s sin? Grounding his club in a sand trap. Now for the avalanche of follow-ups:
What is grounding?
In the simplest of terms, it’s when your club touches the ground before your swing. For example, when you address the ball and place the head of the club on the ground to ready yourself.
But I do that all the time when I golf!
Golfers are allowed to ground the club on fairways, at the tee, in the rough … pretty much anywhere but in a hazard, like sand.
Why doesn’t a professional golfer know this rule?
Johnson does. But the trap he found himself in wasn’t obviously a trap. Whistling Straits is famous for having sandy little spots all over the place, about 1,200 on the course. Many could fool even the most seasoned pro. “I just thought it was on a piece of dirt where the crowd had trampled [everything] down,” Johnson explained after the penalty.
The problem here is twofold: First, the crowd was all over that trap all weekend long, so it looked more like a “waste area” than a sand trap. However, the rules committee posted a set of rules explaining that the course has a lot of weirdly-placed bunkers, and if someone happened to land in something even slightly sandy — no matter where it is on the course, how tiny it may be, or even how many tire tracks it may have in it — he had to play it like a bunker.
So whose side do we take here?
This is where it gets tough.
“It was black print on a piece of white, 8 x 11 paper,” Steve Elling of CBSSports.com writes, in regards to the posted set of rules. “Not a lick of gray to be found.”
“Emotions aside, it’s hard not to commiserate with Johnson,” adds NBCSports.com’s Dan O’Neill. “But the PGA said it had warned players before the tournament that such sandy areas around the golf course were to be considered as such.”
The Journal’s Jason Gay feels that even though this call was correct, it didn’t have to be made. Common sense should have prevailed. “Instead of a rollicking three-way finish, the 2010 PGA will be remembered for a cold-blooded, by-the-book decision — enforcing the rules of a bunker that nobody outside of a few officials knew was a bunker.”
Johnson’s situation was eerily foreshadowed Wednesday by Sports Illustrated’s John Garrity, who wrote about traipsing through bunkers in the roped-off areas without even realizing it during practice rounds earlier in the week. “Roped-off spectator paths lead you right into the sand, which is neatly raked on one side of the rope and churned up like a child’s sandbox on the other,” Garrity writes. “And before you challenge that last metaphor, let me say that I saw flesh-and-blood children digging up rocks and building sand castles in bunkers overlooking the eighth green.”

petraeus / Petraeus hedges on US exit date from Afghanistan

petraeus / Petraeus hedges on US exit date from Afghanistan

 The new commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan, Gen David Petraeus, says he will not be bound by a 2011 target date to start withdrawing US troops.

Speaking on NBC television, Gen Petraeus said he reserved the right to tell President Obama whether the pull-out date was too early.

He was speaking after US forces endured their deadliest month in July since the Afghan conflict began in 2001.

Gen Petraeus said the Afghan mission was tough and would remain so.

President Barack Obama set 2011 as a target date to begin withdrawing US forces from Afghanistan at the same time as he approved the deployment of 30,000 extra troops in December 2009.

But Gen Petraeus said progress in Afghanistan only began this spring, when those troops arrived on the ground.

Gen Petraeus took over command of international forces in Afghanistan last month.

His predecessor, Gen Stanley McChrystal, was sacked after he made disparaging remarks about the Obama administration in a magazine article.

Gen Petraeus said that arresting al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden remained a primary goal. He described Bin Laden as an "iconic figure" for the insurgents, and his arrest remains a "very important task".

california 200 / Spectators killed in California 200 race 'didn't have much of a chance,' CHP says

california 200 / Spectators killed in California 200 race 'didn't have much of a chance,' CHP says

Authorities said eight people were killed and dozens injured when a driver racing in the California 200 desert race in Lucerne Valley lost control of his off-roader, which went airborne and landed on top of  spectators.

“He got airborne and when he landed, rolled over straight into the spectators,’’ said Office Joaquin Zubieta of the California Highway Patrol, the agency investigating the deadly crash. “People didn’t have much of a chance … to get out of the way.’’

Six spectators died at the scene. Nine others were airlifted to local hospitals, two of whom died later in the evening, Zubieta said.

No charges have been filed against the off-road racer, whose identity has not been released by authorities. The driver had to be escorted away from the area after the crowd “started to get rowdy. People were upset,’’ Zubieta said.

The ages of those killed ranged from the early 20s to late 40s. The names were withheld pending positive identification and notification of family.

The 200-mile race, held on desolate Soggy Dry Lake on federal desert land just east of the San Bernardino Mountains, was sanctioned by Mojave Desert Racing and is part of a seven race circuit. Off roaders race around the 50-mile long loop four times and hit speeds topping 60 mph.

The white truck that plowed into the crowd remained at the scene, upside down, into the early morning hours as CHP investigators crawled over the vehicle to search for any mechanical defects and to try to recreate the collision. Sponsorship decals plastered the sides of the truck, with a giant “Misery Motor Sports’’ covering the door.

Racing officials were being questioned by investigators past 3 a.m. Sunday and declined to comment about the incident.

The spot where the racer lost control is called the “rock pile.’’ The track snakes between giant boulders and up a small hill -– sending many of the off-roaders airborne.

stafon johnson / Stafon Johnson suffers serious ankle injury

stafon johnson / Stafon Johnson suffers serious ankle injury






Stafon Johnson, the Tennessee Titans rookie who was badly injured in a weightlifting accident at USC last year, suffered a major ankle injury Saturday night in his first NFL preseason game.

Johnson was carted off the field in Seattle with a dislocated right ankle and is likely to miss the entire 2010 season.

"Bouncing back from trials and tribulations, this is just a bump in the road,'' Johnson said after the game. "God has brought me back this far, and it felt good to be where I'd gotten to. This is minimum compared to what I have been through, really."

In September Johnson dropped a barbell on his throat while bench pressing in the USC weight room, causing him to be hospitalized for three weeks. The injury ended his college football career, but he signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent.

Now the ankle injury will apparently end his rookie year. Johnson's Titans teammates gathered around him as he was being attended to on the field, and both Titans coach Jeff Fisher and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who coached Johnson at USC, spoke of him in glowing terms after the game, saying that if anyone can come back from a setback like this, it's Johnson.

"I appreciate the love and support,'' Johnson said. "I am just a regular guy trying to make it like everybody else. I'm just going to try and get back as soon as I can.''

slickdeals / The King of Home Offices: The Couch

slickdeals / The King of Home Offices: The Couch

I come from a land where people have houses. I come from a land where people are able to stretch out and put whatever they would like wherever. A studio apartment would be considered inhumane. My own (judged as 'spacious' here) modest 680-square-foot flat would be the butt of jokes for the gigantine rent I pay, even by London standards.

What I'm getting at is that New York is small, and thus people have to make sacrifices. In many cases, this includes the staple of the generalist New York executive, an office space. This makes working from home somewhat impractical -- hunching over a laptop or a tucked-away computer -- unless you are willing to eschew potential entertainment for, well, a workspace.

This isn't fun, and there is a way around it -- hence, I give you, my recommendations for the modern combination of digital entertainment center and practical office arrangement. Sound confusing? It isn't. But it requires a few set guidelines to make it practical in both cases.

1) Get The Right Structure
Your average visit to Ikea or Overstock can net you a good solid entertainment center. From that, you'll want to invest in a TV that's got HDMI -- and please, for your own sake, invest in a solid Samsung or other higher-end brand LCD (not Plasma) TV. While off-brands are well and good for watching TV and playing games, better brands have greater contrast and are less likely to have little niggling problems like banding (big lines across the screen) or make the whites/blacks of your presentation look vague and wishy-washy.

You'll also want to invest in a computer, naturally, with HDMI out. The best choice out there, for me, is the new Mac Mini -- HDMI-out, great OS, and support for most accessories (though, sadly, not one of my favourite headsets, which I'll discuss shortly. Alternatively, if you crave Windows, Stealth has a selection of excellent Mini-ATX (IE: small), or you can build a Shuttle PC of your own, like me.

Step 2: Control and Communications
I swear by the Logitech Wave 2.4GHZ Wireless Combos - while it's easy enough to scrimp and save on this, you don't want to waste your pennies on something that will A) fall apart or B) not be comfortable. These both will be, and will work balanced on a book, a coffee table, or a cat. If you really want something premium, though, get the Razer Mamba -- marketed as a gamer mouse, but simply one of the most comfortable, accurate and sensitive mice I've ever used. Alternatively, the new Mac Wireless Trackpad -- which I won't link to, because there's little point -- is rather pleasant, but mac-only.

Now comes the tricky part. On a mac, your best choice is the Plantronics CS50-USB, which has about a 200 foot range. However, the best thing you can possibly get - and my weapon of choice - is the Savi 430. This thing uses DECT, which is long and boring to talk about, but essentially involves great range, great call quality, and complete compatibility with Skype. The only problem is its lack of Mac support.

These are just suggestions, but the important thing to remember is that you always want 2.4GHZ or DECT wireless devices. Better range and battery life. That and less chance of interference.

3) Finishing Touches
So, you want your entertainment center/office to pop, but you have no space. I recommend a Soundbar -- room-filling, unobtrusive speakers that will make most things sound wonderful. I personally side with the Phillips Ambisound. You can connect most computers to most speakers with a simple RCA cable -- which costs next to nothing. Just get a good one, or your sound will sound crackly and dull.

With the right media center, you can also reliably not need, at least not immediately, any kind of console or DVD player, unless you need a Blu-ray player. If you simply must do that, you can pick one up for scant more than $120 these days, if you search Slickdeals hard enough.

Finally, and really, I mean this, get yourself a Logitech Harmony remote. While usually I wouldn't narrow down an entire industry to one product, literally every other universal remote I've tried just doesn't work quite as well as the Logitech ones. That, and they save all your settings in the cloud, baby.

So, I hope that you too will soon be able to enjoy the glories of the combined home entertainment system/office. It's simple, efficient and you can surf the web/chat to friends on a screen far, far too big to see some of the inane banter of the internet generation.

And one final note...
It's important to remember that, for most of this, you will need cabling. Monoprice, referenced earlier in the post, are probably the best cable manufacturer out there, in the event you are buying in bulk. Furthermore, Amazon's recently announced (and woefully under-marketed) AmazonBasics cabling is great for those of you out there (me included) who have Amazon Prime.

buffalo news / 8 shot outside Buffalo, NY, restaurant; 4 killed

buffalo news / 8 shot outside Buffalo, NY, restaurant; 4 killed

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A shooting outside a restaurant in downtown Buffalo early Saturday left four people dead and four wounded, police said. The victims were leaving a large party inside the City Grill bar and restaurant about 2:30 a.m. when gunfire erupted, police and witnesses said. Police were investigating witness reports that an argument may have broken out inside. Investigators did not know how many shooters there were.

"We're trying to sort all of that out," Homicide Chief Dennis Richards said. "We're checking to see if something precipitated this from inside."

Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene in the city's business district and a fourth died at a hospital. The dead included two men and two women, Richards said. Authorities did not release their identities.

Raymond Wilhite returned the restaurant a few hours after the shooting and said his 32-year-old daughter, Tiffany Wilhite, was among the victims.

The conditions of the wounded, all men, were not immediately available. Spokesmen at Erie County Medical Center and Buffalo General Hospital confirmed some of the wounded were brought in but declined to release their conditions.

Tommy Dates, 35, of Buffalo, said he was at the bar area of the restaurant with his friends when he noticed a party had broken up. He said people started leaving the restaurant but rushed back inside a few minutes later.

"A lot of people were real upset, just trying to get out of the way," Dates said. "Nobody know where anything was coming from. Everyone was in a panic."

A message left for the restaurant's owners was not immediately returned.

Three covered bodies lay in front of the restaurant for several hours, one of them on the sidewalk across the street. About 20 people stood behind yellow crime scene tape, some trying to console grief-stricken relatives and friends.

The window of an office next to the Main Street restaurant was shattered, as was glass in a subway entrance across the street.

shay given / Shay Given set for Man City exit

shay given / Shay Given set for Man City exit






Shay Given looks set to be on his way out of Eastlands after being left on the bench for the Premier League opener with Tottenham Hotspur.

Joe Hart was picked ahead of the Ireland international, which is likely to result in Given leaving Manchester City before the August transfer window closes.

Given made his feelings clear during the week about playing second fiddle at Man City and stated that he would be looking to leave the club if he was not picked to face Spurs in the season opener.

The Ireland number one's comments would have put many clubs on high alert ahead of City's clash with Spurs with Arsenal and Celtic among clubs said to be tracking Given's situation.

almost famous / Fog prevents Tigers Woods from finishing round

almost famous / Fog prevents Tigers Woods from finishing round







The fog played havoc on the starting times Friday.


Tiger Woods teed off at 5:45 p.m., leaving him enough time to play six holes and make six pars.

Only they sure weren't routine.

He had to scramble for par off a cart path, out of grass up to his knees, and from a grassy knoll that made it tough for him to keep his balance.

After the siren sounded to suspend play, Woods opted to finish the sixth hole. He chipped out of deep grass below the green and left himself a 5-foot birdie putt that spun 270 degrees around the cup and sent him home somber.

"Had to hang in there and did a good job with that," Woods, who remained at one under, told a PGA official.

After finishing the sixth hole, Woods walked toward the parking lot in the twilight and declined comment, while dozens of other players hurried to get home.

Just like the first two days, today is sure to be a marathon.

DALY OUT: John Daly will not return to finish his second round at the PGA Championship because of a shoulder injury.

Daly notified organizers late Friday night that he would not be back today after finishing the par-three seventh hole. He was five over in his second round to that point after shooting a 76 in his opening round Thursday.

ALMOST FAMOUS: Seung-yul Noh says he's not very famous back home in Korea. That's reserved for stars like K.J. Choi and Y.E. Yang.

Noh, 19, is lurking on the leaderboard at five-under 139 after a 68 in his second round Friday at the PGA Championship.

"I don't play much on the PGA Tour, so that's why I'm not very famous back in Korea," Noh said through an interpreter. "After this, maybe I'll be famous."

Maybe that's not something he'll want, either. Yang said after he won the PGA Championship last year, he needed six bodyguards for a trip back home and their clothes were in tatters after fans tried to get to Yang to celebrate their star.

MY APOLOGIES: During his round Friday, Phil Mickelson hit a fan with his tee shot on 15 -- though Mickelson made up for it by giving the guy a glove that he signed and wrote "Sorry" on, even putting a frowning face inside the "o."

His shot a 69, putting him at two-under 142.

susan berman / obama mosque, mariana islands, ground zero, mosque, guam

susan berman / obama mosque, mariana islands, ground zero, mosque, guam


Susan Berman Told by Kim to be careful

usan Berman was known affectionately as the “Jewish Mafia Princess“. In 1981, Berman published a memoir, Easy-Street life as the daughter of a bandit. Susan Berman was presented in the 1970 William Morris Agency, who spoke with several Hollywood producers interested in adapting the book into a script Berman. The film rights were purchased from Berman, but the film project never got off the ground.

"I have information that's going to blow the top off things," Susan told her.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked. "What information?"

"Well, I don't have it myself," said Susan. "But I know how to get it."

"Well, be careful, for God's sake," said Kim.

Susan Berman (1945–2000) was a reporter and author who was the daughter of Davie Berman, a mob figure in Las Vegas. She wrote extensively about her late-in-life realization of her father's place in a criminal empire. She was murdered execution style with a nine-millimeter hand gun on Christmas Eve 2000 in Benedict Canyon, California.

dr laura / dr. laura, laura ingraham, ella rose riehle, rush limbaugh

Dr. Laura apologizes for using N-word

Talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger has issued an apology for saying the N-word several times during an on-air conversation with a caller this week.

"I talk every day about doing the right thing. And yesterday, I did the wrong thing," Schlessinger said on her radio show Wednesday.

"I was attempting to make a philosophical point, and I articulated the N -word all the way out -- more than one time. And that was wrong. I'll say it again -- that was wrong."

Schlessinger was referring to a call she got on her show Tuesday from an African-American woman who said she was married to a white man and was getting fed up with her husband allowing his family and friends to say things that she felt were racist.

Schlessinger asked the woman to give her some examples and then said that she thought the examples the woman gave were not racist.

The woman then asked about the use of the N-word.

Video: Sharpton reacts to Dr. Laura's rant

RELATED TOPICS

    * Laura Schlessinger

    * Racism and Bigotry

    * Al Sharpton

    * Talk Radio

Schlessinger said "black guys use it all the time. Turn on HBO, listen to a black comic, and all you hear is n---, n----, n----."

The talk show host went on to use the word at least three more times during the call.

Schlessinger and the caller began bickering back and forth toward the end of the call, and the caller said she was upset that the talk show host had used the word.

Schlessinger suggested that the caller was hypersensitive.

"If you're that hypersensitive about color and don't have a sense of humor, don't marry out of your race," the talk show host said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton decried the incident during an interview with "AC 360" on Thursday.

"That is despicable," Sharpton said about Schlessinger's comment about the caller marrying outside of her race.

"She said the word over and over, and in a very animated way, I might add, but that she actually, if you listen carefully to the logic of what she was saying was that the N-word was not offensive."

oracle google / Oracle sues Google over Android operating system

oracle google / Oracle sues Google over Android operating system

Setting the stage for a clash of two Silicon Valley titans, Oracle said Thursday that it has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Google's popular Android operating system was built on Oracle's Java software without permission.

Android, which was first released in late 2008, has seen surging adoption by computer manufacturers as an operating system for smartphones and other portable gadgets. Oracle's lawsuit accuses Google of knowingly infringing on Java patents and copyrights that Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems earlier this year.

While Redwood Shores-based Oracle did not specify the amount of damages it will seek, one analyst said the stakes could be high. But he also suggested the lawsuitmay be a strategic move by Oracle in the course of a larger negotiating effort.



"At the end of the day, it could mean a fair amount of money," said Al Hilwa, a software industry expert at the IDC tech research firm. Based on other similar past disputes, he added, it's likely that the two companies have been negotiating quietly for months.

"Going public with a lawsuit may well be part of a strategy by Oracle for trying to force the issue," Hilwa said.
Mountain View-based Google declined to comment and said it had not seen the lawsuit. An Oracle spokeswoman declined to say whether the two companies held any talks before the lawsuit was filed.
The suit came as a surprise to many in the industry, and it may ultimately turn on complex points of intellectual property law. Sun Microsystems, whose engineers developed the widely used Java programming language and related tools, decided several years ago to release key elements of the Java code under an open-source license that allows others to use it freely.


"Java is essential for Android," said Hilwa, adding that "since Android has been out there for more than a year, most people would have expected they were in compliance with whatever license terms apply."
Google makes little money directly from Android, since it is distributed as an open-source operating system. But Android's growth means more search revenue for Google, as consumers use their smartphones to search the Web.

While Google does not break out its revenue from mobile search, a company official recently announced that Google searches from Android devices grew by 300 percent during the first half of 2010.
Android is now the most popular smartphone operating system in the United States, according to the Gartner research firm, which said it is on the verge of becoming the second-most-popular in the world, closing in on Research In Motion's BlackBerry.

paul jr designs / Paul Jr Designs Launched on Orange County Choppers -Paul Teutel Jr American Chopper

Paul Jr Designs Launched on Orange County Choppers -Paul Teutel Jr American Chopper

Paul Jr Designs Launched on Orange County Choppers -Paul Teutel Jr American Chopper – After a very long hiatus American Chopper is back, well sort off. This evening TLC premiered their latest show called American Chopper: Senior Vs. Junior which more or less a continuation or maybe spinoff of the original series.

The first episode picked up where we left off,Paul Teutel Jr and his father, Sr. Paul Sr are still not talking and are still feuding.

The drama gets even more intense with Sr.Paul Sr children’s Mikey and Paulie no longer talking to their dad.
The show focuses on Paul Jr leaving his dad’s company to create his own called Paul Jr Designs to do what he knows best – motorcycle designing.

jennifer freeman / my wife and kids

jennifer freeman / my wife and kids

Jennifer Freeman, Earl Watson Reconcile Marriage

ennifer Freeman and boyfriend Earl Watson have reconciled their marriage on Thursday after Mr. Watson filed for divorce last week during an alleged brutal attack.

According to legal documents, Mrs. Freeman attacked the former Indiana Pacers player after finding some suspicious text messages in his cell phone; she grabbed and bit Mr. Watson in the hand and chest and even tried to attack him with an iron.

“The two have reconciled their differences and plan to make their marriage work,” according to a representative for the couple.

Mrs. Freeman is best known for being an American actress, playing Claire Kyle in the ABC sitcom “My Wife and Kids.” She has also made guest appearances on television, including shows “7th Heaven,” “Switched,” and “The OC.” She is a spokesmodel for the Neutrogena skin care products company.

On May 17, 2009, Mrs. Freeman married Indiana Pacers basketball player Mr. Watson. Their first child, a girl Isabella Amour Watson was born on October 16, 2009. 

evolution of dance / Jackie Evancho, 10-year-old opera singer, advances on 'America's Got Talent'

evolution of dance / Jackie Evancho, 10-year-old opera singer, advances on 'America's Got Talent'

They split the groups up weirdly on "America's Got Talent" -- and there was one surprising advancing act. Hint: it's NOT Jackie Evancho.

Pup, Pizza Pat, Maestro Alexander Bui and Austin Anderson are the first group brought down. I'm rooting for Pat and Alexander, but who knows with the voting public? And the act advancing ... Alexander Bui. Piers is hilariously like, "I am SHOCKED!" It's a tad insulting to the other acts, but funny nonetheless.

Quick Change performs and it's pretty cool. I've seen them live at a minor league baseball game and they're fun. I especially like the changes under the glitter.

Now we have the Evolution of Dance, which is also awesome. It's too bad this was so short because in the original YouTube video he does a lot more dances.

The next group is Dylan Plummer, Dan Sperry and Booker Forte. It should probably be Dan Sperry out of this group. And then it is. Yeah, that's cool. He deserves a chance to do a bigger trick.

 The next performance is the Taiwanese Whitney Houston, Lin Yu-Chun with "I Will Always Love You," a song I personally detest. But the vocal is impressive.

The next group of contestants is Ryan Rodriguez and Jackie Evancho. Oh, well. Duh. Can we just skip this one? Who thinks he will beat the little girl with the big voice? Nobody. Yeah. Howie asks Jackie to sing a note after she advances, thus hopefully quieting the rumors that she is lip-syncing.

Plutonic, Cam Hodges and Kristina Young are the last group. I hope it's Plutonic that goes through, but at least Kristina should go home before the judges' pick. And then Plutonic goes home first! Did not see that coming at all. Well, Cam should advance then.

After the judges deliberate, Howie sends Cam through, then Sharon sends through Kristina (which surprises me) and then Piers picks Kristina?!  Wow, that is a surprise!  Huh.

So next week is a Wild Card show where they are bringing back Michael Grasso, Connor Doran, Swing Shift Side Show, Kruti Dance Academy, Michael Lipari and Ashleigh Dejon, the Hot Shot Tap Dancers, RNG, CJ Dippa, Harmonica Pierre, Anna and Patryk, Doogie Horner and Rudi Macaggi. Drats, I thought we were onto the semi-finals. Fooled again!

And in case you missed it, here's Jackie's performance from last night:

williams college / Small private college ranked best in U.S.-report

williams college / Small private college ranked best in U.S.-report

A small private Massachusetts college ranked first in a report on the best U.S. colleges in 2010, beating Ivy League contenders such as Harvard and Yale.

Williams College, with about 2,200 students, nudged past Princeton and Amherst, which came in second and third on the list compiled by Forbes.com.

The United States Military Academy at West Point and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology rounded out the top five, while Harvard came in at No. 8 and Yale just slipped into the top 10.

"It's always gratifying to be considered among the top institutions in the county," said William Wagner, the dean of faculty at Williams College.

Forbes and the Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) in Washington D.C. compiled the list, its third, after considering the cost of tuition, the salaries of graduates and students' experiences.

They also looked at how many faculty and students go on to win Rhodes Scholarships or Nobel Prizes, and used data from websites such as RateMyProfessors.com and MyPlan.com to gauge how satisfied students were with their educational experiences.

"Colleges that don't saddle students with a lot of debt and places with small class sizes, rank higher," said David Ewalt, deputy editor at Forbes. "If you compare this year's top ten to last year's top ten, they're very close." said Ewalt.

The highest ranked public university is the University of Virginia, which was No. 44.

"There is a certain amount of, 'you get what you pay for.' Private schools can push class sizes down. There are some wonderful public universities. But private schools tend to do very well on the list," said Ewalt.

The Forbes/CCAP report only looked at nine percent of the 6,600 accredited institutions in the U.S.

The full list of colleges can be found at www.forbes.com/colleges.

who won hell s kitchen 2010 / 'Pretty Little Liars,’ Season 1, Episode 10, Who Is A?: TV RecapSearch Speakeasy

who won hell s kitchen 2010  / 'Pretty Little Liars,’ Season 1, Episode 10, Who Is A?: TV RecapSearch Speakeasy  

Pop quiz: what sex-and-scandal filled teen drama features a group of impossibly pretty friends living in a seemingly idyllic wealthy enclave, mysterious, teasing text messages from an anonymous but all-seeing observer, and an ethnically-ambiguous girl who occasionally locks lips with other girls?

If you answered “Gossip Girl,” you’re correct. (Remember the threesome, in which Vanessa got it on with Hilary Duff?) But if you answered “Pretty Little Liars,” ABC Family’s answer to the CW’s flagship drama, you’re also correct.

Try to summarize “PLL” for someone who’s never seen an episode, and your synopsis will sound like nothing more than a list of names accompanied by scandalous modifiers: The blond, Hanna, is a former bulimic with a shoplifting problem and an absentee father. The ambiguously ethnic one, Emily, is an athlete hiding her bisexuality. The brunette, Aria, lived in Iceland for awhile, hooks up with her English teacher, and kept the secret of her father’s infidelity from her mother. The other brunette, Spencer, is an overachiever with a habit of stealing her older sister’s boyfriends. All four were once BFF with Alison, a queen bee who disappeared a year ago under mysterious circumstances—and who had some serious dirt on each of our four heroines.

Got that? Good. Tonight’s first season summer finale tied up a few loose ends while leaving the show’s most important mystery—the identity of the malevolent “A,” who’s been torturing our Pretty Little Liars via text since Episode 1—unsolved. Considering the book series on which the show is based lasted four volumes before identifying A, then had a new A start messing with the PLLs in the next installment, we can expect the writers of the show to drag this out for awhile longer.

The episode’s dramatic conclusion takes place in the woods, where most of the show’s characters have gathered for mean girl Mona’s “glamping”—that’s “glamour” mashed up with “camping”—birthday party. Before we can get there, though, each girl has her own individual storyline to wrap up.

Hanna and her mom are trying to deal with their sudden reversal of fortune. Mrs. Marin can’t pay her mortgage, and there’s a chance they’re going to lose their house. In order to avoid that, Hanna’s mom takes desperate measures: stealing wads of cash from the safe deposit box of an old lady who’s a client at her bank.

Meanwhile, Hanna finds herself on thin ice with Mona after she fails to meet her for a weekday shopping excursion. But she’s resolved to attend Mona’s birthday party despite being uninvited, since A has sent the PLLs a text saying that he or she might reveal him or herself during the shindig: “Camp Mona’s a scavenger hunt and I’m the prize. Come and find me, bitches.”

Aria tries to bring some order to her chaotic house and is metaphorically sucker-punched when A puts a book in her locker that contains a poem written by Mr. Fitz, the English teacher. The poem, called “B-26,” is evidently about her: “It’s a number. / It’s a song. / It’s a girl,” reads the first stanza. (The next stanza, though, is a total mystery, meaning-wise: “Smooth. / Pearl joy packed. / Gold falafel, / as though ice.” …Huh?)

She confronts Mr. Fitz in his office, telling him that he should have fought for her if he truly loved her. Aria’s current crush, the nice and age-appropriate Noel, almost overhears their heated conversation. Notably, Noel and Mr. Fitz look exactly the same.

Spencer tries to make peace with her sister, Melissa—partially because Ian, the boy Melissa dated and Spencer surreptitiously macked on, is back in town. We see in flashback that Alison saw Ian and Spencer kissing.

Emily juggles seeing her quasi-girlfriend Maya with the return of her soldier father. Her mother knows that Emily’s leading a double life—she’s somehow got a hold of photos of the two girls kissing—but she doesn’t let tell Emily that she’s onto her. Emily’s also shocked when, as she’s driving to Mona’s birthday party, she discovers that there’s a stowaway in her car.

It’s Toby, the prime suspect in Alison’s murder. The police have just discovered a tape Alison made the day she died, in which she speaks to an unseen viewer about how she knows he wants to kiss her and wears a man’s sweater. The feds have deduced that the object of the video is Toby, even though everyone remembers Ali absolutely despising him. According to Toby, though, he’s innocent. He did meet with Alison right before she died, but it was only to thank her for inadvertently helping him break off a relationship with his stepsister. He tells Emily that he saw Ali leave their meeting by getting into a car with another guy—presumably, the person at which her video was actually directed.

Toby’s made plans to skip town, but it’s not meant to be—he’s apprehended by the cops before he can make his getaway.

As Toby’s getting cuffed, Aria, Emily, and Spencer are making the most of Camp Mona. Hanna’s sneaking into the woods, determined to beat A. at his or her game. Just as the PLLs decipher a note left for them by A., indicating that they should take a trip to a nearby playground in order to find answers, Aria gets a text from Mr.Fitz asking her to meet him.

Emily and Spencer walk to the playground, where they find a tree that has a message carved into it: “Alison + Ian.” So Alison’s mystery man was Melissa’s boyfriend! Meanwhile, Aria meets Fitz and they have a steamy reunion—one that’s witnessed by Hanna, who happens to be in a nearby clearing with binoculars.

She’s in the right place at the right time, because as Aria and Fitz are getting it on, a hooded stranger sneaks up to Fitz’s car and writes “I SEE YOU” in what looks like blood on the rear windshield. After seeing this, Hanna writes her friends a text: “I know who A. is.” She asks them to meet her in a nearby parking lot.

The other three come together and spot Hanna. Hanna walks towards them. But before she can unmask A. once and for all—SLAM! A car comes out of nowhere, hits her, and drives away. Then Aria gets one last text: “She knew too much. A.” As the episode closes, Emily screams for help as Hanna lays on the ground, deadly still.

Think you know who A. is? Think the writers do? Think “Pretty Little Liars” is juicy enough to be more than a “Gossip Girl” ripoff? Sound off in the comments.

For more on the show, go to ‘Pretty Little Liars’: Troian Bellisario on the Summer Finale

pretty little liars season 2 / pretty little liars, pretty little liars episode guide, pretty little liars spoilers, pretty little liars books, pretty little liars episodes

pretty little liars season 2 / pretty little liars, pretty little liars episode guide, pretty little liars spoilers, pretty little liars books, pretty little liars episodes


Finale – Who won Hells kitchen 2010,Who is A in Pretty Little Liars in Season 2

Pretty Little Liars Finale


Pretty Little Liars and Hell’s kitchen 2010 completed their finale yesterday. Gordon Ramsay has a new head chef. The blazing chef crowned 24-year-old Holli Ugalde as the winner of the latest season of America’s Hell’s Kitchen. “Both of you I am so proud, and clearly you both have very exciting futures in this industry” said Ramsay

Who is a in pretty little liars ?Pretty Little Liars Episode 10 Keep Your Friends Close finale of Season 1 was telecasted on ABC Family. In PLL’s midseason finale, the girls are preparing for the worse as they think ‘A’ can easily crash the camping trip that they’re going to attend.

The case of Alison’s death got a bit more serious as the FBI opts to take in the job after a new evidence have been discovered. In the mean time, Hana needs to control her shopping habits as she deals with her financial problems. The new season pretty little liars season 2 will be aired with premiered in coming days.

steve slater / steven slater, jetblue flight attendant, jet blue flight attendant, flight attendant, jet blue

steve slater / steven slater, jetblue flight attendant, jet blue flight attendant, flight attendant, jet blue


Steven Slater is our hero.

The irritated JetBlue Flight Attendant quit his job in hilarious, dramatic, illegal fashion yesterday, cursing off a passenger, grabbing two beers and exiting from a parked plane via its emergency slide.

He's since been arrested on charges of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment and might actually spend time in jail. As you might expect, Slater's mother isn't happy with this possibility.

TMZ spoke to Slater's ex-wife, Cynthia Susanne, who relayed his mom's take on the situation. She confirms her son's story that Steven "politely" asked a woman to return to her seat until the plane taxied to a full stop.
In response, this individual cursed the flight attendant off and pulled down her bag from the overhead bin. Slater's mom says her son described this action as "malicious."

The Slater family is also upset because a different passenger on the flight is making the media around today, trying to earn money off the incident, despite not even sitting anywhere close to the awful woman in question.

Overall, it's one of our favorite stories of the year.

jetblue flight attendant / jet blue flight attendant, steven slater, flight attendant, jet blue, steve slater

jetblue flight attendant  / jet blue flight attendant, steven slater, flight attendant, jet blue, steve slater

JetBlue Flight Attendant Hailed By Many For Dramatic Exit

Best "take this job and shove it" moment ever?


Slater, on MySpace.
Or an out-of-proportion response that needs to be punished?

Those seem to be the two extremes when it comes to summing up how folks feel about the story of JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater.

If you've somehow missed hearing about what happened at Kennedy Airport in New York yesterday, here's how the AP sums it up:

"A flight attendant looked pleased and relieved after cursing out a passenger on an airplane public-address system, grabbing some beer from the galley and using an emergency slide to hop off, another passenger said Tuesday. Steven Slater lost his temper after a passenger accidentally hit him on the head with luggage on the ground at Kennedy Airport on Monday, police said. After the plane parked, he made his triumphant getaway, authorities said.

"Slater was awaiting arraignment Tuesday in Queens on criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and trespassing charges."

On NBC's Today Show this morning, passenger Phil Catelinet said the profanity-laced announcement on the public address system caught passengers by surprise. Catelinet saw Slater shortly after the incident, and says the flight attendant "was smiling ... he was happy that he'd done this." And, Catelinet said, Slater was happy to be done with his job at JetBlue — apparently knowing that this would likely be the end of his employment with the airline:

Slater's story has, not surprisingly, inspired fans on Facebook, and the inevitable "Free Steven Slater" t-shirts.

And there are many tweets like this (fair warning: there's a common abbreviation for a profanity).

molly the owl / Molly the owl becomes a proud mother again

molly the owl / Molly the owl becomes a proud mother again

Molly the owl became an internet sensation when Carlos Royal, a retired real estate agent, set up an owl box with a camera inside streaming a live video feed to the internet.

Now the first owlets of the second clutch of eggs have hatched in front of many curious and delighted onlookers around the world.

The site has had 15 million views since going live in January – viewers are fascinated by the real-time activities of the barn owl.

After the first clutch of eggs hatched,  Molly and her partner, McGee, flew from the box with their owlets. It caused a brief period of darkness in June until they returned in July and laid another set of eggs, according to Mr Royal.

Hopefully Molly and her family will continue to make inquisitive onlookers a little bit wiser with each frame.

Teen Choice Awards 2010 / Best & Worst: Teen Choice Awards 2010

Teen Choice Awards 2010 /  Best & Worst: Teen Choice Awards 2010

Katy Perry unsteadily kicked things off with her off-key performance of her new single, "Teenage Dream." To Perry's credit, she seemed to be having some trouble with her earpiece, but that still doesn't explain the awful backup dancers meant to depict classic teenage archtypes: the cheerleaders, football players -- and the nerd in the cardigan and bow tie? Heads up, teens. You're looking at your generation's Cher.

splendor in the grass / Monday TV: 'Teen Choice' Awards, 'Bachelor Pad'

splendor in the grass / Monday TV: 'Teen Choice' Awards, 'Bachelor Pad'

Katy Perry has unavoidable this summer, with her single "California Gurls" and award show appearances here and there. At the Nickelodian Kids Choice Award, she was memorably knocked down by a torrent of slime.

She returns this week to host a different ceremony (not usually involving slime, the Teen Choice Awards (Fox, 8 p.m.).

Teen icons in film, TV, music, sports and fashion will be honored at the 12th annual event, where other performers include Jason DeRulo and Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars.

Among the celebrities on hand will be Taylor Lautner, Kristen Bell, David Archuleta, Zac Efron, three Kardashian sisters, Cat Keeley and most cast members of "Glee."

Perry, for her part, will move on to promote another single from her album, "Teenage Dream."

Now that Ali has done her choosing (of Roberto), and an engagement has been made, time to look at the dozens of contestants on "The Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" who may have better luck mixing and matching with one another. "Bachelor Pad" (ABC, 8 p.m.) is a series that grew out of reunions of old cast members, from which real romance did bloom.

It may be fun to see memorable past contestants in action once again, but before long there must be a sense of desperation to the whole affair. Still, there's more than just love on athe line. They're competing for cash while playing old school games like Twiter. Chris Harrison, refusing to take a Monday off, hosts, along with the most famous jilted contestant, Melissa Rycroft.

Getting much less attention for its return is the reality series  "Dating in the Dark" (ABC, 10 p.m.) in which romance is sought among a group of three men and three women with the lights off, so as not to allow looks to be the sole determining factor.  The best thing about the show is that they reach a conclusion within the confines of a single episode.

"Too Fat for Fifteen" (Style, 8 p.m.) is the self-explanatory title of a new weight-loss series following young women who are not interested in entering high school obese. It involves going to a weight-loss boarding school, a variation on the scripted "Huge" (ABC Family, 9 p.m.).

A winner is named on "Last Comic Standing" (NBC, Monday, 9 p.m.) in a big two hour episode.

The joyous documentary "El Espiritu de la Salsa" (HBO, 9 p.m.) shows the importance of dance and music in the lives of ordinary people, taking a challenging and exhilarating salsa class in New York City. The film by Jon Alpert, Francisco Bello, Matthew O'Neill and Tim Sternberg follows the 10 participants preparing for their first performance. It's not only a bright view of the lure of music, it's also one of the most positive depictions of New York City in documentaries in a long time.

Warren Beatty is the star all day on Turner Classic Movies with classics like "Bonnie and Clyde" (6 p.m.), "Splendor in the Grass" (8 p.m.), "Reds" (10:30 p.m.) and "The Parallax View" (2 a.m.).

"Wild Nights with Mireya Mayor" (National Geographic Wild, 9 p.m.) begins in Miami, where the focus is not the visitors from "Jersey Shore" (MTV, 8 p.m.)  but the nocturnal wildlife there, from the beaches to South Beach. That includes alligators, sea turtles, chickens, and the ever-possible Burmese python.

It's Red Sox at Yankees (YES, NESN, 2 p.m.) one more time. In other baseball, it's Cardinals at Reds (ESPN, 7 p.m.).

Daytime Talk

Regis and Kelly: Julia Roberts, Buddy Valastro, Anderson Cooper. The View: Vice President Joe Biden, Fred Hammond (rerun). Ellen DeGeneres: Scarlett Johansson, Melissa Etheridge. Wendy Williams: Snooki (rerun).

Late Talk

David Letterman: Adam Sandler, Bettye LaVette (rerun). Jay Leno: Mike Posner. Jimmy Kimmel: Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Harrison, Luke Bryan. Jimmy Fallon: Jason Bateman, Aubrey Plaza, China Chow, Menomena. Craig Ferguson: Lindsay Sloane, Vampire Weekend. Carson Daly: Victor Rasuk, Amy Purdy, Mishka (rerun). George Lopez: Eva Mendes, Josh Hutcherson, Dolph Zigler, Har Mar Superstar.

jodi fisher / jodie fisher, jodie foster actress, jody fisher, jodie fisher age of love, mark hurd

jodi fisher / jodie fisher, jodie foster actress, jody fisher, jodie fisher age of love, mark hurd
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Jodie Fisher Mark Hurd story…new developments

A few days back, we had heard about HP’s CEO, Mark Hurd’s resignation who did so under huge pressure after the charge of sexual harassment done by him to Jodi Fisher. Now the latest development on this matter is that Jodi Fisher has expressed her apologies to Mark Hurd after she heard that he had lost his job.

Issuing her apologies, she said, “I was surprised and saddened that Mark Hurd lost his job over this,” Fisher stated in a statement. “That was never my intention.”

Mark Hurd was forced to resign on Friday. The latest reports say that the company is looking for a suitable candidate to fill this vacant post. Actress Jodi Fisher is 50 years old and she worked as a contractor for HP. And due to this, her contact developed with Mark Hurd. In the beginning, Mark was not found violating company’s terms during the investigations. But his false statement to hide his relationship with the woman, Jodie Fisher led the company to decide his faith. And he was then forced to resign from the seat.

Read more on Jodie Fisher Mark Hurd story by coming to us again..


Read more from source: http://www.buzztab.com/latest-news/jodie-fisher-mark-hurd-new-developments/#ixzz0w7taKEdB

patricia neal / Patricia Neal, Tony- and Oscar-winning actress, dies at 84

patricia neal /   Patricia Neal, Tony- and Oscar-winning actress, dies at 84
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 Actress Patricia Neal, who won an Oscar for her turn in "Hud" with Paul Newman, died Sunday at home in Edgartown, Mass.

Neal, who was famously involved with a married Gary Cooper, and married to and divorced from writer Roald Dahl, succumbed to lung cancer. She'd also dealt for decades with the effects of three strokes that hit her in 1965.

Her career started in New York theater in the 1940s, when she won a handful of awards, including a Tony, for her turn in Lillian Hellman's "Another Part of the Forest." She signed with Warner Bros. and moved to Hollywood, but the hot period of her film career lasted only a few years. Two of her nine films at that time were with Cooper, of whom Neal wrote in her 1988 autobiography, "He is one of the most beautiful things that ever happened to me in my life. I love him even now."

Neal also made one film with a pre-presidential Ronald Reagan, in 1949. "He was a pleasant fellow," she said later. "We had adjoining suites and dined together each evening, but he never made a pass at me, dash it all."

For more on Neal's life, including her 1952 marriage to Dahl, the tragedies that struck two of her five children with him, and her journey back to acting after her strokes

plutonomy / Why the U.S. Needs the Rich

plutonomy / Why the U.S. Needs the Rich
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Who cares how the rich spend their money?

Perhaps everyone should. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of U.S. gross domestic product, or all goods and services produced in the nation. And spending by the rich now accounts for the largest share of consumer outlays in at least 20 years.

According to research from Moody's Analytics, the top 5% of Americans by income account for 37% of all consumer outlays, which includes consumer spending, interest payments on installment debt and transfer payments. The bottom 80% account for 39.5%.

It is no surprise the rich spend so much, since they earn a disproportionate share of income. According to economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, the top 10% of earners captured about half of all income as of 2007.

What is surprising is just how much of the economy is now dependent on the rich, and how that share has increased. In the third quarter of 1990, the top 5% accounted for 25% of consumer outlays. That held relatively steady until the mid-1990s, when it inched past 30%. It dipped in 2003 and again in 2008, but surged in 2009 amid the strongest bull market rally in history, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising nearly 60% in the last nine months of the year.

Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics, cites two main reasons for this. First, the wealthy panicked in the financial crisis and stopped spending. When markets rebounded, they came out of their shells and started spending again. "I think that pent-up demand was unleashed," he said. "It was an unusually high rate of spending."

The second is that people in the middle- and lower-income groups are struggling to pay off debt and stay afloat amid rising unemployment, which has crimped their spending.

The data may be a further sign that the U.S. is becoming a plutonomy—an economy dependent on the spending and investing of the wealthy.

And plutonomies are far less stable than economies built on more evenly distributed income and mass consumption. "I don't think it's healthy for the economy to be so dependent on the top 2% of the income distribution," Mr. Zandi said.

The recent spending by the wealthy may be unsustainable. Their savings rate has gone from more than 26% in 2008 to a negative 7% in the first quarter of 2010, according to Moody's Analytics data. They still have lots of savings. But the massive draw on that in the past two years is unlikely to continue at the same pace.

"I think we're already seeing a slowdown in spending by this group," Mr. Zandi says.

That should worry everyone.

usain bolt / Gay pulls upset of Bolt in 100 at Stockholm

usain bolt / Gay pulls upset of Bolt in 100 at Stockholm

STOCKHOLM -- From Beijing to Berlin, it seemed that Usain Bolt and his long, turbocharged strides were more than a match for anyone over 100 meters. But Tyson Gay upset the defending world and Olympic champion in a race between the two fastest runners in history.

Gay beat the Jamaican at the DN Galan meet in 9.84 seconds, competing at the same stadium in Stockholm where Bolt last lost a race two years ago.

The American seemed to be in complete control against the world record-holder. The pair raced side by side as Gay, looking comfortable, drew away. Bolt was straining to keep up and finished second in 9.97.

SWIMMING

Stanford freshman in U.S. final

Andie Taylor, an incoming Stanford freshman, reached her second main final in as many days, finishing sixth in the 200-meter butterfly, while Stanford's Kelsey Ditto put herself into today's 800 freestyle final on the penultimate day of the national swimming championships in Irvine.

Taylor secured the last spot in the final by swimming 2:10.87 in the preliminary round, then finished in 2:11.72 in the nightcap for sixth place.

Taylor, the nation's third-rated recruit by CollegeSwimming.com, has reached three finals this week. Along with today's 200 butterfly, the Seattle native was seventh in Thursday's 400 individual medley and 11th in Tuesday's 400 freestyle.


Stanford grad Julia Smit goes for a title in the 100 free today. She has the fourth-best qualifying time.


Natalie Coughlin continues her comeback today by competing in the women's 100-meter freestyle.


Ryan Lochte beat Michael Phelps for the first time in a long-course medley at a major meet, winning the men's 200 individual medley. Lochte touched in 1 minute, 54.84 seconds, with Phelps second in 1:55.94. Their times were the two fastest in the world this year, while Lochte's time was fifth-quickest ever.


Cal's Nathan Adrian won the men's 100 freestyle with the world's second-fastest time -- 48.41 seconds.

PRO BASKETBALL

Tolliver mocks James with spoof

MINNEAPOLIS -- With the world waiting, Anthony Tolliver has finally announced his decision.

Tolliver said he has passed on returning to the Golden State Warriors and chosen to play for the Minnesota Timberwolves in a short video posted on YouTube that mocks superstar LeBron James' much-maligned "The Decision" special on ESPN last month.

Tolliver, a relatively unknown forward with 65 career games in the NBA, spent the last few days deciding between offers from the Timberwolves and the Warriors.

In a video entitled "The Decision: Part Deux!!" Tolliver spoofs all the attention given to James, who announced "I will be taking my talents to South Beach" in a one-hour television show on ESPN in July. The special broke hearts in Cleveland, disappointed fans in Chicago and New York, and brought heavy criticism on James and the network for the way it was handled.

Tolliver averaged 11.7 points and 7.0 rebounds for the Warriors and Portland last season.


Knicks: Even after losing all those games and an embarrassing sexual harassment lawsuit, Isiah Thomas has a place with the New York Knicks. Thomas was rehired Friday by the team as a consultant, two years after he was fired as its coach and president.


Celtics: Newly signed center Shaquille O'Neal asked his Twitter followers to come up with a new nickname suitable to his new city. In a variety of online polls, "The Big Shamrock" and "The Big Leprechaun" are leading the way along with "The Green Monster." Also receiving votes: "The Jolly Green Giant," "The Shamroq," "Red Auershaq," "Shaqachusetts" and "Tip-in O'Neal."


Signings: The Charlotte Bobcats signed undrafted rookie Sherron Collins to a two-year, non-guaranteed deal. ... The Oklahoma City Thunder signed rookie center Cole Aldrich, the No. 11 overall pick in the draft, to a two-year contract.

PRO BASEBALL

A's delay return of closer Bailey

OAKLAND -- The Oakland A's Andrew Bailey was eligible to come off the disabled list Friday, but that didn't happen. So it remains to be seen when the closer might be reinstated to the active roster. Bailey was placed on the disabled list July 30, retroactive to July 21, with an intercostal strain on his right side. He had a bullpen pitching session Wednesday that was supposed to be a prelude to his activation, but he had next-day soreness that prompted the A's to delay his return.


The A's had better news on outfielder Conor Jackson, who finally will see some action today in an Arizona Rookie League game. Jackson has been on the disabled list with a hamstring pull since July 5 and has played in just 14 games since being acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 14.


Tigers: Owner Mike Ilitch says manager Jim Leyland and general manager Dave Dombrowski will return next season. T The Tigers are 5-18 since the All-Star break.


Rays: First baseman Carlos Pena was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 1, because of a slightly torn ligament.


Rays manager Joe Maddon says baseball should give "strong consideration" to changing ground rules at Tropicana Field if Tampa Bay reaches the playoffs. The Rays fell out of a first-place tie in the AL East on Thursday by losing 8-6 to Minnesota, a game decided when Jason Kubel's two-out pop clanked off a catwalk and fell behind the pitcher's mound for a go-ahead single in the ninth inning.

National League roundup


Diamondbacks 2, Padres 1: Dan Hudson pitched into the eighth inning in his second start with Arizona to outduel Jon Garland in Phoenix, and Adam LaRoche hit his 18th homer.


Nationals 6, Dodgers 3: Adam Dunn hit a pair of three-run homers off Clayton Kershaw, tying a career high for RBIs, and the Washington Nationals beat the host Los Angeles Dodgers.


Cardinals 7, Marlins 0: Adam Wainwright pitched a two-hitter for his 16th victory, and Albert Pujols homered as St. Louis beat reeling Florida in Miami. Wainwright (16-6) struck out seven and walked three in his fifth complete game and second shutout this season.


Phillies 7, Mets 5: Carlos Ruiz singled in the go-ahead run during a six-run eighth inning in host Philadelphia's fifth straight win.


Rockies 6, Pirates 3: Sunnyvale native Troy Tulowitzki hit a tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the seventh, and Colorado snapped a seven-game road losing streak. Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez both had three hits for the Rockies.


Reds 3, Cubs 0: Bronson Arroyo allowed five hits over seven innings, and Cincinnati moved 14 games over .500 (62-48) for the first time in 11 years with the shutout win in Chicago. Ryan Hanigan's two-run homer in the second inning got the Reds rolling.


Brewers 6, Astros 5: Prince Fielder hit a two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning, capping Milwaukee's four-run rally for a wild victory over Houston.

American League roundup


Indians 7, Twins 6: Matt LaPorta homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give Cleveland the victory after Minnesota had tied it in the top half on a two-run single by Alexei Casilla off closer Chris Perez.


Orioles 2, White Sox 1: Adam Jones singled in the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning, and host Baltimore extended its unbeaten run under new manager Buck Showalter to 4-0.


Red Sox 6, Yankees 3: Catcher Francisco Cervilli dropped a routine infield pop-up, leading to three unearned runs that helped boost Clay Buchholz and Boston to victory in the opener a four-game series in New York.


Angels 4, Tigers 2: Jered Weaver allowed three hits over seven innings to best Justin Verlander, Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer and tossed a bag of baseballs onto the field after being ejected.


Blue Jays 2, Rays 1: Lyle Overbay doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and host Toronto handed Tampa Bay it third straight loss.


Mariners 7, Royals 1: Chone Figgins drove in three runs, and Ryan Langerhans had three hits, including a homer, to help host Seattle beat Kansas City's Zack Greinke for the first time.

PRO TENNIS

No U.S. men at top for first time

Thanks to players such as Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe, then Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, and, lately, Andy Roddick, there always has been at least one man from the United States in tennis' top 10 since the computer rankings began in 1973. That streak will end next week. With Roddick sliding from No. 9 to no better than No. 12 when the new rankings are issued Monday, the ATP said, it will be the first time zero U.S. men are among the top 10.


Knee pain forced Venus Williams to withdraw from next week's Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open in Cincinnati.


Stanford grads Bob and Mike Bryan lost in the second round of doubles at the Legg Mason Classic in Washington. Less than a week after winning their record 62nd ATP doubles title, the twins fell 7-6 (6), 7-5 to Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi.


Flavia Pennetta reached the semifinals of the Mercury Insurance Open with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Samantha Stosur in Carlsbad. Pennetta's win over No. 2 Stosur means all three of the top seeds have been ousted.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Tide rolls to top of coaches poll

Defending national champion Alabama is No. 1 atop the USA Today preseason coaches' poll.

Boise State will begin the season ranked No. 5. The Broncos, like Alabama, finished last season 14-0.

The Crimson Tide got 55 of 59 possible first place votes. The other four went to Ohio State, which is No. 2 in the newspaper's ranking. Florida is third, followed by Texas.

Stanford is not ranked. The Cardinal received 41 votes, good for 32nd. Oregon (11) and Oregon State (22) are the only Pac-10 teams ranked, though Utah, which joins the league next year, is ranked 24th.

PRO GOLF

Mickelson takes aim at No. 1

Phil Mickelson is closing in on No. 1. The first step is to make up a one-shot deficit against Retief Goosen, the 36-hole leader at the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Looking more inevitable is Mickelson finally supplanting Tiger Woods atop the world ranking.

Goosen turned bogey into birdie by chipping in from 25 yards off the green at No. 4, sending him on his way to a 4-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead over Mickelson (68) and Justin Leonard (66) going into the weekend at Firestone Country Club.

Goosen was at 7-under 133 as he tries to win his first World Golf Championship tournament.

Even as Goosen led another assault on par in soft conditions, Woods continued to look as ordinary as ever. The seven-time champion at Firestone hit only three fairways and stumbled to a 2-over 72 that put him 13 shots out of the lead and five players removed from last place.

Woods had no intention of speaking to reporters, instead walking to his car and driving away.


Alex Cejka shot a 4-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead in the Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, N.Y. Chris Tidland (69) and Rory Sabbatini (70) shared second at 9-under 135. Wind gusts reached 30 mph throughout the day.


Tommy Armour III shot a 9-under 63 and had a one-stroke lead over Mark Calcavecchia and David Frost at the Champions Tour's 3M Championship in Blaine, Minn.


MISCELLANY

Elsewhere


Stanford women's basketball players Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Kayla Pedersen were among 25 players named to watch list for the Wade Trophy, which is given to the nation's top player. They are the Pac-10's only representatives on the list.


San Jose-raised AJ Allmendinger, 28, signed a multiyear contract extension with Richard Petty Motorsports.


A person familiar with the 2011 NASCAR schedule said that the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., will get a second race next year


Athletic gear maker Nike and the bicycle maker (Trek Bicycle Corp.) that sponsors Lance Armstrong's RadioShack team are cooperating with federal authorities investigating the seven-time Tour de France champion and others.


The Minnesota Wild signed center John Madden on a one-year, $1 million contract. Madden, 37, had 10 goals and 13 assists for Chicago last season.


Edmonton signed former NHL goalie Martin Gerber to a one-year deal. Gerber, 35, played with Altant Moscow of the Continental Hockey League last season.


New York Red Bulls midfielders Luke Sassano (ankle) and Brian Nielsen (knee) had season-ending surgeries. Also, the Red Bulls put Mexican national team captain Rafael Marquez on their roster.


The AVP Tour postponed the San Francisco event scheduled for AT&T Park on Aug. 15-16 so it can have more time to get its finances in order. The event is now scheduled for Little Marina Green Park on Sept. 11-12.