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Fire Works

2011-07-04T23:59:00.000-07:00

Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics) is a display of the effects produced by firework devices. Fireworks competitions are also regularly held at a number of places. Fireworks (devices) take many forms to produce the four primary effects: noise, light, smoke, and floating materials (confetti for example). They may be designed to burn with colored flames and sparks including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and silver. Displays are common throughout the world and are the focal point of many cultural and religious celebrations.
Fireworks were invented in China in the 7th century to scare away evil spirits, as a natural extension of one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China, gunpowder. Such important events and festivities as Chinese New Year and the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival were and still are times when fireworks are guaranteed sights. China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks in the world.
Fireworks are generally classified as to where they perform, either as a ground or aerial firework. In the latter case they may provide their own propulsion (skyrocket) or be shot into the air by a mortar (aerial shell).
The most common feature of fireworks is a paper or pasteboard tube or casing filled with the combustible material, often pyrotechnic stars. A number of these tubes or cases are often combined so as to make, when kindled, a great variety of sparkling shapes, often variously colored. The skyrocket is a common form of firework, although the first skyrockets were used in war. Such rocket technology has also been used for the delivery of mail by rocket and is used as propulsion for most model rockets. The aerial shell is the backbone of today's commercial aerial display. A smaller version for consumer use is known as the festival ball in the United States.
Ground fireworks, although less popular than aerial ones, create a stunning exhibition. These types of fireworks can produce various shapes, ranging from simple rotating circles, stars and 3D globes.

History
The earliest documentation of fireworks dates back to 7th century China where they were first used to frighten away evil spirits with their loud sound (鞭炮/鞭砲 biān pào) and to pray for happiness and prosperity. Chinese children grow up with folk stories about one-footed monsters who could be scared away by roasting bamboo for the purpose of producing a loud bang.
Eventually the art and science of firework making developed into an independent profession. In ancient China, pyrotechnicians (firework-masters) were respected for their knowledge and skill in mounting dazzling displays of light and sound. A record in 1264 states that the speed of the rocket-propelled 'ground-rat' firework frightened the Empress Dowager Gong Sheng during a feast held in her honor by her son Emperor Lizong of Song (r. 1224–1264). By the 14th century rocket propulsion was common in warfare, as evidenced by the Huolongjing compiled by Liu Ji (1311–1375) and Jiao Yu (fl. c. 1350–1412).
However, in China, fireworks for ceremonies and celebrations were mostly for royalties and the rich before the 14th century. It was only in the Ming Dynasty that any event for common people — a birth, a wedding, a business opening, or a New Year's Eve celebration — became a fitting occasion for fireworks and other noisemakers.
Amédée-François Frézier published a "Treatise on Fireworks" in 1706, covering the recreational and ceremonial uses of fireworks, rather than their military uses. The book became a standard text for fireworks makers.
Music for the Royal Fireworks was composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749 to celebrate the peace Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which had been declared the previous year.

safety
Improper use of fireworks may be dangerous, both to the person operating them (risks of burns and wounds) and to bystanders; in addition, they may start fires after landing on flammable material. For this reason, the use of fireworks is generally legally restricted. Display fireworks are restricted by law for use by professionals; consumer items, available to the public, are smaller versions containing limited amounts of explosive material to reduce potential danger. Fireworks may pose a problem for animals, both domestic and wild, who can be terrified by the noise, leading to them running away or hurting themselves on fences or in other ways in an attempt to escape.

Competitions

Main article: Fireworks competitions
Pyrotechnical competitions involving fireworks are held in many countries. One of the most prestigious fireworks competition is the Montreal Fireworks Festival, an annual competition held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Another magnificent competition is Le Festival d’Art Pyrotechnique held in the summer annually at the Bay of Cannes in Côte d'Azur, France. The World Pyro Olympics is an annual competition amongst the top fireworks companies in the world. It is held in Manila, Philippines. The event is one of the largest and most intense international fireworks competitions.
Fireworks world records

The current Guinness World Records as of 5 November 2007 are
Largest Catherine wheel
A self-propelled vertical firework wheel 25.95 m (85 ft) in diameter was designed by the Newick Bonfire Society Ltd and fired for at least one revolution on 30 October 1999 at the Village Green, Newick, East Sussex, UK. The Lily Fireworks Factory, Mqabba, Malta currently possess this record, burning a Catherine Wheel with a diameter of 32 metres, on June 18th, 2011.

Largest firework display
The record for the largest firework display consisted of 66,326 fireworks and was achieved by Macedo'S Pirotecnia Lda. in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, on 31 December 2006.

Longest firework waterfall
The world's longest firework waterfall was the 'Niagara Falls', which measured 3,125.79 m (10,255 ft 2.5 in) when ignited on 24 August 2003 at the Ariake Seas Fireworks Festival, Fukuoka, Japan.

Most firework rockets launched in 30 seconds
The record for the most firework rockets launched in 30 seconds is 56,405, in an attempt organized by Dr Roy Lowry (UK), executed by Fantastic Fireworks, at the 10th British Firework Championship in Plymouth, UK, on 16 August 2006.
Largest bonfire

The largest bonfire had an overall volume of 1,401.6 m³ (49,497 ft³). The bonfire was built by Colin Furze (UK) in Thistleton, Leicestershire, UK, and lit on 14 October 2006.

Tallest bonfire
The world's tallest bonfire tondo measured 37.5 m (123 ft) high, with a base of 8 m² (86 ft²) and an overall volume of 800 m³ (28,251 ft³). The event was organized by Kure Commemorative Centennial Events Committee, and lit on 9 February 2003 at Gohara-cho, Hiroshima, Japan, as part of a traditional ceremony to encourage good health and a generous harvest.

New explosives classes
The U.S. government now uses the United Nations explosives shipping classification system. This new system is based on hazard in shipping only, vs. the old USA system of both shipping and use hazards. The BATF and most states performed a direct substitution of Shipping Class 1.3 for Class B, and Shipping Class 1.4 for Class C. This allows some hazardous items that would have previously been classified as Class B and regulated to be classified as Shipping Class 1.4 due to some packaging method that confines any explosion to the package. Being Shipping Class 1.4, they can now be sold to the general public and are unregulated by the BATF.
A code number and suffix (such as 1.3G) is not enough to fully describe a material and how it is regulated, especially in Shipping Class 1.4G. It also must have a UN Number that exactly describes the material. For example, common consumer fireworks are UN0336, or Shipping Class 1.4G UN0336.
Here are some common fireworks classes:
Class 1.1G (Mass Explosion Possible:Pyrotechnics) UN0094 Flashpowder
Class 1.1G (Mass Explosion Possible:Pyrotechnics) UN0333 Fireworks (Salutes in bulk or in manufacture)
Class 1.2G (Projection but not mass explosion:Pyrotechnics) UN0334 Fireworks (Rarely used)
Class 1.3G (Fire, Minor Blast:Pyrotechnics) UN0335 Fireworks (Most Display Fireworks) Current federal law states that without appropriate ATF license/permit, the possession or sale of any display/professional fireworks is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Any ground salute device with over 50 milligrams of explosive composition
Torpedoes (except for railroad signaling use)
Multi-tube devices containing over 500 grams of pyrotechnic composition and without 1/2" space between each tube
Any multiple tube fountains with over 500 grams of pyrotechnic composition and without 1/2" space between each tube
Any reloadable aerial shells over 1.75" diameter
Display shells
Any single-shot or reloadable aerial shell/mine/comet/tube with over 60 grams of pyrotechnic composition
Any Roman candle or rocket with over 20 grams of pyrotechnic composition
Any aerial salute with over 130 milligrams of explosive composition
Class 1.4G (Minor Explosion Hazard Confined To Package:Pyrotechnics) UN0336 Fireworks (Consumer or Common Fireworks) Most popular consumer fireworks sold in the US.
Reloadable aerial shells 1.75" or less sold in a box with not more than 12 shells and one launching tube
Single-shot aerial tubes
Bottle rockets
Skyrockets and missiles
Ground spinners, pinwheels and helicopters
Flares & fountains
Roman candles
Smoke and novelty items
Multi-shot aerial devices, or "cakes"
Firecracker packs (see this link for various brand/label images). Although some firecracker items may be called "M-80's", "M-1000's", "Cherry bombs" or "Silver Salutes" by the manufacturer, they must contain less than 50 milligrams of flash or other explosive powder in order to be legally sold to consumers in the United States.
Sparklers
Catherine wheel
black snakes and strobes
Mines
Class 1.4S (Minor Explosion Hazard Confined To Package: Packed As To Not Hinder Nearby Firefighters) UN0336 Fireworks (Consumer or Common Fireworks)
Class 1.4G (Minor Explosion Hazard Confined To Package:Pyrotechnics) UN0431 ARTICLES, PYROTECHNIC for technical purposes (Proximate Pyrotechnics)
Class 1.4S (Minor Explosion Hazard Confined To Package: Packed As To Not Hinder Nearby Firefighters) UN0432 ARTICLES, PYROTECHNIC for technical purposes (Proximate Pyrotechnics)
Fireworks tubes are made by rolling thick paper tightly around a former, such as a dowel. They can be made by hand, most firework factories use machinery to manufacture tubes. Whenever tubes are used in fireworks, at least one end is always plugged with clay to keep both chemicals and burning gases from escaping through that end. The tooling is always made of non-sparking materials such as aluminium or brass. Experts at handling explosives, called pyrotechnicians, add chemicals for special effects.

Pyrotechnic compounds
Colors in fireworks are usually generated by pyrotechnic stars—usually just called stars—which produce intense light when ignited. Stars contain five basic types of ingredients.
A fuel which allows the star to burn
An oxidizer—a compound which produces (usually) oxygen to support the combustion of the fuel
Color-producing chemicals
A binder which holds the pellet together.
A chlorine donor which provides chlorine to strengthen the color of the flame. Sometimes the oxidizer can serve this purpose.
Some of the more common color-producing compounds are tabulated here. The color of a compound in a firework will be the same as its color in a flame test (shown at right). Not all compounds that produce a colored flame are appropriate for coloring fireworks, however. Ideal colorants will produce a pure, intense color when present in moderate concentration.

Josh Groban

2011-07-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in this country.To date, he has sold over 27 million albums worldwide.
Groban originally studied acting but as his voice changed, it developed into a "significant instrument". The event that changed Groban's life was when his vocal coach, Seth Riggs, submitted a tape of Josh singing, "All I Ask of You", from The Phantom of the Opera, to Riggs' friend, renowned producer, composer and arranger David Foster. Foster called him to stand in for an ailing Andrea Bocelli to rehearse a duet, "The Prayer," with Celine Dion at the rehearsal for the Grammy Awards in 1998.Groban, being shy, reluctantly agreed. Rosie O'Donnell was so impressed that she immediately invited him to appear on her daytime talk show.He got another big break when Foster asked him to sing at the California Governor's Gray Davis' 1999 inauguration.His name and career soared with the public recognition he received, after being cast on Ally McBeal by the show's creator David E. Kelley, who asked him to perform "You're Still You" for the show's 2001 season finale.

arly life and education

Groban was born in Los Angeles to Lindy, a school teacher and full time mother,and Jack Groban, a businessman. His father is of Jewish background and a descendant of Russian and Polish immigrants.His mother is Norwegian American, the daughter of immigrants from the eastern Norwegian district of Toten.His parents joined the Episcopal Church after his father's conversion from Judaism to Christianity.Chris, his younger brother, shares the same birthday, four years later.
Groban debuted as a singer in the seventh grade. His music teacher chose him to sing a solo of "S'wonderful" at the school's Cabaret Night, where he sang alone on stage for the first time. At this time, he was more focused on theatrical arts.He transferred from a traditional school to Bridges Academy because, he explains, "I didn't feel that I was getting enough creative input. So I went to Bridges Academy to get my grades up to straight A's."[citation needed] There he was permitted to take regular classes from 9 AM to 1 PM, and attend theater classes in the afternoon.[citation needed] In the summers of 1997 and 1998, he also attended the Interlochen Center for the Arts Camp in Michigan, majoring in music theatre, and began taking vocal lessons. Groban went on to attend the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a theatre major and graduated in 1999. He was admitted to Carnegie Mellon University, intending to study drama, but he left four months into his first semester. Offered a recording contract, he decided to pursue his singing career.

Career

Early career
In late 1998, the 17-year-old Groban was introduced by his vocal coach to Grammy-winning producer/arranger David Foster and future manager Brian Avnet. At the time Groban had no recording experience and was preparing to begin studying at Carnegie Institute of Technology.Groban worked for David Foster as a rehearsal singer on a series of high-profile events, including the January 1999 inauguration of Gray Davis as Governor of California and the 1999 Grammy Awards where — as a stand-in for Andrea Bocelli — he rehearsed Foster's "The Prayer" with Céline Dion. According to manager Avnet, Groban was very nervous about standing in for Bocelli and had to be talked into it, but his performance prompted the show hostess, Rosie O'Donnell, to ask him to appear on her show the following week, which then led to an appearance on the Ally McBeal show. David E. Kelley, creator of the television series Ally McBeal, created a character, Malcolm Wyatt, for Groban in the season finale aired in May 2001. The character of Malcolm Wyatt was so popular, prompting 8,000 emails from viewers, that Groban was asked to return the next season to reprise his role and perform "To Where You Are." Avnet claims this sequence of events effectively got Groban's career off the ground.
Groban was offered a recording contract at Warner Bros. Records through Foster's 143 Records imprint. Avnet told HitQuarters that Warner initially proved resistant to the deal because, "They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to get a voice like that on radio."Explaining his reasons for signing the artist Foster said: "I love his natural ability in the pop and rock arena, but I love his sense of classics even more. He's a true musical force to be reckoned with." Under Foster's influence, Groban's first album focused more on classics such as "Gira Con Me Questa Notte" and "Alla Luce Del Sole."
Groban performed "There For Me" with Sarah Brightman on her 2000–01 La Luna World Tour, and was featured on her "La Luna" concert DVD. He recorded "For Always" with Lara Fabian on the movie soundtrack to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001). Groban performed in many benefit shows, including: "The Andre Agassi Grand Slam Event For Children," singing alongside Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Don Henley, and Robin Williams; "Muhammad Ali's Fight Night Foundation" which honored Michael J. Fox and others; "The Family Celebration" (2001), which was co-hosted by President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and David E. Kelley and his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer; and Michael Milken's CapCure event, which raises funds for cancer research.
The singer's self-titled debut album Josh Groban was released on November 20, 2001. Over the next year, it went from gold to double-platinum.
On February 24, 2002, Groban performed "The Prayer" with Charlotte Church at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and by November, he had his own PBS special, "Josh Groban In Concert" (2002). In December 2002, he performed "To Where You Are" and sang "The Prayer" in a duet with Sissel Kyrkjebø at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway. He joined The Corrs, Ronan Keating, Sting, Lionel Richie, and others for a Christmas performance at the Vatican in Rome, Italy. In 2003, Groban performed at the David Foster concert for World Children's Day, singing "The Prayer" with Celine Dion and the finale song, "Aren't They All Our Children?" with artists including Yolanda Adams, Nick Carter, Enrique Iglesias, and Celine Dion.

Notable performancesOn April 14, 2007, Groban joined Idina Menzel for a PBS Soundstage taping. The next day, he held his own taping for the same PBS TV series at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall at Jazz in New York City.
In June 2007, Groban recorded a Christmas album in London with the London Symphony Orchestra and the Magdalen College Choir, which he discussed on the DVD from "The Making of Noël". It was released on October 9, 2007 and is titled Noël.The album has been highly successful in the US breaking numerous records for a Christmas album, as well as becoming the best selling album of 2007 in only its tenth week of release, at sales of 3.6 million.
On July 1, 2007, Groban performed with Sarah Brightman at the Concert for Diana at Wembley Stadium; it was broadcast to over 500 million homes in 140 countries.
On August 23, 2007, Groban performed "You Raise Me Up" on Episode 14 of the talent show Last Choir Standing.
Groban was nominated for the 2008 Juno Award for International Album of the Year for Noël. In collaboration with French legend Charles Aznavour, he recorded Aznavour's signature song La Bohème as a duet in English and French. It is due to be released on Aznavour's next album, titled Duets.
On February 10, 2008, Groban performed at the 2008 Grammy Awards with Andrea Bocelli in a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti.
On May 12 and 13, 2008, Groban performed as Anatoly Sergievsky in "Chess in Concert" at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
On July 15, 2008, Groban performed "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch at the 79th All-Star Game in New York City at Yankee Stadium.
On August 29, 2008, Groban appeared on the final episode of The Charlotte Church Show for a brief interview. The show ended as Groban performed "The Prayer" with host Charlotte Church.
On September 21, 2008, Groban performed a comical medley of well-known TV theme songs at the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
In December 2008, Groban appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He performed a duet with Only Men Aloud! at the Royal Variety Show at the London Palladium for the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
On January 18, 2009, Groban performed as part of the Presidential Inauguration ceremonies, performing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in duet with Heather Headley.
On January, 19. 2009, Groban performed with Herbie Hancock as part of Feeding America's Rally Against Hunger in Washington DC. The event was also attended by Martin Luther King III and actor Ben Affleck.
On January 20, 2009, Groban performed at the Warner Theatre - Heroes Red, White & Blue Inaugural Ball, Washington, DC
On March 28, 2009, Groban performed a duet of "Bridge over Troubled Water" with Jordin Sparks for the charity event Celebrity Fight Night.
In March 2009, Groban covered the hits of the late Casey Tatum and his brother on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!.
On September 14, 2009, Groban appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and surprised an audience member.
Two days later he made the first of two appearances on Glee, playing himself. His second appearance was in the Season 1 finale Journey to Regionals.
Groban was featured in Nelly Furtado's song "Silencio", which was released on September 1, 2009. This song is from Nelly's first full length Spanish album Mi Plan.
At the 2010 BCS National Championship Game, he performed the Star Spangled Banner on Jan. 7, 2010 with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, at the historic Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California.
On November 30, 2010, Groban performed at the New York Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting.
On December 18, 2010, Groban performed at the Carols in the Domain in Sydney, Australia.
On December 21, 2010, Groban returned to BBC Two's Never Mind the Buzzcocks, this time as guest host and ending the show duetting with Michael Ball in a version of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables.
On March 4, 2011, Groban filled in for Regis Philbin on Live with Regis and Kelly, where he interviewed Heather Locklear and LaToya Jackson and performed "Higher Window" from his latest CD "Illuminations".
On April 15, 2011, Groban performed on The Late Late Show in Ireland, which is the longest running chat show in the world.

Vocal technique

Various music critics have described Groban's voice in different ways, with some referring to him as a tenor and others as a baritone. In performance, Groban's music goes as low as G2 (as in the song "To Where You Are") and extends up to at least B♭4(as heard in "You Raise Me Up" or "February Song"). This places his voice lower than the tenor range on the low end, and just short of Tenor C, and therefore above the baritone range, on the high end. There is currently no authoritative system of voice classification in non-classical music. The problem lies in the fact that classical terms are used to describe not merely various vocal ranges, but specific vocal timbres each unique to those respective ranges, and produced by the classical training techniques with which most popular singers are not intimately familiar and which are not universally employed by the few that are. In a 2002 New York Times article, Groban described himself as a "tenor in training".

Charity
Under the guidance of his mentor David Foster, Groban performed for many charity events that included VH1 Save the Music (2005), Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope (2005), Fifth Adopt-A-Annual Minefield concert (2005), 2nd Annual Grammy Jam (2005), Live 8 (2005), The Heart Foundation Gala (2005), and David Foster and Friends Charity Gala (2006). He also sang a solo on the recording of We Are The World 25 for Haiti (2010). Inspired by a visit with Nelson Mandela during a 2004 trip to South Africa, he established the Josh Groban Foundation to help children in need through education, healthcare and the arts. Mandela appointed Groban as an Official Ambassador for Mandela's Project 46664, a campaign to help raise Global awareness of HIV/AIDS in Africa. On April 25, 2007, Josh Groban performed with the African Children's Choir on American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" episode. Also on September 2, 2007, Groban donated $150,000 to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to fund music education.[44] On February 28, 2008, he appeared in One Night Live at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada with Bryan Adams, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden and RyanDan in aid of the Sunnybrook Hospital Women and Babies Program. In honor of his 27th birthday, his fans set out to raise $27,000 in a project called "Raise 27". They ended up raising a total of $44,227 for the Josh Groban Foundation, to benefit the Noah's Ark children's orphanage called Siyawela in South Africa. Groban has since referred to this donation as "the best birthday present ever".For those who could afford the $1500 ticket, Josh Groban performed at the The Angel Ball on October 21, 2010. Proceeds went to the Gabrielles Angel Foundation for cancer research

Steve Martin

2011-07-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer.
Martin was born in Waco, Texas, and raised in Southern California, where his early influences were working at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm and working magic and comedy acts at these and other smaller venues in the area. His ascent to fame picked up when he became a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and later became a frequent guest on The Tonight Show. In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before packed houses on national tours. Since the 1980s, having branched away from stand-up comedy, he has become a successful actor, playwright, pianist, banjo player, and juggler, eventually earning Emmy, Grammy, and American Comedy awards.

Early life

Martin was born in Waco, Texas, the son of Mary Lee Martin and Glenn Vernon Martin, a real estate salesman and an aspiring actor.Martin was raised in Inglewood, California, and then later in Garden Grove, California, in a Baptist family. One of his earliest memories is of seeing his father, as an extra, serving drinks onstage at the Call Board Theatre on Melrose Place. During World War II, in England, Martin's father had appeared in a production of Our Town with Raymond Massey. Years later, he would write to Massey for help in Steve's fledgling career, but would receive no reply. Expressing his affection through gifts of cars, bikes, etc., Martin's father was stern, not emotionally open to his son.He was proud but critical, with Martin later recalling that in his teens his feelings for his father were mostly ones of hatred.Martin's first job was at Disneyland, selling guidebooks on weekends and full-time during the summer school break. That lasted for three years (1955–1958). During his free time he frequented the Main Street Magic shop, where tricks were demonstrated to potential customers.By 1960, he had mastered several of the tricks and illusions, and took a paying job there in August. There he perfected his talents for magic, juggling, and creating balloon animals, frequently performing for tips.In his authorized biography, close friend Morris Walker suggests that Martin could "be described most accurately as an agnostic he rarely went to church and was never involved in organized religion of his own volition".

Comedy
After high school graduation, Martin attended Santa Ana Junior College, taking classes in drama and English poetry. In his free time, he teamed up with friend and Garden Grove High School classmate Kathy Westmoreland to participate in comedies and other productions at the Bird Cage Theatre. He joined a comedy troupe at Knott's Berry Farm.Later, he met budding actress Stormie Sherk, and they developed comedy routines while becoming romantically involved. Stormie's influence caused Steve to apply to the California State University, Long Beach, for enrollment with a major in Philosophy. Stormie enrolled at UCLA, about an hour's drive north, and the distance eventually caused them to lead separate lives.
Being inspired by his philosophy classes, for a short while he considered becoming a professor instead of an actor-comedian. His time at college changed his life. "It changed what I believe and what I think about everything. I majored in philosophy. Something about non-sequiturs appealed to me. In philosophy, I started studying logic, and they were talking about cause and effect, and you start to realize, 'Hey, there is no cause and effect! There is no logic! There is no anything!' Then it gets real easy to write this stuff, because all you have to do is twist everything hard—you twist the punch line, you twist the non sequitur so hard away from the things that set it up".In an article in Smithsonian magazine he recalled, "In a college psychology class, I had read a treatise on comedy explaining that a laugh was formed when the storyteller created tension, then, with the punch line, released it. I didn't quite get this concept, nor do I still . What if there were no punch lines? What if there were no indicators? What if I created tension and never released it? What if I headed for a climax, but all I delivered was an anticlimax? What would the audience do with all that tension? Theoretically, it would have to come out sometime. But if I kept denying them the formality of a punch line, the audience would eventually pick their own place to laugh, essentially out of desperation. My first reviews came in. One said, 'This so-called "comedian" should be told that jokes are supposed to have punch lines.' Another said I represented 'the most serious booking error in the history of Los Angeles music.' "Martin periodically spoofed his philosophy studies in his 1970s stand-up act, comparing philosophy with studying geology. "If you're studying geology, which is all facts, as soon as you get out of school you forget it all, but philosophy you remember just enough to screw you up for the rest of your life."
In 1967, Martin transferred to UCLA and switched his major to theater. While attending college, he appeared in an episode of The Dating Game. Martin began working local clubs at night, to mixed notices, and at twenty-one he dropped out of college.

Career
Early career – stand-up
In 1967, his former girlfriend Nina Goldblatt, a dancer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, helped Martin land a writing job with the show by submitting his work to head writer Mason Williams. Williams initially paid Martin out of his own pocket. Along with the other writers for the show, Martin won an Emmy Award in 1969, aged 23.He also wrote for John Denver (a neighbor of his in Aspen, Colorado, at one point), The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Martin's first TV appearance was on The Steve Allen Show in 1969. He says: "[I] appeared on The Virginia Graham Show, circa 1970. I looked grotesque. I had a hairdo like a helmet, which I blow-dried to a puffy bouffant, for reasons I no longer understand. I wore a frock coat and a silk shirt, and my delivery was mannered, slow and self-aware. I had absolutely no authority. After reviewing the show, I was depressed for a week."During these years his roommates included comedian Gary Mule Deer and singer/guitarist Michael Johnson. Martin opened for groups such as The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Carpenters, and Toto. He appeared at San Francisco's The Boarding House, among other venues. He continued to write, earning an Emmy nomination for his work on Van Dyke and Company in 1976.
In the mid-1970s, Martin made frequent appearances as a stand-up comedian on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.,and on The Gong Show, HBO's On Location and NBC's Saturday Night Live (SNL). SNL's audience jumped by a million viewers when he made guest appearances, though despite a common misconception, he was never a cast member.Martin has guest-hosted Saturday Night Live 15 times, as of January 2009, tied in numbers of presentations with host Alec Baldwin. On the show, Martin popularized the air quotes gesture, which uses four fingers to make double quote marks in the air. While on the show Martin became close with several of the cast members, including Gilda Radner. On the day Radner died of ovarian cancer in 1989, Martin was hosting SNL and featured footage of himself and Radner together in a 1978 sketch.
His TV appearances in the 1970s led to the release of comedy albums that went platinum. The track "Excuse Me" on his first album, Let's Get Small, helped establish a national catch phrase.[4] His next album, A Wild and Crazy Guy (1978), was an even bigger success, reaching the No.2 spot on the US sales chart, selling over a million copies. "Just a wild and crazy guy" became another of Martin's known catch phrases.The album featured a character based on a series of Saturday Night Live sketches where Martin and Dan Aykroyd played "Georgi" and "Yortuk" the Festrunk Brothers, a couple of bumbling Czechoslovak would-be playboys. The album ends with the song "King Tut", sung and written by Martin and backed by the "Toot Uncommons", members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It was later released as a single, reaching No.17 on the US charts in 1978 and selling over a million copies.The song came out during the King Tut craze that accompanied the popular traveling exhibit of the Egyptian king's tomb artifacts. Both albums won Grammys for Best Comedy Recording in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Martin performed "King Tut" on the April 22, 1978 edition of SNL.
On his comedy albums, Martin's stand-up is self-referential and sometimes self-mocking. It mixes philosophical riffs with sudden spurts of "happy feet", banjo playing with balloon depictions of concepts like venereal disease, and the controversial kitten juggling (he is a master juggler). His style is off-kilter and ironic, and sometimes pokes fun at stand-up comedy traditions, such as Martin opening his act (from A Wild and Crazy Guy) by saying, "I think there's nothing better for a person to come up and do the same thing over and over for two weeks. This is what I enjoy, so I'm going to do the same thing over and over and over I'm going to do the same joke over and over in the same show, it'll be like a new thing." Or: "Hello, I'm Steve Martin, and I'll be out here in a minute." In one comedy routine, used on the Comedy Is Not Pretty! album, Martin claimed that his real name was "Gern Blanston". The riff took on a life of its own. There is a Gern Blanston website, and for a time a rock band took the moniker as their name.He stopped stand-up in 1981 to concentrate on movies and never went back.

Acting career – film
By the end of the 1970s, Martin had acquired the kind of following normally reserved for rock stars, with his tour appearances typically occurring at sold-out arenas filled with tens of thousands of screaming fans. But unknown to his audience, stand-up comedy was "just an accident" for him; his real goal was to get into film.

Martin's first film was a short, The Absent-Minded Waiter (1977). The seven-minute-long film, also featuring Buck Henry and Teri Garr, was written by and starred Martin. The film was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Short Film, Live Action. He made his first feature film appearance in the musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, where he sang The Beatles' "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". In 1979, Martin co-wrote and starred in his first full-length movie, The Jerk, directed by Carl Reiner. The movie was a huge success, grossing over $100 million on a budget of approximately $4 million.
Stanley Kubrick met with him to discuss the possibility of Martin starring in a screwball comedy version of Traumnovelle (Kubrick later changed his approach to the material, the result of which was 1999's Eyes Wide Shut). Martin was executive producer for Domestic Life, a prime-time television series starring friend Martin Mull, and a late-night series called Twilight Theater. It emboldened Martin to try his hand at his first serious film, Pennies from Heaven, a movie he was anxious to perform in because of his desire to avoid being typecast. To prepare for that film, Martin took acting lessons from director Herbert Ross, and spent months learning how to tap dance. The film was a financial failure; Martin's comment at the time was "I don't know what to blame, other than it's me and not a comedy."
Martin was in three more Reiner-directed comedies after The Jerk: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid in 1982, The Man with Two Brains in 1983 and All of Me in 1984, possibly his most critically acclaimed comic performance to date.In 1986, Martin joined fellow Saturday Night Live veterans Martin Short and Chevy Chase in ¡Three Amigos!, directed by John Landis, and written by Martin, Lorne Michaels, and singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It was originally entitled The Three Caballeros and Martin was to be teamed with Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. In 1986, Martin was in the movie musical film version of the hit Off-Broadway play Little Shop of Horrors (based on a famous B-movie), playing the sadistic dentist, Orin Scrivello. The film was the first of three films teaming Martin with Rick Moranis. In 1987, Martin joined comedian John Candy in the John Hughes movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles. That same year, Roxanne, the film adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac which Martin co-wrote, won him a Writers Guild of America, East award. It also garnered recognition from Hollywood and the public that he was more than a comedian. In 1988, he performed in the Frank Oz remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels alongside Michael Caine.
Martin starred in the Ron Howard film Parenthood, with Moranis in 1989. He later met with Moranis to make the Mafia comedy My Blue Heaven in 1990. In 1991, Martin starred in and wrote L.A. Story, a romantic comedy, in which the female lead was played by his then-wife Victoria Tennant. Martin also appeared in Lawrence Kasdan's Grand Canyon, in which he played the tightly-wound Hollywood film producer, Davis, who was recovering from a traumatic robbery that left him injured, which was a more serious role for him. Martin also appeared in a remake of the comedy Father of the Bride in 1991 (followed by a sequel in 1995). He starred in the 1992 comedy HouseSitter, with Goldie Hawn and Dana Delany.
In David Mamet's 1997 thriller, The Spanish Prisoner, Martin played a darker role as a wealthy stranger who takes a suspicious interest in the work of a young businessman (Campbell Scott). He went on to star with Eddie Murphy in the 1999 comedy Bowfinger, which Martin also wrote. He appeared in a version of Waiting for Godot as Vladimir, with Robin Williams as Estragon and Bill Irwin as Lucky. In 1998, Martin guest starred with U2 in the 200th episode of The Simpsons titled "Trash of the Titans", providing the voice for sanitation commissioner Ray Patterson. In 1999, Martin and Hawn starred in a remake of the 1970 Neil Simon comedy, The Out-of-Towners. By 2003, Martin ranked 4th on the box office stars list, after starring in Bringing Down The House and Cheaper By The Dozen, each of which earned over $130 million at U.S. theaters. That same year, he also played the villainous Mr. Chairman in the animation/live action blend, "Looney Tunes: Back in Action".
Martin wrote and starred in Shopgirl (2005), based on his own novella (2000), and starred in Cheaper by the Dozen 2. He also starred in the box office hit The Pink Panther in 2006, standing in Peter Sellers's shoes as the bumbling Inspector Clouseau, a role which he reprised in 2009's The Pink Panther 2. In Baby Mama (2008), he played the founder of a health food company, and in It's Complicated (2009), he played opposite Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin. In 2009, an article in The Guardian listed Martin as one of the best actors never to receive an Oscar nomination.
He is set to appear with Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and JoBeth Williams in the birdwatching comedy The Big Year in 2011.

Hosting
Martin hosted Academy Awards solo in 2001 and 2003 and with Alec Baldwin in 2010.[31] In 2005, Martin co-hosted Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years, marking the park's anniversary. Disney continued to run the show until March 2009, which now plays in the lobby of Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.

Personal life
Martin was romantically involved with actress and singer Bernadette Peters, his costar in the films The Jerk and Pennies from Heaven, during the 1970s and early 1980s. He married actress Victoria Tennant on November 20, 1986, and the union lasted until 1994. On July 28, 2007, after three years together, Martin married Anne Stringfield, a writer and former staffer for The New Yorker magazine. Former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey presided over the ceremony at Martin's Los Angeles home. Lorne Michaels, creator of Saturday Night Live, was best man. Several of the guests, including close friends Tom Hanks, Eugene Levy, comedian Carl Reiner, and magician/actor Ricky Jay were not informed that a wedding ceremony would take place. Instead, they were told they were invited to a party, and were surprised by the nuptials.[
Investigators at Berlin's state criminal police office (LKA) think that Martin was one victim of a German art forgery scandal. In July 2004 Martin purchased what he believed to be a 1915 work by the German-Dutch painter Heinrich Campendonk, "Landschaft mit Pferden," or "Landscape With Horses," from a Paris gallery for what should have been a bargain price in the neighborhood of €700,000 (around $850,000 at the time). Before the purchase an expert authenticated the work and identified the painter's signature on a label attached to the back. Fifteen months later Martin put the painting up for sale, and auction house Christie's dispose of it in February 2006 to a Swiss businesswoman for €500,000 – a loss of €200,000. Police believe the fake Campendonk originated from an invented art collection devised by a group of German swindlers caught in 2010. Skillfully forged paintings from this group were sold to French galleries like the one where Martin bought the forgery.

Martina Mcbride

2011-07-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

Martina McBride (born Martina Mariea Schiff on July 29, 1966, in Sharon, Kansas) is an American country music singer and songwriter. McBride has been called the "Céline Dion of Country Music" for her big-voiced ballads and soprano range.
McBride was signed to RCA Records in 1991 and made her debut the following year as a neo-traditionalist country singer with the single, "The Time Has Come."It was not until 1997, when she released her fourth album, Evolution, that she broke through into the country music industry with a new pop-styled crossover sound, similar to that of Faith Hill and Shania Twain. From that point on, McBride has had a string of major hit singles on the Billboard country chart and occasionally on the adult contemporary chart. Five of these singles went to No. 1 on the country chart between 1995 and 2001, and one peaked at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart in 2003.
McBride has recorded a total of nine studio albums, one "greatest hits" compilation, one "live" album, a "Christmas" compilation, as well as two additional compilation albums. Seven of her studio albums and two of her compilations have received an RIAA certification of "Gold", or higher. Worldwide, she has sold over 18 million albums. In addition, Martina has won the Country Music Association's "Female Vocalist of the Year" award four times (tied with Reba McEntire for the most wins) and the Academy of Country Music's "Top Female Vocalist" award three times.

Early life
McBride was born Martina Mariea Schiff in Sharon, Kansas, to Daryl and Jeanne (née Clark) Schiff on July 29, 1966. She has two brothers, Martin and Steve, who currently play in her concert band, and a sister, Gina.
She was raised in Sharon, Kansas, a small town with population of about 200. Her father, who was a farmer and cabinetry shop owner, exposed McBride to country music at a young age. Listening to country music helped her acquire a love for singing. After school, she would spend hours singing along to the records of such popular artists as Reba McEntire, Linda Ronstadt, Juice Newton, Jeanne Pruett, Connie Smith and Patsy Cline.Around the age of 8 or 9, McBride began singing with a band her father fronted, "The Schiffters." As Schiff grew older her role in the band progressively increased, from simply singing, to also playing keyboard with them. She enjoyed performing in her early years.
She began performing with a local rock band, The Penetrators, in Wichita instead.[4] Then, in 1987, Schiff gathered a group of musicians called Lotus and started looking for rehearsal space; she began renting space from a studio engineer named John McBride. In 1988, the two married.
After marrying, the couple moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1989 with the hope of beginning a career in country music. John McBride joined Garth Brooks's sound crew and later became his concert production manager. Martina occasionally joined her husband on the road and helped sell Garth Brooks souvenirs.In 1990, impressed by Martina's enthusiastic spirit, Brooks offered her the position of his opening act provided she could obtain a recording contract.During this time, while her husband was working with country artists Charlie Daniels and Ricky Van Shelton, he also helped produce her demo tape, which helped her gain a recording contract with RCA Nashville Records in 1991.

Music career
1992 – 1995: The Time Has Come and The Way That I Am
McBride released her debut studio album through the RCA Records label in 1992, titled The Time Has Come. This album's title track made number 23 on the country music charts, but the next two singles both failed to make top 40.Unlike her later country pop-influenced albums, The Time Has Come featured honky tonk and country folk influences.
The Way That I Am was the title of McBride's second album. Its first two singles both brought her into the country top ten: "My Baby Loves Me" peaked at number two, and "Life #9" at number six. The third single, "Independence Day", This song did not reach top 10 because many radio programmers objected to the song's subject of a mother fighting back against abuse by burning the family home to the ground."Independence Day" won Video of the Year and Song of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.After it, the fourth and fifth singles from The Way That I Am were less successful: "Heart Trouble" peaked at number 21, and "Where I Used to Have a Heart" fell short of top 40.

1995 – 1997: Wild Angels
Released in 1995, Wild Angels accounted for another top five hit in "Safe in the Arms of Love", and her first number-one hit in the album's title track."Phones Are Ringin' All Over Town", "Swingin' Doors" and "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" were less successful, reaching the lower regions of the top 40.

1997 – 1999: Evolution
In early 1997, after "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" peaked, McBride released two duets. "Still Holding On", a duet with Clint Black which was the lead-off single to his album Nothin' but the Taillights, and "Valentine" with Jim Brickman which appeared on his album Picture This. After these two songs were released, she had her second number one on the country charts with "A Broken Wing", the lead-off to her album Evolution. This album went on to produce four more top ten hits at country radio: a re-release of "Valentine", "Happy Girl", "Wrong Again" (which also went to number one) and "Whatever You Say". Towards the end of 1998, the album was certified double platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling two million units. In addition, she also won the Country Music Association Awards' "Female Vocalist of the Year" award in 1999 and also performed for President Bill Clinton during the same time.
Also in 1998, McBride released a Christmas album titled White Christmas. Included on it was a rendition of "O Holy Night", which first charted in 1997 and continued to re-enter the charts until 2001.She also sang a guest vocal on Jason Sellers' mid-1998 single "This Small Divide".

1999 – 2003: Emotion and Greatest Hits
Her fifth studio album, Emotion, was released in 1999. Its lead single, "I Love You," reached number one on the Billboard country charts in 1999, and also crossed over to the Adult Contemporary chart. The song's follow-ups, "Love's the Only House" and "There You Are", both made top ten at country radio, and "It's My Time" peaked at number eleven.
In 2001, she released her first compilation, Greatest Hits. This album has been certified 3× Platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, and is her highest-selling album.It included most of her major hits to that point, and the album track "Strangers" from the album The Way That I Am, which she put on the album because she felt that it should have been a single.[11] The album also included four new songs, all of which made top ten on the country music charts between 2001 and 2003: "When God-Fearin' Women Get the Blues", "Blessed (Martina McBride song)" (her fifth number one), "Where Would You Be" and "Concrete Angel". In between the latter two, she also sang a guest vocal on Andy Griggs' 2002 single "Practice Life".
2003 – 2005: Martina
In 2003, McBride released her sixth studio album, Martina, which celebrated womanhood.The first single, "This One's for the Girls," went to number three on the country charts and became her only number-one hit on the Adult Contemporary charts. It also included backing vocals from Faith Hill, Carolyn Dawn Johnson and McBride's daughters, Delaney and Emma.Follow-up single "In My Daughter's Eyes" was also a top five hit at both country and adult contemporary. "How Far" and "God's Will" from the same album both made top 20 at country radio, as did her guest appearance on Jimmy Buffett's single "Trip Around the Sun".
In 2004 McBride won the CMA's Female Vocalist award for the fourth time, following the wins in 2003, 2002 & 1999, which tied her for the most wins in that category with Reba McEntire.

Million Dollar Quartet

2011-07-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

"Million Dollar Quartet" is the name given to recordings made on Tuesday December 4, 1956 in the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The recordings were of an impromptu jam session among Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash. It was arguably the first supergroup.

Recording session
The jam session seems to have happened by pure chance. Perkins, who by this time had already met success with "Blue Suede Shoes", had come into the studios that day, accompanied by his brothers Clayton and Jay and by drummer W.S. Holland, their aim being to cut some new material, including a revamped version of an old blues song, "Matchbox". Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, who wished to try to fatten this sparse rockabilly instrumentation, had brought in his latest acquisition, singer and piano man extraordinaire Jerry Lee Lewis, still unknown outside Memphis, to play piano on the Perkins session.
Sometime in the early afternoon, Elvis Presley, a former Sun artist himself but now at RCA, dropped in to pay a casual visit accompanied by a girlfriend, Marilyn Evans.[1] He was, at the time, the biggest name in show business, having hit the top of the singles charts five times, and topping the album charts twice in the preceding 12-month period. Less than four months earlier, he had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, pulling an unheard-of 83% of the television audience, which was estimated at 55 million, the largest in history up to that time.
After chatting with Philips in the control room, Presley listened to the playback of Perkins’ session, which he pronounced to be good. Then he went out into the studio and some time later the jam session began. At some point during the session, Sun artist Johnny Cash, who had recently enjoyed a few hits on the country charts, popped in. (Cash wrote in his autobiography Cash that it was he who was first to arrive at Sun Studio that day.) Cowboy Jack Clement was engineering that day and remembers saying to himself "I think I'd be remiss not to record this" and so he did and the rest is history. As Jerry Lee pounded away on the piano, Elvis and girlfriend Evans slipped out at some point. Cash claims in Cash that "no one wanted to follow Jerry Lee, not even Elvis."
As the session continued, Phillips spotted an opportunity for some publicity and called a local newspaper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar. Bob Johnson, the newspaper’s entertainment editor, came over to the studios accompanied by a UPI representative named Leo Soroca and a photographer.
The following day, an article, written by Johnson about the session, was published in the Memphis Press-Scimitar under the title "Million Dollar Quartet". The article contained the now-famous photograph of Presley seated at the piano surrounded by Lewis, Perkins and Cash. (The original, uncropped version of the photo also includes Evans, shown seated atop the piano.

Releases
In 1969, Shelby Singleton bought Sun Records. He began a long search of the Sun catalogue, browsing through more than 10,000 hours of tape.
At the same time, Singleton licensed much, if not all, of the Sun catalogue to the English Charly label for reissue in Europe. As a result of Singleton’s and Charly's search of the Sun catalogue, a portion of the session came to light. This was issued in Europe 1981] as "Charly/Sun" LP #1006 The Million Dollar Quartet, and it contained seventeen tracks, almost all of which were gospel/spiritual music.
Several years later, additional material was discovered. This resulted in the release of the 1987 "Charly/Sun" 2 LP set #CDX 20 The Complete Million Dollar Session, together with their simultaneous issue in CD format in Europe. In 1990, they were replicated by RCA for US distribution as a CD and LP, titled, Elvis Presley - The Million Dollar Quartet (RCA CD # 2023-2-R), the sleeve notes of which were written by Colin Escott of Showtime Music, Toronto.
A 2006 50th anniversary issue of the session was released on RCA, containing approximately twelve minutes of previously unavailable material and placing the titles in the original recorded sequence. The source of the recording was a copy of the session owned by Elvis Presley.
According to Ernst Jorgensen, an authority on Elvis who consults for BMG, the published material contains about 95 percent of the master recordings. "We found three reels", he says, "You could always argue that there were more. But in the first you can hear Elvis arriving and in the last you can hear him leaving. I doubt that there are more."[citation needed]
The released albums contain 46 musical tracks, most of which are incomplete and are interspersed with chatter between the participants. They are not pristine, well rehearsed studio recordings, which were meant for commercial release, but rather the sound of a group of friends, who are gathered together to play old favorites and share the pleasure of making music together. Bob Johnson described it as "an old fashioned barrel-house session with barber shop harmonies resulting."

Songs
Country music and country gospel loom large in the choice of songs. The songs of such country and Western legends as Bill Monroe, Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow and Gene Autry are among those featured. Lewis played most of the piano and Presley took nearly all of the lead vocals. The other participants easily follow Presley’s lead with what seems a close familiarity with his choice of songs. Critics have remarked on the irony of his choices as rock & roll was branded as satanic music at the time.
Carl Perkins took the lead on only "Keeper Of The Key" and seemed content to play guitar and supply harmony vocals. He had, however, been singing all afternoon. Clayton Perkins and Jay Perkins and drummer W. S. Holland can be heard on the earliest titles. The rhythm guitar on the earlier songs was played by Charles Underwood, who was a writer for Phillips’s publishing companies. Presley also brought with him another aspiring singer, Cliff Gleaves, who might be participating on some of the ensemble parts.
Jerry Lee Lewis can be heard more frequently, often singing in duet with Presley and at the end of the session, when Presley got up to leave, he swiftly took over the piano and whipped off five piano ravers in rapid succession, including a rousing "Crazy Arms" (his debut Sun single) and a soulful make-over of Gene Autry's You're the Only Star in My Blue Heaven.
Colin Escott has reported that according to Charles Underwood, Presley and Phillips went into the control room while Lewis was playing and Presley commented to Bob Johnson that "[Lewis] could go. I think he has a great future ahead of him. He had a different style and the way he plays piano and gets inside me."[citation needed]
More importantly, however, Johnny Cash’s voice does not seem to appear on any of the released tracks. Colin Escott reports that according to Bob Johnson, Cash joined Presley, Perkins and Lewis on Blueberry Hill and Isle Of Golden Dreams. This was confirmed by Carl Perkins in a 1972 interview, when he stated that "we did things like Blueberry Hill, Island Of Golden Dreams, I Won't Have To Cross The Jordan Alone, The Old Rugged Cross, Peace in the Valley, Tutti Frutti, and Big Boss Man."Peace in the Valley" is the only released track and none of the others ever seems to have been found. Johnny Cash's autobiography, Cash, states that he sings on the tracks but he sings in a higher pitch than usually to blend better with Elvis's vocal. Furthermore he writes that he stood far from the microphone.
The point at which Johnny Cash arrived at the studio is a matter of discussion. Some sources,report that Cash was already at the studios, when Presley arrived. Perkins said that Cash had stopped into the studios to "get some money".
Cash, in the book Cash: The Autobiography commented, "I was there - I was the first to arrive and the last to leave, contrary to what has been written - but I was just there to watch Carl record, which he did until mid-afternoon, when Elvis came in with his girlfriend. At that point the session stopped and we all started laughing and cutting up together. Then Elvis sat down at the piano, and we started singing gospel songs we all knew, then some Bill Monroe songs. Elvis wanted to hear songs Bill had written besides Blue Moon of Kentucky, and I knew the whole repertoire. So, again contrary to what some people have written, my voice is on the tape. It's not obvious, because I was farthest away from the mic and I was singing a lot higher than I usually did in order to stay in key with Elvis, but I guarantee you, I'm there."[5]
Some reports, however, including one in a very detailed account in Peter Guralnick's book, Last Train To Memphis - The Rise of Elvis Presley, suggest that Cash stayed for only a short time and then left, possibly to do some Christmas shopping. Colin Escott also reports that Cash was brought in only late in the session, after Sam Phillips had decided to call the Memphis Press Scimitar.
The fact that Cash may not have been present throughout the whole session seems to be confirmed by two pieces of “chatter” caught on the tapes. In the first, another Sun artist, Smokey Joe Baugh, came by and his gravelly voice can be heard after "I Shall Not Be Moved", saying "You oughta get up a quartet." In the second, a female voice, not Marilyn Evans, can be heard asking if "This Rover Boys Trio can sing 'Farther Along'?" Evans, however, can later be heard requesting the song "End of the Road."[6] On the other hand, Elvis is plainly heard mentioning Cash by name on the track "As We Travel Along The Jericho Road", at the 0:07 mark, although the form of the reference leaves it ambiguous as to whether Cash was on premises at that point. Elvis can also be heard saying goodbye to someone named Johnny during the "Elvis Says Goodbye" track that closes the 50th anniversary release.
Country music was not the only choice of the participants; they performed Home!_Sweet_Home!, a sentimental ballad as an energetic rockabilly clip. They can also be heard turning their attention to the hit parade of the day. Presley led the session with "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind," an R & B song popularized by the Five Keys. Meanwhile, Lewis sings one line of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" which leads into Lewis and Presley experimenting with snippets of Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man." Elvis can also be heard singing a snippet of Little Richard's "Rip It Up" (with a ribald change in the lyric) and Pat Boone's hit of the day, "Don’t Forbid Me" which Elvis on the tape claims was first offered to him but the demo "sat around my house" without being played.
In addition, Presley previewed material that he was considering for up-coming RCA sessions in January and February 1957. He sang "Is It So Strange," "Peace In The Valley," and "That’s When Your Heartaches Begin," which he acknowledges on the tape as having been one of the songs he recorded for Sun during his demo session a couple of years earlier, and which he would record again for RCA a month later. In the case of "Is It So Strange", he comments, "Ol' Faron Young wrote this song sent to me to record."
The title which most critics seem to highlight is Presley’s rendition of "Don't Be Cruel," one of his major hits of 1956 (see 1956 in music). This is not Presley singing Presley, but his imitation of Jackie Wilson, then the lead singer with Billy Ward’s Dominoes, imitating him. It appears as though the Presley entourage spent a few days in Las Vegas (most likely during Presley's short-lived tenure earlier in the year at the Frontier Hotel) and went to watch Jackie Wilson, who had obviously built an impersonation of Presley into his act.
Presley describes Jackie Wilson tearing up Las Vegas audiences with a house-on-fire rendition of "Don't Be Cruel". He goes on to say that, "He tried so hard until he got much better, boy, much better than that record of mine.... I went back four nights straight and heard that guy do that," he says, imitating Wilson's bluesy smolder and big finish.
"He sung the hell out of the song," Elvis can be heard saying with admiration, adding with a laugh, "I was on the table lookin' at him, 'Get 'im off, get 'im off!'" Obviously on a roll, Presley, then ripped into a slower, sassier version of "Paralyzed," a song recorded for his second album and also released on an extended play 45. He was backed up by Perkins and his trio.
According to the Rolling Stone review of the album, "'The Complete Million Dollar Session' provides a rare post-Sun glimpse of Elvis Presley momentarily free of the golden shackles of stardom and the manipulative grasp of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker. His singing, especially on the gospel numbers, is natural and relaxed, minus some of the trademark mannerisms of his official RCA releases."
Colin Escott has said, "They mixed and matched their disparate styles – and their innate musicality ensured that what emerged had the rarest of all musical qualities: originality.
Some 30 years later, Perkins, Lewis, Cash and Roy Orbison, a Sun recording artist in 1956, went back into the Sun Studios to record a session of their own Class of '55.

Little Richard

2011-07-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

Richard Wayne Penniman (born December 5, 1932), known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beatand contributed significantly to the development of soul music.The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame web site entry on Penniman states that:
He claims to be "the architect of rock and roll", and history would seem to bear out Little Richard’s boast. More than any other performer – save, perhaps, Elvis Presley, Little Richard blew the lid off the Fifties, laying the foundation for rock and roll with his explosive music and charismatic persona. On record, he made spine-tingling rock and roll. His frantically charged piano playing and raspy, shouted vocals on such classics as "Tutti Frutti", "Long Tall Sally" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly" defined the dynamic sound of rock and roll.
Penniman began performing on stage and on the road in 1945, when he was in his early teens.He began his recording career on October 16, 1951 by imitating the gospel-influenced style of late-1940s jump blues artist Billy Wright, who was a friend of his that set him up with the opportunity to record. His early fifties recordings, however, did not achieve remarkable commercial success. However, in 1955, under the guidance of Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Penniman began recording in a style he had been performing onstage for years,featuring varied rhythm (derived from everything from drum beats he would hear in his voice to the sounds of trains he would hear thundering by him as a child), a heavy backbeat, funky saxophone grooves, over-the-top gospel-style singing, moans, screams, and other emotive inflections, accompanied by a combination of boogie-woogie and rhythm and blues music.This new music, which included an original injection of funk into the rock and roll beat,inspired many of the greatest recording artists of the twentieth century, including James Brown, Elvis Presley, Otis Redding,Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix,Michael Jackson, and generations of other rhythm & blues, rock, and soul music artists.
On October 12, 1957, while at the height of stardom, Penniman abruptly quit rock and roll music and became a born-again Christian.He had charted seventeen original hits in less than three years.In January 1958, he enrolled in and attended Bible college to become a preacher and evangelist and began recording and performing only gospel music for a number of years. He then moved back and forth from rock and roll to the ministry, until he was able to reconcile the two roles in later life.
Penniman was among the first group of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and one of only four of those artists (along with Ray Charles, James Brown, and Fats Domino) to also receive the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2003, Penniman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.In 2007, his 1955 original hit "Tutti Frutti" was voted Number 1 by an eclectic panel of renowned recording artists on Mojo's The Top 100 Records That Changed The World, hailing the recording as "the sound of the birth of rock and roll."In 2010, The United States of America's Library of Congress National Recording Registry added the groundbreaking recording to its registry, claiming that the hit, with its original “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!” a cappella introduction, announced a new era in music.

Biography
Early life and early career: 1932-1951
Richard Wayne Penniman was born in Macon, Georgia, the third of 12 children born to Charlie "Bud" Penniman, Sr. (10 April 1910 – 12 January 1952), a bootlegger and his wife Leva Mae (née Stewart). He grew up in a religious family in which singing was an integral part of their lives; they performed in local churches as The Penniman Singers, and entered contests with other singing families. His family called him "War Hawk" because of his loud, screaming singing voice. His grandfather, Walter Penniman, was a preacher, and his father's family were members of the Foundation Templar African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Macon. His maternal grandmother was a member of Macon's Holiness Temple Baptist Church. Penniman attended the New Hope Baptist Church in Macon, where his mother was a member. Penniman's favorites were the Pentecostal churches because of the music and the fun he would have doing the holy dance and speaking in tongues with members of the congregation. When he was 10, he became a faith healer, singing gospel songs and touching people, who would testify that they felt better afterwards. Inspired by Brother Joe May, a singing evangelist known as "The Thunderbolt of the West", Penniman wanted to become a preacher.
Almost all of Penniman's dramatic phrasing and swift vocal turns are derived from black gospel artists of the 1930s and '40s. He said Sister Rosetta Tharpe was his favorite singer when he was a child. She had invited him to sing a song with her onstage at the Macon City Auditorium in 1945, after hearing him sing before the concert. The crowd cheered, and she paid him more money than he had ever seen after the show.He was also influenced by Marion Williams, from whom he got the trademark "whoooo" in his vocal, Mahalia Jackson and Brother Joe May.[28] He was influenced in appearance (hair, clothing, shoes, makeup, etc.) and sound by late 1940s gospel-style, jump blues shouter Billy Wright, a friend of his who was known as the "Prince of the Blues".Wright set Penniman up with DJ Zenas Sears, who scored the newcomer his first recording contract in 1951.One of Penniman's main influences in piano-playing was Esquerita (Eskew Reeder, Jr.), who showed him how to play high notes without compromising bass. Penniman met Esquerita when he traveled through Macon with a preacher named Sister Rosa.
Penniman lived in a black neighborhood; he had some contact with whites but, due to racial segregation, he could not cross the line where the whites lived.While in high school, Penniman played alto saxophone in the marching band. He began losing interest in school and began performing in a variety of travelling shows in his mid-teens.

Early recordings: 1951-1955
In October 1951, Penniman began recording jump blues records for RCA Camden. His father was shot to death while he was performing at a club on January 12, 1952.In October 1953, he began recording with Peacock Records.Records were released each year during 1951–54, but none were significant hits.
Following two recording sessions with Peacock in 1953,Penniman, dissatisfied with his solo career, began to form a new R&B road band that he called "The Upsetters." The band began with New Orleans drummer Charles "Chuck" Connors and two saxophonists, including Wilbert "Lee Diamond" Smith.By 1955, the band was joined by saxophonists Clifford "Gene" Burks and Grady Gaines, who became its leader, along with Olsie "Baysee" Robinson on bass, and Nathaniel "Buster" Douglas on guitar.
At Lloyd Price's suggestion, Penniman recorded a demo for gospel/R&B label Specialty Records on February 9, 1955.Specialty's owner, Art Rupe, loaned him money to buy out his contract from Peacock Records and placed his career in the hands of Specialty's A&R man Robert "Bumps" Blackwell.
Rupe and Blackwell originally pictured Penniman as a commercial rival to Ray Charles, who was experiencing success with Atlantic Records by taking gospel songs and developing them in a bluesy setting with a beat.Penniman told Rupe he liked Fats Domino's sound, so Rupe and Blackwell booked Cosimo Matassa's J & M Recording Studio in New Orleans,and hired studio musicians who had worked with Domino (including Earl Palmer on drums and Lee Allen on sax) rather than members of Penniman's road band on many of the mid-1950s Specialty tracks.
Following some recordings that did not satisfy Blackwell, they took a break. Penniman began pounding out a boogie woogie rhythm on piano and hollering out impromptu recital of "Tutti Frutti", a song he had written and had been performing on stage for years. Blackwell was so impressed with the sound that he had Penniman record the song. However, in order to make it commercially acceptable, Penniman's lyrics were rewritten. Blackwell recognized that the lyrics, with their “minstrel modes and homosexuality humor” needed to be cleaned up.For example “Tutti Frutti, good booty",[44] were replaced with “Tutti Frutti, aw-rooty”. The song featured the a cappella intro "A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop-a-lop-bam-boom!", which Penniman first belted out years before onstage based on a drum beat he heard in his voice, that had also been altered slightly to make it commercially acceptable.The recording was released on Specialty in October 1955.

Influence
Penniman's influence on the development of a variety of major musical genres in the twentieth century and many of those genres most significant artists was immense.[139] James Brown, who called Penniman his idol,stated that he was the first to put the funk in the rock and roll beat via his mid-1950s road band.Otis Redding, who entered the music business because of Penniman, indicated that Penniman contributed significantly to the development of soul music.ichie Unterberger of allmusic.com stated that "Little Richard merged the fire of gospel with New Orleans R&B, pounding the piano and wailing with gleeful abandon. While numerous other R&B greats of the early '50s had been moving in a similar direction, none of them matched the sheer electricity of Richard's vocals. With his bullet-speed deliveries, ecstatic trills, and the overjoyed force of personality in his singing, he was crucial in upping the voltage from high-powered R&B into the similar, yet different, guise of rock & roll. Although he was only a hitmaker for a couple of years or so, his influence upon both the soul and British Invasion stars of the 1960s was vast, and his early hits remain core classics of the rock repertoire.
Penniman has been recognized for his outstanding musical contributions by many other high-profile artists. In November 1988, Ray Charles introduced him at the Legends of Rock n Roll concert in Rome, as "a man that started a kind of music that set the pace for a lot of what's happening today."Bo Diddley stated that "Little Richard was a one-of-a-kind show business genius. He influenced so many people in the business."Paul McCartney said that he idolized Penniman when he was in school and always wanted to sing like him,and Mick Jagger called Penniman "the originator" and "my first idol."Bob Dylan performed Little Richard songs on piano as a schoolboy in his first band and declared in his high school yearbook in 1959 that his ambition was "to join Little Richard",and in 1966, Jimi Hendrix, who recorded and performed with Penniman from 1964 to 1965." and began to emulate him in appearance (mustache, clothing, etc.) during that time,was quoted as saying, "I want to do with my guitar what Little Richard does with his voice." Cliff Richard, George Harrison,Keith Richards,Bob Seger,[ John Fogerty,David Bowie,Elton John,Freddie Mercury, Rod Stewart,and AC/DC band members Bon Scott, angus Young, and Brian Johnson are among the many other top-selling recording artists of the twentieth century who indicated that Penniman was a primary rock 'n' roll influence. In 1979, as he began to develop his solo career, Michael Jackson was quoted as saying that Penniman was a huge influence on him.

Awards and honors
In 1956, Cashbox awarded Penniman the Cashbox Triple Crown Award for his second hit single "Long Tall Sally".
In 1984, "Little Richard" Penniman was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.
In 1986, Penniman was one of the first group of recording artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In 1990, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1993, he then received an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
In 1994, he was the fourth recording artist (the others being Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and James Brown) to be recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
In 1995, he received two Keys to the City of Providence, Rhode Island; one was awarded spontaneously, on stage, by Mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci
In 1997, he received the American Music Award of Merit.
On May 14, 2002, Little Richard was honored as one of the first three BMI Icons at the 50th annual BMI Pop Awards. He was presented the award along with BMI affiliates Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry.
In 2002, he received the NAACP Image Award - Hall of Fame Award for having "distinguished himself as not only an unparalleled musical genius, but also as a unique and innovative performing artist—fusing pure vocal talent with exhilarating showmanship."
In 2003, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #8 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
In 2006, he was inducted into the Apollo Theater Legends Hall of Fame, at the same time as Ella Fitzgerald (who was one of the first winners of 'Amateur Night at the Apollo' in 1934) and Gladys Knight & the Pips.
In 2007, his 1955 original hit "Tutti Frutti" topped Mojo's The Top 100 Records That Changed The World.
In 2008, Penniman was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame.
In 2009, he was formally inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
In 2009, he was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
In 2010, The Library Of Congress National Recording Registry added Penniman's original 1955 hit “Tutti Frutti” to its registry, claiming that the hit announced a new era in music: “A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!”[23]
In September 2010, Little Richard was named GQ's Man of the Year (Legend).

teachers facing problems across several states of US due to budget as well as the new bill which wants to take away their collective bargaining power

2011-02-17T15:13:00.000-08:00

Several US states are pushing for bill which may affect teachers & take away their collective bargaining powers.

wisconsin is seeing huge scale protests yet the lawmakers are trying to push the bill somehow.

jay carney white house press secretary is saying president is showing support for teachers but i feel why things are not being worked out to resolve in support of the teachers & still solve the budget issues.

Budget gaps need to be solved but not at the compromise of teachers & their future

Winn Dixie

2010-12-25T05:21:00.000-08:00

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: WINN) is an American supermarket chain based in Jacksonville, Florida. Winn-Dixie has ranked number 24 in the 2010 "Top 75 North American Food Retailers" based on 2009 fiscal year estimated sales of $7.3 billion by Supermarket News.and was ranked the 43rd largest retailer in the United States based on 2006 revenues by Stores Magazine. Winn-Dixie currently operates 514 stores in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, and Mississippi. The company has existed under its present name since 1955 and can date its roots back to 1925.

Prior to filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005, Winn-Dixie was listed in the S&P 500 and had been traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "WIN" since February 18, 1952. The company is currently traded under the symbol "WINN" on the NASDAQ. The bankruptcy also left the chain with fewer stores than it had in the late 1960s.

They are known for their private label Chek brand soft drinks, which are produced in over 20 different flavors plus diet and caffeine-free varieties—one of the widest assortments. They have also been known as "The Beef People". In its advertising and print media Winn-Dixie now uses the brand promises of "Fresh Checked Every Day" in its Jacksonville DMA, "Getting Better All The Time" in its locations in Central Florida, "El Sabor De Tu Pais", or "The Flavor Of Your Country", in its Miami area stores, and "Local Flavor Since 1956" in its Louisiana area stores.

History
Beginnings

Winn-Dixie was founded and built up by William Milton Davis and his sons Artemus Darius Davis, James Elsworth Davis, Milton Austin Davis and Tine Wayne Davis. William Davis started in business in Burley, Idaho, where he bought a general store in 1914 that he later renamed Davis Mercantile. As was common then, he sold most goods on credit. The advent of cash-only grocery stores in the 1920s hurt Davis's business, as the new stores offered lower prices and larger selections.

In 1925, William Davis borrowed $10,000 from his father and moved to Miami, Florida, where he purchased the Rockmoor Grocery. In 1927, the company was renamed Table Supply, and four more stores were opened. In 1931, the Davis family bought the Lively Stores chain for $10,000, to create a chain of thirty-three Table Supply stores across Florida from Miami to Tampa. William Milton Davis died in 1934, leaving his four sons in charge of the company.

In 1939, the Davis brothers bought fifty-one percent of Winn-Lovett, a chain of seventy-three stores. In 1944, the brothers adopted Winn-Lovett as the company name and moved the company headquarters to Jacksonville. Winn-Lovett purchased the Steiden Stores chain of thirty-one stores in Kentucky in 1945, and Margaret Ann Stores, with forty-six stores in Florida, in 1949. In 1952, Winn-Lovett became the first industrial corporation based in Florida to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Acquisitions

Winn-Lovett continued to grow by acquiring other chains, including Penney Stores in Mississippi, and Ballentine Stores and Eden Stores, both in South Carolina, all in 1955. Also in 1955, Winn-Lovett bought the 117-store Dixie Home chain, and changed its name to Winn-Dixie. In 1956, Winn-Dixie bought Ketner-Milner Stores in North Carolina, Hill Stores in Louisiana and Mississippi, and King Stores in Georgia. In 1967, Winn-Dixie bought the City Markets chain in The Bahamas.[4] The last purchase of a chain was in 1995, with the purchase of the Cincinnati-based Thriftway Food Drug.

Involvements

Although Winn-Dixie Stores has been a publicly owned corporation since 1952, the Davis family has always maintained control of the corporation. As of February 2005, when the company entered bankruptcy, the heirs of William Milton Davis still held about thirty-five percent of Winn-Dixie stock.

The Davis brothers also became involved in Florida state politics, supporting conservative causes. It is reported that their financial support helped George Smathers beat incumbent U.S. Senator Claude Pepper in 1950. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Donald Regan is reported to have said of his financial guru, James E. Davis: "When J.E. calls, I listen." It is reported that after reading Booker T. Washington's Up From Slavery, James E. Davis began a program of Winn-Dixie supporting historically Black colleges and universities.

In the 90's Winn Dixie gave a generous contribution to the Boy Scouts of America of the Central Florida Council, resulting in the renaming of Camp La-No Che as the "Winn-Dixie Scout Reservation".

Winn-Dixie is involved in their hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., including being considered the official supermarket of the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars. Some Jacksonville-area stores give away Jaguars tickets during the NFL season.

Financial difficulties
In 2003, when the chain had over 1000 stores, the company's stock was the worst-performing of the S&P 500. In April 2004, Winn-Dixie announced the closure of 156 stores, including all 111 stores located in the Midwest. Included were over twenty stores that had operated under the Thriftway name in and around Cincinnati, Ohio; they had been purchased by Winn-Dixie in 1995. The company had been hit hard by competition, especially from Publix and Wal-Mart. Another 40 stores in the Atlanta area were converted to their Save Rite Grocery Warehouse brand, as an alternative to store closure. Also, the stores in North Carolina and South Carolina closed.

Bankruptcy
On February 22, 2005, Winn-Dixie filed for bankruptcy. On June 21, it announced the sale or closure of 326 stores, resulting in the loss of over 22,000 jobs. Winn-Dixie closed all its stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Once the restructuring had completed, Winn-Dixie was to operate in the Bahamas, and in four of the Deep South states, operating throughout Florida, the southeastern half of Louisiana, the southeast corner of Mississippi, most of Alabama, and the southwest and coastal corners of Georgia.

On February 28, 2006, it was announced that thirty-five more stores were to be sold or closed within the coming months, with the Central and South Florida areas being the most affected. On March 31, 2006, it was announced that the chain would sell its twelve Bahamian locations, which had been operated by a wholly owned subsidiary, W-D, Limited, under the names City Market and Winn-Dixie.

Emergence From Bankruptcy and The Present
On June 29, 2006, Winn-Dixie announced that it had filed a plan of reorganization with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida. The company emerged from Chapter 11 protection on November 21, 2006 in a much stronger financial position. Their bankruptcy case is being handled in the Jacksonville area by Steve Busey and Cyndi Jackson of the law firm, Smith, Hulsey, & Busey, and by the New York firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

Upon emerging from bankruptcy in 2006 Winn-Dixie made great strides toward success, which included a steadfast effort to modernize its existing store base while focusing on new locations for the future. A timeline listed below describes key events.
2006:
November 21-Winn-Dixie officially emerges from Chapter 11 protection with $725 million in exit financing as a new company and with a new Board of Directors.
November 22-New shares of Winn-Dixie stock begin to trade on the NASDAQ stock exchange on a “when-issued” basis under the ticker symbol WINNV.
December 21-Winn-Dixie completes its initial distribution of common stock and the new shares begin to trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol WINN.

2007:
June 22-Winn-Dixie announces the appointment of Dan Portnoy as Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer.
September 26-Store #1439 reopens in New Orleans almost 25 months to the day it was severely damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It is the first grocery store to reopen east of the Industrial Canal in a section of New Orleans known as East Orleans.
September 27-Peter Lynch rings the opening bell of the NASDAQ Stock Exchange from inside the rebuilt Store 1439 in New Orleans, La. With him is Mayor Ray Nagin and a host of local and state officials.
November 7-Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. holds its first annual shareholders meeting since the company reorganized and emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

2008:
July 9-Peter Lynch and Mayor John Peyton celebrate the grand opening of remodeled store #37 in downtown Jacksonville.
August 15-Winn-Dixie and Kellogg dedicated its 10th house for Habitat for Humanity in Atlantic Beach in Jacksonville.
September 19-Less than 18 months after announcing a major remodel initiative for all of its stores, Winn-Dixie Stores completed its 100th store remodel in the Miami suburb of Hialeah.
October 24-Mary Kellmanson, formerly of Wegmans, joins Winn-Dixie as Vice President of Marketing.
October 31-The eighth annual Winn-Dixie Foundation Charity Classic Golf Tournament, an annual fundraising event for the not-for-profit Winn-Dixie Foundation, raised $1.5 million for local charities in five states.

2009:
January 7-New prototype SaveRite store #2601 re-opens in Jacksonville.
May 13-Winn-Dixie breaks ground on first new store since emerging from bankruptcy located in Covington, Louisiana.
July 15-Winn-Dixie celebrates the completion of the Jacksonville DMA remodels with 51 locations becoming "Fresh Checked Every Day".

2010:
February 3-Winn-Dixie opened its first brand new store since reorganization in Covington, LA.
This location also earned the EPA's GreenChill certification.
June 9-Winn-Dixie opens its new "prototype" store in Margate, FL.

July 27-Winn-Dixie announced a reorganization that will result in 30 non-renovated, underperforming stores being closed, roughly 120 corporate and support positions being eliminated, and operating regions being consolidated from four to three. Of the 30 stores to be closed, 24 are located in Florida, 2 each in Georgia and Mississippi, and 1 each in Alabama and Louisiana. The store closures and layoffs are slated for completion by September 22, 2010.
September 22-All 30 non-remodeled, underperforming locations are closed.
September 30-Winn-Dixie celebrates the completion of a multimillion-dollar expansion and remodel in Mobile, Alabama as the third "transformational" store is debuted.
November 01-Winn-Dixie leverages its heritage as "The Beef People" and improves upon this by introducing their "Neighborhood Butcher" program in all stores.
December 01 -Winn-Dixie works to reach customers through digital marketing programs by starting a YouTube channel showcasing its "Neighborhood Butcher" program.
December 07 - MyWebGrocer chosen by Winn-Dixie to connect with its customers through online and mobile media channel. An initial way to create a more interactive and digital shopping experience is through the new Winn-Dixie App!

Brands

Winn-Dixie has run over 60 private label brands over the years. In 2003 the company cut the number down to a three tier system of brands: the "Prestige" brand for upscale private label products, "Winn-Dixie" for its mainstream items, and "Thrifty Maid" for its value items. In 2007, all three brands received redesigned packaging with plans to replace the "Prestige" brand with "Winn & Lovett".. In 2010, Winn-Dixie replaced it's value-centered brand Thrifty Maid with "ValuTime". [23]. The brands of "ValuTime", for the budget-minded shopper, "Winn-Dixie, which is designed to be as good as or better than national brands, and "Winn and Lovett", the premium, top-tier label, are the current private labels the organization uses store-wide. Winn-Dixie carries a store brand line of organic and natural foods. [24]. These brands are on numerous products in almost all departments. Other category-specific brands include "Chek" for the store-brand sodas and "Kuddles" for the store-brand baby-related items.

The manufacturer code portion of the UPC remains 21140 for the "Winn-Dixie" and "Winn and Lovett" labels.

Stores Open on Christmas 2010.....!!

2010-12-25T05:12:00.000-08:00

If you are wondering for what stores are open on Christmas 2010, hardly any? Many active shoppers now are looking for lists of stores open during Christmas Day 2009. And yet, some stores already confirmed that they are closed on the said Holiday Seasons.

Apparently, some reports are saying that Walmart is open on Christmas 2010, but sad to say, Walmart already confirmed in their sites that their stores will be closed during Christmas Day 2010 and will be opened again as early in the morning of December 26, 2010.

Here are the list of establishments and stores that might be opened during Christmas Day 2010. Please read your guide below:

Grocery Stores – These also vary by location. Here you will find batteries, foods, candy, perhaps a small selection of electronics, flowers, baked goods, etc.. (you’ve been there before, you know the selection.)

Gas Stations – I sincerely hope you do not plan on buying a gift at a gas station, BUT, with the pain at the pump Americans are experiencing, some gas stations will sell gift cards. Easy way out but it will certainly make a gift that will be used.

Convenience Stores – Some CVS/Walgreens are open on Christmas for limited hours, check your local store’s website for details. Here you can buy batteries, cards, candy, and small electronics.

Meanwhile, some favourite stores for lifestyle are open during Christmas Day, these includes branches of Starbucks, so this might be a good news for all the coffee lovers out there. And yet, Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds confirmed that they are closed on Christmas. And since this is holiday, people might think that these closed stores will be opened again on the following day.

And lastly, most movie houses and theatres are open and most of the families now have their tradition to go to the theatre and catch a movie on Christmas Day.

Norad Santa Tracker

2010-12-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

NORAD Tracks Santa is an annual Christmas-themed entertainment program produced under the auspices of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Every year on Christmas Eve, "NORAD Tracks Santa" purports to follow Santa Claus as he leaves the North Pole and delivers presents to children around the world. The program starts on December 1 with a "Countdown Village" website.

The program is in the tradition of the September 1897 editorial "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" in the New York Sun.

History and overview
According to NORAD's official web page on the NORAD Tracks Santa program, the service began on December 24, 1955. A Sears department store placed an advertisement in a Colorado Springs newspaper. The advertisement told children that they could telephone Santa Claus and included a number for them to call. However, the telephone number printed was incorrect and calls instead came through to Colorado Spring's Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Center. Colonel Shoup, who was on duty that night, told his staff to give all children that called in a "current location" for Santa Claus. A tradition began which continued when the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) replaced CONAD in 1958.

NORAD relies on volunteers to make the program possible. Many volunteers are employees at Cheyenne Mountain and Peterson Air Force Base. Each volunteer handles about forty telephone calls per hour, and the team typically handles more than 12,000 e-mails and more than 70,000 telephone calls from more than two hundred countries and territories. Most of these contacts happen during the twenty-five hours from 2 a.m. on December 24 until 3 a.m. MST on December 25. Google Analytics has been in use since December 2007 to analyze traffic at the NORAD Tracks Santa website. As a result of this analysis information, the program can project and scale volunteer staffing, telephone equipment, and computer equipment needs for Christmas Eve.

By December 25, 2009, the NORAD Tracks Santa program had 27,440 twitter followers and the Facebook page had more than 410,700 fans.

Website and other media
he NORAD Tracks Santa program has always made use of a variety of media. From the 1950s to 1996, these were the telephone hotline, newspapers, radio, phonograph records and television. Many television newscasts in North America feature NORAD Tracks Santa as part of their weather updates on Christmas Eve.

From 1997 to the present, the program has had a highly publicized internet presence. As mobile media and social media have become popular and widespread as methods of direct communication, these newer media have also been embraced by the program. The layout of the NORAD Tracks Santa website and its webpages have changed from 1997 to the present due to changes in internet technologies, and changes in partners and sponsors for a particular year.

From mid-January until November 30, when one arrives at the NORAD Tracks Santa website, one is greeted with a message to come back on 1 December to "track Santa with NORAD". During December one finds a NORAD Tracks Santa website with all the features available.

On Christmas Eve, the NORAD Tracks Santa website videos page is generally updated each hour, when it is midnight in a different time zone. The "Santa Cam" videos show CGI images of Santa Claus flying over famous landmarks. Each video is accompanied by a voice-over, typically done by NORAD personnel, giving a few facts about the city or country depicted. Celebrity voice-overs have also been used over the years. For the London "Santa Cam" video, English television personality and celebrity Jonathan Ross did the voice-over for 2005 to 2007 and the former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr narrated the same video in 2003 and 2004. In 2002, Aaron Carter provided the voice-over for three videos.

The locations and landmarks depicted in some of the "Santa Cam" videos have changed over the years. In 2009, twenty-nine "Santa Cam" videos were posted on the website. In previous years, twenty-four to twenty-six videos had been posted.

Sponsorship and publicity
NORAD Tracks Santa relies on corporate sponsorship, and is not financed by American and Canadian taxpayers.

U.S. military units that have provided publicity for the program include the Northeast Air Defense Sector of the New York Air National Guard and the U.S. Naval Reserve Navy Information Bureau (NIB) 1118 at Fort Carson, Colorado. Other U.S. federal agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), have also publicized the service, as have the Canadian Forces.

Trix Rabbit

2010-12-23T06:15:00.000-08:00

Trix is a brand of breakfast cereal made by General Mills for the North American and by Nestlé for the European, South American and Asian markets. The cereal consists of fruit-flavored, sweetened, ground-corn pieces. These were originally round cereal pieces, but were later changed to puffed fruit-shaped pieces. In January 2007, Trix Cereal company General Mills returned Trix cereal to their original shape.

Overview-

Trix cereal, when first introduced in 1954 by General Mills, was more than 46% sugar. In 1992 Trix replaced the original round balls shape with fruit-shaped pieces. Five new fruit shapes and colors were added over the years: Grapity purple (1984-1995), Lime green (1991), Orange Apple Crunch (1997), Wildberry blue (1998-2006), and Watermelon (1999). In 1995, the cereal pieces were given a brighter and more colorful look. General Mills' Yoplait division produces a Trix-branded yogurt also marketed to children with sweetened fruit flavors such as "Watermelon Burst". Later on in the 2000's the cereal returned as the round ball shape.

Marketing and advertising

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (February 2010)

Joe Harris created the Trix Rabbit - voiced by Delo States, Mort Marshall, and later by Russell Horton - an anthropomorphic cartoon rabbit who debuted in a 1959 Trix television commercial, and who continually attempted to trick children into giving him a bowl of Trix cereal. He would be discovered every time; the children would tell him that he was a silly rabbit and that "Trix [were] for kids," and take back their cereal. These ads would often end with the Trix Rabbit following up the kids' "Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!" slogan with "...and sometimes, for tricky rabbits!". The Rabbit originated as a puppet before he later became animated. He did however succeed in obtaining and eating the Trix on some occasions, including twice as the result of a box top mail-in contest (1976 and 1990) entitled "Let The Rabbit Eat Trix". The results of the vote were an overwhelming "yes", and the rabbit was depicted in a subsequent commercial finally enjoying a taste of Trix. Children who voted received a button based upon their vote in the election.

In commercials from the 1960s, 70s and 80s the rabbit was known to disguise himself in order to get his beloved cereal, employing costumes as diverse as a balloon vendor, a painter and a Native American. One alternate slogan for the cereal was, "Oranges, Lemons, and Grapes I see; the fruit taste of Trix is all for me".

The rabbit's popularity has led him to appear in commercials for other products, such as a Got Milk? advertisement. However, not all reception for the Trix rabbit has been positive.

This slogan is referenced in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol 1. In chapter 5: Showdown at House of Green Leaves, having dispatched O-Ren Ishii's (Lucy Liu) entourage, O-Ren taunts The Bride (Uma Thurman), asking if she really thought it would be that easy. When the Bride defiantly replies that for a moment, she did, O-Ren replies "Silly rabbit..." and they finish the sentence together, "Trix are for kids". A footnote in the script implies this is what they used to say to each other when they both worked as assassins for Bill, though this is never shown on film. This may also be a reference to The Bride's real name, Beatrix Kiddo.

Trix has raspberry red, lemon yellow, orangey oranges in January 1, 1954 - current. (Orangey oranges from January 1, 1954 through September 22, 1996 and March 31, 1998 - current. Raspberry red from January 1, 1954 through June 1, 1985 and November 19, 1989 - current.) Trix has new grapity grapes in August 6, 1983 - current. Trix has new lime from January 31, 1991 through November 24, 1998 and December 30, 2009 - current. Trix has new orange apple crunch from September 23, 1996 through March 30, 1998 and March 3, 2010 - current. Trix has new wildberry blues in November 14, 1997 - current. Trix has new watermelon in November 25, 1998 - current. Trix has new berry banana splits from July 9, 2003 through November 27, 2003 and December 30, 2009 - current. Trix has new pears (in Trix double cereal) in December 30, 2009 - current. Trix has new double cherry (in Trix double cereal smilair to cherry in Froot Loops) in December 30, 2009 - current. Trix has new blueberry blue (in Trix triple cereal smiliar to Kellogg's Froot Loops) in March 3, 2010 - current.

Smokey The Bear

2010-12-23T05:44:00.000-08:00

Smokey Bear (often unofficially referred to as Smokey the Bear) is a mascot of the United States Forest Service created to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires. An advertising campaign featuring Smokey was created in 1944 with the slogan, "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". Smokey Bear's later slogan, "Remember... Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires", was created in 1947 by the Ad Council. In April 2001, the message was updated to "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires". According to the Ad Council, Smokey Bear and his message are recognized by 95% of adults and 77% of children in the U.S.

Smokey's correct name is Smokey Bear. In 1952, the songwriters Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins had a successful song named "Smokey the Bear". The pair said that "the" was added to Smokey's name to keep the song's rhythm. This small change has caused some confusion among the public ever since. Note that, from the beginning, Smokey's name was intentionally spelled differently from the adjective smoky. The Forest Service emphatically denies that the name was ever "Smokey the Bear"; however, during the 1950s, that variant of the name became widespread both in popular speech and in print, including at least one standard encyclopedia. A 1955 book in the Little Golden Books series was called Smokey the Bear and Smokey calls himself by this name in the book. The campaign to remind the public of the correct version of the name is almost as old as the Smokey Bear campaign itself.

The fictional character Smokey Bear is administered by three entities: the United States Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters, and the Ad Council. Smokey Bear's name and image are protected by U.S. federal law, the Smokey Bear Act of 1952 (16 U.S.C. 580 ; 18 U.S.C. 711).

Beginning the campaign:-
Though the US Forest Service fought wildfires long before World War II, the war brought a new importance and urgency to the effort. The forest service began using colorful posters to educate Americans about the dangers of forest fires. Since most able-bodied men were already serving in the armed forces, none could be spared to fight forest fires on the West Coast. The hope was that local communities, educated about the danger of forest fires, could prevent them from starting in the first place. The Japanese, on the other hand, saw wildfires as a possible weapon.

During the Lookout Air Raids of 1942, the Japanese attempted to set southwest Oregon's coastal forests ablaze. In separate attempts on 9 and 29 September, the Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced and launched a Yokosuka E14Y floatplane loaded with incendiary bombs. Neither attempt was successful. U.S. planners also hoped that if Americans knew how wildfires would harm the war effort, they would better cooperate with the Forest Service to eliminate fires, whether caused by Japan or otherwise.

The Japanese renewed their wildfire strategy late in the war: from November 1944 to April 1945, some 9,000 fire balloons were launched into the jet stream, with an estimated 10% making it to the US. Five children and their teacher, Mrs. Elsie Mitchell, who was five months pregnant, were killed by one of the bombs near Bly, Oregon, on May 5, 1945. The group found the balloon and while examining it, one of its bombs detonated. A memorial was erected at what today is called the Mitchell Recreation Area.

On August 13, 1942, Disney's 5th full-length animated motion picture Bambi premiered in New York City. Soon after, Walt Disney allowed his characters to appear in fire prevention public service campaigns. However, Bambi was only loaned to the government for a year, so a new symbol was needed.

Continuing the popular animal theme, a bear was chosen. His name was inspired by "Smokey" Joe Martin, a New York City Fire Department hero who suffered burns and blindness during a bold 1922 rescue.

Smokey's debut poster was released on August 9, 1944, which is considered his anniversary date. Overseen by the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign, the first poster was illustrated by Albert Staehle. In it Smokey was depicted wearing jeans and a "forest ranger's hat" (a campaign hat), pouring a bucket of water on a campfire. The message underneath reads, "Smokey says – Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires!" Knickerbocker Bears gained the license to produce Smokey bear dolls in 1944. Also in 1944, Forest Service worker Rudy Wendelin became the full time campaign artist; he was considered Smokey Bear's "caretaker" until he retired in 1973.

In 1947, the slogan associated with Smokey Bear for more than five decades was finally coined: "Remember...only YOU can prevent forest fires." In 2001, it was officially amended to replace "forest fires" with "wildfires," as a reminder that other areas (such as grasslands) are also in danger of burning.

The living symbol of Smokey:-
The living symbol of Smokey Bear was an American black bear cub who in the spring of 1950 was caught in the Capitan Gap fire, a wildfire that burned 17,000 acres (69 km2) in the Lincoln National Forest,[14]in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. Smokey had climbed a tree to escape the blaze, but his paws and hind legs had been burned. According to some stories, he was rescued by a game warden after the fire, but according to the New Mexico State Forestry Division, it was actually a group of soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas, who had come to help fight the fire, that discovered the bear cub and brought him back to the camp.
At first he was called "Hotfoot Teddy," but he was later renamed Smokey, after the mascot. There are conflicting stories regarding the individual or individuals who first helped nurse the cub after the fire. According to the New York Times obituary for Homer C. Pickens, then Assistant Director of the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, he kept the cub at his home for awhile, trying to nurse him back to health. According to other records, including a story in Life Magazine, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish Ranger Ray Bell took him to Santa Fe, where he, his wife Ruth, and their children, Don and Judy, cared for the cub.[15] The story was picked up by the national news services and Smokey became a celebrity. Soon after, Smokey was flown in a Piper Cub airplane to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.. A special room was prepared for him at the St. Louis zoo for an overnight fuel stop during the trip, and when he arrived at the National Zoo, several hundred spectators, including members of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, photographers, and media were there to welcome him to his new home.

Smokey Bear lived at the National Zoo for 26 years. During that time he received millions of visitors as well as so many letters addressed to him -- up to 13,000 a week -- that the United States Postal Service finally gave him his own unique zip code. He developed a love for peanut butter sandwiches, in addition to his daily diet of bluefish and trout.

Upon his death on November 9, 1976, Smokey's remains were returned by the government to Capitan, New Mexico, and buried at what is now the Smokey Bear Historical Park. The plaque at his grave reads, "This is the resting place of the first living Smokey Bear...the living symbol of wildfire prevention and wildlife conservation." The Washington Post ran a semi-humorous obituary for Smokey, labeled "Bear," calling him a transplanted New Mexico native who had resided for many years in Washington, D.C., with many years of government service. It also mentioned his family, including his wife, Goldie Bear, and "adopted son" Little Smokey. The obituary noted that Smokey and Goldie were not blood-relatives, despite the fact that they shared the same "last name" of "Bear." [21] The Wall Street Journal included an obituary for Smokey Bear on the front page of the paper, on Nov 11, 1976,[17] and so many newspapers included articles and obituaries that the National Zoo archives include four complete scrapbooks devoted to them (Series 12, boxes 66-67).

Plans for future Smokey Bears:_
In 1962, Smokey was paired with female bear, "Goldie Bear," with the hope that perhaps Smokey's descendants would take over the Smokey Bear title. In 1971, when the pair still had not produced any children, the zoo added "Little Smokey," another orphaned bear cub from the Lincoln Forest, to their cage--announcing that the pair had "adopted" this cub.

On May 2, 1975, Smokey Bear officially "retired" from his role as living mascot, and the title, "Smokey Bear II," was bestowed upon Little Smokey in an official ceremony. Little Smokey died Aug 11, 1990.

Smokey as popular character

The character became a notable part of American popular culture in the 1950s. He appeared on radio programs, in comic strips and in cartoons.

In 1952, after Smokey Bear attracted considerable commercial interest, the Smokey Bear Act, an act of Congress, was passed to remove the character from the public domain and place it under the control of the Secretary of Agriculture. The act provided for the use of Smokey's royalties for continued education on the subject of forest fire prevention. More than three million dollars have been collected.

A Smokey Bear doll was vended by Ideal Toys beginning in 1952; the doll included a mail-in card for children to become Junior forest rangers. Within three years half a million children had applied. In April 1964, the character was given his own ZIP code (postal code): 20252.

In 1955, the first children’s book was published, followed by many sequels and coloring books. Soon thousands of dolls, toys, and other collectibles were on the market.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the Ad Council sponsored radio advertisements, featuring Smokey Bear "in conversation" with prominent American celebrity stars such as Bing Crosby, Art Linkletter, Dinah Shore, Roy Rogers, and many others.

Smokey's name and image has been loaned to the Smokey Bear Awards, which are awarded by the United States Forest Service:

"To recognize outstanding service in the prevention of wildland fires and to increase public recognition and awareness of the need for continuing fire prevention efforts.
Though Smokey was originally drawn wearing the campaign hat of the U.S. National Park Service (which was in turn derived from the cavalry who protected the early U.S. national parks), the hat itself later became famous by association with the Smokey cartoon character. As such, it is sometimes today called a "Smokey Bear" hat by both the military service branches and state police who still employ it. Truck drivers by that same token often nickname state police officers "Smokey" or "bears"

Voices of Smokey Bear-
Washington D.C. radio station WMAL personality Jackson Weaver served as the primary voice representing Smokey until Weaver's death in October 1992. Others who provided a voice to Smokey prior to 1992 included Jim Cummings, Roger C. Carmel, and Los Angeles Radio station KNX's George Walsh. The "voice" of Smokey was retired after Weaver's death until 2008. In June 2008, the Forest Service launched a new series of public service announcements voiced by actor Sam Elliott, simultaneously giving Smokey a new visual design intended to appeal to young adults.

Adaptations-
In 1939, students from Hill City, South Dakota, helped stop a devastating wildfire that threatened their community. Afterwards the school district was allowed by the government to use Smokey Bear as its mascot. It is believed to be the only school in the country to be able to do so.

Smokey Bear — and parodies of the character — have been appearing in animation for more than fifty years. In 1956, he made a cameo appearance in the Walt Disney short film In the Bag with a voice provided by Jackson Weaver.

In 1966, Rankin/Bass produced an animated television special for ABC, named The Ballad of Smokey the Bear, narrated by James Cagney. During the 1969-1970 television season, Rankin/Bass also produced a weekly Saturday Morning series, The Smokey the Bear Show, also for ABC.

Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins's song "Smokey the Bear" has been covered by the group Canned Heat, among others. The track is on their CD The Boogie House Tapes 1969-1999.

"Smokey the Bear Sutra" is a 1969 poem by Gary Snyder, which presents environmental concerns in the form of a Buddhist sutra, and depicts Smokey as the reincarnation of the Great Sun Buddha.

Fire ecology-
]The Smokey Bear campaign has been criticized in cases where the indigenous fire ecology was not taken into consideration. Periodic low-intensity wildfires are an integral component of certain ecosystems that evolved to depend on 'natural fires' for vitality, rejuvenation, and regeneration. Examples are chaparral and closed-cone pine forest habitats, which need fire for seeds and cones to sprout. Wildfires also play a role in the preservation of pine barrens, which are well adapted to small ground fires and rely on periodic fires to remove competing species.

When a brushland, woodland, or forested area is not impacted by fire for a long period of time, large quantities of flammable leaves, branches and other organic matter tend to accumulate on the forest floor and above in brush thickets. When a forest fire eventually does occur in such an area where a natural cycle period has been suppressed, the increased amount of fuel present creates a crown fire, which destroys all vegetation and affects surface soil chemistry. Frequent small 'natural' ground fires prevent the accumulation of fuel and allow large, slow-growing vegetation (e.g. trees) to survive. There is increasing use of controlled burns directed by skilled firefighters, and allowing wildland fires not causing human harm or threat to burn out.

The goal of the Smokey Bear campaign has always been one of increasing fire safety and preventing needless, human-caused wildfires, not the suppression of natural wildfires.

Shop Cheap

2010-10-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

We're thinking orange and black
It's the season for orange and black - at the grocery store and at the ballpark. As the stores gear up for Halloween, baseball fans are gearing up for what could be a Giant Halloween treat!
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's a rather routine week in the grocery world with a mix of BOGOs, coupons and weekend specials. Here's what we like:
If you haven't already, be sure to sign up for Raley's Friday Freebie. Sure, it's designed to get shoppers into the store on Friday, but the freebie is always something useful. We're liking the produce values this week at Raley's. Fuji apples, green beans and pears are all 97-cents a pound. Iceberg lettuce is 57-cents a head; pomegranates are 2/$3 and strawberries are BOGO.
If you're clippin' check out the coupons for 7-UP or A&W liters at 79-cents each; a case of Aquafina drinking water for $3.33; Oscar Mayer franks for $1.99; Eggo waffles for $1.50 and Crystal Geyser spring water - 59-cents a gallon.
Other stuff: Prego pasta sauce is $1.89; Ronzoni pasta is 89-cents; and 18-pack of eggs is $1.98 and Sunnyside Farms yogurt is 48-cents a cup. Dennison's chili is 99-cents a can and Minute Maid OJ is 2/$4.
In the sweet category, dessert for 2 is BOGO (it's now dessert for 4); Skinny Cow ice cream treats are $3.99 and Haagen Daz ice cream is $2.50 with coupon.
If Safeway is your haunt, bagged Halloween candy is on sale at $2 each when you buy 4; pumpkins are BOGO. Here's another deal that has possibilities - buy 2-12 packs of Coke and get 2 - 12 packs free PLUS two free boxes of Nabisco crackers.
Craving sausage? Aidells varieties - including chicken/apple - are $4.99 and Saag's smoked sausage is 2/$7. Foster Farms whole chickens are 79-cents a pound; top sirloin steak is $2.99lb and ground turkey breast is BOGO.
In produce, bananas are 37-cents a pound; avocados are $1 each; pomegranates are 2/$5; raspberries are 2/$6 and bell pepper is 99-cents each.
Clip-worthy coupons include a dozen eggs for 99-cents; Simply Juice or Minute Maid Enhanced juices for $2.49. Arrowhead water is $2.99 a case. Quaker instand oatmeal is BOGO; Safeway breads are $1.50 a loaf and tahe $5 Friday special is 8-piece chicken.
Heading over to Save Mart for great produce: Avocado for 50-cents; asparagus for $1.47lb; pomegranates 2/$3; pumpkins 3/$9.99 and BOGO raspberries.
Foster Farms savory chicken breasts are $3.99lb. Minute Maid Enhanced drinks or Simply juices are 2/$5. Bertolli frozen entrees are $5.99 and 18-count fresh eggs are $1.79.
If Henry's is in your neighborhood, there's a BOGO bonanza at that store. Annie's Mac & Cheese; Hansen;s juices; Kettle Chips; Haagen Daz; Cascade yogurt; strawberries; Earthbound salads, seedless watermelon and Volcanic whole bean coffee - just to name a few.
In produce, apples are 59-cents a pound; black seedless grapes are 98-cents a pound and white corn on the cob is 3/$1.
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are $1.88lb and top sirloin steak is $2.88lb.
Come back on Thursday for recipes from the Shop Cheap Kitchen.

GateHouse News Service

I have a friend whose worst fears when her husband travels is that an appliance will die or the dog will run away or the car will break down.
For me, it is the fear that one of my kids will need help with their math homework.
I was not always mathaphobic. There was a very, very short window when I was able to help the kids with their homework confidently and with a high degree of accuracy. Unfortunately this window slammed shut when the kids were in, oh, about fourth grade. That’s when they started to move away from addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to the other stuff. The other stuff would include fractions, geometry, algebra, and all those other math disciplines that cause my eyes to glaze over and my brain to shut down.
It’s not that I’m an idiot. We have already determined that I am a genius because I know when it is time to change an empty roll of toilet paper. Furthermore, I can write a heck of a persuasive essay, and I can hold my own in a conversation with a French toddler. However, when it comes to math, I seem to be frustratingly deficient. I’m pretty sure that when you-know-who was passing out brains for school subjects, I got an extra helping of language arts, but got passed over for math.
This has not been a huge problem for me in life. I have never found myself in a situation where I needed to know if something I was purchasing for my living room was a rhomboid or a trapezoid. I have always managed to balance my checkbook and measure out the ingredients for recipes and get the right size collar for the dog without knowing his mass versus his weight versus the circumference of his neck. Sure, I’m not able to postulate the depth of a black hole, but who the heck needs to know that when they are buying shoes, anyway? And just in case you think I really am that shallow, I do know that the size of a black hole is given by GM/c2, but I have no idea what G, M or c are, or why you have to double them (the c’s, that is).
This math thing really did not present any problem at all until I had kids. Suddenly I became that parent. The one who can’t help them figure out if 20 people in a factory make 43 shoes in [(3)^.5] / 2 hours, then how many shoes do they make in an eight-hour day?
“As long as they make the shoe I want in a size nine medium, who cares how many they can make in an eight-hour day,” I responded when this question was posed to me by my oldest child.
“I care because if I can’t figure it out, I will get a zero on this assignment,” said my son.
I grumbled something about trapezoids and black holes and then told him to call his father.
Eventually the kids stopped asking me for help with their math altogether. Then they even stopped asking me the time, figuring the mere mention of numbers would set me into a tailspin. Finally, whenever a number came up around me, it was spelled.
“When is dinner?” asked my son.
“Mom said it would be ready in t-e-n minutes,” responded my daughter.
“Hello, I can’t do quadratic equations, but I can spell, you know,” I shouted and stomped out of the room.
“The kids think I’m an idiot because I can’t do math,” I complained to my husband.
“They don’t think you are an idiot,” he said. “Besides, not everyone can be good at everything. You are a great writer and you are incredibly creative and organized.”
I smiled and kissed him. “Thanks, honey. I appreciate that.”
“No problem.”
“So can you come down for dinner?” I asked as I started to leave the room.
“Sure,” he said brightly. “I’ll be down in f-i-v-e.”

Randolph County Herald Tribune

Chester, Ill. — Another long road trip for the Chester football squad resulted in another big win Friday night. The Yellow Jackets crashed Fairfield's homecoming party and defeated the Mules 42-16.
Chester's defense continues to show why they are one of the best in the area. They held Fairfield to only 97 yards rushing and 94 yards passing. Fairfield's first scoring drive and two point-conversion did briefly give the Mules an 8-7 lead, but their only other score came at the end of the third quarter when Chester had already put the game out of reach.
Chester's defense also recovered two fumbles and intercepted two Fairfield pass attempts.
Chester's six scoring drives were capped off by a one-yard run by Stephen Roth, a 53-yard pass from Zach Lochhead to Clint Cole, a 12-yard run by Baughman, a nine-yard run by Baughman, a one-yard run by Lochhead and a 30-yard run by Blake Nanney.
Chester's balanced rushing attack included 77 yards by Roth, 76 by Cole and 75 by Baughman. Nanney finished with 34 yards, Zane Wallace added 21 and Lochhead had one. Lochhead also completed two passes in three attempts for 66 yards. One pass was the previously mentioned touchdown play to Cole for 53 yards. The other completion was to Baughman for 13 yards.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Friday night when they host Hamilton County at 7:00 in their final home game of the regular season.

Four candidates seek Twp. Committee seats The Luxury Spot News

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the luxury spot :
Four candidates seek Twp. Committee seats
— Jacqueline Hlavenka Four candidates are vying for two open seats on the Holmdel Township Committee in the municipal election on Nov. 2. Incumbent five-term Mayor Serena DiMaso, a Republican, is seeking re-election. DiMaso’s running mate, newcomer Eric Hinds, is seeking a three-year term on the Township Committee. read more
Read more on Independent

Charlie Banana™ Now Available at Target.com
Charlie Banana™ the international, luxury brand of modern cloth diapers and eco-friendly, organic baby products, are now available at T including the One Size 2-in-1 Eco Diapering System, Swim Diapers and Reusable Double Organic Wipes.
Read more on PRWeb via Yahoo! News

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The luxury spot: Target, This Is Inappropriate: Uhhhhh. Really Target? I found this today while shopping for some …

Black Chicken Power

2010-10-20T06:03:00.000-07:00

Well la DEE da, the New York Times is making it hip to eat black chicken. High time, too, since in all objective terms, the black chicken, an wuji in China, a Silkie elsewhere, is the go-to bird. If you can get past the color barrier you’re in for a treat: complex, delicate meat with way more soul than its poor white factory-farmed relatives. Besides, black chicken has nutritive properties the Chinese have sworn by since Lu Dongbing used it for his immortality pills back in the 9th century. Here are a few easy recipes to convince you.
Black Chicken Soup
1 black chicken, whole, skinned and cut into big chunks
1 teaspoon of salt
50 grams of ginseng roots, chopped
1/8 cup dried Chinese wolf berries (Otherwise known as the Tibetan Gouji Berry or Lycium chinense)
15 seeded dried Chinese dates (hongzao)
8 cups of water
No doubt you’re wondering where the potatoes and carrots are. This soup is as much medicine as it is sustenance, a must for Chinese women pregnant and post-natal, renowned for restoring yin energy. Call it rejuvenating your kidneys and liver if you don’t believe in such FDA non-sanctioned mumbo jumbo.
Just rub those chicken chunks lightly with salt, then toss the whole shebang in a big pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer for three and a half hours. Voila, over two liters of refined taste sensation, and a tonic even more potent than Mamalah’s kosher version.
Black Chicken Soup, Version 2
Add some papaya and almonds to the first recipe. This will filter toxins from your blood and cleanse the lungs, and add a sweet note that will change what you think goes with chicken.
1 whole black chicken (rinsed, chopped)
1 papaya (peeled, diced)
20 grams of ginseng roots, chopped
40g sweet almonds
2 Chinese dates
5 cups of water
Boil the chicken separately for five minutes this time, then add the other ingredients. After they’re boiling, turn them down to a slow simmer for just two hours. Add salt to taste.
Stir-Fried Black Chicken
Theoretically, black chicken can do anything white can. But it’s a shame to mask its unique flavor with breading or glaze, and black chicken is softer, with less fat.
1 whole black chicken cut into small pieces
2 spoonfuls of light soy sauce
2 spoonfuls of sweet black soy sauce
2 cloves of minced garlic
A thumb-sized piece of ginger, minced
Four tablespoons of light oil
First sauté the ginger until golden brown, then add the chicken and garlic . Once the chicken is changing color, add the soy sauce and stir fry for another eight to ten minutes. Just remember moistness is a virtue, and dryness a sin.

Garlic, Black Pepper and Blue Cheese Chicken Wings

While I am a HUGE fan of Buffalo Wings, I’ve found that over time my taste for wings has evolved to favor sauces a little more multi-dimensional (and not scorchingly hot) in nature. The base for this sauce is a slight twist on Ming Tsai’s Black Pepper-Garlic Sauce (Simply Ming: Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals) , which he serves with a fabulous lobster dish at his restaurant “Blue Ginger”. Ever since I tried that amazing meal, I’ve been twisting his sauce to and fro to satisfy the requirements of a number of different culinary whims.
I modify it to use as a wing sauce by adding an herbal note with fresh thyme, and of course, some blue cheese! The nam pla and blue cheese add a salty tang, the garlic, a pungent bite, the black pepper a mellow, slow burn, and the butter smooths it all just enough to let you enjoy the bold flavors without forcing you to reach for a fire extinguisher. We had these for dinner the other night with a fresh green salad and some crusty bread, but they'd be great as part of a game day spread as you root for your favorite team this football season.
Ingredients:
2 pounds chicken wings, cut at the joint, tips removed and reserved for another purpose.
1 tablespoon canola oil
25 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cup scallions, white and green parts only, finely chopped
1 tablespoon (heaping) coarsley-ground black pepper
2 cups dry white wine
2 cups low-sodium canned chicken broth
3 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla)
8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter, cut into 1-tablespoon pieces
Juice of 1 lemon
3/4 cups crumbled blue cheese
2 teaspoons finely minced fresh thyme
canola or corn oil for frying

Method:
Heat large sauté pan over high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the garlic and cook until starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the scallions and black pepper, and stir. Add the wine, stock, fish sauce, and lemon juice and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, about 8-10 minutes.
Remove from the heat, and let cool about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend on high speed to purée. With the blender running, add the butter one piece at a time to form a creamy sauce.
Take 1 cup of the garlic pepper sauce and place it in a bowl. Whisk in the blue cheese and minced thyme, taste for seasoning and add salt if desired, set aside. Reserve the rest of the sauce, refrigerated for a later use.
Preheat oven to 350 ℉
Place the chicken wings on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for 40 minutes.
In large sauce pot or fryer, heat 3-inches of the canola or corn oil, or enough to prevent wings from touching the bottom of the pan, to 375 ℉. Add the baked chicken wings to the oil and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until crispy and golden brown. Remove the chicken wings from the oil and drain on paper towels.
Add the wings to the bowl of sauce and toss well to coat. Dump the whole mess onto a platter, or better yet, gather around the bowl and dig in!

Recipe: Apple and Country Ham Risotto Black Chicken Updates

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black chicken :
Recipe: Apple and Country Ham Risotto
Apples, hard cider and country ham star in this risotto recipe.
Read more on Seattle Times

Cooking at Home: Mary Claire White
Mary Claire White sums up her cooking in three words: healthy, fresh and inexpensive. But she didn’t always cook that way.
Read more on Memphis Commercial Appeal

Pet expert visits for McKamey fundraiser Paws Around the World
Victoria Stilwell, host of Animal Planet’s popular show “It’s Me or the Dog,” will be in Chattanooga on Friday evening as the guest speaker at McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center’s new fundraiser, Paws Around the World.
Read more on Chattanooga Times Free Press

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Black Chicken Must See | The meat can be either chicke…

The Silky Chicken or Black Chicken

THE ELUSIVE BLACK CHICKEN
aka THE SILKY
this is a rare bird indeed!
well, on my hunt for the "out-of-the-ordinary" i came across this lovely(?) looking creature...YIKES! can i just say YIKES again. i must say.......this one finally stumped me. stymied...as you might know i'm pretty adventurous with foods. i'm no Andrew Zimmer, but i like to go for the strange stuff. i find a good challenge and give it a go...this one got me. i still ask myself why?...it's just a chicken, right?...well...not so much.
#1...always remember to read the fine print on the package..."head and feet intact" AND it has FIVE TOES instead of four!. i missed that part. as the thing thawed and started to unfold, and i DO mean unfold...this small little wrapped up bird was over 2 feet stretched out. AND IT"S BLUE !!!!!...you can imagine what i was thinking. i can handle alot of things, but this one was definitely high on the scale of "what the heck am i gonna do with this?" and "what was i thinking?" BUT, curiosity still had the best of me.
#2...investigate and research what your strange product is all about. i found a few sites with recipes for soup...i thought great! a new twist on an old favorite, chicken soup. not so much. as i read further, after purchase, i found that the black chicken is most used for Chinese medicinal purposes...mainly for sick people, pregnant women or just after giving birth. it's a very lean bird, does not necessarily produce a tasty unforgettable unctuous broth...and i don't really fall into one of the needy categories.
#3...keep your game face on. anyone walking in on you dismantling this black (blue) bird will think you are in need of some help...serious help...i don't mean with the soup...
so what do i do ?...i decided to wing it, of course...(again, sorry about the bad pun).
the easiest recipe i found was HERE at eating club Vancouver by fellow bloggers ts & js. they call it Mama's Silkie Chicken or "Dyong Kwe". this recipe seemed easiest to tackle due to the short list of ingredients. please visit their site for an easy and quick step by step (with photos) to see how Mama does it.
i didn't have a few of the ingredients so i just went with the recipe i use for Duck Soup found HERE. it sounded pretty similar with Asian style flavors and such. i thought if the flavors were basic and normal i might be able to salvage a meal or at least a good stock out of this deal....not so my friend. after thawing, washing and the obvious photo session...i was not so enthused about the out come. still i went ahead and threw everything in the pot and hoped for the best. the best never came...the blue skin turned an unappealing limpy blackish grey and the flesh was unlike any chicken i had ever seen. hmmmmm...not so good.
next, i thought to myself... get the photo of the finished product, make it look pretty and appealing and maybe it will seem more appetizing. not so my friend...my "Mama" always warned me that looks can be deceiving...definitly correct when it comes to food photography. the photo looked great and i was ready to give it a try, but like i said...this one stumped me. i removed the blackish grey skin that i just knew i was not going to be able to eat, to unveil the tough, lean flesh that was streaked with black...and i mean weirdly streaked with black. at this point (hours from the start of this little journey) i had to give up for the day...throw in the towel...raise the white flag. i strained the broth and threw everything into a tupperware for a second chance at it some other time.
that second chance hasn't come up yet...it's in the freezer right now. i didn't have the heart to toss it. a

Saudi prince jailed for life for murdering servant

2010-10-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, who murdered Bandar Abdulaziz in their five-star hotel suite. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA
A Saudi prince who strangled and beat his servant to death at the culmination of a campaign of "sadistic" abuse was jailed for life today and told that "no one in this country is above the law".
Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, a grandson of the billionaire king of Saudi Arabia, was ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years for murdering Bandar Abdulaziz in a "brutal" assault at their five-star hotel in central London.
The prince bit the 32-year-old hard on both cheeks during the attack at their suite in February, which was said to have had a "sexual element". He had been drinking champagne and cocktails when he began the ferocious beating after a Valentine's night out.
The Old Bailey had heard that the murder of Abdulaziz was the last act in a "deeply abusive" master-servant relationship in which the prince carried out frequent attacks on his aide "for his own personal gratification".
Saud initially believed he had diplomatic immunity, but his status as a Saudi royal could not save him from arrest and prosecution.
Sentencing him today, Mr Justice Bean said: "It is very unusual for a prince to be in the dock on a murder charge. No one in this country is above the law. It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the Saudi royal family."
The judge said he could not be sure that Saud had intended to kill Abdulaziz, but "I think the most likely explanation is that you could not care less whether you killed him or not".
The 34-year-old prince, who stood in the dock with his arms crossed, showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down. He was found guilty of murder yesterday after the jury had deliberated for an hour and 35 minutes.
He was also convicted of a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent, relating to a previous attack on Abdulaziz in a lift at the Landmark hotel, in Marylebone, where the men were staying.
During the trial, jurors were told that by the early hours of 15 February, Abdulaziz was so worn down and injured that he let Saud kill him without a fight. The prince then spent hours on the phone to a mysterious contact in Saudi Arabia trying to decide how to cover up his crime.
Saud also tried to conceal the true nature of his relationship with his servant, claiming they were "friends and equals", but a porter at the hotel said Abdulaziz was treated "like a slave".
The prince claimed he was heterosexual and had a girlfriend in Saudi Arabia, but he had booked appointments with at least two male escorts and one gay masseur, and looked at hundreds of images of men on gay websites. Photographs of Abdulaziz in "compromising" positions were found on his phone.
Saud denied killing his servant until shortly before the trial, when he admitted he had caused his death. Jurors rejected a claim by his barrister, John Kelsey-Fry QC, that Saud was guilty only of manslaughter.
His lawyers also failed in a last-ditch attempt to stop details of his encounters with male escorts being revealed during the trial. In a sign of the anxiety about his sexuality becoming public, the prince's legal team initially argued that the legal argument about the escorts should be held behind closed doors.
Kelsey-Fry said Saud had already faced abuse from Islamic fundamentalists being held alongside him in prison. The court heard that homosexuality remains a capital offence in Saudi Arabia, and the country in which the acts take place has little relevance to prosecution under the country's sharia law. If he ever returns there, Saud faces the possibility of execution. He could seek asylum in Britain when he is eventually released.
The judge said Saud had killed his servant in "a sustained and ferocious assault" and Abdulaziz was a "vulnerable victim entirely subjugated to your will". Saud had treated his victim "as a human punchbag" and had never shown any regret for what had happened.
"If you had any remorse you would have sought medical help immediately. But you were only concerned for yourself," said the judge.

UK court sentences Saudi prince to at least 20 years for murder | AP Nation / World - The News Tribune
LONDON - A British court has sentenced a Saudi prince to at least 20 years in prison for beating and strangling one of his servants at a swank British hotel.

UK court sentences Saudi prince to at least 20 years for murder

Metropolitan Police, HO AP Photo
In this handout image issued by the Metropolitan Police, Bandar Abdulaziz,a servant who was killed by Saudi Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud. A Saudi prince has been convicted in Britain of murdering a servant. A jury in London's Old Bailey criminal court, on Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010, found Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud guilty of murdering Bandar Abdullah Abdulaziz in a frenzied attack in a hotel. The 34-year-old prince faces a possible life sentence. The jury deliberated just 95 minutes before returning its verdict.

LONDON Â– A British court has sentenced a Saudi prince to at least 20 years in prison for beating and strangling one of his servants at a swank British hotel.
Justice David Bean sentenced Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud to life in prison with a 20 year minimum for the brutal assault at the Landmark Hotel in London on Feb. 15.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw says the prince had abused his aide in the past and that photographs stored on a mobile phone "plainly proved" that there was a "sexual element" to the abuse.
Bean says that while it is unusual for a prince to be a defendant in an murder case, "No one in this country is above the law."
The 34-year-old prince's grandfather is a brother of the current Saudi king.

Saudi Prince Sentenced To At Least 20 Years

A British court sentenced a Saudi prince to at least 20 years in prison Wednesday for beating and strangling one of his servants at a swank British hotel.
Justice David Bean sentenced Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud to life in prison with a 20 year minimum for the brutal assault at the Landmark Hotel in London on Feb. 15. The sensational case had featured days of lurid testimony, complete with video images of the shaven-headed prince brutally assaulting his aide, Bandar Abdulaziz, in a hotel elevator.
"No one in this country is above the law," Bean said. "It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the Saudi royal family."
The jury had deliberated just 95 minutes before returning its verdict. The prince was convicted of both murder and a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent relating to the attack in the elevator.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw says the prince had abused his aide in the past and that photographs stored on a mobile phone "plainly proved" that there was a "sexual element" to the abuse.
Al Saud originally told police that he and Abdulaziz had been swigging champagne into the early hours of the morning, and that when he awoke at 3 p.m. he could not rouse Abdulaziz.
Jurors rejected a claim by his defense lawyer John Kelsey-Fry that the prince was guilty only of manslaughter.

Spicezee Bureau

2010-10-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

Josh Gordon and Will Speck’s ‘The Switch’ is a funny flick, which romanticises the concept of mismatched identities to the hilt. Starring Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Jeff Goldblum, Thomas Robinson, Patrick Wilson and Juliette Lewis, ‘The Switch’ is
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the story of two thick friends Wally (Bateman) and Kassie (Aniston).
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However, things go crazy when Wally’s pal Leonard (Goldblum) takes a liking for Kassie. With Kassie deciding to have a baby without the hang-ups of a relationship, she goes for artificial insemination and solicits a sperm donor named Roland (Wilson), and hosts an amusing insemination party.
With Wally getting sloshed in the party, he makes a blunder with Roland`s sperm specimen and feels morally obliged to replace it with his own.
Post Wally’s faux pas, seven years have passed during which Kassie moved away from New York and had a charming son Sebastian (Robinson). One fine day, Kassie decides to move back to the city and arranges a meet with Wally. Amusingly, Wally is unable to recall what happened seven years ago but finds an uncanny resemblance between him and Sebastian.
‘The Switch’ is a funny film with lots of humorous moments. Watch out for Jason Bateman who keeps tickling your funny-bone with his zinging dialogues. Aniston is lovable and charming. Goldblum and Lewis can act and are nice addition to the film. Young young Robinson is a great find.
With right cast and loads of humour, ‘The Switch’ is every bit enjoyable.
Ratings: Three cheers for this one!

The Switch
Photogallery

Story: Jennifer Aniston tries to keep pace with her biological clock and decides to go in for artificial insemination when she fails to find a boyfriend who can be husband material too. Why escape the joys of motherhood, she tells herself and finds a suitable donor in Patrick Wilson, an assistant professor of feminist studies at Columbia. But best friend, Jason Bateman, accidentally makes a switch, replacing the donor's sperm with his own.
Of course, Aniston has no idea about it and is confronted with the seedy truth, seven years later when her son, Sebastian seems to have a greater affinity with her best friend (Bateman) rather than with his biological father, Wilson.
Movie Review: Where have all the husbands gone? Just a few weeks ago, it was Jennifer Lopez who opted for artificial insemination because she couldn't find the perfect mate in Back-up Plan. This time, it's 40-year-old feminist TV producer, Jennifer Aniston who inseminates herself with a turkey baster, when she fails to find her Mr Right: a man who would double up as perfect husband and great daddy to her unborn kid.
Are these really the new age feminists that Hollywood rom-coms are trying to throw up? You got to be joking! It doesn't take long for both our Jennifers to realise that single motherhood is hardly an option for the independent woman even as a world-without-men is a desolate, despicable and disastrous scenario for the sassy singleton. Lopez falls in love with a cheese farmer on the day she inseminates herself, while Aniston fails to pay heed to best friend Bateman's warnings, only to end up falling in love with him, seven years later. Of course, before that, she tries her best to bond with her son's supposedly biological father, Patrick Wilson who sadly shares no chemistry with neither the mom, nor his son. The poor professor tries his best to strike a rapport with his melancholic, neurotic, high-strung six-year-old son, Sebastian (Thomas Robinson) but ends up awkward and embarrassed after a disastrous birthday party in Central Park. It doesn't take long before Aniston realises why Sebastian seems to be bonding so well with the also-neurotic Bateman, who pitches in as the baby-sitter, while Aniston desperately tries to romance the wrong daddy.
The film unfolds like a predictable rom-com, but has its moments, mostly conjured up by the young kid, Thomas Robinson who does a fine tango with the self-absorbed, emotional and somewhat funny Bateman. Robinson may have a personality disorder, but it sure is an engaging one. For who wouldn't be drawn towards a kid who prefers causes like global warming and animal welfare over video gaming and cartoon network! As for Aniston, she's likeable, as always, in a candy floss way that seems to come naturally to her.
Sweet, sentimental and sufficiently funny, The Switch is a decent weekend watch.

‘The Switch’: Puzzled relationships (IANS Movie Review - Rating: ***)

Director: Josh Gordon, Will Speck; Actors: Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Thomas Robinson, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis, Patrick Wilson
Often we go through relationships in life, comfortable in the existence of a best friend who supports us. What we don’t consider is that the best friend could become the spouse.
Wally (Bateman) and Kassie (Aniston) have that relationship. Though Wally likes her and keeps telling her that in different ways, Kassie strictly keeps him in the best friend zone. Problem occurs when Kassie decides to get artificially inseminated and looks around for a sperm donor. Wally asks what’s wrong with him but Kassie wants to have the best possible sperm for herself.
She finds Roland (Wilson) and throws a party on the day. In a drunken stupor, however, Wally replaces Roland’s sperm with his own, not even remembering the incident. After becoming pregnant, Kassie moves away from New York and returns seven years later with her son Sebastian (Robinson).
When Wally interacts with Sebastian, he suspects the worst. When his fear that he is the father turns true, he wants to tell Kassie but can’t. To complicate things further Kassie begins a relationship with Roland.
“The Switch” is a commentary on many aspects of modern life. In our zest for the best, we forget the most compatible one that is next to us. The solution is merely to make a switch in one’s mind and consider a different possibility.
Jason Bateman plays the distraught Wally well. Jennifer Aniston is plastic, and cannot emote, perhaps due to the botox on her face. The boon of starring in “Friends” has become her “bane” and she has been unable to shake off that stereotyping.
It is however Thomas Robinson who plays his part as an over intelligent, hypochondriac kid with believability, cuteness and a quite a few laughter. Here’s a kid to watch out for.
Observant Indian audiences will notice a first of its kind censor cut, where the reason this time is male nudity and not female.
The mainstay of the film is a steady pace throughout, believable characters, settings and dialogues, even though the concept might seem a little far-fetched. Though branded a comedy, it is a little slice of urban American life. Considering the rapidity with which urban Indian life is turning American, Indian audiences are bound to enjoy this.

The Switch is Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston’s latest movie and in the movie, she stars as a single woman whose biological clock is ticking fast while she fails to find a suitable man to marry and have children with.

Jennifer Aniston switch focus in life

Aniston decides not to let her lack of a marriage partner stand in her way of becoming a mother so she decides to get her eggs fertilized through artificial insemination and gets access to the sperms of Patrick Wilson, a Columbia University Assistant of female studies. However through fate, Wilson’s sperms are accidentally swapped with that of Jason Bateman, who happens to be Aniston’s best pal.
Seven years after the birth of Aniston’s son Sebastian, the real truth of the matter is revealed after Sebastian develops a closer relationship with Bateman than Wilson, his supposed biological father.
It seems like husbands are very scarce nowadays after both Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston found it difficult to get marriage partners in Back-up Plan and The Switch respectively.
Aniston, 40 works as a TV producer who is all for women’s independence decides to settle for anyone after failing to find a great husband and father for the child she wants to give birth to.
The types of independent women being portrayed in the latest Hollywood movies are hardly the real situation on the ground as many women who want to live their lives without men are not looking to give birth and raise their kids on their own without the help of their fathers.
Jennifer Lopez developed a huge affection for a man who worked as a cheese farmer in the movie the same day she had her insemination while Aniston also refuses to listen to the advice of Bateman about the artificial insemination but ends up in a love relationship with him after seven years.
After failing to get her son to have a close relationship with Wilson who she wrongly thought was her son’s biological father, Aniston notices and starts wondering why her kid is so fond of her best pal Jason Bateman who sometimes had to take care of Sebastian while Aniston tried to date Wilson.
Even though there wasn’t much suspense in the movie, the performance of the little boy Thomas Robinson was impressive as he had a great on-screen relationship with Jason Bateman. He was also very intelligent and seemed to be compassionate.
Aniston was also quite charming on screen as always and gave a great performance.

Weezer - Weezer's Split Deal

2010-10-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

Weezer have responded to an online campaign encouraging them to split up, saying they will if they are paid $20 million.

Weezer will split up for $20 million.
The 'Buddy Holly' group - who recently released their eighth studio album, 'Hurley' - have responded to an online campaign offering them $10 million to call it a day, saying they will do it for double the amount.
Drummer Patrick Wilson - who makes up the band alongside singer Rivers Como, guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Scott Shriner - posted a joke tweet reading: "If they can make it 20, we'll do the 'deluxe breakup'!
The campaign to get Weezer to split was started by Seattle resident James Burns, who believes the group has underachieved since their 1996 album 'Pinkerton'.
He explained: "I have never been a fan of this band. I think that they are pretty much horrible, and always have been. Even in the early 90s.
"But this isn't about me. This is about the Weezer fans. Every year, Rivers Cuomo swears that he's changed, and that their new album is the best thing that he's done since Pinkerton, and what happens? Another pile of c**p like 'Beverly Hills' or 'I'm Your Daddy'."
James has made the offer via a pledge page on the website thepoint.com and has so far raised $182 and is pledging all fans of 'Pinkerton' to contribute $12 to his cause.
He added: "This is an abusive relationship, and it needs to stop now. I'm sick of hearing about whatever this terrible (and yes, even if you like the early stuff, you should be able to admit that they are wretched now) excuse for a band is up to these days.
"If all 852,000 of you (really?) who bought Pinkerton pitch in $12, we will meet our goal. I beg you, Weezer. Take our money and disappear."

Village Board Officially Announces Film Shoot

Roll Film!
The Massapequa Village Board officially announced that a major Hollywood film is shooting on Park Boulevard this week.
"Young Adults," starring Charlize Theron and Patrick Wilson, will be filming on-location in Woody's Tavern, according to Mayor James Altadonna.
"They're due to start shooting the movie in Massapequa Park tomorrow, and should be here for several days," he said. "This is very exciting for our town."
Village officials said last month that the film was considering the area as a location. "Young Adults" is the latest movie from the director/writer team of Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, who were responsible for 2007's hit film "Juno."
Altadonna also awarded accolades Monday to the first-place winners of the annual Massapequa Park Bocce Tournament held recently in Brady Park.
Charlie Murphy, Joe Thomson, Pasquale Barbara, and Tony Orlando were presented with trophies by the Mayor who congratulated them on their Bocce prowess.
Next, a certificate of achievement was given to the members of the Massapequa Park Garden Club, now in their tenth year, for their contributions to the Village.
"Everywhere you go, everyone says they want to be in Massapequa Park because of how beautiful it is," Altadonna said. "It's a credit to all of you. Thank you."
And finally, the Massapequa Park Seniors, a recreation center based out of Brady Park and sponsored by the Village, was on-hand to present Mayor Altadonna with a beautiful tan afghan.
"It's in appreciation for everything he's done for us," said Senior Center director Roseann Vainder.
Altadonna was quite impressed by the cozy, seven foot-long afghan, knitted over the course of two weeks by Senior Center member Lena Mastrandrea.
"I've tried to buy a blanket for quite a long time," he said. "They were never big enough."
When official business got underway, topics included an authorization for the Village Administrator to sign a contract with Showtiques Crafts, Inc., to run the 2011 Street fair, and approved a hearing to be held November 8 regarding a proposed new stop sign on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Front Street.
Also covered were several minor budget issues and the authorization to establish a standard work day for elected and appointed officials to comply with the New York State and Local Employees Retirement System.

Patton Oswalt And Patrick Wilson Join The Stalking In Young Adult

Even if the sheen has worn off Juno after all this time, you'd still have to be pretty foolish not to be excited about Young Adult, another film written by Diablo Cody to be directed by Jason Reitman. The film is already set to star Charlize Theron as a young adult author who returns to her hometown to sorta-kinda stalk her hunky ex-boyfriend, and though Josh Brolin had been rumored for the ex role, he confirmed a few weeks back he wasn't part of the film.
Luckily there's no shortage of attractive men looking for work in Hollywood, and The LA Times reports that Patrick Wilson has signed on for the ex-boyfriend role, and Patton Oswalt has also gotten on board the production, which starts shooting soon in New York. The Times doesn't specify Oswalt's role but over at The Playlist they've read the script and think he'll play Theron's overweight, disabled best friend "not afraid to call her out on her shit." Apparently the handicapped fat best friend is the new "sassy gay best friend," but since it's Diablo Cody I'll hold off on judging for now.
Though Wilson has worked with a whole litany of great directors in the past, it's actually Oswalt who's had the better career fortunes lately following his stellar, creepy lead turn in last year's Big Fan (Wilson, on the other hand, was recently stuck in the middling The Switch). Both of them are more than welcome in a project with this much talent involved, especially one that will allow them both to be funny and dramatic at the same time. I cooled significantly on Jason Reitman after he was seemingly everywhere during the Up in the Air press tour, but by the time Young Adult comes around next year (inevitably during the Toronto Film Festival, I'd imagine) I think I'll be glad to have him back.

Jason Reitman's 'Young Adult' Set Photos (Exclusive)

We were lucky enough to stumble across the now-in-production 'Young Adult' earlier today, which is currently filming scenes in Massapequa Park, NY. The production has taken over the small Long Island town for at least the rest of the week, with residents crowding the streets in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the film's star Charlize Theron. With 'Young Adult', director Jason Reitman reunites with his 'Juno' screenwriter Diablo Cody on a story about a young adult novelist (Theron) who returns to her hometown in the hopes of re-connecting with an old flame (Patrick Wilson).
Though the film is being shot on Long Island, the setting is a small town in Minnesota. Aside from a Minnesota Wild-themed bar window and a few scattered license plates, there's not a whole lot of Minnesota oozing out of the stuff we've seen so far. In the scene we watched them shoot, Theron's character was sitting on a park bench with her sleek laptop open and little frenetic dog hopping around in the background. Suddenly, she gets a call on her blackberry and stops everything. Who is it and what do they want? We'll have to wait awhile to get those answers; 'Young Adult' won't arrive in theaters until late next year.

Patrick Wilson - Patrick Wilson Stars In The Normal Heart Anniversary

2010-10-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

The American actor PATRICK WILSON starred in an anniversary reading of the ground-breaking play 'The Normal Heart', at the Public Theatre in New York on Monday 18th October 2010. The production, written by playwright LARRY KRAMER about the AIDS epidemic, was celebrating its 25th year anniversary.
Joel Grey, who starred in the original production and produced Monday's reading, spoke to the New York Daily News about the play's relevance in the 21st century, saying, "Young men are living on these HIV drugs for a long, long time. However, the youngsters think that nothing will happen to them, and they're not practicing safe sex, so it's very scary". 37-year-old Wilson was joined by the Hollywood actress GLENN CLOSE for the reading.
Wilson is not unfamiliar with the play's subject matter, in 2003 he starred in the HBO miniseries 'Angels in America', which followed the story of a gay couple living in New York during the Reagan administration. However, their lives are turned upside down after the revelation that one of them is HIV positive. Wilson won both GOLDEN GLOBE and EMMY AWARD nominations for his role as 'Joe Pitt', a Mormon gay lawyer.

PHOTO FLASH: Matthew Broderick, Glenn Close, Victor Garber, Jack McBrayer, Patrick Wilson, et al. At The Normal Heart Benefit

On Monday, October 18, the 25th anniversary benefit reading of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart was held at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Tony Award winner and Oscar winner Joel Grey directed the production, which was a benefit for the Actors Fund and Friends In Deed. Daryl Roth produced the event.

The cast featured Michael Cerveris, Glenn Close, Santino Fontana, Victor Garber, Jason Butler Harner, John Benjamin Hickey, Joe Mantello, Jack McBrayer, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Patrick Wilson.

The play, which was first produced by the Public Theater, focuses on the terrifying early years of the AIDS epidemic in New York. Grey appeared in the original 1985 Off-Broadway production.

In addition to Kramer, who made an appearance at the curtain call, notables in the audience included Jordan Baker, Adam Bock, Matthew Broderick, Charles Busch, Andy Cohen, Rick Elice, Dominic Fumusa, Carol Kane, Kevin Kilner, Kathleen Marshall, Andrea Martin, Martin Pakledinaz, and Roger Rees.

Interview: Patrick Wilson is ‘Barry Munday’

The title character in Barry Munday isn’t exactly the kind of character you’d picture when you think of actor Patrick Wilson. He is a giant man-child who has yet to grow up. A mostly failed womanizer, saddled with a dull work life, who fancies picking up girls at Chili’s and playing video games in his underwear. He’s much like you and me, but nothing like Patrick Wilson.

Despite these not so flattering characteristics, Barry is likable. He’s that well-intentioned guy who’s not entirely self-aware who does perhaps more harm than good, and yet you still root for him in the end. So when he inpregnates a girl who’s not exactly his type, you buy him wanting to stick around to finally take responsibility and enter manhood. That’s what Barry Munday is about: Manhood.

Wilson has played characters in the past that don’t exactly have the highest self-esteem or are the ideal heroes, but Barry is different. He’s not the typical protagonist and Wilson embraces that fact. After Hard Candy, Little Children, and Watchmen it’s surprising to see Wilson in this type of role, and that seemed to have been apart of the attraction to becoming Barry Munday for him.

Here’s what Patrick Wilson had to say about emasculated men and Barry Munday.

It’s a bit surprising that after Little Children and Hard Candy you weren’t offered more comedies, was it nice being offered something so different?

(Laughs) I guess, looking at it from that perspective… Anyone who knows me knows I’m kind of an idiot, so I always felt like it came to finding the right sort of people that believed in me. Chris D’Arienzo, the director, felt like he wanted something different. Some of the people who were attached to it before were also not known for comedy, but I think that was the idea: having someone you wouldn’t normally assume in this role. In the book, he was a little bit more of an everyman, but I selfishly wanted to make an outlandish character to have some fun.

Typically, with these types of movies, you have the crazy characters surrounding you and the central figure is the more grounded guy. I thought in order for us to buy him in this world, let him be as odd as the rest of the film.

Wouldn’t you say he’s grounded, though? He feels real.

Oh, definitely. It’s not like I created some crazy guy, but I felt like it was just as bizarre as the story was. I’ve played a lot of emasculated men whether it was emotional or physical or whatever, so despite the bizarre setup, it’s a real journey of somebody becoming a man and becoming a father. But I agree with you, he feels real.

With a character like Barry, you could easily go over-the-top. Can you talk about playing a character that is a little odd, but never making him a cartoon?

It’s funny, whenever I teach master classes prominently with musical theater kids you can adapt this rule to the question you’re asking: Whatever your reality is whether it’s a broad musical comedy or Greek theater or whether it’s Watchmen or Barry Munday, that character lives in his own reality. There are real choices and real emotions that they’re dealing with. Once you get to the core of what the guy is about, which is: Funny guy, yes. Lonely guy, yes. Searching for what it is like being a father and having no father? Great. All of those I can put into any character and they’re in most.

Once you got that core and the script supports it, you can go as broad as you want. We could’ve made Barry even broader, but you get in that first scene who he is. I feel like once you can establish the core of somebody, and it’s the same with Watchmen too, you can go as broad as you want. Then you’re putting on stuff whether it is hair or weight or the glasses, and then you’re creating a character externally. But for me, there has to be a real character.

The story itself could have been done very overly broad as well. What’s it like when you explain the concept of the film and say it’s not that overly broad comedy that it sounds like?

Oh, it’s terrible. Chris and I have become very good friends, but trying to describe the movie to someone it doesn’t sound funny at all. It sounds stupid and in bad taste. Like you get, “Oh, yeah. That’s gonna be a real fun movie, good luck with that one…” Imagine explaining it like, “So then a guy gets his nuts cut off,” and it just doesn’t work. And please, for a guy that almost had it done in Hard Candy and it happened in Little Children with Jackie [Earle Haley] and Dan Dreigberg was certainly emotionally castrated, so I’ve dealt with that enough in movies. If it wasn’t good I wouldn’t want to touch it at all, but with this I felt like I couldn’t say no. It was too different and too cool of a character that I haven’t played.

Did you find making Barry likable at all difficult?

I never go into a role thinking I got to make a character likable, but again, you do feel like on the page when you see the word “Ladies Man” it always comes off as so slimy. Once I figured out that Barry is actually the most positive person you’ll ever be around and that he’s actually an eternal optimist that’s lonely, I think those are things people can latch onto and also pull for.

There are two types of people that you refer to as a ladies man: There’s the guy that is dismissive to every other women that he doesn’t want to be with, but Barry isn’t that guy. Barry kind of loves everybody (laughs). I always felt like his optimism and good attitude made you get past that he was trying to sleep with girls. At the same point, I didn’t want to water him down by trying so hard to make him likable, but to just make him interesting.

Wouldn’t you say it’s important for Barry to be likable in some sense? If he weren’t, would you really cheer for him to succeed and become a father at the end?

Oh, I’ll give you that. Every role I’ve ever played, same with Hard Candy, I don’t care if you like me or don’t like me, but I do want you to care. You have to care. If you’re not pulling for this guy then you’re dead in the water. For me, you certainly want to care because you want to feel towards the end of the film, “Come on, Ginger. Take it easy on this guy; he’s not that bad. He’s trying.” It becomes a very genuine arc for him and he wants to man up and have some responsibility, so there’s certainly an argument for that.

When the movie starts out, you get this odd feeling that this guy was raised without a father and you find out that was the case, and when you read the script did that make a lot of sense to you as well?

Yeah. I kind of felt like that. It made complete sense. [Spoiler Alert] In the book there’s more of, and we left it on the cutting room floor, there’s more of really questioning whether the kid is the Asian neighbor’s and then finding out the dad is Asian [Spoiler Over]. All that stuff is much more prominent in the book. In that first scene you see of Barry and his mom looking at those photos together, that was Jean [Smart] and I’s first scene together. It was already into heavy mother-son relationship right at the beginning. It was, “Nice to meet you, and then now we have a thirty-five year mother-son relationship. Go!”

Barry is sort of the last guy you’d think would want to be a father. What do you think motivates him?

In those terms, he’s a very basic person. The fact that he doesn’t have any testicles anymore takes away from the fact of so much of his life was about overcoming his loneliness by going out with as many women as he could, which made him feel cool. When your whole sex drive is taken away, which was weirdly what kept him going, I think he was faced with this impending fatherhood. It literally comes down to that.

Don’t you think his womanizing was makes him even sadder? He’s trying to get women just so he can feel loved.

Yeah, but isn’t it like that for most people? I mean, I’m thirty-seven and I had my fun when I was single, but I’m sure anyone who goes out for that many women they’re obviously lonely and looking for something. I’m not condemning it, but he also doesn’t really have any friends. When Donald is his best friend and doesn’t even know the most major thing that happened in his life, it’s sad. Not everybody goes after women because they’re extremely lonely, but I think he’s incredibly lonely because he doesn’t have any friends, so maybe it’s more so for Barry than the average person that sleeps around.

Aren’t Donald and him perfect for each other in a sense that they’re both people still trying to live in the era they felt cool in?

What we tried to do with these guys is we wanted to put them in the era that they felt the coolest in, so everybody is in eighties and the seventies. With Barry, Chris and I talked about early nineties post-High School rugby shirts. He’s a little pudgy and he’s still trying to act like he goes to the gym. For each character, you want them to feel like they’re dressed for the era they felt cool in. Ginger, she is more so like a grandmother.

But when you get to the end, Ginger and Barry are basically the same people.

Of course. Look, the movie is funny and quirky, but I also think it has a tremendous amount of heart. I’ve never felt so weirdly removed from a character where I genuinely miss Barry and Ginger. I guess they change at the end because they found each other, but they don’t really change (laughs). They’re the same kind of oddball people and I think that’s what makes it so sweet. It’s not like he’s cool all of the sudden and loses his look. He’s still the same dork.

You mentioned earlier how you’ve played a lot of emasculated characters. With Barry Munday, Watchmen, Little Children, and even Lakeview Terrace that seems to be a theme you play into a lot, is that just a coincidence or is that just a theme you find appealing?

Probably a little of both, and also for what I get hired for. To me, I always gravitate towards scripts that have a real arc where the character can have a real journey. Whether it’s Hard Candy or Watchmen, with Nite Owl being what motivates Dan, or Little Children, him feeling totally emasculated and his journey trying to be a man and have some responsibility similar to this story. That’s usually where I start anyway, but as a result of me liking that I’m probably better at those. It’s a little of both.

So you’re okay with playing characters that are slightly similar thematically?

Yeah, I guess. I think they’re all sort of different characters, but in the most basic sense, yes. They’re all men and I think Dan Dreiberg is drastically different from Brad in Little Children, but at the same time it’s a guy who has no identity and is searching for that. He just needs to figure that out by the end of the story, and that’s Barry as well. He has no identity. For him, his identity is being a father.

2010-10-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem:Hi guys!If money is any indication, hot Republican House candidate in the country Christi Noah. 38-year-old farmer has raised more money than the campaign of any Republican challenger in the home country.
Noem raised 1.1 million dollars over the past three months, about twice as much as her opponent, Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD). And that money will go a long way: the media market in South Dakota is one of the least expensive in the country.

Noem may need cash. Herseth Sandlin is a moderate Democrat with proven ability to win and win big in South Dakota. She wiped her Republican opponent in 2008 with nearly 70 percent of the vote as the state voted overwhelming against Barack Obama.

Fallout New Vegas Review

There was a point while playing Fallout: New Vegas when I said to myself, "OK, this is going to be fun." Up until that point, I hadn't been sure. I enjoyed Fallout 3 (300 hours in and still counting), and all of the Fallouts that had come before, so there was no reason why I shouldn't have enjoyed this game, but yet, I wasn't sure. There was just something ... different.
In Fallout: New Vegas, you will play as a courier who's been shot and left for dead. Your mission: Find the men who shot you. That's it. Nothing so lofty as saving (or ending) the lives of all of the residents of the Capital Wasteland, or finding a water chip your family needs to survive. In New Vegas, as befitting a game set in the City of Sin, your objective is revenge.
Along the way, however, you will explore a wasteland as rich and varied as that of any other Fallout game. The colors are brighter, the mood lighter, but this is Fallout as you've always known it - perhaps better. You will encounter The New California Republic, who, having tamed California, have carried their humanist spirit east into the Mojave Desert. You will also meet Caesar's Legion, a slave army led by Caesar, a would-be warlord king.
As you search for the man who done you wrong, these two great forces (and others) will wage battle for control of the Mojave and the still-functioning Hoover Dam, arguably the most important piece of real estate in the world. You will travel to blown-out Western towns like Novac, built around a motel and a dinosaur tourist attraction, and Nelson, a town being overrun by Caesar's Legion. You will meet many people in your travels who will call upon you for help, but whether you come to their aid or not is up to you. You can barrel through this land on your own personal quest or you can take sides (any side) and make the Mojave Wasteland a better - or different - place.
What makes New Vegas satisfying is not how much choice it gives you as the player, but how much it limits you. You cannot, for example, trudge through the wasteland willy nilly without encountering some severe obstructions, whether those obstructions are impassable mountains or unbeatable creatures. You can explore, just within limits. You will need to be wary of your surroundings and cognizant of your abilities. Yet, even if you do nothing more than simply follow the main story, you will still explore a generous chunk of the wasteland, which makes the smaller side missions and random encounters feel more like gems in the rough that enhance your play when encountered, rather than missed opportunities you have to seek out.
Yet all of this is subtle. You won't feel this after only a few hours. What will hit you in the face like a ton of bricks as soon as you start playing New Vegas is the fact that this game has a sense of humor. This is as evident in the overt quirkiness of Novac's gigantic Dinky the Dinosaur as it is in the subtle touches that grace practically every element of the game. Gone is the dreary stodginess of Fallout 3, in which even the rare bit of humor added to the overall sense of doom. New Vegas, by contrast, seems content to let the misery of a post-nuclear wasteland speak for itself, and focus instead on the dark humor that makes living in that world interesting in and of itself aside from the archeological fun of seeing familiar places as they would look post-apocalypse.
Posted under : fallout new vegas, fallout new vegas release date, fallout new vegas reviews, fallout new vegas wiki, new vegas review

Fallout New Vegas review: Adventure with epic story & the plethora of quests.

out of 5The victorious release of Fallout 3 back in 2008, the greatly expected follow-up title is ultimately here with Bethesda’s Fallout: New Vegas.

A proper separate sequel to Fallout 3 that skips cross-country from the urinal-coloured husk of Washington DC to a urinal-colored protect in the Mojave Desert. The lure now, aside from publisher Bethesda’s quality stamp and seal, is escort designer Chris Avellone, the guy following Planescape: Torment.

In Fallout: New Vegas, will play as a courier who’s been shot and left for dead. Your mission is that find the men who shot you. That’s it. Nothing as high as saving or ending the lives of all of the residents of the Capital Wasteland or finding a water chip your family wants to stay alive. In New Vegas, as be relevant a game set in the City of Sin, your objective is vengeance.

Beside the way, yet, you will walk around a wasteland as rich and varied as that of any other Fallout game. The colours are brighter; the mood lighter. You will encounter the New California Republic, who having controlled California, have carried their humanist strength east into the Mojave Desert. You will also get together Caesar’s Legion, a slave army led by Caesar, a would-be warlord king.

They mention that throughout gameplay, the game mysteriously froze up as many as 3 times, with each one need a hard resume to the Xbox 360 version they were testing. Also, they comment on the poor frame rate concerns which slow down significantly throughout certain parts of the game and also quite long load times.

While, Fallout: New Vegas may feel like a development to Fallout 3, it present something that fans of Fallout cannot oppose. The lengthy adventure, epic story and the plethora of quests give gamers more reasons to spend time on the game. And the rating of the game 3.0/5 based on the experts of the Xbox 360, PC gamers.

California Megachurch Crystal Cathedral Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Crystal Cathedral, the California megachurch founded by televangelist Robert Schuller, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, the Orange Country Register reported.

The church, affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, owes about $7.5 million to unsecured creditors. The bankruptcy filing seeks court protection from its creditors.

The Orange County, Calif. based congregation oversees several costly ministries including the "Hour of Power" TV program and legendary pageants "Glory of Easter'' and the "Glory of Christmas."

In response to its massive $55 million debt, the church has laid off 140 staff, dropped its TV broadcasts in certain markets and canceled its Easter pageant.

Senior pastor Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman -- the founder's daughter -- said in the statement that she was optimistic the church would come out of these trying times.

She and the ministry was experiencing its best cash flow in 10 years.

The church, designed by architect Philip Johnson and constructed using 10,000 rectangular panes of glass, is a southern California architectural landmark and a noted tourist attraction.

Construction of the cathedral, which seats more than 2700 people, began in 1977 and was completed in 1980, at an estimated cost of $18 million

German trains test Channel tunnel route

2010-10-19T05:52:00.000-07:00

German trains test Channel tunnel routeSt Pancras welcomes 200mph train that railway chiefs hope will connect Frankfurt to London by the end of 2013
Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 October 2010 08.50 BST Article historyHigh-speed German train arrives at St Pancras Link to this video A German high-speed train of the type railway chiefs hope will connect the UK with Germany by the end of 2013 was unveiled in London this morning after a dry run.

The 200mph train operated by Germany's state railway company, Deutsche Bahn (DB), was at St Pancras station for an event due to be attended by the transport minister, Theresa Villiers.

It arrived at St Pancras after a safety exercise in the Channel tunnel. The state-of-the-art, German-made, Inter City Express (ICE3) train must pass stringent tunnel safety tests before it can start full services from Frankfurt to London, with December 2013 the likely start date.

Rail experts expect it to open up Britain to a new market for rail travel, put downward pressure on Eurostar fares and challenge one of Europe's busiest aviation markets.

DB is considering a route that would start in Frankfurt – the heart of Germany's finance industry – with possible stops at Cologne and Brussels en route to London. The service is expected to grow the high-speed rail market between London and the continent by around 10%, carrying more than 1 million passengers per year.

The service would stretch the industry maxim that rail journeys must last no longer than four hours in order to compete with airlines.

A trip between Europe's two largest financial centres would take four to five hours, with DB hoping that the appeal of broadband access and lack of airport security hassle will tempt the all-important business traveller market.

Channel tunnel safety authorities have already relaxed regulations that will make it easier for DB to operate a London-to-Frankfurt service.

Trains using the Channel tunnel have to be 375m long as that is the distance between the emergency exits in the tunnel that connect with the central service tunnel used in the event of emergency evacuations.

The ICE3 trains are not that long so two would be bolted together for the journey through the tunnel. But that would mean passengers could not travel through the length of the train, so DB has to prove that this would not be a hindrance and show that it can evacuate people from either end without serious problems. There have been three fires in the tunnel since it opened in 1994.

The service could use the high-speed terminal at Stratford in east London to tap the business market at Canary Wharf and in the City, according to High Speed One, the owner and operator of the Channel tunnel rail link.

Eurostar, the Paris and Brussels service that operates from St Pancras, has been a success since its 1994 debut, now carrying more than 9 million passengers and taking three-quarters of the air and rail market between London and the French and Belgian capitals.

Jimmy Mubenga death: three men arrested

Jimmy Mubenga death: three men arrestedThree bailed by police in case of man who died on aeroplane after being heavily restrained
Paul Lewis and Matthew Taylor guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 October 2010 18.09 BST Article history
Jimmy Mubenga. Photograph: Graeme Robertson

Three men have been arrested by police in connection with the death of Jimmy Mubenga, an Angolan refugee who collapsed while being escorted on a flight from Heathrow airport in London.

The Metropolitan police confirmed that the men were interviewed by police "by appointment" at a west London police station and released on bail.

Mubenga, 46, died after losing consciousness on BA flight 77 around 8pm last Tuesday. Four passengers have since told the Guardian they saw three security guards heavily restraining Mubenga, who they said consistently complained about his breathing.

The three guards worked for G4S, a private security firm contracted to escort deportees for the Home Office.

Those arrested are aged 35, 48 and 49 and were questioned by police under caution today. None have been charged, and police sources said they were interviewed "in connection" with the death.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "Police investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Jimmy Mubenga in west London have today arrested three men by appointment at a West London police station.

"All have been bailed to a date in December pending further inquiries. Inquiries continue to establish the full circumstances of the incident. The death is being treated as unexplained at this stage."

According to the witnesses who spoke to the Guardian, Mubenga was handcuffed and sat between two guards at the rear of the aircraft. They kept him restrained in his seat as he began shouting and seeking to resist his deportation.

The passengers, who were sat nearby, reported Mubenga shouting "I can't breathe" before finally passing out.

Police and paramedics were called when Mubenga lost consciousness, and the aircraft, which had been due to take off, returned to the terminal.

The Home Office and British Airways have all declined to comment . G4S said in a statement: "Three of our employees are continuing to help the police with their investigation. As a result of that ongoing investigation we are unable to provide additional comment at this time."

Scotland Yard's homicide unit took over the investigation on Friday after the death became categorised as "unexplained". Detectives based at Heathrow were previously investigating the death and had interviewed passengers on the flight.

An initial postmortem on Mubenga's body took place at Hillingdon mortuary 48 hours after his death and was inconclusive, but experts are awaiting the results of laboratory tests. "Further tests will be conducted in due course in order to establish the cause of death," the police statement said.

Last week MPs called for a "wide-ranging and independent inquiry" into the UK's deportation system in light of the death.

Keith Vaz, chair of the Commons home affairs select committee, added that he would be writing to the home secretary, Theresa May, and G4S about possible questions surrounding the death.

"If, as eyewitness reports suggest, Mr Mubenga was complaining of breathing difficulties, questions must be asked as to why help was not called for sooner," he said.

"I will be writing to both the home secretary and G4S on this matter whilst awaiting the outcome of police investigations. When removing people from the UK, human rights must be fully respected at all times."

Mubenga's family have called on witnesses to come forward. "I want the truth to come out," said his son Roland, 16. "That's what I want so I know how my father passed away."

Tonight a fifth passenger on the aircraft came forward to echo concerns about Mubenga's treatment. The witness did not want to be identified, but recalled how - in an apparent reference to the failure of fellow passengers, who did not intervene - Mubenga said: "What kind of people are you that you do nothing?"

David Blanchflower: spending cuts could lead to recession

David Blanchflower: spending cuts could lead to recession• Chancellor's cuts 'misguided', says former MPC member
• Coalition guilty of 'appalling cowardice'
• Business leaders who support cuts making 'terrible mistake'

Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 October 2010 16.33 BST Article history
David 'Danny' Blanchflower has repeatedly described the public spending cuts as the 'greatest macro-economic mistake in a century'. Photograph: David Moir/Reuters

Former Bank of England policymaker David Blanchflower today accused the government of cowardice in planning huge cuts in public spending to tackle the budget deficit.

Writing for the Guardian, Blanchflower said that chancellor George Osborne's cuts amounted to a surrender in the face of the financial crisis and warned that the policy of fiscal tightening would not work.

"A good way to think of what has happened is that we are struggling to recover from the effects of an economic war that has hit us hard," the outspoken Blanchflower, a trenchant critic of the cuts, wrote on the Guardian's Comment is Free website.

"Faced with this economic war, this misguided coalition government has … shown appalling cowardice; rather than fight, Osborne is about to run up the white flag of defeat. His response is the equivalent of surrendering immediately because of the potential impact of the war on the deficit. It's as ridiculous as that."

His comments, which come two days before the government sets out £80bn of spending cuts, are at odds with the views of 35 business leaders, including Marks & Spencer chairman Sir Stuart Rose and BT boss Ian Livingston, who have written an open letter in today's Daily Telegraph to express support for Osborne's cuts. They say there is "no reason to believe" the chancellor's plan to eliminate the structural deficit within four years will undermine the economic recovery.

The 35 also warn that Labour's plan to spread deficit reduction over more than one parliament would leave the UK almost £100bn deeper in debt by 2014/15 and increase the risk of interest rate hikes.

Blanchflower rejected this analysis, telling Bloomberg television that the business leaders "are not economists. It's a terrible, terrible mistake. The sensible thing to do is to spread [the cuts] over a long time."

He has repeatedly described the public spending cuts as the "greatest macro-economic mistake in a century".

"Clearly you have to deal with the deficit, but there is no economics that says you have to deal with it in a week or a month," Blanchflower said. "You have to be mindful of the data and if the data turns down, which it has, you have to adapt.

"The last thing you do in a recession is make things worse."

Blanchflower also said the Bank of England appears to be the government's "only back-up plan" but that additional quantitative easing may not work fast enough to help the economy.

The businessmen's letter was drawn up by Lord Wolfson, the Conservative peer and chief executive of Next. In the letter, signed by Asda chairman Andy Bond, Gordon Frazer, the managing director of Microsoft UK, and Carphone Warehouse chairman Charles Dunstone, the business leaders write: "Everyone knows that when you have a debt problem, delaying the necessary action will make it worse not better. The cost of delay is enormous, and would result in almost £100bn of additional national debt by the end of this parliament alone.

"In the end, the result of delay would be deeper cuts, or further tax rises, in order to pay for the extra debt interest. The cost of delay could be even greater than this. As recent events in some European countries have demonstrated, if the markets lose faith in the UK, interest rates will rise for all of us."

BBC offers to pay for World Service to avoid licence fee raid

BBC offers to pay for World Service to avoid licence fee raidCorporation fears government plan to make it pay £556m bill for free TV licences for over-75s

Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 October 2010 11.31 BST Article history
Mark Thompson: willing to pay some or all of £300m annual costs of running the World Service. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

The BBC director general, Mark Thompson, is prepared to meet some or all of the £300m annual costs of running the World Service, in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a £556m raid on its finances to fund the cost of free TV licences for the over-75s, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal.

Embroiled in crisis talks over BBC financing in the hours before the government's comprehensive spending review is agreed, the corporation's negotiators have been told that ministers are also considering whether to force the BBC to meet the costs of the World Service, which is currently paid for by the Foreign Office.

That would be an alternative to making the BBC pay out £556m to fund the costs of free television licences for anywhere home to an elderly person – a bill that may force existing television and radio budgets to be slashed.

Thompson's team says it is time to "start having a more reasonable conversation" about the BBC paying for the World Service because the service is a broadcaster, although it is not clear if the BBC would be prepared to pay the entire bill through the licence fee. By contrast, if the BBC were forced to fund the cost of free TV licences for the elderly there would be no benefit for most viewers on screen or on air.

Political sources report that the government's position is in a state of flux, as negotiations go down to the wire. However, there are indications this morning that ministers are moving towards favouring the BBC bearing the costs of the World Service because of the political complications of the alternative.

Yesterday, the BBC set down its opposition to paying for free TV licences, with the BBC Trust saying it "would be unacceptable for licence-fee payers to pick up a bill for what is a universal benefit". The cost of funding the benefit, received by 4m homes, almost exactly matches the £575m budget for BBC2.

Ministers are searching for last-minute cost-saving proposals after the Ministry of Defence achieved a better than expected settlement. Defence budgets are being cut by 8%, rather than the 10% originally expected, leading to a funding gap elsewhere.

There are suggestions that the World Service could be funded by some of the profits made by BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, which licenses formats such as Strictly Come Dancing, Doctor Who and Top Gear overseas. Last year, Worldwide made an operating profit of £140m, although that cash is used to fund the BBC's wider activities.

Although the bulk of the BBC's activities are funded by the £145.50 television licence fee, the World Service has always been funded directly by the government. Traditionally the World Service has been focused on "lifeline" short-wave radio services for countries such as Burma where independent local broadcasters are weak, but in recent years activity has shifted to developing more expensive Arabic and Farsi (Persian) television channels.

A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said that "no comments were being made prior to the announcement of the spending review".

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000.

• If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

Infowars Moneybomb

2010-10-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

Infowars Moneybomb:InfoWars Moneybomb marathon begins Thursday with the participation of popular host Alex in air for 24 hours to raise money to save the program in action.
“It’s super fun!” Jan Brewer, devoted follower of the program, said Politically Illustrated. “We need to keep InfoWars Moneybomb going through the funding program because it does not receive any money. I know I will be sending a contribution to InfoWars Moneybomb marathon!”

Most people are not as optimistic as Mrs. Brewer, but the show has raised more than $ 205,053, with the aim to raise $ 500.000.

“Now, I know that I’m optimistic, but InfoWars Moneybomb is a good program and I hope he will keep going strong,” said Mrs. Brewer.

“I like to listen to the show in prison.”

Miso,Rutabaga, Fennel, Kale, Watercress

Miso,Rutabaga, Fennel, Kale, Watercress:Miso is a traditional Japanese condiment made from fermented rice, barley and / or soybeans, salt and fungus kōjikin (麹菌?), The most typical miso made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock as the miso soup is called misoshiru (味噌汁?), Japanese cuisine food. With high content of protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important role in the nutrition of feudal Japan. Miso is still very widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cuisine, and has been gaining world-wide interest. Miso is generally salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on various factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity and salty, and has a very broad range of available miso. Preceded by miso originated in China during the third century BC or earlier, and it is likely that this, together with the corresponding fermented soy products, was introduced in Japan at the same time as Buddhism in the sixth century AD [1]. This fermented food called “Chi.” Before the era of the Muromachi, miso was made without grinding soybeans, something like natto. In the Kamakura period, the total meal consisted of a bowl of rice, dried fish, serving of miso, and fresh vegetables. In the Muromachi era, Buddhist monks have found that soy can be ground into a paste, spawning new cooking methods where miso was used to flavor other foods. Miso is also used as a military position in the era of Sengoku and the miso-making is an important economic factor for the daimyo of the era. In the Miso Edo period is also called hishio and cookies. Detailed History of miso in the world (1378 pages, 4362 references) is available on the Internet. * History of miso, soy Jiang (China), Yang (Korea) and Tauco / Taotjo (Indonesia) (200 BC to 2009) In our time, miso is industrial production in large quantities and traditional miso home became a rarity.

About Hija

About Hija:Son or native place. (M & F). 4. Child, a son, daughter, or anything that product or effect of another.

Meaning

Noun noun
1. Child. (M & F) 1. Child. (M & F)
2. The young of all animals. (M & F) 2. The young of all animals. (M & F)
3. Son or native place. (M & F) 3. They are native or place. (M & F)
4. Child, a son, daughter, or anything that product or effect of another. (M & F) 4. Child, a son, daughter, or anything that product or effect of another. (M & F)

* Hijo de Familia -> 1. Son of the family – “1. Minor. Minor. 2. 2. Son of noble parents. A noble parents.

5. Bud or root of the horns of animals. (M & F) 5. Bud or root of the horns of animals. (M & F)

* Hijo de Leche – “Son of a foster child of milk -” Foster Child
* Hijo Bastardo -> Hijo de Madre SU (coll.) bastard illegitimate child – “child of his mother (coll.) bastard
* Hijo natural -> illegitimate child illegitimate child – “an illegitimate child
* Como Cada Hijo de Vecino -> all, as every mother’s son – “all
* Ser Hijo de papa, a boy my father. As a boy, dad, dad to be a boy. Nombrar UN Hijo predilect -> Ciudad de la to give freedom to appoint the city’s favorite son – “the city to give freedom to the city
* Hijo Unico -> the only child of an only child – “child only
* Hacerle una UN Hijo ->, to get someone pregnant Take another child – “to get someone pregnant
* Hijo adoptivo -> adopted child adopted child – “the adopted child
* Hijo ítico -> son in law Son Notice – “son in law
* El Hijo de Dios – “Son of God, the Son of God -” Son of God

Chilean Miners Rescue Live

Chilean Miners Rescue Live:Trapped miners rescued in one of the big developing stories of our time.The first miner out unscathed from more than six hundred meters below the surface after what seemed a hopeless struggle. About 33 miners are struggling to survive after they were trapped in the mine of San Jose in the north of Chile. But reports surfaced that the Chilean authorities just a few hours from the start of the rescue operation. At the time of filing the report, the operation was unleashed.
The trapped miners were inside the mine for more than 69 days. They were there for nearly 700 meters underground. According to authorities, it will not be a cakewalk for the rescuers, as it can take about 48 hours to bring all the miners trapped at the surface.

mining minister of Chile, Laurence Golborne, also takes an interest in the rescue operation. He told reporters that everything in the final state. They are working on a rescue capsule is called the Phoenix two. In addition, authorities also said that the miners are in good shape.

“I think they’re pretty cool,” he said.

“They work on their own things, and they help us with the platform to be built in a tunnel. They work with the means of people, giving us a few lines to get the TV, video, images and messages at the point where Phoenix lands.”

In the rescue rescuers to carry oxygen tanks, so they can take a trip to the surface. Special glasses will also be to save people. In addition, they will be well equipped to cope with any untoward incident inside the mine.

“It is quite obvious that if they were more than 69 days without light, no natural light, they probably could have some damage being exposed in this world,” Minister of Health of Chile, Jaime Manalich.

31-year-old driver, Florencio Avalos, will be the first miner to be got out. Hundreds of people have settled outside the camp, I hope to see a rescue operation unfolds. Even family members of trapped miners reached the spot. “Today will be a very long day. So much waiting. Yesterday felt long ago, but today will be even greater. I think we’re going all out. All that we are in. It will be very emotional,” said Priscilla Avalos.

Diggy

Diggy:Related Searches:diggy simmons, juelz santana, jim jones, coco sumner, games workshop,

Check out this epic video from the BET Hip Hop Awards 2010….Hot freestyle session with Ice Cube, Reverend Run, Doughboy, OMG, Diggy Simmons and Jo-Jo. The video was the introduction of many people to Diggy, son of Reverend Run, who is just 16 years, but has certain skills and flow.

Check out the BET Hip Hop Awards 2010 video below and watch over Diggy more in the future. You can find Ice Cube download here and Rev Run, download here.

Uncategorized

2010-10-19T05:22:00.000-07:00

Miss Black Colorado

Miss Black Colorado:Laurie Pierce – Competition has been the establishment of the African American community provide young women with a national stage to show their talent, beauty and intellect, and win scholarship opportunities. In 2007 more than eighty percent of the delegates to pursue graduate or professional degrees.

The winner of this year was the first year medical student at Meharry Medical College. Competition is proud of celebrating the achievements of young African-American women, who are often not represented in the media.

The reigning Miss Black USA 2009 Shayna Rudd (Pennsylvania). The first title holder Tamiko Gibson, Miss Black USA 1987, representing Maryland. Other former owners include Kristen White (Georgia), Kalilah Allen Harris (Tennessee), Seli Marie Dean (Minnesota), Lisa Marie Miree (Ohio), Caroline Mack (South Carolina), Don Moss (Maryland), Sheila Rugege-Dantzler (Louisiana), Deya Smith (Connecticut), Ebony Warren (Florida), Clarissa Lester Kent (South Carolina) and Elizabeth Waddell (Michigan).

Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s Disease:The seven-year child dies of Huntington’s disease is a victim of cyber bullying from residents neighbor.Kathleen Edwards, 7, was diagnosed with a debilitating disorder known as Huntington’s disease. Huntington’s disease is a progressive genetic disease that attacks the nerve cells of the brain, where they will eventually wither. Symptoms of uncontrolled movements, mental illness and eventually death. Huntington’s disease usually begins to show signs of adult and child to develop a very rare disease. Huntington’s disease is mainly inherited, as his mother Kathleen died from the disease last year.

While Kathleen is in a good mood, despite the fact that she faced, she now has to worry about bullying neighbors, she and her family on an almost daily basis.

Jennifer Petkov, 33, neighbors, and Edwards has confessed to cyber bullying a little girl.

Petkov posted horrendous art work by Kathleen and her deceased mother on his website the book face. Photos of the person Kathleen with her eyes closed and her tongue hanging out with the bones, as well as being a mother Kathleen cradle of Grim Reaper.
Petkov even went so far as to go back and forth in front of the house of Edward the coffin strapped to the top of his car.
Petkov when asked why she was bullying a girl and her family, she firmly states, “as she rubs them as raw materials!

Edwards has since issued a restraining order against Petkov and surroundings made the face page of the book in honor of Kathleen.

John Stewart:Rick Sanchez’s End Of CNN Career

John Stewart:Rick Sanchez’s End Of CNN CJohn Stewart:Rick Sanchez’s End Of CNN Career ete Dominick is the news from a Sirius radio show is linked to their presence. John Stewart he a “bigot” was heard calling, its later version the word “prejudicial” captured. What’s more, he also shared ideas that “everyone who runs CNN” was Jewish.
CNN issued a statement today that “Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank you wait for service this year and we wish him well.”

This news did not mention in the center of Sanchez it with comments that CNN was the end of his career. But the latest program radio program in which he performed and was made such comments.

Beautiful Homecoming Hairstyles

Beautiful Homecoming Hairstyles:Hairstyles,Short Hairstyles ,Mid Length Styles , Long Hairstyles, Curly Hairstyles, Black Hairstyles, Celebrity Hairstyles
,Now, when school began for most countries, let’s turn our attention to the most anticipated official event for most schoolgirls: known as Homecoming. This event, where girls are prepared with a variety of attractive hairstyles homecoming.
I grew up in Texas, where the homecoming was a very special event with football was a big deal (you’ve seen “Friday Night Lights?”). Homecoming was not the relatively large prom thing was, but it means dressing and going to the groove and expectantly, with a very charming boy, who will take you to the dance. Someone in a higher class will be crowned Homecoming Queen right on the football field (I think it was homecoming king, as well, but we girls have always been obsessed with the title of queen). Returning home was so important in Texas, even the college had them! I once had to return home court in my freshman, sophomore and junior years.
Engagement Of Alicia Keys And Swizz Beatz

Engagement Of Alicia Keys And Swizz Beatz:Alicia Keys had a definite glow about her at a charity gala in London last night, and now it’s clear why.The 29-year-old confirmed today she is pregnant with her first child.The Grammy award-winning singer and her boyfriend Swizz Beatz, 31, are also engaged to be married, a spokesperson said.

The musicians “are expecting a baby and are engaged to be married in a private ceremony later this year,” reps for the couple confirm to PEOPLE.

The announcement comes after the two, together since fall 2008, attended Thursday night’s Black Ball in London, which benefits Keys’s Keep a Child Alive charity.

“They’re very happy,” says a friend of the couple.

Rapper Swizz Beatz (real name: Kasseem Dean), 31, has produced music for Keys, 29, and worked with artists including Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani.

It will be the first marriage for Grammy-winner Keys – and their first child together. Swizz Beatz is father to Kasseem Jr., 3, and son Prince Nasir, 9, both from previous relationships.

Grey’s Anatomy Full And Final Episodes 2010

Grey’s Anatomy Full And Final Episodes 2010:The detail of spoilers of Grey’s Anatomy Season Finale 2010 is given below which one should must know about it because it is very important for the fan.
“Grey’s Anatomy” Season 6 finale called “Sanctuary” and “Death and All His Friends” will air on ABC next week and some eager fans are searching for juicy spoilers about the upcoming episode.
Last night’s installment was very intriguing thanks to Demi Lovato’s character Hayley, who gave people especially Alex an opportunity to reflect on their next moves.

There will be some big moves which are very important.ABC has been keeping the storyline under-wrap, but here is what we know that will take place in the
long-awaited 2 hour season finale.

According to ABC in “Sanctuary” there will be a crisis in the hospital like no other in its history while “Death and All His Friends”, Cristina and Meredith’s surgical skills will be put to the ultimate test. Creator Shonda Rhimes had this to say about “Sanctuary” :

The big news last night came from Grey’s Anatomy executive producer Shonda Rhimes. Via her Twitter feed, the feisty showrunner announced that the upcoming season finale is “a serious game changer for every single character.” Cue: ominous thunderclaps! Assuming this missive means something horrible will befall Katherine Heigl’s Dr. Izzie Stevens Rhimes does seem to take a certain delight in getting rid of actors she has a problem with by disposing of their characters in awful ways; see: T.R. Knight’s George getting hit by a bus what other “game-changing” surprises could be in store for your favorite Seattle Grace/Mercy West characters? To the speculation!

Tiger Woods Will Win If Wife Gets Greedy

Tiger Woods Will Win If Wife Gets Greedy:DISGRACED golf star Tiger Woods could win public sympathy if his wife Elin Nordegren demands half of her husband’s $US600 million ($682 million) fortune, experts say.

Once Nordegren appears money-grubbing, the public – particularly men – will side with Woods, sports image consultants told the Boston Herald.

It was reported in News of the World that Nordegren, a former Swedish model, will file for divorce and wants sole custody of their two children.

Tiger Woods has admitted infidelity during his marriage and up to 14 women have been linked with the superstar golfer.

Woods, 33, is said to be sailing on a boat to the Bahamas to escape the scrutiny and media coverage while Nordegren, 29, is believed to traveling to Sweden for Christmas with her family, Fox News reported.

While Woods has been criticised by public and media over his alleged cheating, Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based Sports Corp, told the Boston Herald he thinks the golfer may find redemption once his wife looks money hungry.

“Once his wife appears greedy in a divorce settlement, men will give Tiger sympathy,” Ganis said.

“Watch how fast mens’ attitudes change. We’re a very forgiving society.”

Sports consultant, Jim Delaney , of Boston-based Activate Sports & Entertainment told the Boston Herald that Woods would find acceptance through his performance on the golf course.

“This is nothing the public hasn’t seen before. His redemption can come if he performs up to his standards on the golf course,” he said.

Technology

2010-10-19T04:55:00.000-07:00

AAPL, IBM, VMW, COF, STLD

AAPL, IBM, VMW, COF, STLD:said Monday that its fiscal fourth quarter profit rose 70%, helped by strong sales of its wildly popular iPhone. Nevertheless, the company’s shares fell more than 5% in extended trading IPad sales missed analysts’ expectations. Net income rose to $ 4.31 billion, or $ 4.64 per share, versus $ 2.53 billion, or $ 2.77 per share, for the previous year quarter. Revenues jumped 67% to $ 20.34 billion from $ 12.21 billion in the same quarter last year. Analysts on average expected the company to report earnings of $ 4.06 per share on revenue of $ 18,860 million, gross profit for the fourth quarter decreased to 36.9% from 41.8% in the previous quarter, while operating profit for the quarter decreased to 26.8% from 30.1% a year earlier. IPhone sales rose 91% to 14.1 million units. The company sold 4.19 million iPads in the fourth quarter. Analysts had expected, Apple sold nearly 4.8 million iPads during the quarter. In anticipation of fiscal first quarter, the company said it expects earnings of $ 4.80 per share on revenue of $ 23 billion. Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of $ 5.03 per share on revenue of $ 22,350 million

International Business Machines Corp (NYSE: IBM) announced on Monday that its third-quarter net income improved to $ 3.6 billion, or $ 2.82 per share, versus $ 3.2 billion, or $ 2.40 for share, in the same period last year. Excluding non-operating pension charges and acquisition-related charges, operating net income would be $ 3.63 billion, or $ 2.85 per share for the quarter.Revenue grew 3% to $ 24.3 billion. Analysts on average expected the company to report earnings of $ 2.75 per share on revenue of $ 24,120 million Looking ahead, the company now expects fiscal 2010 revenue of at least $ 11.40 per share. The company had previously expected revenue of at least $ 11.25 per share. Analysts currently expect earnings of $ 11.29 per share for the full year. IBM shares fell more than 3% in after-hours trading.

VMware (NYSE: VMW) reported that its third-quarter net profit jumped to $ 84.6 million, or 20 cents per share, versus $ 38.2 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $ 714.2 million from $ 489.8 million. Analysts on average expected the company to report earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $ 697,750,000. The company’s shares fell more than 5% in late trading.

Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) said Monday that third-quarter net income rose to $ 803 million, or $ 1.76 per share, versus $ 394 million, or 87 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue increased $ 4.016 billion from U.S. $ 3,558 million, analysts on average expected the company to report earnings of $ 1.13 per share on revenue of $ 3.80 billion. Shares of lender credit card rallied more than 4% after-hours trading.

Steel Dynamics Inc (NASDAQ: STLD) announced that its third-quarter net profit fell to $ 18.74 million, or 9 cents per share, versus $ 69.02 million, or 30 cents per share, for the same period last year. Revenue rose to $ 1.58 billion from $ 1.17 billion. Analysts on average expected the company to report earnings of 9 cents per share on revenue of $ 1.50 billion.

Facebook – Microsoft: To Work Together to Find a Suitable “Bing”

Facebook – Microsoft: To Work Together to Find a Suitable “Bing”:If Facebook and Microsoft can have their way, they would soon be putting Google on the back foot as a social networking site and computer giants join hand to put Microsoft, AO Bing search of it. This search experience will be different from the one familiar with searching Google.

New Search Bing: This new search system will allow the user to have personalized search results, as the search result will be a list of friends who, Äúliked, Au result using Facebook and other sites that use similar, Äúlike, Au tag. Search by name not only deliver results, but also under the category, it will include a profile of the results of your search.

The reason for renewed Bing Search: Most would think that Microsoft is the initiator of the enterprise with Facebook, but in fact the opposite. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook did tie up stalls tireless efforts to Google, to get the best positions on social networks.

Until now, Google was unable to do much of the influence and took the market created by Orkut, so the search giant is now more than they want to their base back. Google, JSC senior user experience designer Paul Adams has already made a presentation flaws that there is order, Google will now work out to develop something that can hit the world within a few months and maybe even a few weeks.

This is of concern bell Zuckerberg, so he tries to get as much strength and partnership to prevent this possible onslaught made by Google. New Search Bing will operate from Wednesday.

Google Brain Drives Cars in Quest For Next Auto Revolution.

Google Brain Drives Cars in Quest For Next Auto Revolution:NEW YORK: electronic brain designed by the U.S. Internet titan Google has driven cars for almost a quarter million miles in California, in search of the next great revolution in the automotive industry.

News experiment out of Google over the weekend, showing that the New York Times describes as an attempt to use artificial intelligence to revolutionize the automobile.

But the software associated with GPS satellite navigation technology, was almost confusing humble cyclist who jumped a red light.

Humanoid, as Google engineer, pressed the button to turn off the system, and the accident was averted.

This was one of two performances of the human driver in the 140,000 miles (225,300 km) tests.

“One of the biggest problems we have?” We work on a car today is the safety and efficiency. Our goal is to help prevent accidents, to liberate the people? S time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing the use of cars, “Sebastian Thrun, a Google engineer, said in a blog company.

“Thus, we developed a technology for cars that can behave. Our automated vehicles, staffed by trained operators only left our campus in Mountain View, our office is Santa Monica and Hollywood Boulevard. They? Reduced E. Lombard Street, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, the transition Pacific Coast Highway, and even made it all the way around Lake Tahoe, “he added.

“Overall, our self-driving cars have entered more than 140.000 miles (225,302 km). We believe that this is the first study of robotics.

The engineer explained that the pilot plant “Automated machines use video cameras, radar sensors and laser range finder to” see “the other movements, as well as detailed maps (that we collect using hand motor vehicles) to cross the road.”

But funds are not drones, for security reasons, the safety of drivers behind the wheel if they are needed, Thrun’s placing said.

According to the New York Times, the Google research using artificial intelligence to reconstruct the road, making a step for his work on Internet search engines.

In half an hour away from Google? S campus south of San Francisco last week, Toyota Prius is equipped with various sensors and the next route programmed into the system of GPS-navigation, accelerated in the entrance lane and merged into a fast-moving traffic on Highway 101, the highway that passes through the Silicon Valley, says in the report.

He left the freeway a few exits later.

The car was traveling at a speed limit, which he knew, because the limit for each road included in its database, the newspaper said.

Device on the roof of the car produced a detailed map of the environment.

Car, then drove in city traffic, stop for lights and stop signs, as well as through advertisements like “approaching crosswalk,” or “turn ahead” in a pleasant female voice, told Times.

The car can be programmed for different driving personalities – from a cautious mode, in which he is likely to yield to another car, to the aggressive, in which it is likely to go first, the report said.

Christopher Urmson, Carnegie Mellon University robotics scientist who was driving, but it is not used.

To regain control over the car he needs to do one of three things: press the red button next to his right hand, touch the brake or turn the steering wheel, the newspaper said. He did it twice, once when a cyclist ran a red light and again when the car in front stopped and started back to the parking lot.

The car was the brainchild of Thrun, director of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the Google engineer who led the team in designing a robot car Stanley, won the prize two million dollars the Pentagon.

But the autonomous vehicle is a thorny legal issues, said the Times. Under current law, a person must have control of the vehicle at all times.

“Technology of the law in many areas,” Bernard Loo, a senior counsel of staff for California Department of Motor Vehicles, in an interview.

“If you look at the vehicle code, there are numerous laws relating to the driver of the vehicle, and they suggest to have a human being operating the vehicle.”

But Thrun said automated car can save lives by reducing the number of accidents caused by human error.

“According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,2 million people die each year in road accidents,” he wrote. “We believe that our technology has the potential to reduce their number, perhaps up to half.”

Google Car

Google Car:You really do not think you need to drive the next wave of cars, is not it?Seemingly all-conquering Google announced that it is road-testing vehicles, driving, stop and start without a driver. Cars use cameras on the roof, and radar sensors and laser range finder to “see” the other vessels. The goal? “To help prevent accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions” to go through the exchange and the “new” road train tomorrow “,” project leader Sebastian Thrun wrote Saturday on the blog Google.

Engineers said the New York Times, that he decided from the highway was largely uneventful, save from a relief when the car was reportedly hit from behind at traffic lights. Cars are still covered 140,000 miles, taking in such San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge (as well as sloping streets of the city) and Lake Tahoe.

Thrun said that 1.2 million people are killed on roads every year, and how it can and should be reduced. “We believe that our technology has the potential to reduce their number, perhaps up to half.”

No specific date has been set for when this may become a reality. But if you feel overwhelmed at the prospect of never need to take to the wheel again, there is one ray of hope: the cars are manned at all times, trained drivers are ready to assume when danger looms.

Space Station Viewing

2010-10-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

Space Station Viewing:International Space Station can be seen from the earth, if you know when and where to look. NASA has decided the problem, where to look, creating an orbit track on the site.

Best Viewing Times:
From the space station has little or no light of their own, you can just see when the station is in sunlight, and people on the ground, in the dark. Best viewing times are an hour before or after sunrise or sunset, as the station passes overhead. List view times can be found here.

What you will see:
Assuming that the station is in sunlight, it should look like a bright and fast-moving stars. The longest station will remain in order to ground the observer 4 minutes. In passing directly overhead, the station lightning from horizon to 240 seconds or less. For the majority of seats, the window display will be 120 seconds (or less).

Where:

For more tips on photography:
1. The use of sighting data from the Web site of NASA and a good compass and find the “station” was set up the camera facing that direction.
2. Timing is everything. Make sure you have accurate clock is synchronized in time NASA and the camera shutter open for about a minute before the station should go. Keep the camera shutter open until the station leaves the field of view camera. If everything works as planned, you should have a bright line on a complete picture of the trajectory tracking satellites in the sky. Do not worry, it may take several attempts before you get a perfect picture.

Two Moons 2010

Two Moons 2010:What we hear from the last few days, we will soon experience the “two moons of 2010” in the sky, and it is not very far. On August 27, while Mars will grow to the size of the full moon, the people of this land you can see this amazing scene.

Some people say that in 2003, Mars closest to Earth in 60,000 years. Others say that it can not be true, as Venus looks brighter than Mars. However, do not stop drawing resurfacing each or every August the opposition of Mars.
Mars / Moon rumor came to the fore, when Mars arrives in less perfectly opposition in January this year, and now is the month of August, when she is walking again, so do not be stupid.

Space Reservation is now available for $ 200K in space cash

Space Reservation is now available for $ 200K in space cash:Have you always wanted to experience the impressive grandeur and beauty of outer space without huffing entire gallon of paint couples? Now you can, if you have the dough.

civilian spaceflight program Virgin Galactic currently selling tickets for a lucky, lucky few who can afford $ 200.00 per seat price (which should come with a free drink). Customers can buy tickets through the website of Virgin Galactic, or through one of his many ‘of space means “located throughout the country. Each ticket includes a 3-day training session at the launch site of the Virgin in New Mexico, designed to “make sure that you are mentally and physically prepared to enjoy every second of your flight.”

The flight takes about two hours from six to eight passengers at a time. Passengers will experience 3.5 Gs of force as the plane missiles up to 2600 miles per hour at an altitude of 360,000 feet within five minutes of weightlessness fine, according to Andrew Rocchio, the accredited agent of the space under intense trip to Dallas.

About 400 people total have signed up for the flight program, ranging from trust funds for adolescents, even old fogy.

“This is such a new product, and such innovative work, there is no specific formula (or the type of personality),” Rocchio said. “I’ll tell you this much, 78-year-old woman is going.

Versaemerge

2010-10-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

Versaemerge:VersaEmerge consists of three parts of the rock band from Port St. Lucie, Florida, United States, currently signed to record label Fueled By Ramen. They have three EP’s, a city built on sand, perception and VersaEmerge, and their debut album, fixed at zero, was released June 22, 2010. VersaEmerge came together after the two founders’ previous band, “My Fair Verona, broke up.
Beginning and cities built on sand (2005-2007)

Florida group formed at VersaEmerge (guitar and backing vocals), Blake Harnage and former drummer Anthony Martone was in high school. Originally they were in a group called “My Fair Verona. After the MFV collapsed Harnage Marton and went on to form their own group. They chose the name “VersaEmerge” of the conditions (vice versa), that means the opposite, and “exit”, which means to rise. the group recorded their first EP, “The city is built on sand” in 2005 featuring former members of the Spencer Pearson on vocals, Anthony James on vocals, programming and synthesizer; Josh center on the guitar (and composer) and Nick Osborne on bass . With the departure of four members, the group recruited bassist Devin “Dirty D” Ingelido from Bury Ashes . The following year, the current vocalist Sierra Kusterbeck auditioned for the vocal position by sending a tape on the Internet. Although members of Anthony Martone, Devin Ingelido and James Lano were not too sure Kusterbeck, Harnage convinced them that she was right to work, and she soon joined the band in 2007. It is unlikely that they know what Kusterbeck lied about her age saying she was 18 years old when she was actually 16, so that she can get listening to .
Perception (2007-2008)

They played local shows at home and went on tour with bands such as Cyrus, Our Last Night, There for Tomorrow, and Craig Owens. the group worked and released their EP, “perception”, in May 2008. Then they parted ways with guitarist James Lano, who was replaced by Jerry Pierce. VersaEmerge later signed with Fueled By Ramen. They started writing their self-titled EP, recorded with producer James Paul Wisner. The EP was released on February 3, 2009, available on Fueled By Ramen shop, ITunes and concerts.
The self-titled EP (2008-2009)

Later they went to the “Secret Valentine Tour” with a title of We The Kings, Maine, Cab, and there on the morrow. After the Secret Valentine Tour, VersaEmerge gained more fans and was selected to play in 2 of 4 date to give him the title of the 2009 festival in the UK with bands such as Taking Back Sunday, Underoath, Thursday, Escape The Fate, and Innerpartysystem. They returned to the United States and almost immediately left for New Jersey-Bamboozle. When they returned to their home in Florida after that, they began writing for his LP for several months and then went to Warped Tour ’09. After the Warped Tour was over they went to Malibu to write and record their LP, it collected for the “OP” tour headlined Featuring Boys Like Girls, Co-headliner Cobra Starship, Maine, and rockets to the moon.

September 19, 2009, drummer and co-founder, Anthony Martone announced through its Twitter saying “I’m no longer VersaEmerge. Thank you for your support. I am currently the drummer for hire Thanks for all … About a week later more investigation in connection with the sudden departure of Marton’s, Devin Ingelido and group posted blogs about his separation from Marton, saying leave for personal reasons, which are developed in . Group hired musician and friend Spencer Peterson (not to be confused with the former vocalist) to fill in as a temporary replacement on drums for a tour of OP. Spencer Peterson is best known for his time drumming in a hidden field of view, and Charlotte Sometimes.

22 November 2009, guitarist Jerry Pierce announced on Twitter, that he would leave the band for personal reasons relating to his family. He revealed that he is still friends with other members, but he “just can not keep touring as much as [VersaEmerge] does.” Jerry played his last gig with the group on Nov. 28, 2009. They will release their next album, entitled to 2010 Warped Tour. Pierce will not be part of the recording process.

Bassist Devin Ingelido also currently involved in a side project with drummer and guitarist Richard Ducat Cj Loy. Group is called Today, we dream of. They have posted one song on their Myspace, as well as updating video in October 2009. He said that VersaEmerge really his top priority, and in connection with the amount of touring, what they are doing today, we will try to write the Dream EP, when it for some time.
Fixed at zero (2010-present)

In March 2010, VersaEmerge was named one of American music website Shred News “10 artists to watch in 2010″ .

The house SXSW PureVolume, VersaEmerge played new songs from her new album due this summer. “Fixed to Zero”, “Mind Reader”, “Figure It Out”, and “You never know,” all of the new album fixed at zero. Sierra-Kusterbeck was also featured in the “Front and Center: A New Class of 2010″ article May issue of Alternative Press.

According to a couple of tweets, Chris Pollock, formerly of the Maryland team on the history! Currently filling in as drummer. It was not announced whether it is permanent or temporary.

April 26, 2010, the band and reliable blog fan, posted that the title of their debut album will be called VersaEmerge fixed at zero. The video “is set to zero,” was also posted on the website www.fixedatzero.com.

April 28, 2010, fixedatzero.com posted on the album cover, and reservation information, with a release date of June 22, 2010, for the album. The site eventually became an interactive and there were all

They came out in support of the album’s release, playing at the 2010 edition of the Bamboozle on May 1, 2010, playing alongside bands such as Paramore and Weezer. They also co-headlining tour with I See Stars in mid-spring.

VersaEmerge completed his second full run on Vans Warped Tour, which began June 25, 2010 in California. They played Glamour Kills stage of the tour. Kusterbeck also played a game called F ** K Where is the Sierra? with fans at each tour date. The game was like hide and seek, and the first ten fans to find it was the winning card which was also cut lines are to be signed.

27 July 2010 the group released video of the title track and first single, fixed at zero on its Myspace page. The video was created in the forest, but also included Kusterbeck in the slot.

September 13, 2010, VersaEmerge announced that they will be headlining tour this fall called the Vultures Unite tour. They will participate Anarbor, dangerous and summer conditions. The tour hits the small centers in the U.S., and also had two Canadian dates. It should be a “cinematic experience.”

Group is going to appear on the new show MTV World Jenks October 18, 2010.

Dear John Taylor Swift

Dear John Taylor Swift:Taylor Swift “Speak Now” album is full of references to her past loves, including several well-known celebrities. Among the new tracks by the song “Dear John” Taylor Swift, apparently negotiations have soured relations with other musician John Mayer.

Swift and Meyer have worked together back in 2009 for the song “Half of the heart” for the album, Mayer, and apparently received more than a song or two. It sounds as if the 32-year-old Taylor Meyer broke his heart and gave her plenty of inspiration for the new track. The new song “Dear John” features plenty of options Mayer with a chorus that says: “Dear John, I see it all now, when you’re gone / Don ‘t you think that I was too young / to be confused with / girl in a dress / crying all the way / I know. ”

Swift draws much of his musical inspiration from her past relationships. According to the report Access Hollywood, Taylor Swift recently said Chris Williams Yahoo!:

“They are all very well,” she said, according to Williams. “Every song is like a road map to what the relationship was, with little markers that may be, all I do not know, but there are things that were small and nuance relations, a little hint. And every song like that. Everyone will know, so I really should not send e-mails on this. ”

Kanye West was already familiar with his personal track that Swift made in 2010 on the MTV Music Video Awards. However, Kanye and Swift shared the stage moot point, not a full relationship. In addition to Kanye and John Mayer, Swift also a few songs on the “Twilight” star Taylor Lautner on the new album, due out in a week, including a song called “The Story of Us.” It is unknown if Taylor Lautner will mention the ability to turn into a vengeful werewolf, or a love triangle with Robert Pattinson.

Well, that Taylor Swift is a true and finds her inspiration to express himself through his music. Probably the best way for many to deal with the grief and move through poetry, art, music or poetry. It also gives Taylor Swift over the validity and relevance than just the artists that make up love stories and songs about “that girl” or “that guy” who broke their hearts. Swift’s new album, “Speak now” seems to be saying much about her personal life, and do not hold back no matter how public figure might be. It makes you wonder who the poor soul who inspired the song “Better Than Revenge” and what’s being said about them?

Willow Smith Whip My Hair Music Video

Willow Smith Whip My Hair Music Video:“Next Karate Kid” star Jaden Smith is not only the offspring will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who scored with audiences this summer. Earlier this summer, nine-year-old Willow Smith Her debut single – entitled “Whip My Hair” – was leaked to the internet and … they liked it. For the most part, the answer to the song hip-hop mostly positive. No wonder she was later signed to Jay-Z Roc Nation, and the singer, whom many call a mini-Rihanna, released the official video for the single, earlier today, which includes children dancing (all PG-rated) and Mrs. Smith yes, whipping her hair about. Watch it below and let us know what you think about it in the comments.

Junior Seau Drives Off Cliff

Junior Seau Drives Off Cliff:Former NFL star linebacker Junior SEAU went cliff and was hospitalized with minor injuries on Monday, less than nine hours after he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.

12-time Pro submitting white Cadillac SUV was found on a beach about 100 feet below the road, said Carlsbad police Lt. Kelly Cain. Cain said that this is not a cliff but it was significant, a rough slope. SEAU was taken to Scripps La Jolla hospital in San Diego.

SEAU a 25-year-old live in girlfriend said that the authorities SEAU attacked her during an argument Sunday night at his home Oceanside, according to Oceanside police. She apparently suffered minor injuries and did not require treatment.

SEAU, 41, was arrested near his home about two hours after police arrived. He was not home when authorities arrived, but they asked him to come back when he called his girlfriend.

SEAU posted bail and was released from San Diego in prison Vista. Press Secretary Lisa Ohmstede hospital refused to comment on the condition SEAU’s.

Browns:
Berea, Ohio – Browns defensive end Robaire Smith may be the season because of back injury.

Smith was not involved in last week and sat out Cleveland’s game Sunday in Pittsburgh. On Monday, Browns coach Eric Mangini confirmed that Smith’s injury could be long term, and said it was “possible” 32-year-old can be placed on injured reserve.

Jaguars

JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville Jaguars signed third-year left or Chevis Jackson, filling the roster spot opened when the team traded starting safety Anthony Smith.

Jaguars also completed a trade on Monday, meaning Smith was with the physical packers. Jacksonville has received conditional seventh round draft pick of Green Bay. Jackson, a third-round pick of the draft by Atlanta in 2008, played in 31 games. He spent the preseason with falcons and was canceled in the final cuts.

Panthers:
Charlotte, North Carolina – all felt bad on offense, Carolina Panthers, which is struggling newcomer Jimmy Clausen was the bench on Monday, to make way for a defender with eight turnovers and 33.3 passer rating.

Only Matt Moore hopes nostalgic film session will help him regain his 2009 form and end the nightmare start to the season, Carolina.

Panthers (0-5) returned from his weekend Bye to hear coach John Fox to announce a meeting of the group that Moore, benched after six revolutions in the first two games, once again take control of the NFL’s worst offense against San Francisco (1 – 5 ) on Sunday.

Lions:
Allen Park, Michigan – Lions linebacker Zack Follett was cleared to return to Detroit after being hospitalized following violent helmet-to-helmet hit with the players New York Giants.

“He’s flying back today,” coach Jim Schwartz said Monday. “He is doing much better. His tests all came back very, very encouraging. We look forward to a quick recovery, and seeing him back on the field at one time.”

Schwartz said the injury was not a concussion related.

Raiders:
Alameda, Calif. – Oakland Raiders thought they put miserable passing performances in the past, when they released a draft bust JaMarcus Russell in the offseason.

Instead, Jason Campbell delivered the performance of the San Francisco 49ers, what was worse, the measurements than Russell ever had.

Campbell went 8 for 21 to 83 feet and two interceptions in the 49ers loss of 17.09 on Sunday.

With the status of starter Bruce Gradkowski in doubt due to a shoulder injury and nursing Campbell sprained left knee sustained in the first half against San Francisco, coach Tom Cable said a third stringer Kyle Boller could start this week against Denver. Cable said he will likely make a decision on Wednesday.

Really Justin Bieber Assault On Canada?

Really Justin Bieber Assault On Canada?:Justin Bieber attacked digruntled fever Bieber hater during his visit to Canada.Bieber fever escalated into assault investigation in Canada last night when the incident between Justin Bieber and 12-year-old boy broke into a laser tag Richmond joint.

As the website TMZ, teen heartthrob Justin Bieber was the subject of the end of the investigation into the attack on the night of laser tag set on Friday night. Details are still surfacing, but it seems to me, Bieber hit 12-year-old boy at the center, and it was later dubbed the attack.

Canadian blog, Zacktaylor.ca spoke with an employee of the center of laser tag on the incident an attack Bieber. The official said the 12-year-old boy did not require medical attention, but, in the quote mentions that the boy’s sister said to cry. (On a quick side note – how uncool sister)

Police were involved in the boy’s father, and TMZ confirms there is indeed an attack investigation. Canadian police say they are interviewing witnesses, but could not confirm or deny involvement Justin Bieber.

Justin Bieber contacted for comment by Rep. TMZ, but denies any are true. Account of what happened actually in the center of laser tag is unclear, but the Internet is reportedly Bieber and 12-year-old boy definitely had some quarrels. Laser tag setup officer quoted Zacktaylor.ca suggests that Bieber simply reacted to the game, saying Justin Bieber was just trying to get away from a group of children who cornered him and accidentally hit 12-year-old boy on the road.

Did 12-year-old girls do not cry enough for this punk? Just had to make a 12-year-old boy to cry, too? Tsk TSK, Biebs.

Apple Earnings

2010-10-19T04:18:00.000-07:00

Apple Earnings:Apple reported record revenue and earnings for the quarter, which ended in September, a sign of prowess in the field of user-friendly mobile devices.
Sales roar in virtually all its product lines, from smart phones to the new IPad pills. As a result, Apple saw its share price also rises above $ 300 a share last week for the first time.

Surging revenues from the iPhone is an important factor that pushed Apple’s quarterly earnings above U.S. $ 20 billion for the first time, and its profit to $ 4.3 billion.

As a result of a bullish outlook among Wall Street analysts have turned Apple into a leading high-tech firms of the country.

Apple is worth more than competitors such as Microsoft and Google, and it has a larger stock market value than industrial giant General Electric or retailer Wal-Mart.

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs leaves no doubt about his own “buy” rating.

“The more time passes, the more I am convinced that we have a tiger by the tail here,” Mr. Jobs said of the IPAD, touch screen device the size right between your phone and laptop computer.

Jobs predicted that competitors will launch a rival pill no convincing softward applications, and screen size is less than half of the IPAD.

This does not mean the next decade will hold competitive risks. Apple is already facing increasing competition from smart phones running the Android software from Google. Although Apple posted its best ever profit, its gross margin declined slightly compared to last year.

Now, however, success is breeding mainly success.

IPad had a strong start this year. Apple, Mac computers have been its best quarter ever. The latest generation of the iPhone on the reverse order.

“We have sold 14.1 million Iphones in the quarter, Jobs said.” We have now passed RIM [and blackberry], and I do not see them overtake us in the foreseeable future. ”

For both IPad and iPhone, the secret of success is that users have thousands of add-on software applications to choose from.

For many analysts, the stock price may be historically high, but it is not unreasonable.

“It’s an incredible thing. … They blew past forecasts, and this is mainly due to iPhone,” analyst Colin Gillis of BGC told Reuters.

Stock analysts have recently revised their forecasts for earnings in Apple next year, to about $ 18 per share, according to information collected by this site Yahoo! Finance.

Apple’s success leaves him kind of problem most companies dream of: to figure out what to do with excess cash. Jobs said the company is eyeing the possibility of one or more “strategic opportunities” such as an acquisition.
New Gap Logo

New Gap Logo:Clothing retailer Gap has recently changed its iconic All-Caps-in-blue box logo on the modern (and lame) black logo lowercase Helvetica. But when people talked – and hated it – the company decided to revert to the old and comfortable. The Boston Globe reports that the new logo has been met with such criticism from the bloggers, commentators on the Facebook page of the gap, font officianados and design community that the only option was the way of new messages.

“We learned how much energy there is around our brand, and after much deliberation, we decided to return to our iconic blue logo”, a company spokesman said Louise Callagy Bloomberg.com Monday.

Hooray! I do not even love the old logo, which many … It’s more that the new logo so unhip. If you think the font does not matter, just ask the people who created a movement to rid the world of Comic Sans.

The question is – and any new logo to make Gap fans want to leave them Chinos? This blue box is really too iconic to change? This customer says “yes.”

Robert Reed

Robert Reed:Robert Reed (October 19, 1932 – May 12, 1992) was an American stage and television actor. He is often remembered as portrays his father, Mike Brady, of Brady Bunch comedy from 1969 to 1974.
Early life and career:
Reed was born John Robert Rietz, Jr. in Highland Park, Illinois. His parents were Helen (nee Teaverbaugh) and John Robert Rietz, Senior Reed spent much of his childhood in Muskogee, Okla., and later studied Shakespeare in college. He was educated at Northwestern University, where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi, and later transferred to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

He first gained fame in the early 1960′s for the lead role, along with EG Marshall in a series of television series Defenders from 1961 to 1965. He also appeared in the 1968 movie “Star!
Since the beginning of Brady Bunch Reed was unhappy with his role as Mike Brady. He felt that the acting is often silly comedy was beneath his serious Shakespearean training. Despite dissatisfaction with the show, by most accounts, he truly loved his fellow star, and was beloved father figure to the younger actors. In his efforts to bring more realism to the show, Reed often locked horns with series creator and executive producer Sherwood Schwartz. Reid Schwartz presented with frequent, usually handwritten memos detailing why a certain character’s motivation does not make sense, and / or why it was wrong for a particular episode to combine elements of various styles, such as a farce and satire.

Reid was particularly shocked by the fifth season of Brady Bunch’s, “hair-brained scheme.” He sent a memo Schwartz choice but to episode, but Schwartz did not receive reminders quickly enough to change the show, as Reid wanted. As a result, the aversion Reid Schwartz said they would do an episode without him, which they did, changing the shooting schedule and the provision of the line, Mike Brady to other characters. As a result, Schwartz has dismissed it out of the series – which turned out not to make a difference, because the Brady Bunch was canceled after that.

Reed played a role of Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch Variety Hour, as well as the Brady Brides, a few made-for-TV movies Brady, and a number of subsequent Bradys.

During the launch of the Brady Bunch, Reed also a recurring role as Lt. Adam Tobias on the television drama Mannix from 1967 to 1975.
After graduating from Brady Bunch in 1974, Reed appeared on stage and made many guest star appearances on other TV shows and TV movies, including Pray for the Wildcats and SST: Death Flight. He won critical acclaim for her role as a doctor who wants to get a sex change operation in two parts of an episode of Medical Center in 1975. Reed also appeared in The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, The rich man, poor man, and roots. He also guest starred on Wonder Woman, playing the Falcon. Other interesting performance reviews include: Hawaii Five-O, Charlie’s Angels, Galaxy 1980, Vega $, and Murder She Wrote for at least three appearances. Reed played a recurring role of Dr. Adam Rose at critics (though not for long) hospital drama Nurse during the 1981-1982 television season. In 1986 he played the role of Lloyd Kendall on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow. He also made several appeances in Hunter (U.S. TV series) and Jake and the Fatman.
Reed was briefly married to Marilyn Rosenberg (1957-1959). Couple had one daughter, Karen Ritz, who was born in 1958. Karen had a small role in an episode of Brady Bunch entitled “Dream of capers. Her character’s name was Karen and she is credited as” Carolyn Reed. “This episode also reunited with Reed and his roles from defenders, E. G. Marshall.

Reid believes that his career has required him to be secretive about their homosexuality. Nevertheless, most members of the Brady Bunch cast knew about his sexual orientation, and expressed outrage at the media exploitation of her after his death, primarily by Barry Williams.

Reed was very close friends with actress Anne Haney, best known for her portrayal of a social worker Mrs. Sellner in Mrs. Doubtfire. She was the one who told his daughter of his homosexuality and his struggle with AIDS. She often received their HIV medications for it under a pseudonym to protect his privacy.

Reed died in 1992 in Pasadena, Calif., from cancer of the colon and bladder, he was suffering from AIDS, at the time. He was cremated and his ashes are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois.

Former Lotto Employee Charged

2010-10-19T04:09:00.000-07:00

A former employee of the West Virginia Lottery implicated in the federal racketeering and gambling case of Joe C. Ferrell has now been charged.

The U.S. Attorney filed a one-count information Friday against Carolyn Kitchen. The court document accuses Kitchen of lying to federal investigators in their probe of the Ferrell case.

Ferrell, a former state delegate from Logan County, entered a guilty plea recently to charges of racketeering and tax evasion. The investigation into Ferrell's misdeeds indicated he helped get Kitchen hired as an inspector with the lottery and then offered her additional payments periodically to be "on call" for his Southern Amusement business.

Kitchen would often give Southern Amusement access to restricted areas of those video-lottery machines.

A federal information normally means the defendant is cooperating with federal investigators and will most likely enter a plea agreement.

Senate Debate Highlights

Manchin supporters show their support outside of the television station.
The first and only U.S. Senate debate in West Virginia had plenty of disagreement Monday night.

The event featured all four candidates for the U.S. Senate seat of the late Robert Byrd.

Governor Joe Manchin defended his record as governor, while Republican candidate John Raese said Manchin would support President Obama's agenda.

Much of the debate focused on the federal cap and trade bill, which would affect many West Virginia coal miners.

Raese said the bill would clearly hurt coal miners.

"I oppose cap and trade," Raese said. "Cap and trade would be disastrous for this country and it would also be disastrous for West Virginia."

Manchin touted his endorsement from the Coal Miners' Association as an indication that he would never do anything to hurt coal mining jobs.

He said he does not support the cap and trade bill.

"I respectfully disagree with President Obama," Manchin said. "He is dead wrong about cap and trade. It would be the ruin of not only our state of West Virginia but this entire economy of this country."

Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson was the only candidate who voiced some support for cap and trade, saying there need to be emission limits.

Another hot topic was the healthcare bill, which had some provisions take effect only a couple weeks ago.

Raese said the bill involves too much government.

"I don't like socialism," Raese said. "Under Obamacare, something that Governor Manchin has always supported, you're going to have a patient-bureaucrat relationship."

Manchin said he does not support everything in the bill, but that doesn't mean it should be repealed.

"There's a lot of good in the bill that basically both democrats and republicans agreed with," Manchin said. "That's a pretty good start."

Manchin also tried to distance himself from Raese's claims that Manchin would be a 'rubber stamp' for President Obama.

"I hate to inform my opponent, but Mr. Obama's name will not be on the ballot for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia. It'll be me," Manchin said.

Raese responded by saying Manchin had supported Obama's plans on several issues.

"You have to wonder about Obama and Manchin and which direction they're going," Raese said. "When you have people like Obama, and certainly Manchin, you have to be concerned about the future of this country."

Recent polls show the race is very close between Manchin and Raese, with Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson and Constitution Party candidate Jeff Becker registering in the low single digits.

Election day is two weeks from Tuesday.

First District Debate Set for Tuesday
First District Debate Set for Tuesday
Voters in West Virginia's First Congressional District will have to decide between two new candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democrat Mike Oliverio and Republican David McKinley will debate Tuesday at the Smoot Theatre in Parkersburg.

AARP is sponsoring the event that will be moderated by MetroNews Talkline host Hoppy Kercheval.

The debate is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Racketeering

Racketeering:Hedge fund manager, Sean Muller, who had threatened to kill himself just a week ago he was sued by regulators of Colorado has a big problem now.

Mueller Capital Management founder was accused of racketeering, securities fraud and theft. Mueller charged works of $ 20 million Ponzi scheme and lying to investors about the size and success of its Mueller Over Under Fund.

Arrest warrant was issued Mueller in Denver, and bail was set at $ 2 million. He is expected to appear in court on Friday morning.

According to state a claim against him, Mueller admitted that he deceived investors in a series of emails and notes written before his suicide attempt in April, when he was speaking from the building in a suburb of Denver. The note, written after a suicide attempt, Mueller acknowledged that the documents claiming that his under-fund managed $ 122 million had been rigged. He wrote that only $ 15 million remaining 20.6 million he collected.

Mueller also allegedly promised double-digit returns regardless of market conditions, telling potential investors he has never lost money in eight years and has consistently returned 12% to 25% per year.

Among 65 alleged victims of the former Mueller Denver Broncos legend John Elway.

Mueller assets were frozen in May

Justin Bieber Fight

Justin Bieber Fight:What began as an innocent game of Laser Tag, stormed to bring the cost of Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber, together with his friends was on the Interplanetary Laser World Arcade. The place was full and the presence of young stars called a few of the crowd and excietment.

In due course, the chaos and took his father for twelve years, the alleged Justin Bieber for the attack on his son. The police, however, did not talk about what happened, as they say, that while nothing was proved that they can not give details. Especially when it comes to two minors.

However, there are many witnesses to the eye of the matter. According to one of them, Justin Bieber playing the game and close the twelve year old boy was also there. He tried to have a game with Bieber and shoot it again and again. This is a concern and at one time, they faced each other. Justin is going to happen to shove him aside. It got together with the use of certain words and press. The child’s father, who is a lawyer saw it and called the police immediately.

Twelve years, accuses Bieber forcing him to dance, and the attack on him when he refused to do so. Camp Justin Bieber on the other hand claims that he was a boy who is called names in Bieber. There was no fight as such, just a little push, which did no harm to the child.

Nothing has been proven to also monitor tape also captured the “struggle.” Police continued to investigate the matter.

Mel Gibson gets Hangover

2010-10-19T03:47:00.000-07:00

Mel Gibson gets Hangover October 19, 2010 5:14 am

Mel Gibson will have a cameo in ‘The Hangover 2′.

The troubled actor – who is currently engaged in a custody battle with Oksana Grigorieva, mother of his 11-month-old daughter Lucia – will shoot the role of a Bangkok tattoo artist for the comedy movie directed by Todd Phillips.

A source told the New York Post: “It’s a done deal. Mel will make a cameo as a tattoo artist. Filming is taking place on the Warner Bros. lot, where a Bangkok set has been build, and Mel is expected to film his role in two weeks.

“Then the production movies to Thailand at the end of October.”

Mel was dropped by the William Morris Endeavour agency in July following allegations of assault made my Oksana earlier this year and his next film, ‘The Beaver’ with Jodie Foster, currently has no release date.

‘The Hangover 2′ will see Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper resurrect their characters Alan Garner and Phil Wenneck, but Heather Graham will not be returning to the film as Las Vegas stripper Jade.

A Warner Bros. representative said: “Unfortunately Heather won’t be in the sequel – the way the story unfolds doesn’t allow any room for her character to show up. I don’t want to reveal too much of the film, but once you see it you’ll understand.”

Kings Of Leon out of fashion

Kings Of Leon frontman Caleb Followill hates “f***ing hipsters”.

The ‘Sex On Fire’ singer doesn’t like fashionable bands and says his group have always strived to achieve longevity, rather than indie credibility.

He told Rolling Stone magazine: “I hate f***ing hipsters. Everyone talks about indie this and indie that, but would you really want to be one of those indie bands that makes two albums and disappears?

“That’s just sad. When we signed on with our manager, we all said we wanted to have a box-set career. We’ll gladly be the next generation of bands that aren’t going anywhere.”

The American group found success in their home country with fourth album ‘Only By The Night’, by which time Caleb has admitted they weren’t consciously trying to write big hits.

He said: “The first three albums didn’t do nearly what we thought they would. I thought our second album would be the one that brought everyone around and like ‘ok these guys are actually more than just moustaches’.

“The fourth album we just didn’t care, we were just like we’ll make the record we want to make and it is what it is and it’s a win, win – if it becomes big and breaks us in America then so be it, if not then things can’t get any worse.”

Kings Of Leon’s fifth album ‘Come Around Sundown’ is available now.

The Duke Spirit set to premiere brand new song during NY and LA Shows

The Duke Spirit set to premiere brand new song during NY and LA Shows
The Duke Spirit will be premiering brand new songs during select shows in New York and LA in the coming weeks. The rock band, fronted by the fierce and enigmatic front-woman Liela Moss, is crossing the Atlantic for select appearances. The Duke Spirit are scheduled to co-headline the KCRW Halloween Masquerade Costume Ball on October 30 in LA before heading cross country for a special performance at Santos Party House in NYC on November 3.

These shows will be fans first opportunity to hear the London quintet’s bold new material before a free three-track EP, entitled Kusama, is released exclusively via iTunes on December 7. Kusama will be available across all digital platforms on December 21 and the full length album is due for release in February 2011 on Shangri-La Music. Download new song “Everybody’s Under Your Spell” via www.thedukespirit.com now!

Known for commanding not only the attention of the music community but the fashion world as well, The Duke Spirit will also play at a private event for Levi’s on November 4. The band was most recently in NYC during Spring Fashion Week, where they played at the Y-3 Adidas show. Designer Philip Lim has cited Leila Moss as his “modern muse” and the late Alexander McQueen was so enchanted by Moss and her style that she served as the inspiration for McQ for Target, his 2009 fashion line for the retail outlet.

The Duke Spirit’s forthcoming 2011 album will be the first release since 2008’s Neptune (Shangri-La Music) which garnered the band critical praise and brought the band into millions of living rooms across America with TV performances on The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Last Call with Carson Daly. The Los Angeles Times has said of their live shows, “The British quintet plays ragged soul-punk with an absolute firecracker of a lead singer,” and SPIN called their music, “Fully loaded Jesus and Mary Chain-fried fuzz.” Moss’s commanding stage presence is truly unmatched; her all but swaggering demeanor, striking looks and heart wrenching (and heartfelt) voice leaves crowds in the palm of her hand.
Justin Bieber Assault Investigation: Did Bieber Hit 12-Year-Old?

We’ll admit that when we heard the headline of “Justin Bieber assault,” we assumed somebody had beat up the pint-sized pop star. According to some, however, that’s not how it went down. The father of a 12-year-old boy claims Justin Bieber assaulted his son at a laser tag facility in British Columbia.

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, “A 12-year-old boy was assaulted in a Richmond entertainment facility. The boy sustained minimal injuries and did not require medical attention at the time.”

However, Biebfans claim that Justin Bieber was acting in self-defense after the boy called him a “faggot.” Is hitting another person really self-defense in response to words? Do 12-year-olds really use that term? These questions still surround the Justin Bieber assault mystery.

In the meantime, put your mind at ease with some Justin Bieber downloads here.

Sierra Kusterbeck of Versaemerge Exclusive World of Jenks Video

2010-10-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

In case you missed the latest episode of World of Jenks, we’ve got some exclusive video clips of Jenks and Versaemerge singer Sierra Kusterbeck below. World of Jenks investigated the unseen side of being in a rock band for a living. Versaemerge’s Sierra Kusterbeck was followed for seven days and viewers saw the ups and downs of being in a band.

You can download Versaemerge music here.

Sierra Kusterbeck of Versaemerge Exclusive World of Jenks Video

“World of Jenks” preview: Holding On To Every Lyric
Tune in alert for MTV's excellent series, “World of Jenks” as the next episode, Holding On To Every Lyric, airs Monday at 10/9C.

On the next episode of “World of Jenks,” Sierra from the band VersaEmerge amazes Jenks with her vocal and performance abilities, despite being only 19.

"World of Jenks" is an exciting new documentary series that showcases the lives of inspirational young people from all corners of the United States. Every week, documentary filmmaker, Andrew Jenks will literally move in with a different stranger to experience a week in their life.

“World of Jenks” airs Monday nights at 10pm on MTV.

Rocking Out With VersaEmerge

World of Jenks - MTV Shows

Sade turned Jay-Z down

Sade has turned down working with Jay-Z as she is “too scared” to collaborate.

The English ‘Fast Car’ singer said she has been approached by a number of Hip Hop stars about using the tracks of her group – also called Sade – to rap over, or to create a track with her singing the chorus lines, but she has always declined.

Sade said: “I’m too scared. They’ll find me out. It’s like The Wizard of Oz. They’ll find out there’s nothing there.

“As for collaborations, I’m collaborating with the band and do what we do. I see myself as a member of this band who does these songs that we write.”

Sade has previously said she doesn’t like the idea of collaborating, because she likes to stay within her “safety zone”.

She said: “I’ve never collaborated because I’ve always avoided working outside my safety zone – I can be exactly who I am and can fail or success within the moment. I feel safe working like I do. I wouldn’t want to work in a situation where I am expected to deliver because I think I wouldn’t deliver.”

Sade released their sixth studio album ‘Soldier Of Love’ – their first in a decade – earlier this year.

Paul McCartney’s creative freedom

Sir Paul McCartney enjoys the “freedom” of his post-Beatles career.

The singer chose a more experimental vein for his first solo albums after the Beatles split in 1970, but as he gravitated back toward pop music with his next band, Wings, he worked hard to establish a new sound which was different to the Beatles.

He explained: “I certainly was enjoying the freedom of just doing something different. I’ve always been like that, and I still am. And then, the other element was that I knew I couldn’t just try and make a carbon copy of The Beatles – I knew that was impossible; without John, George and Ringo there was no way I could do that.

“So I knew I had to try and make something new. So each of the albums was to try and establish an identity for Wings that would then be recognised in time as Wings music – the Wings sound.”

The 68-year-old singer admitted the departure of lead guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell the night before they jetted to Nigeria to record the album ‘Band On The Run’ -inspired him to go on and produce the “best album” he ever made.

He added to ClashMusic: “That was like a bombshell. You can imagine me getting off that phone call: it was like, ‘Ah. Okay. Try and hold your nerve; try and keep it together.’

“What do we do now? S*d it, we’re going’. And at that moment it was one of those, ‘I’ll show you. I will make the best album I’ve ever made now. I will put so much effort into it because I wanna just prove that we didn’t need you guys’.”

Rihanna wants Cole track

Rihanna wants to collaborate with Cheryl Cole.

The ‘Umbrella’ singer is reportedly desperate to record with the Girls Aloud star, after asking their mutual friend – will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas – to introduce them.

A source told The Sun newspaper: “Rihanna is desperate to work with Cheryl. She fell in love with Cheryl’s single ‘Parachute’, from her debut solo album ’3 Words’. She listens to it in her car the whole time.

“Rihanna really wants to record a track with Cheryl – and already has one in mind that she’s convinced she will love.”

The 22-year-old Barbadian also admitted she is in awe of Cheryl, who she thinks is “the most beautiful woman”.

She said: “She is awesome, I think she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Like, how do you have a face like that, with hair like that and dimples, and a body like that, that’s proportioned like that. And you have a successful career, something about that is not right!”

Rihanna is also planning to work with rapper Eminem again, after their recent success of their single ‘Love the Way You Lie’ – with the pair reportedly planning a sequel track.

She explained: “Eminem is a genius. He’s one of the cleverest poets around right now. His lyrics are unique. He tells a story, but in a very interesting way. I’d love to collaborate with him again. Actually, we’ve already been talking about it.”

2010-10-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

Citigroup Says Put-Back Risk Declined

Citigroup set aside a $322 million reserve for mortgage repurchases, the bank said in its quarterly earnings.

Last week, investors sold off bank stocks after chatter began to spread about repurchase risk being much higher than expected.

The idea is that banks may have to repurchase mortgage loans sold to investors as securities, perhaps because mortgage pools didn't live up to the representations and warranties made in the sales materials.

Although this risk has been known for years, recently investors started to worry that the foreclosure moratoriums are evidence of faults in the mortgage and securitization processes.

Some analysts have estimated that some of the largest banks could face "put back exposure" amounting to tens of billions of dollars. Others regard that number as far too extreme. "Put back exposure" is the currently fashionable term for "repurchase risk."

Citi (NYSE: c) doesn't sound too worried about this. In fact, they say their reserves for put-backs declined.

"Revenues also reflected an addition of $322 million of mortgage repurchase reserves related to North America residential real estate, compared to $347 million in the prior quarter," the quarterly statement reports.

A credit card that lets you know when you are over your self-assigned limit?

August 16th, 2010 12:40 pm ET

MasterCard and Citigroup create a card that warns when you are over budget

Photo: Image: www.energolukss.lv

Have you ever wished your credit card would remind you when you were approaching your budget limit? Mastercard and Citigroup have gotten together to create a special service for their card-holders.

Bank Time is telling us, MasterCard is anticipated to be soon announcing a card in conjunction with Citigroup that will feature a never-before-experienced spate of features designed to protect consumers from their own irresponsible spending.

MasterCard is anticipated to be soon announcing a card in conjunction with Citigroup that will feature a never-before-experienced spate of features designed to protect consumers from their own irresponsible spending. Most credit cards nowadays boast an extensive list of safeguards meant to shield consumers from identity theft and other fraud. MasterCard will take that a step further by shielding cardholders from their own stupid financial decisions. The dedicated MasterCard products will come packaged with a service called inControl that is described as a “financial chastity belt” similar to that already offered to a select class of Barclaycard credit holders in England. The inControl service puts cardholders in the driver’s seat, allowing them to choose from an extensive menu of options to curtail spending based on their own known weaknesses. The product would work in conjunction with credit or debit cards.

An Associated Press report gave these examples. A family that is trying to cut back on their expensive habit of dining out can request that their bank decline any attempted restaurant purchases after a fixed monthly spending limit has been achieved. Are you hellbent on keeping your total monthly spending within a certain limit? You can ask that your card be automatically declined every time you attempt to use it after hitting a certain monthly limit. You can even increase the fraud protections on your card by blocking all incoming charges from nations prone to pirating and scams, like Nigeria or Pakistan. Of course, you can make exceptions to these “rules” or amend them at any time with a quick phone call. It’s a very mild set of restrictions for those who need a little more than self-control to rein in their bad monetary habits. The old method of budgeting – using a spreadsheet and faithfully logging purchases to see where your problem areas are, then utilizing rigorous self-control to stick to the plan. Of course, anyone who’s tried this knows that it’s much easier said than done to commit to a life of financial solvency without help. How amazing is it that a major credit card company like MasterCard is going to enable credit cardholders to use their plastic as a tool for budgeting rather than a one-way pass to being broke?

Visa, MasterCard’s biggest competition, does not currently offer anything as tailored as inControl, although they do allow cardholders to request that their card be “shut off” beyond a fixed monthly spending allowance. That’s at least better than Discover and American Express, which feature nada in the ways of helping consumers make better financial choices. Citi customers won’t all be allowed access to inControl at once; it’s expected that the bank will roll the service out gradually and in phases to have the utmost control and monitoring over it successes and areas for improvement. Credit cards only will be included in the pilot phase of the rollout. MasterCard has announced that other issuing banks have received permission to offer inControl, although they declined to name which banks those were.

The AP report stated that inControl’s core purpose is twofold: warning customers about certain kinds of charges made to their accounts, and prohibiting transaction types classified as “wrong.” The system will send you an alert via text message any time that your card is used for a transaction of more than a certain dollar amount or in certain areas of the country or world. A customer who makes no internet transactions or recurring payments, for instance, might create a tailored alert that pings them any time the card is used other than in-person at a merchant, functioning as an almost real-time fraud alert service. You could then contact your card issuer tout de suite to get the charge reversed and the account flagged for fraud. You can discontinue the alerts at any time by getting in touch with your bank by phone or logging into your bank’s customer service site on the World Wide Web.

It’s expected that inControl will ultimately offer customers the ability to place spending limits on certain companies, although it does not at present. Does your college student blow too much money on Apple’s iTunes site enhancing their mp3 library? Does your wife have a weakness for sales at Ann Taylor? Or do you simply find yourself way too prone to grabbing lunch with coworkers at the local diner versus packing a brown paper bag like a good spendthrift? If there’s enough demand, says MasterCard, the ability to impose monthly spending limits on one or more of these merchants could become a reality. Right now, the best customers can do is block certain merchant groups. You can set a monthly dining cap, for instance, but you can’t specifically block Applebee’s, in other words.

I mentioned college students, and it’s believed that one of inControl’s greatest assets will be helping parents grant children the flexibility of a credit card with the benefits of both a monthly allowance and the responsibilities of sticking to that budget. Nervous empty-nesters sending Junior and Sally away to college can have a card linked to the parents’ account with, say, a monthly budget of three hundred dollars. Purchases at bars, liquor stores, or any other types of problem areas would be prohibited and declined. The parents get the benefit of monitoring spending from afar (and getting credit card rewards points, if applicable!), and the kids have the security and flexibility of plastic, plus a life lesson in the responsible use of grown-up spending tools. It’s a win-win situation. And that’s just one of the possible ways in which inControl can be used by one person to control another person’s spending – or even the spending of many people! Let’s say that you have a nanny who gets a card linked to the parents of her charges’ bank account for gas, emergency diaper or milk pickups, and favorite places to take the kids for entertainment and play dates. The inControl service would let Mom and Dad block out-of-state or Internet charges, as well as anything else that might be tempting to the babysitter. A small business owner could place restrictions on company credit cards so that employees can only use them during weekday hours and at certain categories of merchants – say, only hardware supply stores for the employees of a building contractor.

There’s no doubt that certain services already exist to do what inControl does, however the are not in conjunction with an actual credit card company. Mint.com offers a spate of customization options for alerts connected to your credit card spending, including the ability to narrow purchases by categories like grocery shopping and dining. Here’s the downside, however – Mint.com only syncs with yor bank account and updates your charges once every twenty-four hours, unless the user logs in during the course of the day. That’s far from the real-time protections offered by inControl. Additionally, using Mint.com (or any third-party banking site) requires parting with your bank account log-in info over the Web, which tends to –rightfully!- freak people out.

It’s true that empowering consumers to cap their spending could potentially stab banks in the gut through the consequence of less interest being accumulated as consumers get smarter about spending. But really, credit card companies win out as well by offerings services like inControl to their customers. First of all, they get the good word-of-mouth press that comes with offering a “superior” product to their customer base, as MasterCard’s CEO pointed out recently. Given the terrible reputations that America’s credit card companies have suffered in the wake of the financial crisis, the impression that they are heloing customers control their spending can only constitute a much-needed image boost. Banks might benefit if consumers start using credit cards more frequently to get a better picture of their monthly spending, turning other forms of budgeting over to plastic so they can put more controls on their purchases. Consumers might, for instance, start using their plastic to pay for groceries and gas since they know they can use inControl to limit how much they spend in these areas, then paying their balance off in case at the end of the month. Banks make more money in merchant fees from this increased transaction volume. Plus, customers with more responsible habits are more likely to pay their debts. Freewheeling spending doesn’t benefit card companies if the end result is a pile of defaults. There is definitely something to be said for upping the number of people who will be able to pay back their debt in full!

Of course, inControl is far from foolproof in its current incarnation. It’s a little too easy for customers to turn their spending controls off by either phone, internet, or an anticipated mobile app for Web-enabled cellular phones and devices. Plus, customers will need to exercise prudence with their banks accounts – good spending on your credit card means nothing if all the money to pay your monthly balance goes out the door on crap because you hit up the ATM too often. One might say that having your credit card company send you a nastygram for spending too much on dining options would put a damper on your enthusiasm for blowing illicit cash on lunch at McDonald’s, however.

There are also risks for any bank that would be implementing these controls on a wide basis. It’s a difficult thing to set up a bank’s website to allow customers to personalize their own spending limits and restrictions on merchant types. If any stage of the process were to go wrong, customers would take to the 1-800 phone customer service lines en masse, the staffing for which costs companies lots of dough. Plus, the issue of merchant coding – the lynchpin on which the whole premise of customizing purchases by category depends – is trick at best. The systems by which these codes are determined is recognizably flawed, and popular mass merchandisers like Target and Wal-Mart tend to defy proper categorization, leaving this area of implementation open to trouble.

As a result, it’s believed by some industry experts that Citi and MasterCard could take as long as two years to iron out all the kinks in inControl. The wait is likely to be worth while, they promise. Having these features on a credit card is a premise inherently better than using only cash, because of the inherent ability to track purchases. The real-time protections simply cannot be beat, and you would forfeit the cash back rebates and/or rewards points that you tend to earn as a faithful credit card customer. For all these reasons, it’s optimistically believed that suites of controls like inControl will eventually become the industry standard, as opposed to a cool exception. The long-term availability of these services will also be something of a test of banks’ sincerity in making good with customers after a long and painful recession. Are they willing to put their money where their mouths are when they talk about wanting to help customers make more prudent monetary decisions? Only time will tell.

I for one absolutely love the promise of inControl and the services that would be offered when it is rolled out on a wider basis. I’m pretty good with my budget, but I’d love the extra protection of being able to place an ironclad limit on, say, the impulse purchases I can make on cute children’s clothes at Old Navy or The Children’s Place. The ability to control my family’s dining out budget would also be a powerful and useful tool in my money belt! A lot of people I know would benefit greatly from this service, and I’m willing to bet that scores of families and individuals across the United States feel the same way. Let the customers make good decisions for themselves! It would be so lovely to think that the big credit card companies are actually doing something for us for once. When I read about this promising new service, it was definitely the first sign of anything remotely approaching good customer service and consumer relations that I’ve seen from banks in a while, during these days of account closings, spending limit hacks, and interest rate hikes. It’s time for the banks to give us a show of good faith. I’d be willing to take this one, if it works out.

Bucks reports, MasterCard is now offering a set of tools that can allow you to pick a category of stores or spending, set a monthly limit for yourself and then have your credit or debit card stop working altogether at those merchants once you have hit your limit.

Using Cards to Cut Off Your Spending

In this weekend’s Your Money column, I introduce an idea so simple and yet so potentially far reaching that you have to wonder why it didn’t occur to someone sooner.

MasterCard is now offering a set of tools that can allow you to pick a category of stores or spending, set a monthly limit for yourself and then have your credit or debit card stop working altogether at those merchants once you have hit your limit. So if you want to keep your dining out bills below $300 a month, you wouldn’t be able to swipe your card once you passed that amount.

There are a number of technical things that could get in the way of MasterCard’s inControl initiative becoming widespread, but they are relatively easy to solve. So it is probably only human behavior that could mess this up. Namely:

1) Will some banks refuse to offer MasterCard’s tools since they could cut down on overdrafts, bounced check fees or interest that credit card customers will pay? Or might they try to charge an annual fee to consumers for the use of inControl functionality?

2) Will customers lack the discipline to finally solve their budget problems by putting hard spending caps in place? (Or will they raid the A.T.M. anyway even if their card stops working at certain merchants at the end of the month?)

What do you think?

Five Cent Nickel says, Last night while going through the mail, I happened upon our Chase Freedom Visa statement. Don't ask why we're still getting a paper statement from them, as I'm honestly not sure - guess I need to change that.

The High Cost of Credit Card Debt

Last night while going through the mail, I happened upon our Chase Freedom Visa statement. Don’t ask why we’re still getting a paper statement from them, as I’m honestly not sure – guess I need to change that.

Anyway, I don’t usually look at our credit card statements too closely, as we pay our credit card bills in full every month. I usually just skim over the transactions to make sure everything looks right, and that’s about it.

This time around, however, my eye was drawn to the “Minimum Payment Warning” box, pictured below. I’ve talked in the past about recent credit card statement changes, and this is one of the new additions.

For context, our closing balance was $2720.12, the APR is 15.24%, and the minimum required payment is $54. As you can see from the image above, if we made that minimum payment each month and never made another charge, it would take us 21 years to pay it off. 21 years!

Not only would we be paying for our July 2010 purchases through the year 2031, but it would come at a total cost of $5,936. That’s 118% extra. 118%! If that’s not motivation to get out of debt, I don’t know what is.

The whole point of this table is to make it clear to people just how much money they’re wasting by carrying a balance. They do their best to obfuscate things in the next line, however, where they present an alternate payment scenario.

Guess what? If you pay $95/month, you can pay it off your balance in three years while “saving” $2,525. That’s all well and good until you remember that this “savings” actually represents nearly $700 in extra interest payments vs. paying it all off up front.

Hmmm. No thanks. I think I’ll keep paying my bill in full. What about you?

After you've set your budgetary limit, you get notified real time if you attempt to spend over that limit. Yes, you can call and get "approval" to overspend, but we wonder if this might help people keep their spending more in line.

Man pleads guilty of campaign finance fraud for self enrichment

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Paul Magliocchetti, the founder and president of PMA Group Inc., a lobbying firm, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Arlington, Va. Magliocchetti was charged with making hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions and making false statements to a federal agency. This, according to Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride of the Eastern District of Virginia.

In a statement from the DOJ they said; "For years, Mr. Magliocchetti, by using conduit contributors, hid the fact that he and his company were donating significant funds to campaigns in violation of the federal election laws. Mr. Magliocchetti, in an effort to cover his tracks, used family, friends and business associates to secretly funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to political campaigns, all in an effort to enrich himself and increase his power and prestige," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. "This case is an important reminder to all who seek to evade the federal campaign finance laws that they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

The DOJ said that Magliocchetti was charged in an indictment that was unsealed on Aug. 5, 2010. According to the indictment, Magliocchetti orchestrated a scheme to make illegal conduit and corporate federal campaign contributions in an effort to enrich himself and PMA by increasing the firm’s influence, power and prestige.

The DOJ had special warning in their press release for those who would have any plans on cheating in this manner.

End of the American middle class

Various reports and publications have appeared recently showing the dire state of the American 'middle class,' which is normally defined as the middle 25% to 66% of households in the US. The economic well-being of this group has been diminishing steadily. The downward spiral began when President Reagan came to office and has continued unabated ever since.

During the Reagan presidency, the top marginal taxes were reduced from 70% to 28%. This pattern continued under President Clinton (with one exception), and both President Bush the father and the son. It is not clear what will happen with President Obama. Also, NAFTA exported numerous jobs to Mexico, the manufacturing base went to China and other countries in the far east, while many information technology jobs were exported to India, eastern Europe and Ireland, among other places.

Another contributing factor to the misery of the middle class has been the enormous expenditures on the US military adventurism around the world with astronomical costs the magnitudes of which are almost totally unknown. The military expenditures have contributed to the enormous deficits, with added expenses for the interests on the national debt. The burden of this debt will be simply transferred to future generations. While infrastructure spending has declined, schools are in a dire shape and teachers are being laid off, Congress continues to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars or on new weapons development.

According to a report by Professor Elizabeth Warren of Harvard University, in the general population of the US:

o 1 in 5 are unemployed (the official figure of about 10% is really misleading)

o 1 in 9 cannot pay their credit cards

o 1 in 8 are on food stamps

o 1 in 8 are in mortgage default or going through foreclosure proceedings

New York Post had a recent article, entitled "So long, middle class," where the following statistics were presented:

o According to a 2009 poll, 61% of Americans 'always or usually' live paycheck to paycheck, which was up from 49% in 2008 and 43% in 2007.

o 36% of Americans say that they don’t contribute anything to retirement savings.

o A staggering 43% of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up for retirement.

o According to Harvard Magazine, 66% of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all Americans.

o In New York, the top fifth of earners collect more than 53% of the income; the bottom fifth takes home less than 3%.

o In 1950, the ratio of the average executive’s paycheck to the average worker’s paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.

o As of 2007, the bottom 80% of American households held about 7% of the liquid financial assets; the bottom 40% of income earners now collectively own less than 1% of the nation’s wealth.

o The top 10% percent of Americans now take in approximately 50% of the income.

Also, among the 11 million workers whose 401(k) plans are run by Fidelity, 11% took out a loan from their plan during the 12 months ending in June 30, the company said recently, up from 9% at the same point a year earlier.

The Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. While President Obama promised during the 2008 campaign that taxes for those earning less than $250K would not be increased, Republicans and many conservative Democrats are now advocating that all Bush the tax cuts be made permanent. By various estimates, if the taxes cuts for the upper income tax payers are made permanent, the deficit will grow by about $700B over 10 years, almost comparable to the entire cost of the health care budget that was hotly debated earlier this year.

One argument that Republicans use to justify lower taxes for the rich is that this group often runs small businesses and the extra money would be used for further expansion of their businesses. However, this argument is simply fallacious, since most business expenses are already tax deductible. Thus, any extra income from reduced taxes would essentially be used for personal expenditures. But, it is well-known that, while low-income and moderate-income families tend to use most of their tax cuts almost immediately, thereby contributing to the economy, the rich are more likely to just save the money. These savings do not contribute significantly to the growth of the economy. The banks may have more funds, but they are not lending anyway and nobody is buying houses.

The state of the middle class, tax policy and economic planning are complex issues that cannot be addressed adequately in one article. The following video discusses the 'death of the middle class.

'President Obama is a Muslim' and other beliefs

A recent survey showed that about 20% of Americans believe that President Obama is a Muslim. Also, the number of people who say that he is a Christian has dropped to 34%. The media seem to be the main source of these beliefs. According to a Washington Post article, 'Among those who say Obama is a Muslim, 60 percent say they learned about his religion from the media.' Apparently, this issue is of paramount importance to Americans. The article in question had over 3246 comments on 164 pages by readers at the latest count, probably more comments than any recent article in the publication.

Since the media seem to be the source of the 'belief' that President Obama is a Muslim, it stands to reason that the media are the source of many other misconceptions. Of course, one might say that the president is indeed a Muslim. But, the fact that there is no concrete evidence for such as an assertion does not seem to be different from the lack of a factual basis for many other beliefs by Americans and people in other countries. Here are some examples:

o In a 2007 poll, 22% of Americans said they believed that President Bush knew about 9/11 attacks in advance.

o In another 2007 Newsweek poll, 41% of Americans answered 'Yes' to the question, 'Do you think Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq was directly involved in planning, financing, or carrying out the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001?'

o The same Newsweek story reported that 45% of Germans thought in 2007 that the United States was more dangerous than Iran.

o In a 2006 poll, 64% of Indians believed that Iran is developing nuclear weapons even though India was the first country to test nuclear weapons after the establishment of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the goal of which was to stop the development of nuclear weapons by new countries.

o According to a CNN poll, 71% of Americans believe that Iran currently has nuclear weapons.

o Fox News reported in 2004 that 92% of Americans say they believe in God, 85% believe in heaven and 82% believe in miracles.

o Reuters reported in 2007 that 72% of Americans believed that Jesus is God or the Son of God. Belief in hell and the devil was expressed by 62% of Americans.

o According to the same Reuters report, only 42% of those surveyed said they believed in the theory of evolution as espoused by Darwin. Also, 35% of the respondents believed in UFOs and 31% in witches.

In review, it seems that there is little correlation between facts and beliefs. The following video is a humorous look at what people on the street seem to know or not know about the world.

Housing Stops

Yesterday morning, the National Association of Realtors reported a 27% drop in existing home sales for July (as compared to June), the largest month-over-month drop in 15 years. At sales that pace, given the number of houses on the market, existing home inventory jumped up to 3.98 million existing homes for sale, a 12.5 month supply of housing (i.e. if all houses currently on the market were purchased at the rate that houses traded hands last month, it would take just over a year to sell them all), the highest inventory by this form of measure in more than a decade. According to NAR, "Raw unsold inventory is still 12.9 percent below the record of 4.58 million in July 2008."

The report was much worse than economists predicted, with Bloomberg's median estimate (among the 74 economists asked for a prediction) being an annualized selling rate of 4.65 million homes versus an actual report of 3.83 million (again, an annualized number).

Prices were down 0.2% from the prior month but up 0.7% from a year earlier, showing perhaps that housing prices must fall further in order to get buyers interested.

It's not all about price, however, when it comes to housing. Two perhaps larger factors are employment and availability of mortgages, both of which are disastrously weak for what should be a point of recovery in a typical economic cycle.

Much demand for existing houses comes from people moving to a new location to go to a new job. With unemployment stuck near 10% and underemployment (including unemployment) near 17%, with entrepreneurs, particularly those who would normally consider starting up a small business, pinned to the sidelines by uncertainty about what Obama and Pelosi's next business-crushing shoe to drop will be (taxes? cap-and-trade? protectionist legislation?), the chances of job creation improvement in any single digit number of months is bleak. As the L.A. Times notes:

…the nation's tiniest companies had fewer new hires last month than any time since October. The data are further evidence of a trend that has had many economists worried for months and intensifies concerns that smaller firms may not be robust enough to help lead the country out of its financial slump. The slowdown in hiring is particularly troublesome, experts say, because small businesses typically hire first during a recovery. A reluctance by little companies to add positions could mean that the big firms, which typically lag behind, will add jobs even more gradually.

(For more on this topic, I recommend this fascinating study by the Kauffman Foundation: "The Importance of Startups in Job Creation and Job Destruction" which notes that "startups aren't everything when it comes to job growth. They're the only thing.")

With no new jobs, people are staying put. Unless you're simply outgrowing your current home by having kids (or having your mother-in-law move in), a house would have to get a lot cheaper to get you to move if you don't actually have any need to.

Then, even if you did want to move, you'd have to be able to get a mortgage. While mortgage rates have reached record lows in recent days, it's harder than ever to get a mortgage. Several years ago, a ham sandwich could get a 100% loan-to-value mortgage by just claiming a decent income in mayonnaise. Heck, it could even have been an illegal alien ham sandwich as long as he could show the right bar code for a jar of Hellmann's. Now, you have to have near-perfect credit, a high income, and the ability to put down a substantial down payment to be able to get even a conventional government-guaranteed mortgage, much less a "jumbo" mortgage needed for most loans over $417,000 in most parts of the country (the conventional limits are higher in certain high-cost areas.)

In a typical example of government shutting the barn door after the horse has left -- actually a few years after it's left in this case -- even the FHA is raising its lending standards, although calling requiring a 3.5% down payment a "standard" would be laugh-out-loud funny if those sorts of Barney Frank- and Chris Dodd- mandated levels hadn't cost the rest of us our jobs, our home values, and our retirement savings.

Between a lack of new jobs, a lack of available credit, and the tremendous uncertainty regarding how the newly established Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will punish lenders not only for mortgage failures which they contributed to, but also for failures entirely of the borrowers, it's hard to see how the housing market improves anytime soon.

As with the failed "cash for clunkers," the Obama Administration's actions have served only to shift demand between time periods, with their recently expired homebuyer tax credit briefly lifting sales only to give us this record plunge when the credit expired.

A rising housing market was critical fuel for the economic boom of the last decade, not least due to irresponsible homeowners using their homes like piggy banks, borrowing against their equity (which they no longer have) and spending the money on cars, trips, and perhaps most dangerously, on real estate speculation. That speculation caused rising prices which created a self-reinforcing game of real estate musical chairs that people with no experience, no investing talent, and no goal other than not to miss the money train all wanted to play. As is typical of bubbles, it turned out there was a lot more than one chair missing when the music stopped.

But even without such recklessness, and even treating the "wealth effect" as of minimal importance, a second dip in housing could point to problems not just for the broad economy but also for local budgets -- not least school districts -- whose finances are heavily dependent on property taxes. A 2009 paper on "House Prices and Economic Growth" by Norman Miller of the University of Cincinnati and Liang Peng of the University of Colorado concludes that "house price changes have significant effects on Gross Metropolitan Product growth…[and that] the effects last for eight quarters."

Furthermore, as the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco notes, much spending in recent years, and not just in America, was done with borrowed money that now must be repaid rather than spent or saved in an economically constructive way. Therefore,

Going forward, the efforts of households in many countries to reduce their elevated debt loads via increased saving could result in sluggish recoveries of consumer spending. Higher saving rates and correspondingly lower rates of domestic consumption growth would mean that a larger share of GDP growth would need to come from business investment, net exports, or government spending. Debt reduction might also be accomplished via various forms of default, such as real estate short sales, foreclosures, and bankruptcies. But such deleveraging involves significant costs for consumers, including tax liabilities on forgiven debt, legal fees, and lower credit scores.

It's not a pretty picture and it explains a lot about why 10-year Treasury Note yields this week hit an all time low of 2.5%, predicting an extended period of economic malaise. Like Jimmy Carter, our current president is presiding over a crisis of confidence, and as during the Carter presidency much of that crisis is due to a steadily declining confidence in the president himself.

The bursting of an asset bubble, especially one that so many people are involved with not just economically but also emotionally, is a painful but necessary experience. It's worse than the hangover after a party because if you find a cure for a hangover, the cure probably doesn't have too many bad side effects. Unfortunately, the government's efforts to minimize the pain of the bubble bursting -- because it fears the political fallout -- are, and only can be, the economic equivalent of the hair of the dog, namely trying to throw some duct tape on the bubble and pumping it back up again, if not to its full countrywide (and Countrywide) scale then at least to something that causes housing prices to stay steady when they would, in an unmanipulated and un-bailed-out market, be falling.

As little fun as it is, there should be a hushed but real enthusiasm for ending of decades of government pushing home ownership as a way to endear voters to the political party that best sells itself as the one making sure you own something you can't really afford. It's no more rational to say that everyone should own a home than that everyone should own a yacht or a Tibetan Mastiff (one of which sold last year for much more than the price of the average home in America). Remember, when a politician wants you to own a house, he does so because he thinks it's good for him.

In the long run, the only way for housing, like any other market, to return to health, is for the bubble to be allowed to collapse, to allow market forces to do what they do whether it feels good or not on a given day. Housing, like the rest of the economy, faces an additional unnecessary headwind in our current Administration whose disdain for and lack of understanding of the economic freedom -- including freedom to fail -- necessary for economic growth and prosperity simply add to potential homebuyers' hesitancy and confusion

Parting Shot

I'm at the BAI Retail Delivery conference this week, so blogging for this week will be severely curtailed. However, I wanted to make sure you didn't miss the in-depth post by Kevin Sullivan at Anti-Money Laundering Training Academy blog for his hard-hitting exposé of the latest Vatican bank money laundering scandal entitiled "...And Then He Created the Moon and the SARS." As only an ex-cop (Kevin's the New York State Police official who first pursued the SAR that brought down Eliot Spitzer) and fellow Irish Catholic boy can, he puts that kerfuffle in proper perspective.

This has all the makings of a Dan Brown novel. Angels and Dollars? The Da Vinci Load? The Cash Symbol? Somebody stop me…!

You gotta love his picture, too:

Small Biz Lending Law A Bust?

According to a recent American Banker article (paid subscription required), it looks like the $30 billion small business lending law enacted by Congress may be cocered with the same patina that slimed TARP.

So far, the response among bankers has been lackluster at best. Some said they can't get past the bitter memory of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and have no interest in doing business with the government again — especially so soon after the Tarp experience.

"It's like all their programs," said Thomas O'Brien, the president and chief executive of State Bank of Long Island in Jericho, N.Y. "They're just subject to change and revision, and someday they'll turn around and attack or revile their participants, and I don't think any of us want to go through that anymore."

Mike Menzies, president of the $161.5 million-asset Easton Bank and Trust in Maryland and a past chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said his bank is considering applying for the funds. He said the program could be a valuable tool to help the smallest banks preserve capital so they're prepared to lend once loan demand returns.

But he acknowledged that many bankers worry about how they might be viewed if they accept the capital.

"I think that there is an inherent dislike of the notion that the media could paint the small-business loan fund as a form of a bailout," he said.

Michael Clarke, CEO of the $789.2 million-asset Access National Bank in Reston, Va., said he has no doubt that the program will increase the volume of small-business lending. But he is not sure his bank should be involved.

"We're still evaluating it," Clarke said, "because if you are unable to reach the thresholds of volume, then this capital will prove to be costly. We don't want to find ourselves in a trap where we almost feel obligated or forced to make loans that we otherwise wouldn't, just to meet the objectives of the program."

The $2.8 billion-asset Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock received $75 million in Tarp funds in December 2008, and repaid the investment in November 2009. George Gleason, the CEO, said the company has zero interest in more capital from the Treasury Department.

"I don't even know if we're eligible for it," Gleason said. "We haven't looked at it, and the reason is very simple: We're going to make every good loan that we can make, with or without the fund. So we're not going to mess with a government program."

It's good to know that many community bankers (a) learned the lessons of the recent past so readily and (b) aren't masochists. However, one group of bankers is likely to be much more receptive: those already dangling on TARP's hook.

That's because the law allows some banks that received funds through Tarp's Capital Purchase Program to refinance into the Small Business Lending Fund, where they have the chance to pay much lower dividends on the capital, said Joseph Longino, a principal in the investment strategy group at Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP.

Under Tarp, banks pay the Treasury Department a 5% dividend, and that will rise to 9% in 2013.

Through the new fund, banks with less than $10 billion of assets can apply for capital with an initial dividend payment of 5%, which could drop to as low as 1% for a few years as banks boost their lending.

"I think smaller banks that are laboring under Tarp and that believe … that there are small-business lending opportunities out there that they could tap — and therefore get the lower rate — are going to be the most interested in this program," Longino said.

There are no warrants this time around, either, so it's got that going for it.

Nevertheless, this doesn't seem to be something that is going to make the "splash" that TARP made. For that, thank (1) Members of Congress for changing the rules after the program was enacted and pontificating about how "bailed out" banks weren't lending; (2) articles in the main stream press that painted all banks that particpated in the "big bank" and "small bank" versions of TARP with the same broad brush; and (3) banks that didn't take TARP using that fact as a marketing ploy against those that did.

To me, the fact that the final bill didn't contain commercial real estate loss amortization provisions that were inserted in the initial House-passed version made it an exercise in futility for most community banks. As I noted previously, most of them who need the additional capital won't likely qualify for it. At this point, it appears that even those banks that would qualify for it aren't particularly interested in getting it. One more election year exercise in futility.

Bank Fees: Not As Bad As You Might Think

You wouldn't known it by reading the main stream media, which feasts on sad tales of consumers being gouged by evil banks at every turn (some of which are, indeed, sad tales), but as Fierce Spirits points out, a recent ABA survey found that 53% of customers pay no fees on their bank accounts, while another 14% pay $3 or less a month in fees. It's inconvenient when the facts get in the way of rip-roaring prejudices, but there you have it.

It doesn't lessen the irritation at the overdraft fee kerfluffle, but its always useful to put things in perspective. Big banks may be hosing (or "justifiably charging," depending upon your viewpoint) a minority of customers with beaucoup fees, but most customers seem to be managing their accounts without paying much (if anything).

The blog's author lists the follow "common sense" methods suggested by the ABA for keeping your fees low:

Free Checking and Savings Accounts – Most banks offer them.

ATM Machines – Avoid fees by using your own bank’s ATM.

Direct Deposit – Many checking accounts are free when your paycheck is automatically deposited each month.

Minimum Balance – Keep at least the minimum balance in your account.

Don’t Overdraw – Keep track of transactions and account balances to avoid bounced check fees.

Email or Text Alerts – Ask for an automatic alert when your balance falls below a certain level.

Don't Cry For Me OCC

Tell me you're surprised by this (paid subscription required)and I'll call you a fibber.

The merger of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision is shaping up to be the match made in regulatory hell.

Three months after the regulatory reform bill ordered the OTS' elimination over the next year, efforts to bring the agency into the OCC fold have been plagued with bitterness, communication problems, unease on job placement and rampant conflicts. The latter range from the important to inane, covering everything from job titles to claims of unreturned phone calls to bickering over the placement of booths at an upcoming industry conference.

The fights go all the way to the top, with several sources suggesting acting OTS Director John Bowman is openly hostile to the merger and accusing him of being uncooperative.

"It's a little like the Middle East — the feud goes back so far it's hard to determine who threw the first stone." said Kip Weissman, a partner at Luse Gorman. "Both sides need to grow up a little bit and stop the personal attacks — there are plenty of difficult technical issues which need to be resolved."

If you think that's bad, just imagine what it would have been like if the FDIC and not the OCC had been the agency into which the OTS was being merged. After the enactment of FIRREA, which made the FDIC the successor to the dissolved Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (run by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board) and the FDIC-staffed RTC the successor to the assets of the insolvent thrifts that were disposed of post-FIRREA, the FDIC folks came in like Hawkeye and Trapper John burst into that hospital in Japan in M*A*S*H screaming they were the pros from Dover (*see below). The FSLIC Titanic was a ship of fools, and now that it had sunk, the FDIC was going to "crack this kid's chest and get out to the golf course before it gets dark." Arrogance doesn't even begin to describe the attitude, and hard feelings were the result.

Still...

While ABA COO Diane Casey-Landry does a politically correct job of soft-pedaling the dust-up by calling it the result of the "natural tension that comes with mergers," there's a whiff of thumb-sucking and tantrum-throwing in the air. You'd think that an agency that was declared a useless tool on national television by the likes of Chuck Schumer over twenty years ago, and the abolition of which opponents have been calling since it was created in 1989 would be expecting its luck to run out some day. Those of us in the world of private enterprise who've worked for business entities that have been merged out of existence are expected to suck it up and transfer to Plan B in our career track. It's called taking it like an adult and moving on.

Guess these folks are getting a taste of what the employees at Charter Bank, BankUnited, IndyMac, Wamu, and so many other savings institutions that have been consigned to thrift hell by the OTS have had to eat. Bitter, isn't it?

Hey, OCC: How do you want your steak cooked?

Will The Bite Be As Bad As the Bark?

With all the furor lately over bullies who drive sensitive adolescents to end their lives by harrassing them mercilessly, you have to wonder why no one takes the time to call out the FDIC for all of its public blustering about how hard its going to smack down all of those officers and directors of failed banks with liability suits that will hurt like hell. They've been talking about it for the last couple of years, but to date, only one lawsuit has been filed. Yet, just last Friday, Bloomberg "broke" another story about the coming tsunami of D&O liability litigation, with over $1 billion (to be) served.

The lawsuits were authorized during closed sessions of the FDIC board and haven’t been made public. The agency, which has shuttered 294 lenders since the start of 2008, has held off court action while conducting settlement talks with executives whose actions may have led to bank collapses, Richard Osterman, the FDIC’s acting general counsel, said in an interview.

“We’re ready to go,” Osterman said. “We could walk into court tomorrow and file the lawsuits.”

Well, if you're "ready to go," don't talk about it to the main stream press, make like Nike and JUST DO IT!

What's the purpose of all this public posturing in a "Jesus is Coming and He's Pissed" mode? Does the FDIC think it's scaring potential defendants into rolling over and playing dead? Is it actually squeezing substantial settlements out of officers and directors (or, more precisely, their insurance carriers) prior to filing suit?

The last fist fight I had in my life was as a 20 year-old, when I was jumped by two thugs outside a bar, who tried to take my money by threatenting me with all the bad hurt they were going to put on me unless I coughed up my wallet. I responded "If you were tough enough to take it from me, Alice, you would have done it by now instead of talking about it."

Of course, that prodded them to beat me senseless, although my brother "The Boxer" arrived in time to knock one of them unconscious and a crowd held the other until the police came roaring up to haul them away. So while a rational man might say that by talking tough, the punks would have led him to hand over the wallet and avoid the beating, to those of us of Irish ancestry with hard heads, a lack of a strong sense of self-preservation, and a prefernce for mixing it up, all the threats do is make us dig in our heels and call punks "punks." "Show them the money" is not what runs through our minds.

If officers and directors aren't settling prior to filing of lawsuits, perhaps all of this is merely priming the pump that the FDIC assumes will turn on the recovery spigots once the lawsuits are actually filed because directors and officers of the targeted banks will be "softened up", so terrified by anticipation of being pummeled that once the complaint is served, they'll "give it up" gladly just to avoid the anticipated pain. Or perhaps, there's something else at work, something suggested by the article's author, Phil Mattingly, and Mr. Osterman.

The FDIC "brings suits only where they are believed to be sound on the merits and likely to be cost-effective," according to an agency policy statement that dates from the savings-and- loan crisis of the 1980s. That requires considerations of whether an individual, if sued, has the means to pay or an insurance policy to cover all or part of the claim.

"It doesn’t make sense to file a lawsuit if at the end of the day you have a low chance of recovery," Osterman said.

Even if the FDIC thinks that the defendants have cash or a viable insurance policy, maybe the FDIC thinks that, ultimately, on many of these cases, it may have trouble winning on the merits if the defendants go all "jihad-like" and fight to the death. Certainly, an attorney for some of the defendants in the IndyMac case thinks the FDIC is going to have some difficulties.

Lawrence Kaplan, an attorney whose firm is representing two of the IndyMac defendants, said the paucity of cases filed to date shows the difficulty of assigning blame for a crisis that took down so many financial companies.

“The current crisis was caused by economic conditions that few, if any experts, including leading federal officials, saw coming,” said Kaplan, a lawyer at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP in Washington.

“As a result, claims that directors and officers of many failed banks engaged in negligence lack credibility as such claims attempt to hold those directors and officers to an impossible standard of care,” Kaplan said.

Mr. Kaplan's spinning this in favor of his clients, naturally. That's why he gets paid the big bucks. Still, you have to wonder whether the FDIC's blowing smoke in many of these cases because it hopes it can run a bluff on enough directors and officers to force a settlement pre-filing or shortly after surviving a motion to dismiss and Rule 11 sanctions.

Personally, I think Mr. Kaplan may be onto something. Sheila Bair publicly opined that no one saw anything this bad coming down the pike. I've heard rumors that there exist certain former agency personnel who tried to raise the alarm about the potential meltdown years before it arrived but were stomped on by superiors. If I were a defense counsel today, I would feel a lot better about my chances than I would have felt in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the last wave of FDIC and RTC litigation washed over former directors and officers of failed banks and thrifts.

Then again, when I say "a lot better" I don't mean "good." I mean "not as helpless."

Misdirection

While the Department of Justice announced today that it will investigate the foreclosure practices of some of the big residential mortgage loan servicers arising from their alleged "robo-signing" of documents that were not actually reviewed by the person signatory, Housing Wire publisher Paul Jackson asks a critical question: So what?

But in the end, am I the only one asking: who really cares? Does any of this make it more likely that a borrower will suddenly be able to afford their mortgage? Isn't that what really matters?

What really should matter is this: as a nation, we have lost at least $2 trillion in wealth thanks to the economic downturn, led by an absolute collapse of our housing and mortgage markets. It’s a collapse we have all yet to recover from, as a host of well-intentioned but ill-fated policies have done nothing except prolong pain — not only for banks, who are still playing hide-and-seek with bad assets on their balance sheets, but also for borrowers, who are being lied to by our government and by the very consumer advocates who claim to wish to help them.

Read the whole rant. You'll be glad you did (assuming you're a banker and not a bank-hater).

Of course, our fearless leaders in Congress understand that at a juncture where many community banks are under the gun from so many directions, the economy is wallowing in the doldrums, and joblessness continues to impede a recovery, what one of this country's top priorities has got to be is the expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act and the toughening of its standards (paid subscription required).

House Financial Services Committee Democratic leaders introduced a bill [September 29, 2020] to expand the Community Reinvestment Act and impose stricter standards on banks.

The bill from Rep. Luis Gutierrez would make it tougher for banks to receive an "outstanding" rating on their CRA exams, add a new "sufficient" rating and require bank affiliates and subsidiaries to be included in evaluations.

"This is an important first step on the road to reforming and modernizing the CRA to better meets the needs of our communities and address the new financial marketplace," said the Illinois Democrat in a press release. "We are laying the groundwork for next year, identifying priorities, and evaluating what we have been able to fix and what remains to be fixed in our financial markets."

Yep, no doubt about it: you've got your "priorities" straight, Luis.

The Smaller They Are, The Harder They Fall

“Community banks are the lifeblood of our nation’s financial system, supplying much-needed credit to countless individuals, small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other entities in large and small towns around the country.”-- Sheila Bair, May 29, 2009

A thoughtful piece by Randall Smith and Robin Seidel in last week's The Wall Street Journal entitled "Banks Keep Failing, No End in Sight" finally made the front section of today's The Dallas Morning News retitled "Broke-bank Mountain." I guess that proves that either the story has legs or somebody needed an excuse to demonstrate his or her cleverness as a headline writer. My guess is that it's more the former than the latter.

The authors cite one bank analyst who estimates that the number of banks that will be left standing when the dust settles will be closer to 5,000 than the 6,000 we've been heard from other sources. However, it's the exact number that was estimated by the chairman of an old-line community bank in the mid-west in a recent e-mail to me. Whichever number turns out to be accurate, and lot more banks are going to fail or be merged out of existence in the coming years. That fact has troubling consequences for our economy, as Smith and Seidel articulate.

The largest number of bank failures in nearly 20 years has eliminated jobs, accelerated a drought in lending and left the industry's survivors with more power to squeeze customers.

The upside of failures is that they can represent a healthy cleansing of a sector that grew too fast, with bank assets more than doubling to $13.8 trillion in the decade that ended in 2008. Many banks that failed were opportunistic latecomers. Of the failed banks since February 2007, 75 were formed after 1999, according to SNL Financial.

Still, economists say, the contraction represents an enduring threat to capital, lending and the economy.

"When we step back and look at this financial disaster 10 years from now, the destruction of capital in our economy as a result of what we've endured will be the single greatest lasting impact on recovery and how the economy performs in the future," says Howard Headlee, president of the Utah Bankers Association.

Since 2008, the industry's assets have shrunk by 4.5%.

"If you reduce the amount of assets at a bank, it means they make fewer loans, and that has a negative impact on the economy," says Richard Bove, a bank analyst at Rochdale Securities in Lutz, Fla.

From small towns like Rockford, Ill., to Miami, the banks' disappearance means not only cutbacks in lending but fewer banking choices, lower interest rates on savings accounts, and lost jobs.

The recession and collapse of the housing bubble have cut bank-industry employment by 188,000 jobs, or 8.5%, since 2007, according to FDIC data. Failures alone have cost 11,210 jobs, or 32% of the employees at failed banks, according to FIG Partners, an Atlanta investment firm that specializes in the banking industry.

I made the point in connection with the 2009 failure of Charter Bank in New Mexico that what often gets lost in this quest to ensure the "survival of the fittest" (or "biggest," or "most politically well-connected," or [insert irritating exception category here]) is the fact that mowing down thousands of small banks eliminates thousands of jobs those banks provide. It's nice that some reputable journalists have taken notice, although that won't matter a fig to people whose primary motivator in life is retiring with a vested government pension. Still, a lot of the laid off bank workers may not only swell the rolls of those needing unemployment benefits and other forms of public assistance, they might also end up as bitter voters at the next election who understand the difference between small and large banks and how the federal government and the political class treats the two banking segments. That's just a guess, but based upon anecdotal evidence, it may be a correct one.

Smith and Seidel give space to the views of contrarians. Among the points they raise are:

The overall economic impact of bank failures has been "muted" because, thus far, there have been enough buyers.

The number and rate of failures have, thus far, not been sufficient to have a large "macro-economic effect."

Banks that fail are almost always constrained from lending, while the acquirers are better capitalized and able to lend.

However, the authors close with the observation that the end result of this consolidation appears to be that the big will get bigger.

Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo hold 33% of all U.S. deposits, up from 21% in 2006, according to SNL Financial. That gives them more market power to squeeze out smaller competitors.

I've also seen statistics (not cited by the authors) that the four largest banks completely dominate the residential loan origination business in this country. Little guys are finding little elbow room at that table.

Earlier this year, I heard James Lockhart, former head of the FHFA (and now a member of Wilbur Ross' team) interviewed on one of the cable business news channels, and he stated that this country didn't need 8,000 "little" banks, it needed 50 large regional banks. So, heck, why stop at 5,000 when 50 appears to be the optimal number for some eggheads?

If you think that result would be bad for the economy and for consumers, you'd better get off your duff and do something about it, because the train has left station and it's rolling down the tracks, gathering speed by the day.

Public's TARP Tantrum Survives TARP's Death

Although the TARP program officially ends today, the Wall Street Journal's Deborah Solomon and Neftali Bendavid contend that Joe Sixpack and Mama Grizzly remain madder than wet hens over the program.

Lawmakers who voted for TARP are fighting for their political lives. Bailout anger has all but ruled out the chance of federal intervention in the foreseeable future. The Federal Reserve has seen its independence threatened. And the Obama administration's ability to respond to the economic crisis has been constrained.

"This whole event can have political implications for 30 years," says Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard University economist and expert on financial crises.

Although TARP was designed to prevent a collapse of the country's (and, perhaps, the world's) banking system, to most folks it "has come to symbolize what some voters say they loathe about the wider bailout and, to a large extent, Washington: expansive government power, money spent to help Wall Street, and an unwillingness by policy makers to let people pay for their own mistakes." A lot of people want others to "pay for their own mistakes" unless that payment causes them, personally, to miss a daily does of a Quarter Pounder (with cheese), a large order of fries, and a liter of Cherry Coke. Then, by god, you can not only bail "the others" out, but make sure you give me a boatload of cash, as well. Not all, but some of the anger against TARP seems to flow from the fact that it bailed out "fat cats" and not "me." Again, in this country that was (as Nancy Pelosi contends) "founded on diversity" (although you'd look long and hard to parse the "diversity" among The Founding Brothers), painting people's motivations with a broad brush is a mistake. Nevertheless, enthusiasm for the desire to "let free markets take their course" seems to wax and wane depending on whose ox is being gored and/or whose pockets are being lined.

As I said around the time TARP was adopted, it was intended as a temporary, extraordinary measure to stave off a complete meltdown of the economy. As the Wall Street Journal article's authors (and others) point out, it did just that and is likely to cost the taxpayers relatively little in light of what it achieved.

The anger against it, paradoxically, takes no heed of the fact that TARP, along with the broader government rescue efforts, has been arguably a success. It will ultimately cost far less than the initial $700 billion price tag that stunned a nation. Major banks are profitable and can raise capital. Credit spreads—a key measurement of risk—are down to pre-crisis levels.

The White House now projects TARP will lose at most $50 billion, down from $105 billion projected earlier this year. Privately, Treasury Department officials say the U.S. may not lose a dime, and could ultimately make money depending on how some investments fare, in particular American International Group Inc. and General Motors Corp. In a $14 trillion economy, $50 billion is less than 1% of economic output.

"The incredible irony here is that TARP probably succeeded wildly beyond anybody's imagination," said Alan Blinder, a Princeton University economist who co-authored a paper crediting the administration's economic policies with preventing a second Great Depression. "Suppose the original TARP bill had been to spend $50 billion to avert a catastrophe. Would anyone have blinked?"

While irony may work for David Letterman and John Stewart viewers, it rarely plays well in the political arena. People are upset about the abysmal economy and astronomical federal debt and they're looking for scapegoats. As Bob Bennett and Mike Castle found out, angry people tend to make their voting decisions using their endocrine systems, not their cerebrums. Facts simply don't matter. Expect this rage-against-the-(TARP)-machine theme to play out for some time to come. November looks like a time when a whole lot of shakin' is going to be going on in D.C. and in state governments across America. Apparently, some of it will be motivated by anger over a bailout that actually worked.

Here's more irony, for the few that love it: TARP would have been even more successful if it hadn't been bastardized after enactment by two White House administrations, Congress, and federal banking regulators, who decided to extend it to businesses for which it was not intended (AIG and GM, to name two), change the rules of the game after-the-fact (executive compensation restrictions), and deny participation to many community banks who actually could have used the capital to survive (which would have thwarted a hidden agenda to reduce the number of commercial banks by a quarter to a third).

Smoke and Mirrors

I'm not the only blogger bleating about loan repurchase risks.

Francine McKenna has been pounding the large audit firms for several years about their failure to catch the repurchase risk inherent in the business operations of large mortgage bankers like the defunct New Century and the merged-out-of-existence Countrywide Financial. She recently discussed the fact that although KPMG has settled litigation over the failures of New Century and Countrywide, it still faces litigation over Citigroup and Wells Fargo/Wachovia.She also mentions that Price Waterhouse Coopers faces similar risk with respect to its audits of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, both under heavy buyback pressure from Fannie and Freddie.

Francine's gone back and parsed previous public reports that estimate the potential buyback risk to banks like JPMorgan Chase and the quarterly reports that contain reserves for such losses, and thinks she smells the stench of a gross mismatch.

I went back and looked at the JPM Chase and Bank of America (BAC) 2009 Annual Reports for more clues.

From JPMorgan Chase:

Page 241: At December 31, 2009 and 2008, the Firm had recorded repurchase liabilities of $1.7 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively. The repurchase liabilities are intended to reflect the likelihood that JPMorgan Chase will have to perform under these representations and warranties and is based on information available at the reporting date. The estimate incorporates both presented demands and probable future demands and is the product of an estimated cure rate, an estimated loss severity and an estimated recovery rate from third parties, where applicable. The liabilities have been reported net of probable recoveries from third-parties and predominately as a reduction of mortgage fees and related income.

2009 compared to 2008, page 66: Noninterest revenue was $12.2 billion, up by $2.8 billion, or 30%, driven by the impact of the Washington Mutual transaction, wider margins on mortgage originations and higher net mortgage servicing revenue, partially offset by $1.6 billion in estimated losses related to the repurchase of previously sold loans.

A reserve of $1.7 billion is much less than the $23.9 billion Compass Point Research and Trading estimated form the Wall Street Journal as JPM”s potential liability to the Federal Home Loan Banks alone, not including claims by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

From Bank of America:

The Corporation records its liability for representations and warranties, and corporate guarantees in accrued expenses and other liabilities and records the related expense in mortgage banking income. During 2009 and 2008, the Corporation recorded representations and warranties expense of $1.9 billion and $246 million. During 2009 and 2008, the Corporation repurchased $1.5 billion and $448 million of loans from first lien securitization trusts under the Corporation’s representations and warranties and corporate guarantees and paid $730 million and $77 million to indemnify the investors or insurers. In addition, during 2009, the Corporation repurchased $13.1 billion of loans from first lien securitization trusts as a result of modifications, loan delinquencies or optional clean-up calls.

Bank of American admits “representations and warranties expense” as well as losses of $1.5 billion for repurchases of loans from first lien securitization trusts under their representations and warranties and corporate guarantees. In addition, they’d already repurchased an additional $13.1 billion based on mods, delinquencies and other “clean-up”.

However, I can’t easily see anywhere in either bank what the actual reserves are for estimated future liabilities and how they come up with a number given the total loans sold by type and the current claims by various parties. I think it’s time for someone, perhaps the SEC, to demand more detailed disclosure about reserves for repurchase risk.

She also wonders how Deloitte can sign off on entities who are involved in both sides of the buy-back controversies.

Can PwC, in good faith, honestly sign off on financial statements on both sides of the disputes between the FHLBs and Freddie Mac and several PwC bank clients where completely different estimates of these liabilities are submitted?

I can understand judgment and leave some room for disagreement in a legal dispute as opposed to the valuation of an individual security. But, in the end, the quality of the documentation, the quality of the underwriting, the level of potential fraudulent documentation and the collectibility of the loan based on accuracy of the borrower ratings assigned at origination must all be relatively easy to ascertain on a comparable basis. These factors ultimately drive the value of the asset.

A loan doc is what it is. If it exists, that is.

The auditors have been helping the banks pull rabbits out of their hats for some time now. But isn’t it about time we jump on the issue of audit firms behaving like Switzerland to protect their own self-interests? There are hundreds of millions of reasons in New York alone for PwC to stay neutral and to allow balance sheet “window dressing” via manipulation of reserves. But what does that say about the integrity of the financial information published by these banks?

Shareholders and other stakeholders will suffer greatly when the the banks eventually “surprise” us with the huge losses.

Strong stuff. Good stuff. Definitely worth a read.

Where a the federal banking regulators on these issues? Oh, that's right, we're talking about too-big-to-fail banks and audit firms. Similar facts involving a community bank and regional or local audit form would have had serious adverse supervisory consequences for them both long before this point.

Unlike Love, Banks Aren't Lovelier The Second Time Around

The Denver Business Journal's Renee McGaw discusses a quirky result of the recent meltdown in the community banking sector: a number of the banks that have hit the skids and are under regulatory enforcement agreements or orders were started and run by bankers who made a bundle with their first bank and we're trying to replicate their previous success.

An impressive number of the regulatory orders signed so far this year involve second-time-around banks whose founders fared very well with previous banks, in some cases selling them for tens of millions of dollars in the early 2000s. But regulators have signaled concern about their second incarnations.

According to professional recruiter Tim Pendergast, there's a certain irony in all this.

“What’s ironic is that not only did these investors try to duplicate the same business model a decade later, but many hired back the same people and used the same or very similar bank names in round two.”

I don't see it as much ironic as unfortunate. As Ms. McGaw points out, most community banks have traditionally made much of their money in an area where they seem to be able to compete with their bigger brethren: commercial real estate. As some bank consultants have opined with perfect 20/20 hindsight, that made them vulnerable when the subprime mortgage bubble popped and the resulting domino effect cratered all real estate prices, including commercial real estate. If only these bankers had possessed the foresight that so many armchair quarterbacks seem to possess in 2010! If only they had foreseen the inevitability of the worse economic recession since the 1930s, they wouldn't have concentrated so heavily in commercial real estate, but would have diversified into C&I (whoops, also taking a beating) or "safe" investments like FNMA preferred stock (whoops, also the cause of many banks taking it the shorts) or AAA mortgage-backed securities ('nuff said)!

There's no question that a number of banks failed to diversify their asset base suffciiently. It's also true that no one expected the debacle we're now wallowing in, other than a few contrarians who went short and got rich and (according to at least one of my correspondents) regulatory Chicken Little's whose warnings were ignored and/or actively suppressed. The rest of us idiots who were actually in the arena slugging it out might have been uneasy, but never saw the train that hit us.

I'm sure a number of these "replayers" wish they had a chance to "rewind," but that's not how life operates, is it? On the other hand, as Ms. McGaw points out, merely because a bank operates under an enforcement order doesn't mean it's not going to make it out of the swamp and onto dry land eventually. What it does mean is that it won't be repeating its past mistakes. How any of these banks are going to make money in an economy like this one is going to be a challenge, regardless of asset concentration or diversification. "Don't make commercial real estate loans" is the easy part. "What's the alternative in this economy?" is the tough nut to crack, whether or not this is your second time around.