World News

John Wayne Dies today in 1979

2011-06-12T05:14:00.000+05:00

Today on 11, June in 1979, John Wayne, an iconic American film actor famous for starring in countless westerns, dies at age 72 after battling cancer for more than a decade.

The actor was born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907, in Winterset, Iowa, and moved as a child to Glendale, California. A football star at Glendale High School, he attended the University of Southern California on a scholarship but dropped out after two years. After finding work as a movie studio laborer, Wayne befriended director John Ford, then a rising talent. His first acting jobs were bit parts in which he was credited as Duke Morrison, a childhood nickname derived from the name of his beloved pet dog.

Wayne's first starring role came in 1930 with The Big Trail, a film directed by his college buddy Raoul Walsh. It was during this time that Marion Morrison became "John Wayne," when director Walsh didn't think Marion was a good name for an actor playing a tough western hero. Despite the lead actor's new name, however, the movie flopped. Throughout the 1930s, Wayne made dozens of mediocre westerns, sometimes churning out two movies a week. In them, he played various rough-and-tumble characters and occasionally appeared as "Singing Sandy," a musical cowpoke a la Roy Rogers.

In 1939, Wayne finally had his breakthrough when his old friend John Ford cast him as Ringo Kid in the Oscar-winning Stagecoach. Wayne went on to play larger-than-life heroes in dozens of movies and came to symbolize a type of rugged, strong, straight-shooting American man. John Ford directed Wayne in some of his best-known films, including Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962).

Off-screen, Wayne came to be known for his conservative political views. He produced, directed and starred in The Alamo (1960) and The Green Berets (1968), both of which reflected his patriotic, conservative leanings. In 1969, he won an Oscar for his role as a drunken, one-eyed federal marshal named Rooster Cogburn in True Grit. Wayne's last film was The Shootist (1976), in which he played a legendary gunslinger dying of cancer. The role had particular meaning, as the actor was fighting the disease in real life.

During four decades of acting, Wayne, with his trademark drawl and good looks, appeared in over 250 films. He was married three times and had seven children.

Osama Bin Laden killed in a raid by US Special Forces & CIA

2011-05-03T02:30:00.001+05:00

Osama Bin Laden was killed in a raid by US special forces & CIA on a compound in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad in Bilal Town. He is at the top of US most wanted persons.

Jimmy Fallon - Charlie Sheen

2011-03-04T00:26:00.001+05:00

It takes a strong late-night host to resist doing Charlie Sheen jokes, and that man is Craig Ferguson. He announced earlier this week that he wouldn’t be doing any Sheen-is-crazy humor.

Ferguson has a greater frame of cultural reference than the other hosts, and he reached back to the ancient London hospital that gave us the term “bedlam” — a choice word for the media frenzy surrounding Sheen, but, to Ferguson’s point, an example of a place where mental patients were ridiculed by the public.

As Ferguson noted, you know things are getting serious when a late-night host says such a ripe target probably should be left alone, but that’s the kind of guy Ferguson is… he takes his ridicule elsewhere, to those in control and power, rather than those who are losing control and power.

On the other hand, if you are going to make a Charlie Sheen joke, Ferguson’s friendly rival, Jimmy Fallon, managed to do it in a subtle way. His parody of Sheen doing an ad for a fragrance called Winning was excellent because (a) the impression was dead-on, and (b) although it had punchlines, there was a strong undercurrent of understanding, of capturing just how pathetic Sheen has become.

This was a critique of Sheen humor itself.

Bravo to both men.

Dave Duerson Died

2011-02-19T02:41:00.001+05:00

Former Bears safety Dave Duerson has died. He was 50.

Duerson was found dead in his Sunny Isles Beach, Fla. home near Miami on Thursday night, police said. A cause of death has not been determined. The case is under investigation by police.

The Bears made the Notre Dame All-American their third-round selection in the 1983 draft. He went on to become a key member of the team’s 1985 Super Bowl championship team before winning another Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants before retiring after an 11-year career.

“When we brought him in out of Notre Dame we knew what we were getting,” former Bears’ coach Mike Ditka said. When Todd [Bell] held out he stepped right in and took over the starter’s job. With Gary [Fencik] back there we had two of the best safeties in the league.”

Ditka also said Duerson attended the 25th anniversary celebration of the 1985 team late last year and had no apparent health problems.

Duerson ran a successful sausage company after his NFL career ended. He started his own company, Duerson Foods, in 2002 but it suffered financially and much of its assets were sold at auction in 2006.

He also served as a trustee at Notre Dame before losing that position after pleading guilty to misdemeanor domestic battery for pushing his wife, Alicia, in 2006. The two filed for divorce in 2007, the same year Duerson’s Highland Park home went into foreclosure.

Most recently he was hosting an Internet radio show and working as a consultant in Florida.

“Unfortunately, he has had some financial problems,” Ditka said. “I didn’t know he was having those kinds of problems. I’m sure that was probably the biggest thing. That can put a lot of pressure on you when things are going bad financially and you’re having family problems.”

The Bears issued the following statement: “We are stunned and saddened to hear the tragic news regarding Dave Duerson. He was a great contributor to our team and the Chicago community. Today is a difficult day for all of us who loved Dave. We’ll miss him. Our prayers are with his family.”

Duerson was a two-time All-American at Notre Dame.

“Our hearts go out to the Duerson family and to all those who knew Dave,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a statement. “In addition to being a great football player, Dave represented himself and the University in so many other ways as a team captain, as well as through his work with the Monogram Club and the Board of Trustees. You couldn’t help but be impressed by him when you met Dave Duerson, and I think that was the reaction from anyone who was ever around him.”

Duerson is survived by four children.

The family released this statement: “Our family asks that you please remember Dave as a good, kind and caring man. He loved and cherished his family and friends and was extremely proud of his beloved Notre Dame and Chicago Bears. Please keep Dave and our family in your prayers.”

Circumpolar & Light Painting

2011-02-17T00:13:00.001+05:00

Beautiful

Genevieve Morton, Black Eyed Peas Set to Blow Roof Off Pre-Super Bowl Concert

2011-02-01T03:50:00.001+05:00

The party people are taking over Dallas this week.

On Friday, the Black Eyed Peas, which is providing half-time entertainment at Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, will join with Sports Illustrated to host - get this - the "Sports Illustrated Presents: The Official Black Eyed Peas Friday NightB4 XLV Party."

That's not a misprint; that's the name of the event, which organizers say means music and models.

According to the Peas' website, there will be DJ sets from will.i.am and David Guetta along with a host of special guests including Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models Genevieve Morton, Christine Teigen, Julie Henderson and Anne V.

It's unusual to have such a high-spirited act play the Super Bowl. Since Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" in 2004, halftime entertainment has been provided by a string of older - but still popular - performers like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and a terrific, if subdued, Prince.

Omar Suleiman: New Egyptian Vice President

2011-01-30T03:44:00.001+05:00

In Picture: Omer Suleiman on left.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak named a vice president Saturday for the first time since coming to power nearly 30 years ago. It was a clear step toward setting up a successor in the midst of the biggest challenge ever to his rule from tens of thousands of anti-government protesters.

Mubarak named his intelligence chief of nearly two decades and close confidant Omar Suleiman, state television reported.

The president had been seen as grooming his son Gamal to succeed him, possibly even as soon as in presidential elections planned for later this year. However, there was significant public opposition to the hereditary succession.

The appointment of Suleiman, 74, answers one of the most intriguing and enduring political questions in Egypt: Who will succeed 82-year-old Mubarak?

Another question is whether his appointment will calm the chaotic streets of Egypt's cities. In the capital Cairo, looting was rampant on Saturday and lawlessness was spreading fast. Residents of affluent neighborhoods in the capital were even boarding up their houses against gangs of thugs roaming the streets with knives and sticks.

Anchal Joseph: Dating with Jim Carrey

2011-01-22T01:56:00.001+05:00

A model rebound, if true.

Jim Carrey, who broke up with Jenny McCarthy in April, was photographed Thursday night in New York holding hands with Anchal Joseph, a former 'America's Next Top Model' contestant.

Joseph is 24-years old -- Carrey is 49.

If they are dating, it will be Carrey's third public appearance with a woman -- he was photographed cuddling with an unidentified brunette in October and then with a blonde in New York just last week -- since the split with McCarthy, which she spoke out about months after it went down. In September, McCarthy told Oprah that their relationship "wasn't fun," and in October, said that she "was pretending" with the comedy legend.

There's been more action for McCarthy since the breakup. She dated Jason Tohey for four months before splitting with the bodybuilder in December; now, she's dating sports agent Paul Kerepelka.

Beautiful Clouds Wonderful Sunlight

2011-01-16T21:00:00.001+05:00

7.0 Magnitude Earthquake hits New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands

2011-01-14T01:12:00.000+05:00

A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands in the South Pacific, the US Geological Survey said Friday, but there was no tsunami warning in effect.

There were no immediate reports of damage from the quake, which hit at 3.16 am (1616 GMT Thursday).

In a revised statement the USGS said the quake hit at a shallow depth of 4.6 kilometres (2.9 miles), 125 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Tadine in the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, and 135 kilometres southwest of Vanuatu.

The USGS lowered the magnitude from 7.3 after seismologists reviewed the event.

A series of aftershocks, the most powerful measuring 5.9-magnitude, rumbled through the area after the quake.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no warnings or advisories in effect following the quake.

The area has been hit by a series of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks since December 26 last year when a 7.3-magnitude quake which struck near Vanuatu.

The Loyalty Islands, part of the French territory of New Calendonia, are in the "Pacific Ring of Fire" known for its seismic and volcanic activity caused by friction between moving plates in the Earth's crust.

Source

Eric Mangini Is Fired

2011-01-04T01:09:00.001+05:00

The Cleveland Browns announced on Monday that head coach Eric Mangini has been fired which didn't some as a huge surprise as speculation on Mangini's future had been rampant for several weeks. Now that he has been dismissed, the Browns turn to finding their next head coach -- a search that will not include Mike Holmgren.

Holmgren moved into a front office role with the Browns earlier this year and there was some speculation that he could hire himself as the head coach. He says that won't be happening -- at least not this year.

"I was hired to be the president of the Cleveland Browns. I think this year I've grown into the job. Having said that, I am also a coach and will always be a coach. To tell you right now that I would never coach again -- here or any place -- wouldn't be honest. But as of right now, my job is to find the best coach available for this job. That's what I'm trying to do. And that does not include me right now. I probably won't coach again. But I won't rule anything out."

It's interesting that Holmgren left the door open for a possible return to coaching at some point. Frankly, he's as qualified as anyone to lead the Browns but it doesn't sound like he'll be taking the job.

Early names on the Browns possible replacement for Mangini include John Fox, Jon Gruden and Marty Mornhinweg.

Kristi Cornwell: Remains Identified as Missing Georgian Woman

2011-01-04T01:07:00.001+05:00

Investigators have positively identified bones found in a wooded area in northern Georgia as those of Kristi Cornwell, a woman who has been missing since 2009.

Cornwell's identity was confirmed through dental records, a spokesman with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said today, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The skeletal remains were discovered Saturday by a passer-by in Union County. The location is about nine miles from where Cornwell, 38, disappeared 18 months ago, police said.

Police believe Cornwell was abducted on Aug. 11, 2009, as she walked along a rural road in Blairsville, Ga., while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone. He told authorities she said a car was pulling up, and then she screamed, "Don't take me!" and the phone went dead, police said.

Authorities later found Cornwell's personal effects along the side of the road. A weeklong search, conducted by multiple law enforcement agencies, failed to uncover any sign of the missing woman.

Roughly one week before Cornwell's disappearance, a man had tried to abduct a woman who was walking in nearby Ranger, N.C. Authorities suspect the two cases are connected and have released a vehicle description and a suspect sketch.

In January 2010, authorities received a letter, purported to be from "a concerned grandmother." The anonymous sender said the suspect looked like her grandson. The writer also said the vehicle description matched a vehicle owned by her grandson.

"I was horrified to see a newspaper photo of a man that looks like my 27-year-old grandson," the letter stated, according to the Gainesville Times. "He drives a white Nissan Xterra with black bars on the front."

The author of the letter did not identify her grandson and concluded by saying she wanted to "give my grandson the benefit of doubt until proven otherwise."

Authorities released copies of the letter to the media, but they have been unable to identify the sender. However, they have an unnamed person of interest in Cornwell's disappearance, CNN reported.

The GBI did not immediately return calls for comment from AOL News today. Cornwell's family members have been instructed not to speak with the media, according to published reports.

A news conference has been scheduled for 2 p.m. today, Atlanta's WSB-TV reported.

ESPN NEWS Anchor Will Selva gets Suspended after Plagiarising Orange County Register Column

2010-12-31T01:34:00.000+05:00

ESPN has suspended Will Selva for an indefinite period according to AOL's Fanhouse following Tuesday's show after Selva used words from a newspaper column without attributing them to the author of the original story.
Selva, an anchor for the overnight "Highlight Express" show on ESPN NEWS, took words directly from Kevin Ding's column in the Orange Country Register to set up game highlights for Tuesday's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.
In an initial statement released from ESPN, Selva said he cut and pasted Ding's words into his script, but forgot to write his own words.
Selva, who has held an anchor position at ESPN for three years, apologized Wednesday for his plagiarism mistake.
"I made a horrible mistake and I'm deeply sorry. I did not live up to my high standards or ESPN's," Selva admitted in the statement. "I sincerely apologize for my sloppiness, especially to Kevin Ding, viewers and colleagues. In my 15 years in broadcast journalism, nothing like this has ever happened and I will make every effort to ensure it won't happen again."
According to ESPN's statement, Selva had been researching stories to prepare his script for the broadcast and came across Ding's column.
"This is something we take extremely seriously and we've taken appropriate action," said Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN spokesman. "We looked into how it happened and found that this very bad mistake was made because he should have been more thorough, even on deadline, not because he was intentionally trying to claim someone else's work as his own."
As for Selva's suspension, a network source said the length of the punishment is for an undisclosed period of time.
Ding heard the broadcast after returning to his hotel room Tuesday night. He responsed on his blog::
"Hey, Will Selva of ESPNNEWS. Glad you liked my last column so much. Try not to plagiarize it next time. ... Honestly, it wasn't my best lead, come to think of it. Sorry about that, Will. Unbelievable."

Heaviest December Snowfall in Six Decades

2010-12-28T00:14:00.001+05:00

New York City’s major airports remained closed after the heaviest December snowfall in six decades left travelers in the Northeast struggling amid waist- high drifts and blinding winds.

Central Park had 20 inches (51 centimeters) of snow by 8 a.m., the most for the month since 1948, the National Weather Service said. Skies cleared by daybreak while the agency issued blizzard warnings for Boston and into Maine.

The storm forced airlines to cancel more than 6,000 flights since yesterday. John F. Kennedy International and New Jersey’s Newark Liberty will reopen at 6 p.m., and LaGuardia Airport’s resumption time is undetermined, according to the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.

“It is horrendous in the New York City area,” Tom Kines, a meteorologist at State College, Pennsylvania-based AccuWeather Inc., said by telephone. “This is about as bad as it gets. There may have been storms that equaled this, but it doesn’t get much worse than this. To get this much snow with the amount of wind that is accompanying it, that is devastating.”

The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market said they would keep normal hours today. The New York Mercantile Exchange delayed the opening of floor trading until 11 a.m., while electronic trading was unaffected.

Getting Around

“They pay me good money to be here,” said Vinny Stavola, an Oppenheimer & Co. convertible trader, who trekked from Staten Island to get to work in midtown Manhattan by 6:30 a.m. “It doesn’t take a heroic effort to get to work, just a little dedication.”

The storm, with winds gusting to 30 mph (48 kph), began in New York at midday yesterday. The 20 inches measured in Central Park was the most since late February, when a storm dropped 20.9 inches over a two-day period, Pete Wichrowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Upton, New York, said in a telephone interview.

The day after Christmas is one of the five busiest shopping days of the year, and it may take retailers two weeks to capture sales lost yesterday, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group Inc., a research firm based in Port Washington, New York.

Amtrak Operations

Amtrak resumed operations between New York and Boston today after canceling services late yesterday. Metro-North commuter trains resumed their runs at midday after being halted by wind- blown snow, as the Long Island Rail Road remained closed, according to a statement on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority website.

NJ Transit, which transports about 170,000 commuters to and from New York City daily, suspended bus service as of 8:30 p.m. yesterday, according to a statement. Rail service will run a modified holiday schedule on all routes today except the Atlantic City line, which will operate on a weekday schedule, and trains for the morning commute were experiencing 15 minute delays, the agency said.

Four hundred subway passengers were aboard an A train that was stuck in Queens for more than six hours, until it could be pushed to a station by another train. The Coney Island area was without subway service.

New Jersey Shutdowns

As much as 29 inches of snow was reported in Bergen County, New Jersey, while Union County had as much as 26, the Weather Service said. Winds gusted to almost 70 mph in some areas. Interstate 280 westbound, one of the main approaches to downtown Newark, was almost deserted at 8 a.m. and acting Governor Stephen Sweeney ordered state offices closed.

New York City will have 365 salt spreaders and 1,700 snowplows on the streets, and sanitation department employees will work 12-hour shifts, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday at a press conference. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Consolidated Edison Inc. reported there were 6,167 customers in Queens, New York, and 1,811 in Westchester County without power.

Boston and its suburbs may receive as much as 18 inches from the storm before it ends tomorrow, said Alan Dunham, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Taunton, Massachusetts. Part of central Massachusetts may receive as much as 22 inches.

National Grid Plc, which provides electricity in New York and Massachusetts, was reporting power outages at 14 sites throughout New York and Massachusetts affecting about 29,727 homes and businesses. The largest was in Norfolk, Massachusetts, where 10,902 customers were without power.

Flights Grounded

U.S. carriers have canceled at least 3,229 flights so far today, after cutting more than 3,334 yesterday, as they wait for airports to reopen in the Northeast, spokesmen said. Airlines in some cases grounded flights ahead of the storm to keep planes from getting stuck at closed facilities.

Delta Air Lines Inc. cut 875 flights systemwide today, said Trebor Banstetter, an airline spokesman.

“As the weather clears, we are aiming to resume normal operations late Monday and into Tuesday across the East Coast,” Banstetter said in an e-mail.

Continental Airlines and its regional partner carriers have canceled 800 flights for today, while United grounded 175, said Mike Trevino, a spokesman for United Continental Holdings Inc. The carrier expects to resume flights out of New York-area airports and Boston in the afternoon, he said.

More Cancellations

Southwest Airlines Co. cut 188 flights today, primarily in Norfolk and Boston, said Brad Hawkins, a spokesman for the Dallas-based carrier. It expects to resume flights in some northeastern U.S. airports about mid-day, he said.

US Airways Group Inc. canceled 550 flights today, mostly into and out of New York, Philadelphia and Boston, said Jim Olson, a spokesman. Flights into Boston are set to resume after 11 a.m. today, he said.

American Airlines and its commuter carrier, American Eagle, canceled 411 flights today, said Ed Martelle, a spokesman. The two airlines cut 427 flights yesterday.

JetBlue Airways Corp. scrubbed more than 300 flights today after cutting 270 yesterday, Mateo Lleras, a spokesman for the New York-based carrier, said in an e-mail.

“Today we’re also dealing with closed runways, roads that are barely passable and trains and buses that are not running,” JetBlue told customers today in a company blog. “In many cases, conditions are not safe for our crewmembers or our customers to get to the airports, where it’s even possible.”

Southern Snowfall

The storm also brought snow as far south as parts of Jacksonville, Florida, AccuWeather said on its website.

The storm system began in the South over the Christmas holiday. Four inches of snow fell in Chattanooga, Tennessee, while 8 inches was reported in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Environment Canada issued a blizzard warning yesterday for northeastern New Brunswick and warned of heavy snow or rain in the rest of the Maritime provinces today. Sixteen inches of snow may fall in New Brunswick, and rain may accompany the snow in Nova Scotia.

Winds may gust to 87 mph (140 kph) in eastern Nova Scotia and 80 mph in western Newfoundland, the agency said.

Adrienne N. Martin Found Dead in the Home of former Anheuser-Busch CEO

2010-12-25T03:24:00.002+05:00

The death of a 27 year old woman was reported and confirmed shortly thereafter. Investigators are still not sure of the cause. The name of the deceased is Adrienne N. Martin.

There is plenty of information to be found out about Adrienne N. Martin. Why was she ins the house of August Busch IV the CEO of Busch? Well apparently she was an aspiring beer model and it can’t hurt to rub elbows or other things with the guy that can get you the job, right? Adrienne N. Martin had other ambitions as well however.

Busch, 46, was chief executive at Anheuser-Busch from 2006 till the maker of Budweiser, Bud Light and other beers was purchased by InBev in 2008. The $52 billion merger developed the world’s largest brewery. Busch remains a member with the board of directors for InBev.

Matt Cassel active for game

2010-12-19T23:07:00.001+05:00

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel, who missed last week's game following an appendectomy, has been listed as active for Sunday's crucial game against the St. Louis Rams.

It was not immediately clear if Cassel, the Chiefs' regular starter, would begin the game under center or on the sidelines backing up Brodie Croyle.

The Chiefs' third quarterback Tyler Palko was listed as inactive. He can only play if Cassel and Croyle are both unavailable.

The Chiefs (8-5) must beat the Rams to remain alone in first place in the AFC West. Coach Todd Haley said a decision between Cassel and Croyle would probably not be made until just before the game.

Reporters who saw Cassel early in Friday's practice noted he was throwing the ball with more velocity and appeared to be doing more with the offense in practice.

Cassel sat out last week against the Chargers while the Chiefs, behind Croyle, had one of their worst offensive showings ever and lost 31-0 at San Diego.

5.1 magnitude Earthquake hits Pakistan

2010-10-11T03:46:00.000+05:00

5.1 magnitude earthquake hits Islamabad today on 11 oct 2010 at 2:50 AM. The center of earthquake is 35 km far from Islamabad.

Dan Rostenkowski Former U.S. Congressman, dies at 82

2010-08-12T01:32:00.000+05:00

Former U.S. Congressman Dan Rostenkowski speaks to members of the City Club of Chicago during a luncheon, in this April 16, 1998 file photo. Rostenkowski, who as Congress' chief tax-writer was one of most powerful U.S. politicians in the 1980s and early 1990s until brought down by a corruption conviction and a 17-month prison sentence, has died at age 82, according to media reports on August 11, 2010.

Illinois Democrat one of the most powerful politicians in the 80s

Dan Rostenkowski, who as Congress' chief tax-writer was one of most powerful U.S. politicians in the 1980s and early 1990s until brought down by a corruption conviction and a 17-month prison sentence, has died at age 82.

The office of an alderman in Rostenkowski's old congressional district in Chicago on Wednesday confirmed his death.

As chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee for 13 years starting in 1981, the Illinois Democrat had a hand in some of the most important legislation of that period.

But a federal grand jury indicted him on felony corruption charges in 1994, and he eventually pleaded guilty to mail fraud.

Just last March, another Democrat who led the Ways and Means Committee, Charles Rangel, was forced to step down as chairman in the face of ethics charges.

Even as federal prosecutors closed in on him, Rostenkowski worked to get then-President Bill Clinton's healthcare plan though his committee, a mark of the political skills he learned as the son of a Chicago alderman.

Born on January 2, 1928 in Chicago, Rostenkowski attended Loyola University. He then entered the famed political machine of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, and at 24 became the Illinois House's youngest member.

In 1958 he was elected to the House, where he became known as Daley's man in Congress. After Daley died in 1976, Rostenkowski gained a reputation for his ability to make deals, twist arms, call in debts and get things done.

He took over a badly fractured Ways and Means Committee, and after suffering defeats by newly elected Republican President Ronald Reagan, worked to rebuild its authority.

Rostenkowski derived some of his power by hand-picking loyal members secure enough in their own districts to cast votes that were sometimes unpopular back home.

The results included the landmark 1990 and 1993 deficit reduction plans and a 1986 tax reform bill.

But then federal investigators spent two years interviewing witnesses to build a case against the legend in Congress known as "Rosty." Among the charges against him were trading in stamps purchased for official business in return for money, keeping "ghost" employees on his payroll and buying gifts like expensive chairs for friends with House funds.

Rostenkowski remained respected and even feared throughout a two-year investigation. In his home district of Chicago, he proved his popularity by being easily renominated.

But after the indictments, he was defeated in 1994 by Republican Michael Flanagan. Flanagan in turn lost his seat in 1996 to Democrat Rod Blagojevich, who is currently awaiting a verdict in a corruption trial relating to his tenure as governor of Illinois.

In 1994 Republicans used Rostenkowski as the symbol for a House controlled by Democrats for a half century. Republicans took control of Congress that fall.

After his release from prison, Rostenkowski became a political consultant and commentator. Clinton pardoned him in 2000.

Source

Browser-based iOS 'jailbreak' utilizes 'scary' PDF security hole

2010-08-04T05:11:00.000+05:00

The latest browser-based "jailbreak" for iOS devices, including the iPhone 4, utilizes a PDF exploit that one prominent security expert called both "scary" and "very beautiful work."

Sean Sullivan, security advisor with F-Secure Corporation, revealed on Tuesday the technical details of the jailbreak process, which is done entirely in the Mobile Safari browser. The jailbreakme.com site includes 20 separate PDFs for different combinations of hardware and firmware.

The same PDF files crash both Adobe Reader and Foxit on Windows platforms, relying on a corrupt font. On the iPhone, PDF viewing is built into the Safari browser, and the attack crashes the Compact Font Format handler.

Sullivan also linked to comments made via Twitter by security researcher Charlie Miller, who was also analyzing the code behind the browser-based jailbreak.

"Very beautiful work," Miller wrote. "Scary how it totally defeats Apple's security architecture."

While the jailbreakme.com URL itself is not intended for malicious purposes, the PDF exploit it uses could be utilized by hackers to more nefarious ends. Miller said that with this method, a hacker does not need physical access to an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad -- they just simply need to have the user visit a vulnerable website.

Last year, Miller exposed a dangerous SMS exploit that could allow a hacker to remotely control an iPhone. He notified Apple of the flaw, and the company quickly released a patch to plug the exploit.

Apple is likely to quickly act once again and plug the vulnerability that affects all iOS devices -- all models of the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. When that happens, hackers who want to jailbreak iOS devices to run unauthorized code and operating system modifications blocked by Apple will have to find another method.

The member of the iPhone Dev Team who goes by the handle "comex" said this week that he has other potential exploits he will look to when Apple inevitably patches the PDF flaw.

"Maybe I'll rely on USB based stuff for the next jailbreak so that Apple won't patch it so fast," he said.

Ironically, jailbreakers have already developed a workaround solution that can help users avoid being hacked through the PDF exploit. Developer Will Strafach on Tuesday released an application available on the jailbroken Cydia store that will warn users when a Mobile Safari page is loading a PDF file. The solution does not patch the hole, but helps to prevent users from visiting sites with all PDF files to avoid the exploit.

Nissan, Hyundai Extend Gains as U.S. Auto Sales Cool in July

2010-08-04T05:08:00.000+05:00

Nissan Motor Co. and Hyundai Motor Co. led U.S. gains in July among major automakers as sales for most large competitors in the market cooled amid consumer concerns that the economy may weaken.

Nissan, Japan’s third-largest automaker, said sales rose 15 percent and Seoul-based Hyundai reported a 19 percent increase. Deliveries fell 3.2 percent at Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, and 2 percent at Honda Motor Co.

“It’s companies that really focus on retail sales that are coming through this year,” said James Bell, industry analyst for Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, California. “We see that with Ford, and certainly with Nissan and Hyundai. Interest in all Hyundai vehicles has been buoyed by the introduction of Tucson and Sonata. Nissan’s core products have all been shined up in the past year, and retail buyers are noticing.”

Nissan and Hyundai managed increases as many potential customers shunned showrooms amid signs that the economic recovery is slowing. A U.S. jobless rate that remains at a 27-year high helped push the New York-based Conference Board’s measure of consumer sentiment to the lowest in five months.

Industrywide sales grew 5.2 percent, faster than the 4.2 percent increase for carmakers based in Japan and South Korea, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 6.4 percent for General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker; 3.3 percent for Ford Motor Co.; and 8.9 percent for Chrysler Group LLC.

The percentages aren’t adjusted for one more sales day last month than in July 2009. Some automaker report adjusted figures.

“July had the opportunity to be such a great month. It started out strong, but definitely didn’t finish strong,” said Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, an automotive research website in Santa Monica, California.

U.S. market share for Asian companies fell to 48.2 percent in July, from 48.7 percent a year earlier. The U.S.-based companies’ share rose 0.1 percentage point to 43.7 percent.

Toyota

Toyota, the largest Asia-based automaker, sold 169,224 Toyota, Lexus and Scion models last month, down from 174,872 a year earlier. Bob Carter, head of Toyota-brand sales in the U.S., said the results were “very good” given the effect of the so-called cash-for-clunkers government incentives that began in the year-earlier month.

“Last July was a particularly good month for us,” as a result of the federal program, Carter said in a conference call yesterday. Toyota led the industry in July in retail sales, or deliveries to non-fleet customers, he said.

July showed a return to normal trade-in conditions for the first time this year, with more customers swapping vehicles from rival brands than repeat Toyota buyers, Carter said.

“Our trade-ins appear to be 43 percent Toyota, 57 percent competitive makes, which is where we were historically,” he said.

Lexus Repair

Deliveries for Lexus were held back by a sales suspension of the HS hybrid sedan that lasted most of the month, said Mark Templin, head of the luxury brand in the U.S. The Toyota City, Japan-based company fixed a fuel-system problem that triggered the sales freeze on June 25, and Lexus dealers began repairing vehicles late last week, he said.

Toyota’s U.S. market share in July fell to 16.1 percent, from 17.5 percent a year earlier, according to research firm Autodata Corp., based in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Honda, Nissan

Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, sold 112,437 Honda and Acura vehicles, a drop from 114,690. The decline was led by its top-selling Accord and Civic cars and Fit hatchbacks, Tokyo- based Honda said in a statement.

Like Toyota, Honda cited the year-earlier effect of the cash-for-clunkers program. Honda’s market share declined 0.8 percentage point to 10.7 percent, according to Autodata.

Nissan, growing at its fastest pace in the U.S. since 2004, reported sales of 82,337 Nissan and Infiniti models last month, an increase from 71,847 a year earlier. Light trucks led the growth, surging 52 percent. Car sales, dominated by the Altima sedan, fell 0.1 percent.

“It seems the news has turned more negative on the economy, but our floor traffic was really good in July,” Al Castignetti, vice president of the Yokohama, Japan-based company’s U.S. sales unit, said in an interview. “The people who were coming in to our dealerships were buyers.”

Nissan’s market share rose to 7.8 percent, from 7.2 percent in July 2009. Its U.S. sales have gained 25 percent this year.

Hyundai, South Korea’s largest automaker, sold 54,106 vehicles in July, a record for the month. Kia Motors Corp., Hyundai’s affiliate, said its sales rose 21 percent to 35,419.

nick.com/iwin iCarly iWin “iGot a Hot Room” Sweepstakes

2010-07-31T08:42:00.000+05:00

If you’ve been trying to get to nick.com/iwin to enter the iCarly iWin a Hot Room sweepstakes, you may have found the site wasn’t working after the “iGot a Hot Room” episode aired.
Looks like nick.com/iwin is experiencing some major site visitor overload (honestly, who doesn’t want a piece of the bedroom featured on iCarly’s “iGot a Hot Room” episode that aired July 30?)…
Keep trying to get to nick.com/iwin – you will eventually get through! The iCarly iWin a Hot Room Sweepstakes has 7 sweet room items up for grabs, including the ice cream sandwich bench, cupcake table and gummy lights.
Good luck!

China oil spill doubles in size, called 'severe threat'

2010-07-22T03:20:00.000+05:00

Greenpeace volunteer says crude is 'as sticky as asphalt'

In this photo released by Greenpeace, a firefighter submerged in thick oil during an attempt to fix an underwater pump is brought ashore by his colleagues in Dalian, China on Tuesday.

BEIJING — China's largest reported oil spill emptied beaches along the Yellow Sea as its size doubled Wednesday, while cleanup efforts included straw mats and frazzled workers with little more than rubber gloves.

An official warned the spill posed a "severe threat" to sea life and water quality as China's latest environmental crisis spread off the shores of Dalian, once named China's most livable city.
One cleanup worker has drowned, his body coated in crude.
"I've been to a few bays today and discovered they were almost entirely covered with dark oil," said Zhong Yu with environmental group Greenpeace China, who spent the day on a boat inspecting the spill.

"The oil is half-solid and half liquid and is as sticky as asphalt," she told The Associated Press by telephone.

The oil had spread over 165 square miles (430 square kilometers) of water five days since a pipeline at the busy northeastern port exploded, hurting oil shipments from part of China's strategic oil reserves to the rest of the country. Shipments remained reduced Wednesday.

State media has said no more oil is leaking into the sea, but the total amount of oil spilled is not yet clear.

Greenpeace China released photos Wednesday of inky beaches and of straw mats about 2 square meters (21 square feet) in size scattered on the sea, meant to absorb the oil.

Fishing in the waters around Dalian has been banned through the end of August, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

"The oil spill will pose a severe threat to marine animals, and water quality, and the sea birds," Huang Yong, deputy bureau chief for the city's Maritime Safety Administration, told Dragon TV.

At least one person died during cleanup efforts. A 25-year-old firefighter, Zhang Liang, drowned Tuesday when a wave threw him from a vessel, Xinhua reported.

Officials, oil company workers and volunteers were turning out by the hundreds to clean blackened beaches.

Click here for related content
1. Workers pull a struggling colleague to safety in the Chinese port of Dalian, Liaoning province.

"We don't have proper oil cleanup materials, so our workers are wearing rubber gloves and using chopsticks," an official with the Jinshitan Golden Beach Administration Committee told the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper, in apparent exasperation.

"This kind of inefficiency means the oil will keep coming to shore. ... This stretch of oil is really difficult to clean up in the short term."

But 40 oil-skimming boats and about 800 fishing boats were also deployed to clean up the spill, and Xinhua said more than 15 kilometers (9 miles) of oil barriers had been set up to keep the slick from spreading.

China Central Television earlier reported an estimate of 1,500 tons of oil has spilled. That would amount roughly to 400,000 gallons (1,500,000 liters) — as compared with 94 million to 184 million gallons in the BP oil spill off the U.S. coast.

China's State Oceanic Administration released the latest size of the contaminated area in a statement Tuesday.

The cause of the explosion that started the spill was still not clear. The pipeline is owned by China National Petroleum Corp., Asia's biggest oil and gas producer by volume.

Friday's images of 100-foot-high (30-meter-high) flames at China's second largest port for crude oil imports drew the immediate attention of President Hu Jintao and other top leaders. Now the challenge is cleaning up the greasy plume.

"Our priority is to collect the spilled oil within five days to reduce the possibility of contaminating international waters," Dalian's vice mayor, Dai Yulin, told Xinhua on Tuesday.

But an official with the State Oceanic Administration has warned the spill will be difficult to clean up even in twice that amount of time.

Some locals said the area's economy was already hurting.

"Let's wait and see how well they deal with the oil until Sept. 1, if the oil can't be cleaned up by then, the seafood products will all be ruined," an unnamed fisherman told Dragon TV. "No one will buy them in the market because of the smell of the oil."

People's Liberation Army soldiers place protective booms to control the spread of leaked crude oil at a beach in Dalian, Liaoning province, China on Wednesday, July 21. (Reuters)

Chinese firefighters work in heavy oil near the coast of Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province on Tuesday, July 20. Crude oil started pouring into the Yellow Sea off a busy northeastern port after a pipeline exploded late last week, sparking a massive fire that burned for 15 hours. (AP)

Rescuers help two workers, one of whom saved a struggling colleague from drowning, in the Chinese port of Dalian on July 20. The workers were caught in some of the 1,500 tons of crude which spilled into the sea following an attempt to fix an underwater pump. Chinese officials said a third of the oil had been collected and they expect to resume oil imports by the end of the week. (Jiang He / AP)

Crude oil floats in the sea in Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province on Sunday, July 18. (Zheng He / EPA)

A Chinese worker tries to soak up oil from a spill in the sea near Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning province on July 18. (AP)

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in Dalian, Liaoning Province of China, on Saturday, July 17. (ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images Contributor)

Firefighters are silhouetted by flames towering from a pipeline explosion at a Chinese port in Dalian in northern China's Liaoning province on July 17. The oil pipeline at the busy Chinese port exploded, causing a massive fire that burned for 15 hours before being extinguished. (AP)

Google Launches Cover Up Of ‘Google Spies’ Story

2010-07-21T02:52:00.001+05:00

Censorship ongoing, the free internet is under sustained attack

The ongoing saga with Google censorship has continued today as it emerged that once again the search engine giant removed a key term from it’s trends pages.
Alex Jones yesterday asked his readers and listeners to send the term ‘Google spies’ to the top of the trends charts in the latest effort to fight back against the company’s censorship of his films on YouTube.
The term related to a story we prepared detailing how Google is intimately linked with U.S. intelligence and has a history of censorship and surveillance.
Within a short time the term had hit the top spot with the “volcanic” status added (see below – click for enlargement).

As you can see, the effect of the term being pushed to the top of the trends charts is that bloggers and journalists pick up the story and begin to document it. A snowball effect ensues and millions of people all over the world are more likely to be directed toward the story.
However, within half an hour the term had been completely removed by Google and resulted in no news story links. These actions replicated Google’s activity in the days beforehand when it removed other terms such as ‘The Obama Deception’, ‘Infowars’, ‘Fall of the Republic’ and ‘Google Censorship’ – which had all become some of the most searched topics on the internet.
This is the epicentre of the infowar. Events over the past couple of days have shown that you, our readers, have the power to take the issues we cover and literally make them the widest read items on the internet.
Today we urge you to search the term ‘Google Launches Cover Up’ to make this article one of the most widely read on the internet.

In the week that the Washington Post published it’s ‘Top Secret America’ piece, a two year study that reveals how the intelligence community has explosively expanded, there is an increased focus on the spook networks in the U.S. and the implications for that has for liberty.

2010 National Ice Cream Day

2010-07-18T23:37:00.000+05:00

Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners. In some cases, artificial flavourings and colourings are used in addition to the natural ingredients. This mixture is stirred slowly while cooling to prevent large ice crystals from forming; the result is a smoothly textured ice cream.

In the United States, ice cream made with just cream, sugar, and a flavouring is sometimes referred to as “Philadelphia style” ice cream. Ice creams made with eggs, usually in the form of frozen custards, are sometimes called “French” ice creams or traditional ice cream.

Today America Celebrate The National Ice Cream Day, it is also National Ice Cream Month. So, without any further ado, let’s get on with it. Ice cream is one of America most popular treats, and today is National Ice Cream Day. In this month July the heat, and to add to the frustration, your ice cream could melt before you get it home. It’s time to get wise and let the ice cream come to you by mail.

Racer Collapses Near End of New York City Triathlon

2010-07-18T23:31:00.000+05:00

A 31-year-old London man was in critical condition Sunday after collapsing near the finish line in the New York City Triathlon, race officials said.

The man’s name was not immediately released. Eleven other people were hospitalized, said Bill Burke, the race director, though none was believed to be seriously injured.

Burke said the 12 hospitalizations were less than anticipated, given the sweltering weather. Temperatures in Central Park reached 90 degrees by midday Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

The triathlon consists of a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride and a 10-kilometer run. The man in critical condition collapsed in the area of East 72nd Street on the edge of Central Park, about a quarter mile from the finish line.

The man was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Burke said, where he was admitted in critical condition. His condition was assumed to be heat-related, he added.

A hospital spokesman could not immediately confirm the man’s condition as of Sunday afternoon.

The man was joined at the hospital by his brother, who race officials believe also competed in the triathlon; his sister-in-law; and a family friend, Burke said.

A 32-year-old man from Buenos Aires, Esteban Neira, died in the 2008 New York City Triathlon after being pulled unconscious from the Hudson River. His death was the first in the triathlon’s now 10-year history.

More than 3,000 people participated in the race Sunday. Filip Osaly of the Czech Republic won in the men’s division, while Rebeccah Wassner defended her title among women.

Bastille Day

2010-07-14T08:13:00.000+05:00

Bastille Day is a National holiday in France. It is very much like Independence Day in the United States because it is a celebration of the beginning of a new form of government.

At one time in France, kings and queens ruled. Many people were very angry with the decisions made by the kings and queens.

The Bastille was a prison in France that the kings and queens often used to lock up the people that did not agree with their decisions. To many, it was a symbol of all the bad things done by the kings and queens. So, on July 14, 1789, a large number of French citizens gathered together and stormed the Bastille.

Just as the people in the United States celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence as the beginning of the American Revolution, so the people in France celebrate the storming of the Bastille as the beginning of the French Revolution. Both Revolutions brought great changes. Kings and queens no longer rule. The people rule themselves and make their own decisions.

Atacama Desert in Onslaught Mode For PC

2010-07-14T05:00:00.000+05:00

Atacama Desert is one of the four multiplayer maps that were featured in the latest downloadable content of Battlefield Bad Company 2. The Onslaught Mode featured three other stunning levels named as Valparaiso, Nelson Bay and Isla Inocentes. Earlier this month, the DLC for the multiplayer game play mode was released of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Play Station 3. Now the mouse and the keyboard users will be pleased to know that the team behind Bad Company 2 has confirmed that the Onslaught Mode will soon hit the PC version of the game.

The PC release of the Onslaught Mode for BC2 will also feature multiplayer game play supporting up to four players with four singular maps. The DLC will add new features to the maps such as advanced level designs with better lighting effects, more vehicles and battles during daytime.

The news regarding the release of the DLC for Bad Company 2 was made public by DICE, the developer of the game. Patrick Bach, the executive producer of Bad Company stated that approximately four millions fans of BC2 use the multiplayer modes and the team behind the game wanted to provide them with new ways to get into the action. In addition he said that team work was very essential for playing Bad Company in multiplayer mode and the DLC will offer the gamers a chance to test their “team skills”.

The Onslaught Mode is not new for console owners because it has already been launched for the x360 and PS3 users. But the PC users keenly wait for its arrival.

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dead at 80

2010-07-14T04:56:00.000+05:00

He was baseball's bombastic Boss. He rebuilt the New York Yankees dynasty with sky-high payrolls and accepted nothing less than World Series championships. He fired managers. Rehired them. And fired them again.
He butted heads with commissioners and fellow owners, insulted his players and dominated tabloid headlines — even upstaging the All-Star game on the day of his death.
George Michael Steinbrenner III, who both inspired and terrorized the Yankees in more than three decades as owner, died Tuesday of a heart attack at age 80.
"He was and always will be as much of a New York Yankee as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and all of the other Yankee legends," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said.
Once reviled by fans for his overbearing and tempestuous nature, Steinbrenner mellowed in his final decade and became beloved by employees and rivals alike for his success.
Steinbrenner was taken from his home to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, Fla., and died about 6:30 a.m, a person close to the owner told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not disclosed those details.
"George was a fierce competitor who was the perfect fit for the city that never sleeps — colorful, dynamic and always reaching for the stars," former President Bill Clinton said.
Yankees captain Derek Jeter added: "He expected perfection."
In 37 1/2 years as owner, Steinbrenner whipped a moribund $10 million team into a $1.6 billion colossus that became the model of a modern franchise, one with its own TV network and ballpark food business.
Under his often brutal but always colorful reign, the Yankees won seven World Series championships, 11 American League pennants and 16 AL East titles, going on spectacular spending sprees that caused Larry Lucchino, president of the rival Boston Red Sox, to dub Steinbrenner's Yankees the "Evil Empire."
He moved the Yankees from their tradition-rich "House that Ruth Built" into a new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium. Call it the "House the Boss Built." He appeared there just four times: the April 2009 opener, the first two games of last year's World Series and this year's home opener, when Jeter and manager Joe Girardi went to his suite and personally delivered his seventh World Series ring.
"He was very emotional," son Hal Steinbrenner said then.
Steinbrenner's larger-than-life outbursts transcended sports and made him a pop culture figure whose firings were parodied on the TV comedy "Seinfeld" and even by Steinbrenner himself in commercials.
"George was The Boss, make no mistake," said Berra, the Hall of Famer who ended a 14-year feud with Steinbrenner in 1999. "He built the Yankees into champions, and that's something nobody can ever deny. He was a very generous, caring, passionate man. George and I had our differences, but who didn't? We became great friends over the last decade and I will miss him very much."
Steinbrenner's death, about 14 hours before the first pitch of the All-Star game in Anaheim, Calif., was the second in three days to rock the Yankees. Bob Sheppard, the team's revered public address announcer from 1951-07, died Sunday at 99.
New York was 11 years removed from its last championship when Steinbrenner, then an obscure son of an Ohio shipbuilder, headed a group that bought the team from CBS Inc. on Jan. 3, 1973, for about $8.7 million net.
Forbes now values the Yankees at $1.6 billion, trailing only Manchester United ($1.8 billion) and the Dallas Cowboys ($1.65 billion).
"He was an incredible and charitable man," Steinbrenner's family said in a statement. "He was a visionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again."
He ruled with obsessive dedication to detail — from trades to the airblowers that kept his ballparks spotless. When he thought the club's parking lot was too crowded, Steinbrenner stood on the pavement — albeit behind a van, out of sight — and had a guard check every driver's credential.
But he also tried to make up for his temper with good deeds and often-unpublicized charitable donations.
His rule was interrupted by two lengthy suspensions, including a 15-month ban in 1974 after pleading guilty to illegal contributions to the re-election campaign of President Richard Nixon. Steinbrenner was fined $15,000 and later pardoned by President Ronald Reagan.
He also was banned for 2 1/2 years for paying self-described gambler Howie Spira to obtain negative information on outfielder Dave Winfield, with whom Steinbrenner was feuding.
Through it all, Steinbrenner lived up to his billing as "The Boss," a nickname he clearly enjoyed as he ruled with an iron fist. While he lived in Florida in his later years, he was a staple on the front pages of New York newspapers with his tirades.
Steinbrenner was in fragile health for the past 6 1/2 years, resulting in fewer public appearances and pronouncements. He fainted at a memorial service for NFL great Otto Graham in December 2003, appeared weak in August 2006 when he spoke briefly at the groundbreaking for the new stadium, and became ill while watching his granddaughter in a college play in North Carolina that October. At this year's spring training, he used a wheelchair and needed aides to hold him during the national anthem.
As his health declined, Steinbrenner let sons Hal and Hank run more of the family business. He turned over formal control of the Yankees to Hal in November 2008.
Dressed in his trademark navy blue blazer and white turtleneck, however, he was the model of success.
"He was truly the most influential and innovative owner in all of sports," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said. "He made the Yankees a source of great pride in being a New Yorker."
Until his dying day, Steinbrenner demanded championships. He barbed Joe Torre during the 2007 AL playoffs, then let the popular manager leave after 12 seasons because of another loss in the opening round. The team responded last year by winning his final title.
"I will always remember George Steinbrenner as a passionate man, a tough boss, a true visionary, a great humanitarian, and a dear friend," Torre said. "It's only fitting that he went out as a world champ."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered flags to half-staff at City Hall Plaza.
"Few people have had a bigger impact on New York over the past four decades than George Steinbrenner," Bloomberg said. "George had a deep love for New York, and his steely determination to succeed, combined with his deep respect and appreciation for talent and hard work made him a quintessential New Yorker."
When the former Big Ten football coach bought the team, he famously promised a hands-off operation.
"We're not going to pretend we're something we aren't," he said. "I'll stick to building ships."
It hardly turned out that way.
He changed managers 21 times and got rid of about a dozen general managers. When a Yankees public relations man went home to Ohio for the Christmas holiday, then returned in a hurry for a news conference to announce David Cone's re-signing, Steinbrenner fired him.
"There is nothing quite so limited as being a limited partner of George Steinbrenner's," said John McMullen, one of his associates.
Steinbrenner hired Billy Martin in 1975, 1979, 1983, 1985 and 1987, firing him four times and letting him resign once as the two battled over substance and personality.
Martin disparaged outfielder Reggie Jackson and Steinbrenner by saying: "The two of them deserve each other — one's a born liar, the other's convicted."
After Steinbrenner dismissed Berra as manager 16 games into the 1985 season, the 10-time World Series champion vowed he wouldn't go to back to Yankee Stadium for a game until Steinbrenner apologized — which he did 14 years later.
In 1985, Steinbrenner derided future Hall of Famer Winfield as "Mr. May" for poor performance — comparing him negatively to Jackson, whose nickname was "Mr. October." He also once called pitcher Hideki Irabu a fat toad.
Players sometimes responded with their own insults. One night in 1982, reliever Goose Gossage let loose and called Steinbrenner "the fat man."
Steinbrenner made no apologies for his bombast, even when it cost him.
"I haven't always done a good job, and I haven't always been successful," Steinbrenner said in 2005. "But I know that I have tried."
Still, Steinbrenner could poke fun at himself. He hosted "Saturday Night Live," clowned with Martin in a beer commercial and chuckled at his impersonation on "Seinfeld."
Steinbrenner spent freely on the likes of Jeter, Jackson, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, CC Sabathia and others in hopes of more titles.
"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing," Steinbrenner was fond of saying. "Breathing first, winning next."
He kept a sign on his desk that read: "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way."
All along, he envisioned himself as a true Yankee Doodle Dandy — born on the Fourth of July in 1930.
Steinbrenner liked to quote military figures and saw games as an extension of war. In the tunnel leading from the Yankees' clubhouse to the field in the old stadium, he had a sign posted with a saying from Gen. Douglas MacArthur: "There is no substitute for victory."
He joined the likes of Al Davis, Charlie O. Finley, Bill Veeck, George Halas, Jack Kent Cooke and Jerry Jones as the most recognized team owners. But Steinbrenner's sports interests extended beyond baseball.
He was an assistant football coach at Northwestern and Purdue in the 1950s and was part of the group that bought the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League in the 1960s.
He was a vice president of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1989-96 and entered six horses in the Kentucky Derby, failing to win with Steve's Friend (1977), Eternal Prince (1985), Diligence (1996), Concerto (1997), Blue Burner (2002) and the 2005 favorite, Bellamy Road.
To many, the Yankees and Steinbrenner were synonymous. His fans applauded his win-at-all-costs style; his detractors blamed him for wrecking baseball's competitive balance with spiraling salaries.
Steinbrenner negotiated a landmark $486 million, 12-year cable TV contract with the Madison Square Garden Network in 1988 and launched the Yankees' own YES Network for the 2002 season.
The Yankees later became the first team with a $200 million payroll, provoking anger and envy among other owners. When the Yankees signed Steve Kemp after the 1982 season, Baltimore owner Edward Bennett Williams said Steinbrenner stockpiled outfielders "like nuclear weapons."
There was no denying the results. When Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, they had gone eight seasons without finishing in first place, their longest drought since Ruth & Co. won the team's first pennant in 1921.
"George has been a very charismatic, controversial owner," Selig said in 2005. "But look, he did what he set out to do — he restored the New York Yankees franchise."
Former AL president Gene Budig sometimes was on the wrong end of Steinbrenner's barbs. After he left office, Budig maintained a friendship with him and even promoted Steinbrenner for the Hall of Fame.
Steinbrenner also had a soft side. He sometimes read about high school athletes who had been injured and sent them money to go to college. He paid for the medical school expenses of Ron Karnaugh after the swimmer's father died during the opening ceremony at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Steinbrenner had a way of rehiring those he had once fired and liked to give second chances to those who had fallen from favor, such as Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden.
"I'm really 95 percent Mr. Rogers," Steinbrenner said as he approached his 75th birthday, "and only 5 percent Oscar the Grouch."
While Steinbrenner grew up in the Cleveland area as a Yankees fan, his first passion was football. He fondly recalled watching the Browns on winter days, and many believe the NFL's must-win-today mentality shaped how he approached all sports.
Steinbrenner was raised in a strict, no-nonsense household headed by his father, Henry. The oldest of three children, Steinbrenner attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana. At Williams College, he ran track, specializing in hurdles. After that, he enlisted in the Air Force.
Following his discharge, he enrolled at Ohio State, pursuing a master's degree in physical education. It was his intention to go into coaching, but after working at a high school in Columbus and at Purdue and Northwestern, he turned to the business world.
In 1963, Steinbrenner purchased Kinsman Transit Co., a fleet of lake ore carriers, from his family and built a thriving company. Four years later, Steinbrenner and associates took over American Ship Building and revitalized the company.
It was in Cleveland that Steinbrenner met baseball executive Gabe Paul and became involved with the group that bought the Yankees. With 13 partners, Steinbrenner purchased the team from CBS.
"When you're a shipbuilder, nobody pays any attention to you," he said. "But when you own the New York Yankees ... they do, and I love it."
With that, the Bronx Zoo days began. It was while he was under suspension that the Yankees ushered in baseball's free-agent era by signing Catfish Hunter to a $3.75 million contract. Even though he officially was barred from participating in the daily operation of the team, no one believed Steinbrenner was uninvolved in the deal.
For the first five years of free agency, Steinbrenner signed 10 players for about $38 million. Steinbrenner's $18 million, 10-year deal with Winfield was the richest free agent contract in history at the time.
During those days, Yankee Stadium underwent a $100 million facelift and reopened in 1976. That year, the Yankees won the AL pennant, but got swept in the World Series by Cincinnati's Big Red Machine. The Yankees surged back to win the World Series in 1977 and 1978 and the pennant in 1981.
Forbes magazine has estimated Steinbrenner's estate at $1.1 billion. By dying in 2010 — during a yearlong gap in the estate tax — his heirs could realize an unexpected bonanza, depending on how his holdings were structured.
In addition to his sons, Steinbrenner is survived by his wife, Joan, daughters Jennifer and Jessica and 13 grandchildren. A private funeral was expected to be held this week, followed by a public memorial.
He never expected to die this way.
"I don't have heart attacks," he once said. "I give them."

Source

Emmeline Pankhurst Day

2010-07-14T04:00:00.008+05:00

Emmeline Pankhurst was an English political activist and leader of the British suffragette movement, which helped women win the right to vote. In 1999, Time named Pankhurst as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating: "she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back".
Although she was widely criticized for her militant tactics, her work is recognized as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in Britain. However, historians disagree about the effect of her activity on public support for the cause.
Emmeline Pankhurst, the daughter of Robert Goulden and Sophia Crane, was born in Manchester in 1858. Her father came from a family with radical political beliefs and his father had been at the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. Goulden took part in the campaigns against slavery and the Corn Laws. Emmeline's mother was a passionate feminist and started taking her daughter to women's suffrage meetings in the early 1870s.

By the time Emmeline was born, Gouldon was the successful owner of a cotton-printing company at Seedley. Over the next few years Sophia had nine more children. Goulden had conventional ideas about education. Emmeline, who was an extremely intelligent child, later recalled that when she was young she overheard him saying, "What a pity she wasn't born a lad."

Robert Goulden was a friend of John Stuart Mill and supported his campaign to get women the vote. These views were communicated to his children and during the 1868 General Election, Emmeline and her younger sister, Mary, took part in a feminist demonstration. At the age of fourteen, she attended her first suffrage meeting, hosted by veteran campaigner, Lydia Becker.

After a short spell at a local school, Emmeline was sent to École Normale Supérieure, a finishing school in Paris in 1873. "The school was under the direction of Marchef Girard a woman who believed that girls' education should be quite as thorough as the education of boys. She included chemistry and other sciences in the course, and in addition to embroidery she had her girls taught bookkeeping. When I was nineteen I finally returned from school in Paris and took my place in my father's home as a finished young lady."

14th July 2010 marks 152 years since the birth of Emmeline Pankhurst – the outspoken reformer committed to securing women’s suffrage in Britain. She was jailed on numerous occasions for her protests at the lack of political rights for women in the UK.

Statehood Day (Montenegro)

2010-07-13T03:02:00.000+05:00

Statehood Day is a holiday that occurs every year on July 13 in Montenegro to commemorate the day in 1878 on which the Berlin Congress recognized Montenegro as the twenty-seventh independent state in the world, and that in 1941 the Montenegrins staged an uprising against the Nazi occupiers and sided with the partisan communist movement.
Statehood Day is not to be confused with Montenegro's Independence Day, which is held each year on May 21 in honor of the 2006 plebiscite that indicated that 55,5% of Montenegrins were in favor of becoming a sovereign nation.

Source

O - Bon / Festival of Souls

2010-07-13T02:58:00.000+05:00

Image Courtesy: PhotoXpress

The Festival of Souls also referred as Obon, is a Buddhist celebration, celebrated during July in Japan and August in China. This is not an official national holiday.

The Japanese believe that during this period the souls of their ancestors return to their homes on earth. This is the time when people can guide and help their ancestors' spirits to find peace.

During this festival of period 3 days, families hang lanterns outside their houses and beside the graves to welcome the souls to home, variety of food are offered to the souls of ancestors. During this period people gather for outdoor dances known as Bon dance.

There is a story behind this festival, there was a Buddhist monk named Mokuren. After his mother’s death, he had a vision that her mother’s soul is not in peace because of the life she lived on earth. He asked his Guru how he could help his mother. His Guru told him he had to perform good deeds within the community in order to balance his mother’s bad deeds so that her soul could get peace. Mokuren worked as per his Guru’s advice and when he realized that his mother's soul was now at peace due to his good deeds, he broke into a joyful dance of relief that is known as the Bon dance.

Ebaums is responsible for Bieber attacks?

2010-07-07T21:40:00.000+05:00

JUSTIN BIEBER’s video clips on YouTube are suddenly invaded by Ebaums’s. Ebaumsworld hacks YouTube video clips by compromising the comment’s area.

So, if you are searching Justin Bieber videos on YouTube and get directed to some other site don’t be upset. It’s a problem created by some Ebaumsworld which is known for Ebaumsworld games, demotivational posters, , Ebaums soundboards and even has a Ebaumsworld forum. The Ebaumsworld site provides funny videos, pictures, flash games, jokes etc.

This particular site Ebaums is responsible for Bieber attacks as is claimed by various sources. This notorious Ebaums attack on Beiber’s video had apparently used malformed HTML to get past the Youtube filters in the comments section of the page. Ebaums found a HTML injection vulnerability in the comment system of the popular video site. Some comments have been found to begin with a script tag.

Google has released a statement regarding the attack and hopes to fix it soon. This is the statement released by Google:

“We took swift action to fix a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability on youtube.com that was discovered several hours ago. Comments were temporarily hidden by default within an hour, and we released a complete fix for the issue in about two hours. We’re continuing to study the vulnerability to help prevent similar issues in the future. ”

These bad or say destructive codes are everywhere on the net and are targeting most of the genres of video clips on YouTube from music videos to movie clips, instructional videos, educational content and even videologs of several people.

It is a common phenomenon that some people put up links that redirects the users to some other sites but this Ebaums hack is like a deadly virus spreading fast. YouTube is littered with questionable content and pop-ups. YouTube looks like an infected person with lots of problems to look due to Ebaums hack.

One can put the comments tab off to protect oneself from this deadly attack. And if you don’t do this or have no idea, don’t bother as YouTube will fix it in a day.

All about Jim Nabors

2010-05-31T01:00:00.000+05:00

James Thurston "Jim" Nabors (born June 12, 1930) is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California due to his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and consequently joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing Gomer Pyle, a dim-witted gas station attendant. The character proved popular, and Nabors was given his own spin-off show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Though best known for his portrayal of Gomer Pyle, Nabors became a popular guest on variety shows in the 1960s and 1970s (including two specials of his own in 1969 and 1974) after revealing a rich baritone voice. He subsequently recorded numerous albums and singles, most of them containing romantic ballads.

Jim Nabors
Jim Nabors in 2007
Born	James Thurston Nabors June 12, 1930 (1930-06-12) (age 79) Sylacauga, Alabama, USA
Other name(s)	Jim Nabors, Jay Nab
Official website

[hide]

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life and career

Nabors was born to Mavis and Fred Nabors in Sylacauga, Alabama, where he sang for his high school and church. He attended the University of Alabama, where he began acting in skits. After graduating, he moved to New York, where he worked as a typist for the United Nations;^[1]^[2] after a year, he moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he got his first job in the television industry as a film cutter. Due to his asthma, he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a film cutter for NBC. He moonlighted at a Santa Monica tavern, The Horn, singing and acting in cabaret theater.^[3]^[4] His act featured him as a character similar to the Gomer Pyle character he would later portray: he would sing in a baritone and sometimes his higher-pitched voices and speak in a higher-pitched voice.^[5] At the club, comedian Bill Dana saw Nabors' act and invited him to appear on The Steve Allen Show. Nabors signed on to the show, but it was soon canceled.^[6]

[edit] Breakthrough and popularity

It was at The Horn where Nabors was discovered by Andy Griffith and was hired to play a one-shot role of Gomer Pyle, an "addlebrained" gas station attendant, on The Andy Griffith Show.^[7] Nabors's character (based on his act at The Horn) became so popular that he was made a regular on the show and was later given his own show, the spin-off Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., in which his character joined the United States Marine Corps. The show, which placed Nabors's "bumbling" and "naive" character opposite Sergeant Vince Carter (Frank Sutton), also proved popular. Despite its airing during the Vietnam War, a time of "profound disillusionment with war and the military", Gomer Pyle remained popular because it avoided war-related themes and instead focused on the show's rural roots and the relationship between Pyle and Sgt. Carter.^[8]^[9]^[10] Eventually, however, CBS decided that rural comedies were not well-received by their target demographic and canceled the show after five seasons.^[8]
Nabors revealed his rich baritone voice on a 1964 episode of The Danny Kaye Show and subsequently capitalized on it with numerous successful records and live performances.^[11]^[12] Most of the songs were romantic ballads, though he also sang pop, gospel, and country songs.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16] He also hosted his own variety show, The Jim Nabors Hour (1969–1971), which also featured his Gomer Pyle co-stars Ronnie Schell and Frank Sutton.^[17] Despite poor critical reception, the show proved popular.^[18]^[19] After the cancellation of The Jim Nabors Hour, Nabors embarked on a nation-wide roadshow.^[20]

[edit] Later career

"Locked into" his role as Gomer Pyle, Nabors found his subsequent roles mostly comedic.^[13] In the 1970s, he appeared in the children's television programs Krofft Supershow and Buford and the Galloping Ghost. He also appeared in every season premiere of The Carol Burnett Show because Burnett considered him a "good-luck charm".^[21] However, on a 1973 episode of The Rookies, he played his first "serious" role, a man called on to be an assassin after the death of his sister.^[22]^[23] From 1977 to 1978, Nabors hosted another variety show, The Jim Nabors Show. Though the show only lasted one season, Nabors was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Host or Hostess in a Talk, Service or Variety Series.^[24] Nabors eventually grew tired of the "prime-time TV grind" and abandoned television jobs for nightclub and concert gigs and a role in a touring production of Man of La Mancha.^[16] However, Sid and Marty Krofft persuaded Nabors to star in the television show The Lost Saucer, a show about two bumbling androids, Fi (Ruth Buzzi) and Fum (Nabors), who travel through time with two children. Nabors, whose character was described as a "Gomer Pyle in outer space", sang in a few of the episodes.^[25]
In the 1980s, at the request of his friend Burt Reynolds, Nabors appeared in three feature-length films which starred Reynolds. In The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), about a sheriff (Reynolds) who falls in love with a brothel madam (Dolly Parton), Nabors played Deputy Fred, a character similar to Gomer Pyle.^[26]^[27] Though the film was given mostly unfavorable reviews, Nabors garnered some praise for his performance.^[28] However, not only was 1983's Stroker Ace (about a race car driver [Reynolds] who fights a fried-chicken chain entrepreneur) panned, Nabors earned a Golden Raspberry Award for his performance as the title character's mechanic.^[29] In Reynold's "star-studded" Cannonball Run II (1984), about a cross-country car chase, Nabors made a cameo appearance alongside such celebrities as Dom DeLuise, Jackie Chan, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Griffith Show co-stars Don Knotts and George Lindsey.^[30] Like Reynolds's previous two films, Cannonball received mostly negative reviews.^[31] In 1986, Nabors returned to television, reprising his role as Gomer Pyle in the television movie Return to Mayberry, in which the cast of The Andy Griffith Show reunited.^[32] In 1986, Nabors starred in the half-hour comedy pilot "Sylvan in Paradise" as the title character, Sylvan Sprayberry, an accident-prone bell captain at a Hawaiian hotel. The series was not picked up by NBC.^[33]
After moving to Hawaii from Bel Air, California in 1976, he launched a show, "The Jim Nabors Polynesian Extravaganza", at the Hilton Hawaiian Village; it ran for two years. Nabors eventually experienced "bright light burnout" and disappeared from the stage save for an occasional performance. In 1984, after a five-year hiatus, Nabors returned to performing, starring in the "Moulin Rouge" show at the Las Vegas Hilton and other shows in Reno and Las Vegas.^[34] He made his theatrical debut as Harold Hill in The Music Man with Florence Henderson at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre.^[35]

Nabors at the Indianapolis 500. For over 30 years, Nabors has sung "Back Home Again in Indiana" before the start of the race.

In 1994, Nabors suffered from a near-fatal case of hepatitis B. According to Nabors, he contracted the disease while traveling in India; he shaved with a straight razor and "whacked [his] face all up".^[36] The disease caused liver failure, and Nabors was not given a hopeful prognosis; however, his friend Carol Burnett made an arrangement with the transplant division of UCLA and secured Nabors a transplant.^[37] Nabors later became involved in the American Liver Foundation as a result of his experience.^[38] Shortly after recovering from his liver transplant, Nabors embarked on another tour, with stops in Phoenix, St. Louis, and Washington.^[39] From 1997 to 2006, Nabors starred in the Burton White-produced A Merry Christmas with Friends and Nabors, a live performance at the Hawaii Theatre Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. The production, featuring local and national artists, ran for forty performances and was directed by Tom Hansen until his death in 2006. The final performance run was directed by John Rampage and dedicated to Hansen.^[40] For over 30 years, he has sung "Back Home Again in Indiana" with the Purdue All-American Marching Band before each Indianapolis 500.^[41]^[42]

[edit] Personal life

Nabors's successes have earned him accolades. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991.^[43] "Gomer Pyle" received an honorary promotion to Lance Corporal from the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones in 2001, and on September 25, 2007, he was promoted from Lance Corporal to Corporal by Lt. General John F. Goodman.^[44]^[45] The Hawaii Pacific University awarded Nabors the Fellow of the Pacific Award for his "outstanding leadership, service, and dedication to the community".^[41] In 2006, he was inducted into the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame.^[46] He received honors from the University of Alabama on September 2, 2006, before a football game against the University of Hawaii. Nabors, along with U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, was honored on January 19, 2007, at "A Night of American Heroes," a yearly dinner held in benefit of the Battleship Missouri Memorial at Pearl Harbor.^[47] U.S. Highway 280 in Talladega County, Alabama, was named "Jim Nabors Highway" in honor of the Sylacauga native.^[41]
As he was "never without a job" for four decades, Nabors has never married: according to him, he was "really more married to his career".^[37] Consequently, he has been the target of rumors alleging he is gay.^[48]^[49] In the 1970s, a rumor began circulating that Nabors and then-closeted actor Rock Hudson were to marry. Though supposedly intended as a joke (with the punchline being that Hudson would then be known as "Rock Pyle"), the rumor was picked up by media and spread across the country.^[50] Nabors was "horrified" by the rumor, as he felt that it hindered his ability to portray himself as something other than a comedic character.^[51]
Nabors began vacationing in Hawaii in the 1960s, and in 1976, moved from Bel Air, California to Honolulu, Hawaii. For twenty-five years, he owned a macadamia nut plantation on Maui before selling it to the National Tropical Botanical Gardens, a conservationist organization (he still retains farming rights to the land and owns a second home on the property).^[52]

Skier C.R. Johnson Dead After Squaw Valley Accident

2010-02-25T20:36:00.000+05:00

Professional free skier C.R. Johnson died in an accident today while skiing down a steep chute and hitting his head against the rocks. Read more on C.R. Johnson’s tragic death below.

C.R. Johnson, who had competed in the Winter X games, was skiing with friends on Wednesday when he fell while going down a tight and very rocky area.

Johnson reportedly fell face first and spun around and hit the back of his head on rocks. The free skier was wearing a helmet, according to reports.

The ski patrol made it on the scene within a few minutes, but were unable to revive Johnson.

C.R. Johnson was reportedly 26 years old.

Johnson had posted the following statement his MySpace page: “I feel it’s most important to keep it real and enjoy each moment, you know, take advantage of every opportunity life provides, because who knows what tomorrow may bring.”

Today is the day

2010-01-09T22:46:00.000+05:00

Remembering 2009 Funny Pictures in 2010!

2010-01-09T22:40:00.000+05:00

Very funny photos of 2009 but still these are simply WoW!

Wild Moments in Sports Photography:

Evolution: becoming a professional photographer -

No zoom is too big:

...or too little:

the excitement! -

A Great Job!

Thanks for watching! these are collection of some funny pictures of 2009.

17 Gigapixel Photo Wow!!

2010-01-09T08:48:00.000+05:00

This is the coolest pic ever

More are here

Intel To Unveil 32nm Processors At CES 2010

2010-01-05T01:30:00.000+05:00

Semiconductor titan Intel is set to launch a new range of processors based on its latest 32nm manufacturing process at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this coming Thursday.

Based on the 32nm "Westmere" architecture - which is a major improvement over the 45nm "Nehalem" process - all the new processors will be dual core models and will be categorised either as Core i7, Core i5 and Core i3.

To make things slightly more complicated, Intel further divided each categories as standard voltage, low votage and ultra low voltage to suit particular niche markets.

17 new processors will be released in all with the desktop models named as Clarkdale and the mobile parts, 11 in all, christened Arrandale. Desktop processors have clock speeds ranging from 2.93GHz to 3.46GHz, with four threads in all, 4MB L3 cache and a TDP going up to 73w.

Furthermore, Intel has brought the video module - commonly known as Graphics Media Accelerator - directly on the processor package and implemented a Turbo-mode setting, which mildly overclocks the processor.

And first reviews show that Intel's new HD Graphics offloads the process of decoding full 1080p Blu-ray content from the processor, a significant improvement over the previous generations.

This will be particularly useful for HTPC-based computers and laptops. The Core iX series is expected to replace the Core 2 branding, arguably one of Intel's most successful product ranges ever, in 2010.

The new desktop processors will be priced competitively against AMD parts with the i3-530 costing $113 and the i5-670, $284, prices being per thousand parts.

Our Comments
Unfortunately for those looking forward to upgrade their computer soon, the price of the motherboard could be a major disincentive. You will need a new motherboard based either on the H55 or the H57 chipset to make full use of the capacity of the new processor range.

Sossusvlei Namib Desert, Namibia

2010-01-03T01:28:00.000+05:00

The towering red sand dunes of Sossusvlei in the Namib Desert are one of the most spectacular sights to be seen in Namibia. Sossusvlei itself is a clay pan fed by the Tsauchab River. In addition to the sea of red sand dunes, Sossusvlei is also home to the Dead Vlei, meaning “dead marsh”, an eerie white clay pan filled with dead Camelthorn trees. This area is contained within the Namib-Naukluft Park which is in turn a part of the Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world. The best time to visit Sossusvlei is at sunrise or sunset when the colors are the most vivid and the sun is not too hot. Accommodation near the area ranges from luxury resorts, to mid-range lodges, to numerous campgrounds.

View larger 1600 x 1067 (339kb) Credit: Greg Willis

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View larger 1024 x 768 (814kb) Credit: asco

View larger 1600 x 1067 (269kb) Credit: Greg Willis

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Newsworthiness

2010-01-02T05:05:00.000+05:00

Newsworthiness is defined as a subject having sufficient relevance to the public or a special audience to warrant press attention or coverage.

Normal people are not newsworthy unless they meet an unusual circumstance or tragedy. The news divides the population into two groups; those few whose lives are newsworthy, and the multitude who are born, live out their lives and die without the news media paying them any significant notice. The news has always covered subjects that catch people's attention and differ from their "ordinary lives". The news is often used for escapism and thus normal events are not newsworthy. Whether the subject is love, birth, weather, or crime, journalists' tastes inevitably run toward the unusual, the extraordinary.

The subject and newsworthiness of a story depends on the audience, as they decide what they do and do not have an interest in. The denser the population, the more global the reported news becomes, as there is a broader range of interests involved in its selection.

Only a fraction of news manages to convey the overall world development.

Objectivity in news

2010-01-02T05:04:00.000+05:00

News organizations are often expected to aim for objectivity; reporters claim to try to cover all sides of an issue without bias, as compared to commentators or analysts, who provide opinion or personal point-of-view. However, several governments impose certain constraints or police news organizations for bias. In the United Kingdom, for example, limits are set by the government agency Ofcom, the Office of Communications. Both newspapers and broadcast news programs in the United States are generally expected to remain neutral and avoid bias except for clearly indicated editorial articles or segments. Many single-party governments have operated state-run news organizations, which may present the government's views.

Even in those situations where objectivity is expected, it is difficult to achieve, and individual journalists may fall foul of their own personal bias, or succumb to commercial or political pressure. Similarly, the objectivity of news organizations owned by conglomerated corporations fairly may be questioned, in light of the natural incentive for such groups to report news in a manner intended to advance the conglomerate's financial interests. Individuals and organizations who are the subject of news reports may use news management techniques to try to make a favourable impression.^{[citation needed]} Because each individual has a particular point of view, it is recognized that there can be no absolute objectivity in news reporting.^{[citation needed]}

Newspapers

2010-01-02T05:03:00.000+05:00

Most large cities had^{[citation needed]} morning and afternoon newspapers. As the media evolved and news outlets increased to the point of near over-saturation, afternoon newspapers were shut down except for relatively few. Morning newspapers have been gradually losing circulation, according to reports advanced by the papers themselves.^{[citation needed]}

Commonly, news content should contain the "Five Ws" (who, what, when, where, why, and also how) of an event. There should be no questions remaining. Newspapers normally write hard news stories, such as those pertaining to murders, fires, wars, etc. in inverted pyramid style so the most important information is at the beginning. Busy readers can read as little or as much as they desire. Local stations and networks with a set format must take news stories and break them down into the most important aspects due to time constraints. Cable news channels such as Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and CNN, are able to take advantage of a story, sacrificing other, decidedly less important stories, and giving as much detail about breaking news as possible.

History of news reporting

2010-01-02T05:02:00.000+05:00

In its infancy, news gathering was primitive by today's standards. Printed news had to be phoned in to a newsroom or brought there by a reporter, where it was typed and either transmitted over wire services or edited and manually set in type along with other news stories for a specific edition. Today, the term "Breaking News" has become trite as broadcast and cable news services use live satellite technology to bring current events into consumers' homes live as they happen. Events that used to take hours or days to become common knowledge in towns or in nations are fed instantaneously to consumers via radio, television, cell phones, and the Internet.

Etymology

2010-01-02T05:01:00.000+05:00

One theory is that news was developed as a special use of the plural form of new in the 14th century. In Middle English, the equivalent word was newes, like the French nouvelles and the German neues. A somewhat similar development is found in at least three Slavic languages (Czech, Slovak and Polish), where there exists a word noviny ("news"), developed from the word nový ("new").

A folk etymology incorrectly suggests that it is an acronym of the cardinal directions: north, east, west, and south.

What is News?

2010-01-02T05:00:00.000+05:00

News is the communication of information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.

U.S. business group accuses Obama of shorting Taiwan

2010-01-02T04:56:00.000+05:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The head of a prominent U.S. business group accused President Barack Obama of compromising Taiwan's security to promote U.S. ties with China.

Barack Obama | China

Self-ruled Taiwan, which China deems a wayward province, is watching "with increased exasperation," said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council.

The council's board chairman is Paul Wolfowitz, a former World Bank president and former U.S. deputy secretary of defense. The group long has advocated arms sales to Taipei, including meeting its wish to buy 66 advanced Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighter jets to update its F-16 fleet.

The council represents scores of companies doing business with Taiwan, including Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier by sales; Boeing Co; and Raytheon Co. China strongly opposes all U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Hammond-Chambers said the U.S. departments of state and defense, as well as the U.S. Trade Representative, appeared interested in building closer U.S. ties to Taipei despite resulting complications in the U.S.-China relationship.

"Regrettably, this effort runs smack into a White House that clearly views Taiwan as a barrier to U.S. interests in Asia," he wrote in an annual year-end report dated Thursday and distributed Friday.

Taiwan has improved its ties with China since the election of President Ma Ying-jeou, of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, or KMT, who took office in May 2008.

Obama, much like his predecessor, George W. Bush, has slowed the submission of proposed Taiwan arms sales to Congress, both for what analysts say is fear of disrupting China-Taiwan rapprochement and to avoid angering Beijing.

Hammond-Chambers said the council would press in 2010 to end such "packaging" of arms sales, a practice begun by Bush in 2007 in "a vain attempt to reduce Chinese ire" over what it regards as interference in its domestic affairs.

The alternative is to send arms sales notifications one by one to Congress, which has the power by law to block them. The United States is bound by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan "defense articles and services" needed for its self-defense.

The stacking of notifications is "significantly weakening Taiwan force modernization," Hammond-Chambers wrote.

"If the Obama administration balks at providing replacement F-16 fighters to Taiwan, China will have won a major victory in the Taiwan Strait without firing a shot," the council president said. The updating of Taiwan's F-16 fleet was a "material response" to Beijing's own fighter modernization, he added.

The White House declined to comment on the criticism, which echoed the group's unhappiness with Bush's delay in meeting Taiwan's arm requests. Washington has placed more importance in recent years on working with China, a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member, including on such matters as North Korea, Iran and global warming.

Vance Chang, a spokesman for the de facto Taiwan embassy in Washington, had no immediate comment.

Hammond-Chambers said several other arms deals in the works -- including UH-60 Black Hawk tactical transport helicopters built by United Technologies Corp's Sikorsky Aircraft unit and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile batteries and missiles built by Lockheed and Raytheon -- have been ready for notification to Congress for more than a year.

The business council had expected those sales would move forward after trips Obama made to China in November and a climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, he said.

"But it now appears as if that timetable is slipping," Hammond-Chambers wrote.

"The Chinese government can view these extended periods of delay, angst and commensurate half-decisions and non-decisions as important improvements in their position on this issue," he said.

Hammond-Chambers, in a follow-up e-mail to Reuters, said the council sees the sale of updated F-16s as a top priority in the U.S.-Taiwan relationship in 2010 "and will work with the Obama Administration to achieve this goal."

via

Pakistan steps up security for tournament after attack

2010-01-02T04:53:00.000+05:00

KARACHI (Reuters) - Organizers of an international boxing tournament in Pakistan, featuring teams including India and China, have stepped up security after a suicide bomb attack at a volleyball match in the country's northwest on Friday.

Local police chief Ayub Khan told Reuters by telephone that 75 people were killed and 42 wounded when a suicide bomber in a vehicle blew himself up at the game being played in a local village opposed to al Qaeda-linked Taliban insurgents.

The boxing tournament, to be opened by prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday, is the first international sporting event to be held in Pakistan since militants attacked the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Lahore in March last year.

The minister of sports for the Sindh province, Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, said state level security was being provided for the participating teams at the tournament, which is named after assassinated former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

"We are taking no chances at all. Although it is an indoor event this is a big test for us and we want to ensure it goes off smoothly," Shah told Reuters.

India has sent three boxers to the tournament -- the first time a team from Pakistan's rivals and neighbors have visited the country since the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks damaged relations between the two nuclear-armed nations.

EVENTS CANCELED

Since the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team, foreign sportsmen have refused to travel to Pakistan.

Several sporting events have been canceled due to the security situation with the International Cricket Council moving matches at the 2011 World Cup away from Pakistan in April.

Friday's suicide bomb attack took place as young men played volleyball in front of a crowd of spectators, including elderly residents and children, near the town of Lakki Marwat.

It was one of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan since the October 2007 attack on Bhutto on her return home from self-imposed exile that killed at least 139 people.

An attack on a sporting event is highly unusual but could be part of the militants' strategy of bombing crowded areas such as markets to inflict mass killings and spread fear and chaos.

Akram Khan, secretary of the Pakistan Boxing Federation, still hoped India's participation in the Benazir Bhutto international tournament could eventually pave the way for the restoration of international events in Pakistan in 2010.

"We've managed to attract teams from nearly 15 countries and we've even set up special training facilities for them at their hotel as part of the security arrangements for them," he said.

"Having the Indian team is a big positive for us."

As well as the arrival of India and China, the tournament also includes teams from Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Cameroon, Yemen, Afghanistan, Central Africa, Hungary, Iraq, Singapore, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei and Syria.

Israeli air force hits Gaza after rocket attack, 2 wounded

2010-01-02T04:46:00.000+05:00

Islamic Jihad militants are seen in the Gaza Stripgaza

GAZA CITY — Israeli aircraft attacked at least four targets in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip early Saturday, wounding two people in an apparent retaliation for a rocket strike on Israel, officials said.

Two explosions were heard in Gaza City, one north of the city and one explosion in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. All the missiles appeared to land in open fields, Palestinian medics and witnesses said.

Two people, including a child, were lightly wounded, medics said.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed aircraft had attacked Gaza, but gave no further details.

Israel routinely retaliates for rocket attacks from Gaza and these airstrikes came after a rocket hit the southern Israeli town of Netivot on Thursday without causing casualties.

It marked the latest violence along Gaza's border, which has been mostly quiet since a war Israel launched on the Islamist Hamas in Gaza on December 27, 2008 in response to rocket fire ended with mutual ceasefires on January 18.

The ceasefires have largely held, despite violations by both sides.