usa hot trend

derek fisher twitter

2009-05-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Most people knows about the real fisher (Derek Fisher)
Here is her real life fatal attraction.

you can find all about her at

My space

face book

twitter

binghamton shooting

2009-04-03T15:52:00.000-07:00

According to Eastern time near about 10 am an asian gunman stormed into American Civic Association a one story building in a town Binghamton and began shooting people inside.
There are 14 people Dead at Immigration Center.
according to media reports, The death toll in the rampage of the immigration center in Binghamton N.Y. has risen to 14, and most likely includes the shooter.

Manawan academy

2009-03-30T04:12:00.000-07:00

today 8 gunmens attack at Manawan academy (police training center) with hand gernades and short guns. 29 police trainee were killed and near about 90 injured in this incident.
after 8 hours cross firing four bearded men in vests put their hands in the air and surrendered to the small group of armed security forces and commandos on the rooftop of the main academy building just outside the city of Lahore.

lafourche parish school board

2009-03-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

A 46 years old man Royce Doucet has died. He was a cancer patient.He was Galliano native and resident.

Most education leaders say Lafourche Parish suffered a great loss Friday with the death of Royce Doucet. Mr. Doucet was 46 years old. He died of complications related to surgery after years of battling cancer.

A Mass for Doucet will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Galliano at 11 a.m. Wednesday, followed by burial in the church cemetery.

Visitation is scheduled for 5 to 9 p.m. today and 8 a.m. until funeral time Wednesday at Falgout Funeral Home in Galliano.

Throughout his life, Doucet played many roles.

From serving as a Lafourche Parish councilman to fundraising with the Sons of the American Legion, he never stopped his involvement with groups across the parish.

"He was a very outgoing, outspoken person," said Wayne Doucet, one of Royce's four brothers. "He was very competitive in himself to make sure everybody was successful."

willie aames

2009-03-27T06:56:00.000-07:00

This news article is about a movi star willie ames. He is the star of “Eight is Enough,” “Charles in Charge” and an actor in other television shows and movie.
It had to be Aames, who filed for bankruptcy last year and sold off his belongings on Thursday.

Early on, a throng waited outside for Aames to appear while workers put the markers of the actor’s life in his driveway.

There was a plush leather couch and chair and a giant television. Also, a lion head mounted on an oak pedestal, along with stuffed wild boars and other wildlife he hunted. Some other items included crystal and posters of him when he was young. He had the blond curls that helped launch his acting career at age nine. Now he is 48 and the curls are gray.

Mikki Wehrli of Olathe said, “I’m looking at the stuffed lion.”

It was not to be, but she would later leave lucky. As a waitress at Winstead’s on the Plaza in the 1990s, she said, she used to serve Aames often and he tipped well, she said.

Many there felt they knew him.

He became a teen star with “Eight is Enough,” which ran from 1977 to 1981 and toured the world as lead singer and guitarist with his own rock band. There were problems with drugs and he and his second wife beat them together and became Christians.

As “Bibleman,” Aames taught Christianity to kids for years.

Shortly after noon Thursday, he walked out smiling with a stuffed deer head under his arm.

“I think you’re all nuts,” he said. “I want to party with you.”

One in the crowd shouted, “We’re sorry, Willie.”

Another said, “We’re your friends.”

People cheered and clapped.

Soon Aames was in the middle of the crowd trying to dicker on prices after he told handlers, “I have no idea what the prices are.”

irson kudikova

2009-03-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

Irson kudikova is a woman, she is a famous singer. She told that when she visited russia for playing the role of the villain for the "Iron Man" Rourke purposed me.

Kudikova said: "He told me, 'You're a fantastic woman. I want to marry you'."

The two spent a lot of time together when he toured Moscow.

morgellons disease

2009-03-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

In 2008 morgellons disease descovered. Near about 1200 official inquiries has been received by CDC in 2008. The symptoms of this disease are so bizarre, people who have it tend to withdraw and become isolated from society. With mysterious fibers and parasites coming through lesions in their skin.

An interesting discussion (as far as it goes), but it seems this doctor is only adding to the probability that more people with Morgellons symptoms will be diagnosed with DOP. I disagree with adding in bi-polar or obessive-compulsive disorder as standard symptoms of this disease as I am fairly sure many do not have either of these problems. It may be more common in those with Morgellons, as I believe even Harvey mentioned this as a possible symptom in some, but I did not hear him say that was true of everyone he saw who had Morgellons. Not only does this doctor say these mental disorders are a symptom of Morgellons he then goes on to say that many have also been diagnosed with DOP. Any ordinary medical doctor is probably going to view this discussion as being a fairly strong suggestion of DOP. After all, every Morgellons patients is bi-polar or obessive-compulsive.
__________________
" It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming".

oregonlottery.org

2009-03-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Here are the Oregon Lottery Raffle Results.

The Deman of the lottery results was so high that we could not find the origional result because the Oregon Lottery website and got an error message at www.oregonlottery.org.

However, Oregon Lottery just announced the raffle results for its first ever St. Patrick's day raffle and the results are bellow.

The raffle results numbers of the One million St Patrick's day Oregon lottery are 246114.

The lottery results for the $20,000 prizes are the following.

007561
042722
059786
105419
136981
137213
144765
178468
182928
246129

There are also numerous 100 dollar prizes in Oregon lottery's St. Patrick's day raffle that is out of the scope of one story. The results can't simply fit in this story. One needs to check them at wwww.oregonlottery.org. No wonder the orginzers had said that St. Patrick's day Oregon Lottery raffle will have many great odds.

Oregon Lottery website showed that all the tickets were sold out.

Earlier the Oregon lottery organizers had announced on their wesite that they would hold a St. Patrick's Day Raffle, the Oregon Lottery’s exciting new on-line raffle game. RaffleSM is a game with limited tickets, great odds, and all 1,011 prizes are cash prizes! It’s simple to play. The top prize is $1 million dollars.

Student fucked by teacher

2009-03-12T01:48:00.000-07:00

According to the news paper, Two teachers of junor high school have been arrested they fucked 13 years old student.

satellite launch

2009-03-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

A South Korea's state news agency reported that an unnamed intelligence official "North Korea has informed that they plan to launch a satellite April 4 to 8"

North Korea's official news agency has already informed to International Maritime Organization about its plans.

U.S. and South Korean officials have long said the communist nation is actually preparing to test-fire a long-range missile under the guise of a satellite launch.

The missile, Taepodong-2, is thought to have an intended range of about 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers), which -- if true -- could give it the capability of striking Alaska or Hawaii.

A U.N. Security Council resolution in 2006 bans North Korea from conducting ballistic missile activity.

Germany shooting

2009-03-11T22:21:00.000-07:00

According to the interior minister for Baden Wuerttemberg region
"A gunman killed 15 people in two small towns in Germany".

Tim Kretschmer, 17, began his rampage at a school where he used to be a student in Winnenden, a small town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Stuttgart.

He killed eight female students, three female teachers and one male student.

Rech said: "They were completely taken by surprise. Some of the victims still had their pens in their hands."

Kretschmer opened fire in three first floor classrooms, including a physics lab where a teacher was found dead behind her desk, Rech told a news conference.

Rech said police arrived in minutes. "This speedy intervention means they prevented further escalation of events."

The shooting at the Albertville-Realschule Winnenden school began around 9:45 a.m. (0845 GMT) and lasted about two minutes.

Student Louis Schweizer was in class when he heard the gunshots. "When I came out, I saw the shell casings lying around everywhere," he said.

His sister, Lisa Schweizer, also heard the shots. "It is a tragedy," she said. "One of my teachers was killed."

Another student told: "We heard that someone was inside shooting. Then we also saw a teacher who had blood on his hands because he wanted to help a female teacher who sacrificed herself for a student -- she stood in front of a student to protect her."

Thai boat accident

2009-03-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

After the thai boat accident four bodies of tourists were found and two are still missig.

The body of an Austrian tourist who had also been on the vessel was found Tuesday.

The bodies discovered Wednesday were found about 70 meters (230 feet) under the surface of the water, and haven’t been recovered yet, Thai authorities told the Thai News Agency.

5 human heads discovered in ice

2009-03-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

According to police report 5 heads were found in ice on Tuesday under a ficus tree in the central Mexican state of Jalisco.
it is very sad news for the people of jalisco.

The grisly find appeared to be the latest indication of drug cartels fighting for supremacy in battles that have left thousands dead.

Police in the municipality of Ixtlahuacan del Rio were informed of the discovery at 2 a.m., the prosecutor's office said in a written statement.

Each head was found in a separate ice chest beside a road leading to the city of Guadalajara, police said.

The tops of the ice chests were inscribed with messages, among them, one that threatened further violence.

"Like these, I am going to finish everyone," says one. "I'm going after you, 'Goyo.'"

teen shooting rampage at German school

2009-03-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

A seventeen year old student opened fire at a school in southwest Germany.

According to Citing police and German media reports, 10 people dead at the spot and many other were wounded in the shooting in the small town of Winnenden, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Stuttgart.

The exact number of casualties was still not known.

The shooting, which lasted about two minutes, happened at the Albertville-Realschule Winnenden school, a junior high school, about 9:30 a.m. About 1,000 students attend the school.

Authorities had sealed the town off and launched an intense manhunt for the man they described as 1.80m (5'11") and heavily armed.

"It is a small town, an idyllic town," said Frank Nipkau, the editor in chief of local Winnenden Zeitung newspaper. "The town people are devastated and they can't understand why this is happening in this town."

"Police are coming through the whole time. They're obviously looking all over town for him," said Roberto Seifert, who works at a company next to the school. "We've never had anything like this," he told Reuters.com by phone.

alabama

2009-03-11T05:02:00.000-07:00

A gunman shoot nine people in alabama and then himself. He burned down his mother's house.

An Alabama man shot his grandparents, aunt and uncle dead, then killed five other people.

Authorities gave no motive for the rampage that claimed victims in several homes in the small towns of Kinston, Samson and Geneva and along the highway connecting them. Two of the dead were a sheriff deputy's wife and 3-month-old child.

Several other people were injured, including Geneva Police Chief Frankie Lindsey, who was saved by his bulletproof vest, and a state trooper wounded by flying glass when his car was hit with seven slugs.

Investigators Tuesday night were looking into possible shootings in other locations. "This is one of the most tragic events ever in Geneva County," state Sen. Harri Anne Smith said.

The carnage began in the late afternoon in Kinston, where Michael McLendon burned down his mother's home. Officials said McClendon then went to nearby Samson and shot his grandparents, aunt and uncle.

The sheriff deputy's wife and child were slaughtered in their mobile home, officials said. McClendon also killed another person at a Samson supply store and a woman at a service station, they said. The location of the shooting of the 10th victim was unclear.

Cops said McClendon fired randomly at people as his maroon Mitsubishi Eclipse traveled along Highway 52 toward Geneva's Reliable Metal Products, which makes grills and vents for heating and air conditioning systems, mainly for hotels.

"He was just driving down the street shooting at people sitting on their porches," Smith said. "A family was just sitting on the porch and they were shot."

Cops caught up with McClendon at Reliable, where he was said to be a past or present employee. After firing 30 rounds at the officers, he went inside and shot himself to death.

ainsley earhardt

2009-03-07T07:09:00.000-08:00

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," March 2, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And our headline on this Monday night, a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped another 300 points is "Obamanomics, Part Two, The Sequel." Now as Democrats like Ken Conrad and Byron Dorgan announced that they have problems with parts of the administration's budget, the president said this weekend that he is ready for a fight and that he was elected to bring sweeping change to the country.

But, apparently, when the president says change, well, what he really means is debt and a whole lot of it because that is what Obamanomics is increasingly looking like. That's a national trip to the shopping mall, and that's all to max out the Visa card, and that metaphor would be bad enough, but the administration is also trying to sell this lemon to the American people with projections about economic growth that very few economists take seriously.

Now, in order to get the stimulus package passed, the president told us that the country was headed towards catastrophe, crisis, but then in order to justify the budget, he predicted that the country is headed towards unprecedented growth, so a President Obama is counting on is that the American people will not be able to grasp the sort of numbers that we're talking about.

the nation columnists

2009-03-07T07:06:00.000-08:00

Presidential candidates rarely promise to raise taxes, especially since Walter Mondale's 1984 gambit - "Mr. Reagan will raise taxes and so will I," he announced at the Democratic National Convention. "He won't tell you. I just did." - pretty much ended his campaign.

Barack Obama was almost that blunt, but much craftier. He spent two years talking about growing income inequality, the plight of the middle class, and the need to give everyone access to health care. He made promises, including a tax break for 95 percent of Americans, and said he was going to pay for it, in part, by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

He even tried to convince Joe the Plumber there was virtue in "sharing the wealth."

Obama won anyway, and it seems he intends to keep those promises, prompting hysteria in some quarters. Republicans are screaming "socialism" on every channel. A caller to the Daily News Speak Out line announced that "Armageddon for the middle class has arrived."

The change Obama is trying to bring touches people's wallets, emotions and ideologies, but first let's throw out some mundane specifics.

One flashpoint for the current debate is a provision in Obama's budget that would cover half of the $634 billion set aside for a reformed health care system by reducing to 28 percent (from 35 or 33 percent) the income tax deductions for 1.2 percent of all tax filers: Singles earning at least $200,000 a year and joint filers making at least $250,000.

livephish

2009-03-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

It’s one of the most anticipated reunion concerts in years, and even if you weren’t able to score tickets to any of Phish’s three concerts at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia this weekend, you’ll still be able to hear the show. And no, you won’t have to barter with some guy selling tapes in the parking lot: Phish will offer free next-day downloads of all three of their Hampton shows as luxurious 256kbps MP3s on their livephish.com Website.

“We really wanted to show our gratitude to all the Phish fans for their support and the overwhelming response they’ve had to these shows. It’s going to be an amazing celebration and we only wish everybody could be there,” Trey Anastasio said in a press release. The downloads will only be available for a limited time, so sign up at livephish.com to get updates when the shows are posted. Additionally, Phish will offer FLAC quality recordings of the Hampton shows for $12.95 per night, or fans can drop $23 for a three-disc recording of each concert.

According to the press release, “The band is bringing in a recording truck to capture the concerts and each multi-track recording will be professionally mixed onsite,” as opposed to previous livephish.com offerings which “have been matrix recordings — the soundboard feed combined with audience microphones.”

As we’ve reported earlier, Phish will also headline the Friday and Sunday night shows at Bonnaroo, and the group’s undying fanbase was also responsible for single-handedly crashing that new Live Nation ticketing service. Rock Daily will be in Virginia for this weekend’s run of Phish shows, so keep it here this weekend for our post-show review (To be filed as soon as we finish those parking lot grilled cheeses and veggie burritos).

budget fashionista

2009-03-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

Trey Shores, 36, recently scored a fantastic deal. The Tokyo-based consultant scooped up an in-season Helmut Lang leather jacket in the city's Ginza district for 50% off the regular price. What was an out-of-reach $2,000 became a more reasonable $1,000 "just like that," says Shores. "I'm quite proud of [it]."

He's certainly not the only consumer benefiting from the financial hardship of retailers. From clothing to travel to cars, companies are being forced to reduce prices at a never-before-seen clip as the global economy continues to shrink

In the U.S., consumer spending in the fourth quarter of 2008--which accounts for more than two-thirds of domestic economic activity--decreased by 4.3%, according to the Commerce Department. That's the worst decline since the second quarter of 1980. And while retail store sales were up 1% in January 2009 to $344.6 billion when compared with December 2008, and overall consumer spending was up 0.6% during the same period, the government has attributed those increases to massive markdowns on inventory. For many retailers, bargaining with consumers is the only option. In other words, it's a buyer's market.

perricone diet

2009-03-07T06:57:00.000-08:00

From : Harriet Hall, M.D. and Stephen Barrett, M.D.
A Skeptical View of the Perricone Prescription

Dr. Perricone would be more credible if he could show us a study demonstrating that people who followed his prescription lived longer, had "younger" skin demonstrated by objective measures, or felt better compared to those on a placebo program—or that they were better in any measurable way. Instead, he provides only testimonials, exaggerated claims, partial truths, and incorrect statements. He cherry-picks possibly supportive studies from the literature and ignores contradictory studies. The diet he recommends is low in calories, and weight loss alone may improve the way his patients look and feel. His advice about tobacco and sunscreens is appropriate, but there is little science behind the rest of his program. He seems to have gathered every nutrient and skin cream he had any reason to hypothesize might work and advised using all of them. A more rational approach would have been to first see which ones really worked, and later to see if any combinations of the effective agents worked better than a single agent. No scientist worth his salt does experiments without controls; Perricone treats everyone, so that there is no basis for comparison.

dr manhattan penis

2009-03-07T06:52:00.000-08:00

Ever since we heard early, feverish reports about the appearance of Dr. Manhattan's "massive and uncircumcised" wang in Watchmen, we here at Vulture have been anxiously waiting to see how America's top film critics would address the issue in their official reviews of the film. While we were mildly disappointed that A.O. Scott of the New York Times completely omitted any mentions of it from his review (we can only assume that he wasn't impressed), Vulture is pleased as punch to report that other big names like Anthony Lane and Roger Ebert have taken the issue head-on (sadly, terrible pun intended). Follow along after the jump to check out the (mildly NSFW) reviews.

• "Last and hugest is Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup), who is buff, buck naked, and blue, like a porn star left overnight in a meat locker." — Anthony Lane [NYer]

• "Why does he even bother to make love with Laurie Jupiter? Not for his own pleasure, I'm convinced. And not to father a Little Manhattan, either, because as I understand his body he would ejaculate only energy. Could be fun for Laurie, but no precautions needed, except not to be grounded at the time." — Roger Ebert [Chicago Sun-Times]

• "... Flashing a few yards of giant blue wiener ... [Dr. Manhattan's] interests had turned to physics and Mars despite his giant blue penis." — Peter Travers [Rolling Stone]

• "[Dr. Manhattan is] a glowing superhero who spends much of his screen time showing off his iridescent blue penis ... Snyder battled with studio chiefs to keep the film long, R-rated (earned not only by bone-snapping fights and some torrid superhero sex but by that unforgettable blue penis)." — Geoff Boucher [LAT]

• "Not so Dr. Manhattan, who came by his glowing blue full-frontal nakedness through an industrial accident that forced the defence department to remove its '237 days without a scientist irradiated' sign. He doesn't show much emotion but is clearly waiting for someone to look at him askance: 'What, you never seen a cerulean penis before?'"

phish hampton review

2009-03-07T06:49:00.000-08:00

JamBase Offers Phish Hampton Live Setlist Updates
And Complete Post-Show Coverage with Reviews and Pics of Each Night

The big day has arrived for Phish fans as the band is reuniting for three concerts at the Hampton Coliseum this weekend.

For those of you who couldn't make it to the shows, you can still keep in tune with the play by play action via the latest and greatest technology: Twitter.

Phish will be updating their official Twitter account during the show, while fans that use #phish or #hampton in their tweets will be posted to @phishhampton.

For those who don't want to know what they play before hearing the music, check out the No Spoilers Project.

In addition to live setlist updates, JamBase has journalists and photographers on the scene and we'll be featuring next-day reviews of each show. Be sure to check JamBase for all your Phish coverage, we're in Hampton and we will be working hard between shows to make sure you get your fix.

what doesnt kill you

2009-03-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

If you’re tired of soul-draining news, then you’ve come to the right place, my friend. Who knows about tomorrow?

But today, it’s my mission to lift your spirits, to remind you of the better things and to refocus your attention on enduring virtues that make life worth living.

Spreading positive news will be a challenge for me, so I’ll get help from folks who know how to mine silver from the darkest clouds.

There I go again, mentioning dark clouds. Enough of that. On with our encouragement: First, you’re still alive. Congratulations. There are a bunch of people who can’t say the same.

- “Life is a sexually transmitted disease.” – Guy Bellamy.

Let’s also note that no one’s actively trying to kill you, unless you’re a special case.

Most of us have enemies, and some of our enemies could kill if conditions were right or wrong, depending on the point of view. But, statistically, we don’t have to worry about a specific threat.

There are terrorists who wouldn’t mind killing people
in a general way, and that could include you. It’s nothing personal, and you’re far more likely to die in a car crash, so that’s good news.

- “Attack life, it’s going to kill you anyway.” – Steven Coallier.

What else? Something that doesn’t involve 401(k) accounts or government bailouts. Think, think, think.

OK, your chances of getting mauled by wild animals is relatively low. A grizzly bear shows up on the occasional back porch, and some deer have grudges against cars and trucks. But, really, when’s the last time you were attacked by feral dogs?

We should acknowledge small blessings. When you’re down and out, repeat after me, “I wasn’t mauled today.”

- “My kids’ idea of a hard life is to live in a house with only one phone.” – George Foreman.

The possibilities are endless. If the Earth were a rubber ball, no one could tell how it would bounce next.

It could land in front of a Burlington Northern Santa Fe train barreling through town.

Or that little green and blue ball could bounce off somebody’s Hummer, hit a railroad crossing arm, then land in your shirt pocket, as pretty as you please.

With life, there’s always a chance, my friend.

- “Life is a roller coaster. Try to eat a light lunch.” – David A. Schmaltz.

Doesn’t that feel better?

Don’t thank me. It’s all part of the one-stop service we provide here at the Mighty Daily Journal.

meerca chase 2 cheats

2009-03-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

It's better to play it full screen because you will notice that when you're moving up or down, you move slower. It will also focus your mind on the game, not the surroundings outside of the window. Plus, the color you choose will help you think more clearly. Like for me, bright colors do.(Thanks, Linda!)
Some people like to use one hand to move the meerca, but two hands will prevent you from pressing the wrong direction because you know which hand is pressing which direction.

If your not that great Meerca Chase, its kinda slow! I suggest (for practice) play a game on your cell phone. Most cell phones have a game called snake..or something very close. Play that to get better. Its espcialy great when your out, when you're not doing anything!

Once you have alot of red neggs on the board, think about your actions. Circle around the area before you get the negg you want, to help the chances of you getting out in tight spaces.

Also keep playing, don't submit your score untill you have at lest 350 points; for some, it may take awhile, but you'll get better at it fast. This also betters your chances of getting a fish negg.

rorschach

2009-03-07T06:39:00.000-08:00

The vigilante hero of the comic-book film adaptation “Watchmen” (opening today) is named Rorschach and wears an inkblot mask. But do psychologists still use the Rorschach test? Yes, an article says; it’s “second in popularity only to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory among professionals in the field.” But those aren’t genuine Rorschach inkblots on the mask in the film; in fact, “the official Rorschach images are still under copyright in some countries

cinnamon girl

2009-03-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

It’s a chorus being echoed across the Midlands as Girl Scouts from the Mountains to Midlands council hold their annual cookie sale. But for hundreds of Scout troops that have set up shop at area storefronts, it’s not just about tradition, but closing the deal.

“We just have to be sociable. I just talk to random people to make the sale, and they actually talk back,” said Amber Dorsey.

Amber and others from Troop 977 in Columbia were stationed at the Gamecock Bi-Lo on Devine Street on Saturday. Theirs was among many spots where Scouts braved chilly temperatures to push the eight varieties of cookies being sold this year. And for members of Troop 977 it wasn’t a passive process.

“You have to ask them what they like,” troop member Alanina Spigner explained, adding she’s happy to offer suggestions to those who have no preference. “I would have to say Caramel deLights.”

Candice Johnson said one of the best sales techniques is friendliness, noting many people are already sold on the brand.

“They know that they like Girl Scout cookies,” she said.

Carol Edwards certainly knew what she liked. Troop members had barely made their pitch Saturday before the Columbia woman was sizing up her options.

“I was wondering where I was going to get some Girl Scout cookies this year,” said Edwards, whose two adult daughters once sold cookies. “I’m glad to see them doing this.”

Scout leaders believe the efforts that go into selling cookies each year help girls develop confidence and character.

“They learn about counting money, safety, teamwork,” said Marilyn Johnson, leader of Troop 977. “So they’re learning all the skills that they can take with them in life.”

Reesheda Hopkins will buy that thinking. The Columbia woman, who purchased several boxes from Troop 977 on Saturday, spent 13 years in the Scouting program and considers cookie sales an invaluable part of the experience.

“It’s going back to the old-time values, how to communicate,” Hopkins said. “It teaches them courage, because lot of girls used to be shy. They learn to approach people without having to be afraid.”

Those lessons appear to have taken hold with Troop 977. During a four-hour shift last week at an area Wal-Mart, troop

world baseball classic

2009-03-07T06:34:00.000-08:00

Taipei - Taiwan's baseball team apologized to Taiwan fans Saturday after humiliating defeats by South Korea and China in the first round of the second World Baseball Classic.

Taiwan lost 9-0 to South Korea on Friday and 4-1 to China on Saturday, missing the chance to advance to the second round of the 16-nation tournament.

The Taiwan team will return home Sunday, becoming the first team to be eliminated from the World Classic.

The loss is double humiliation for Taiwan because this is the second time China - which began to train baseball players only a few years ago - has defeated Taiwan. China beat Taiwan 8-7 at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

At a news conference at the Tokyo Dome, Yeh Chih-hsien, the head coach for the Taiwan team, said Taiwan lost because the players were under extreme stress and Chinese players have improved a lot.

'If we say that China beat Taiwan probably due to luck at the Beijing Olympics, this time we can see they are better than us. They made careful preparations to face Taiwan. We have to do self-examination,' he said.

Starting pitcher Lin Yueh-ping also apologized to Taiwan fans at the news conference broadcast in Taiwan.

'Our fans had high hopes for us to win, but we let them down, and we certainly will face lots of criticism when we return to Taiwan,' he said with tears in his eyes.

Taiwan TV channels showed that many Taiwan fans at the Tokyo Dome cried after Taiwan's defeat to China, some saying the Taiwan team should never go abroad again to avoid losing face.

As in Japan and South Korea, baseball is the national sport in Taiwan.

But in recent years, Taiwan has done poorly in international baseball tournaments due to lack of funds, top players' joining US and Japanese teams and game-fixing scandals.

The other teams in Group A of the World Classic, Japan and South Korea, play Saturday evening with the winning team advancing to the second round - for the top eight - to be played in the United States.

lucinda bassett

2009-03-07T06:33:00.000-08:00

The Midwest Center for Stress and Anxiety announced today the re-launch of its website, www.stresscenter.com, the premier online destination for news, information and solutions for coping with stress, anxiety and depression. The new site features an enhanced user interface with access to articles and other content, updated information on the most pressing and relevant stress-related issues, and the newest programs and services from the experts at The Midwest Center.

"The marketplace for information on stress, anxiety and depression is very fragmented, and we recognized a consumer need for a definitive destination for information and solutions on stress and related problems," said Jeff Campbell, VP of Business Development at The Midwest Center. "Once we identified the consumer need, our task was clear. We created a comprehensive website with a user-friendly interface and search features. We also leveraged the deep research and knowledge of The Midwest Center to offer fresh and relevant content for the stress, anxiety and depression issues facing people today."

The website's introduction comes during a period when Americans face growing stress from a struggling economy, depressed job and financial markets, and general socio-economic malaise. "Times are tough for everyone right now," said Lucinda Bassett, President of The Midwest Center. "But with the re-launch of our website, people have a place to turn for help, information and support. Our new website is a key resource for anyone looking to deal with these unprecedented levels of stress, anxiety and depression."

Since 1985 The Midwest Center, through its flagship program, Attacking Anxiety & Depression, has offered the #1 non-pharmaceutical, self help program for the treatment of anxiety, stress and depression. The program is available on the new website, where customers will also find a large and diverse community of users, access to newsletters and video content, and information on the company's coaching program that helps customers reap the greatest rewards from the program.

belinda bauer

2009-03-07T06:30:00.000-08:00

Fifteen Kenosha Unified School District employees will be formally honored for exemplary service and significant contributions to the educational community on Monday, March 16 at a Recognition Awards Dinner. Additional awards for Business in Education, Parent in Education, and Friend of Education also will be presented that evening.

The school district honorees include 2008-2009 Elementary Teacher of the Year Helena Boles, Somers Elementary School; Middle School Teacher of the Year Shari Perrine, Washington Middle School; High School Teacher of the Year Karen Wambold, Harborside Academy; and Special Area Teacher of the Year Margo Zoerner, Nash Elementary School. Belinda Grantham, Head Start Administrator at Cesar Chavez Learning Station, is Administrator of the Year.

Ten employees earned Distinguished Service Awards. They are:

Shirley Ade, Educational Assistant, Somers Elementary School; Pam Bauer, Secretary, Somers Elementary School; Michelle Burns, Teacher, Southport Elementary School; Eileen Coss, Accounting Manager, Educational Support Center; Virginia Fennema, Social Worker, Brass Community, EBSOLA and Whittier Elementary School; Kip Keckler, Instructional Technology Specialist, Washington Middle School; Page Kessler, Technology Teacher, Indian Trail Academy; Mary Tobin, Special Education Teacher, Jeffery Elementary School; Judy Vanderford, Physical Education Teacher & Consultant, Jefferson Elementary School and Sharon Willis, Teacher, Southport Elementary School.

sovereign movement

2009-03-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

Palestinian children's health in decline

A two-year international investigation has revealed an increase in the number of stunted children in the occupied Palestinian territories and conditions so extreme that Palestinian women have on occasion been forced to give birth at Israeli military checkpoints.

A series of articles published today by the Lancet concludes that the occupation, the recent conflict in Gaza and inter-Palestinian fighting are undermining the health and development of the population. The best solution to health in the territories is peace and security under a sovereign Palestinian state, argue the authors, who are doctors and academics from Birzeit University in Ramallah and Oxford, with assistance from international health scientists, the World Health Organisation and other UN agencies.

Since 2000, Rita Giacaman from Birzeit University and colleagues say, "life for Palestinians has become much harder, more dangerous and less secure". There is evidence that health gains during the 1990s are being eroded.

A humanitarian crisis had emerged in the Gaza Strip, "intensifying as a result of the Israeli military invasion in December 2008 and January 2009, and because of destruction of homes and infrastructure, the death and injury of civilians and shortages of food, fuel, medicines and other essentials", they say.

Infant mortality dropped between 1967 and 1987, but stalled between 2000 and 2006 at 27 per 1000 live births (the rate in Israel, they note, is 3.9 per 1000).

The rate of stunting - the failure of children under five to grow as they should - has gone up. In 1996, 7.2% of young children had stunted growth, but in 2006, the proportion had risen to 10.2%. "Stunting during childhood is an indicator of chronic malnutrition, and is associated with increased disease burden and death," the authors write. It can also result in damage to a child's mental development and link to obesity and chronic diseases in adulthood. Between 1999 and 2003 rates of tuberculosis have risen by 58% and meningococcal meningitis by 53%.

In spite of substantial funding and efforts, the Palestinian ministry of health has been unable to build up the health systems, the authors say. Restrictions on the movement of goods and labour between the West Bank and Gaza and within the West Bank have been a problem, as has the emergence of two Palestinian authority health ministers, one in the West Bank and one in Gaza. The problems have been compounded by the political divide between Fatah and Hamas. The absence of Palestinian control over water, land and the environment as well as movement has made public health strategies difficult if not impossible. Dysfunctional political systems, corruption and cronyism are among the other factors that "have adversely affected an already fragile health service".

The second article in the series, by Hanan Rahim from Birzeit University, with colleagues from Qatar, Glasgow and Yale universities, finds that the restrictions on movement in the occupied territories have made it harder for women in labour to get to a maternity unit. "Between 2000 and 2006, the ministry of health reported 69 cases of Palestinian women giving birth at Israeli checkpoints," they write. Ten per cent of women in labour were delayed for two to four hours on the road to the maternity facility, whereas the average time without roadblocks was 15-30 minutes.

Yesterday, Hillary Clinton said Israel's demolition of Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem was "unhelpful" and a breach of the roadmap for peace.

The US secretary of state's comments came after she held meetings with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and prime minister, Salam Fayyad, in Ramallah, on the occupied West Bank.

daytona 200 results

2009-03-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

I have been to thousands of races, and I'm not sure I have ever left one this confused, especially after race director Colin Fraser "explained" it all. Remember that scene in "Fargo" where William Macy tried to explain to the authorities what happened to all those Oldsmobiles? Yeah, it was like that.

I asked Fraser, whom I feel really sorry for, if the results of the race would be reviewed, and if so, how confident he was his top 10 would stand. He said there would be a review, and that it was not unusual: "I'm not sure I remember a Daytona 200 that didn't have some sort of scoring issue." But he said, several times, that he was "pretty confident" they got everything right, but man, don't try to prove it by me.

Another reporter asked the other tough question: Rider Tommy Aquino crashed hard in a part of the track where the lights had failed, and had, in fact, caused at electrical fire. Should they not have stopped the race then, before Aquino crashed in the dim area, instead of after his crash? Fraser said he didn't know, that we likely knew more about it than he did, which was an unfortunate answer.

Too bad, all this, because this was almost a great race, very cool under the lights for the first time ever. But man, while I know what happened to those Oldsmobiles in "Fargo," I have no idea what happened here.

ixtreme 1.51

2009-03-07T06:19:00.000-08:00

iXtreme 1.51 Stealth firmware has just been released for the Xbox 360. This releases fixes all new games that contain the 3rd wave in the video partition, which is due to Microsoft adding the Fall 2008 NXE Console update to the disc. The prior iXtreme firmware will not boot disc containing a 3rd wave, due to the firmware checking the crc of the video partition, looking for ‘wave1′ and ‘wave2′ only, now that there is a ‘wave3′ in the partition, the firmware rejects the disk.

Now, all newer games such as MLB 2K9 and tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X will boot without issues. For all you previous iXtreme Xbox 360 flashers out there, updating your firmware should be no problem at all. If you saved your initial firmware, or key dump, you can use JungleFlasher to spoof your new firmware.

multimaster

2009-03-07T06:05:00.000-08:00

Home show proving a good draw

During the first weekend of the Pittsburgh Home & Garden Show, there was little evidence of a recession.

Vendors staffing booths at the David Lawrence Convention Center wondered if people would show up, and if they did, would they open up their wallets? But arrive and spend they did, with an amazing amount of gusto, said executive director John DeSantis.

Opening weekend didn't break attendance records, but thousands of consumers braved the cold and ponied up $10 at the door for the opportunity to check out all the latest home and garden products and services.

"It was our biggest weekend in two years," said Mr. DeSantis, "and the second weekend is always better than the first."

The show ends Sunday.

Some vendors, including Fein Power Tools, couldn't keep up with demand. Not only did the Green Tree maker of high-end profile sanders, saws and other power tools run out of literature and promotional DVDs, but attendees also snapped up an entire week's supply of $400 Multimaster Top sets.

"We didn't expect to be that busy," said trade show coordinator Tracy Nedzesky. "We ended up having four or five employees at a time instead of two."

Ms. Nedzesky said she has seen more interest in home improvement and remodeling, and once people make the decision to embark on a project, "they want to get it done faster."

Steve Erenrich of Luxury Bath of Pittsburgh in Carnegie is another who had a "phenomenal" first weekend at the home show. His booth featuring acrylic tub liners and walls enjoyed the two biggest days of foot traffic in some 20 years at the show.

Mr. Erenrich guessed that some people finally stopped listening to all the bad news about the recession.

"They've come to the conclusion that if they're going to stay away from the stock market, why not put that money in their home and enjoy it?" he said.

For others, the show was an inexpensive way to have fun with the family and feed a case of spring fever with a pretty plant, goofy cleaning product or tasty treat.

This is Jack Hugh of Tropical Forest's first year at the show selling pussy willow cuttings, but sales were so much better than expected over the weekend that he's already planning to return next year.

"Even though the economy's bad, people can still afford a $10 item that makes you feel good," said Mr. Hugh, whose cuttings sell for $10 for one bunch, $18 for two or $25 for three.

Rob Solomon, director of business development for Fudgie Wudgie in the Strip, said his company was similarly busy. Sales of its gourmet fudge, chocolate-covered pretzels and chocolate treats were up several thousand dollars this weekend, echoing the 10 percent higher sales it enjoyed at last month's custom car show at the convention center.

The annual Pittsburgh International Auto Show, which ran Feb. 12-15, also did well, with a 14 percent increase in attendance over last year, according to Denise Brennan, executive vice president/CEO of Greater Pittsburgh Automobile Dealers Association.

arnold classic 2009

2009-03-07T06:02:00.001-08:00

The WCS has made the long journey out of the homeland and is currently en route to Columbus, OH to attend the Arnold's Sports Festival. We will, of course, be bringing you the best in coverage of the Arnold's Grappling Championship and related combat sports news, but we will also be cruising the expo floor exploring the best and newest in fitness, sports and more.

The weekend is chock full of not only grappling, but also arm wrestling, powerlifting, dance, archery, wrestling, and the world-famous Arnold's Classic bodybuilding competition. We will be on site experiencing it all, and let us know if there's anything you want to see or hear.

Expect daily updates on the festival, as well as random encounters with assorted famous-types. If you're competing at the Arnold's (grappling or otherwise), let us know!

So far we've made a pit stop in Indianapolis, IN to spend a day at Marcello Monteiro's BJJ Academy (www.bjjcoach.com), training, eating Subway and getting scared by plastic spiders. If you're ever in the area, I'm sorry. But check out Marcello's new gym and the Dollar General - good stuff. See you later Indiana, I think I hate you.

time change 2009

2009-03-07T05:59:00.000-08:00

President Obama kicked off his ambitious goal of reforming health care and providing insurance to all Americans, the first major government effort at reform in 15 years. At the White House's health summit, Obama pledged to pass comprehensive legislation this year, despite economic crises and U.S. engagement in two overseas wars. "When times were good, we didn't get it done. When we had mild recessions, we didn't get it done," Obama said. "There's always a reason not to do it. Now is exactly the time for us to deal with this problem." Indeed, with increasing job losses, approximately 14,000 Americans are losing their health coverage every day. Forty-six million Americans are without health insurance (86.7 million over the last two years), while others are paying more than they can afford. The health care cost share of GDP "is anticipated to rise rapidly from 16.2 percent in 2007 to 17.6 percent in 2009, largely as a result of the recession, and then climb to 20.3 percent by 2018." Referring to a statement made by Health Care for America Now's Richard Kirsch, Obama addressed the cost issue, arguing that "by covering more people, we can also lower costs at the same time, presumably because those who are not insured at the moment are ending up using extraordinarily expensive emergency room care." In his new budget, Obama plans to set aside $634 billion over 10 years as a down payment to reform the health system. While the fund represents a strong start toward reform, it will not be enough to provide affordable coverage for all and a stronger commitment will need to be made. But Obama also "indicated for the first time that he was open to compromise on details of the proposal he put forth in the 2008 campaign." Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) -- who has spent decades as a champion of expanding access to quality health care -- said at yesterday's summit that previous efforts to reform health care "haven't been the kind of serious effort that I think we're seeing right now." "This time, we will not fail," he urged.

statue of limitation

2009-03-07T05:55:00.000-08:00

The New York State Catholic Conference is opposing legislation that would provide a one-year window for any alleged victim of clerical sexual abuse to file suit-- no matter how long ago the alleged abuse occurs. Current law allows alleged victims to file suit at any time before they reach the age of 23; the state’s Catholic conference backs an alternative bill that would raise that age to 28.

kepler

2009-03-07T05:51:00.000-08:00

NASA has launched a spacecraft with a mission to help determine something that has been the theme for many Hollywood movies over the years: whether Earth-like planets might exist elsewhere in space.

The 15-foot tall, 2,320-pound Kepler satellite lifted off yesterday at 10:50 p.m. Eastern time atop a Delta II rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida for a three-and- a-half-year mission to find other planets that may support life, according to a NASA statement distributed by PR Newswire.

Kepler carries a photometer, a device made up of 42 highly sensitive digital light sensors that will monitor a patch of 100,000 stars to detect planets that may orbit them. Its findings will be essential in determining the course of future missions looking for extraterrestrial life, said David Koch, Kepler’s deputy principal investigator.

“In terms of finding Earth-like planets, this is the only mission that can do it,” he said.

The launch came 10 days after another NASA satellite failed to reach orbit and crashed into the ocean near Antarctica. NASA officials said the fairing, which covers the satellite during the launch, didn’t come off as expected. The weight of the fairing prevented the satellite from reaching its orbit. Without enough power to carry it into orbit, the satellite plunged back to Earth.

Tests After Mishap

In the mishap’s aftermath, Kepler’s fairing was tested and approved for the new mission, which will cost $591 million. The Kepler satellite was built by Boulder, Colorado-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., constructed the rocket.

Koch said scientists expect to find about 50 planets roughly the size of Earth and as many as 500 that are slightly larger. Once a planet is found, scientists can calculate whether its size and distance is conducive to the presence of water, an essential component for supporting life.

Kepler is the first U.S. mission to seek planets in the galaxy that may support life. Scientists will conduct two months of tests on Kepler’s systems before the planet search begins.

The satellite will be able to examine a broad swath of the Milky Way for a longer period of time than Corot, a spacecraft sent up by the European Space Agency two years ago, Koch said.

Star Brightness Tested

By focusing on the same group of stars, Kepler will allow scientists to measure changes in brightness, which can occur when planets orbit around them, he said.

Astronomers need to measure three brightness changes, known as transits, to confirm that a planet is causing the light fluctuation.

To have water, a planet has to be at a distance “just right” from the star, an area known as the “Goldilocks Zone,” Koch said. Too close, the planet will be a “roaster” and too hot; too far, a planet would be too cold, he said.

The right distance varies depending on a star’s temperature.

A planet’s mass also is an important factor in whether it’s a place hospitable to life. If the planet is less than half Earth’s mass, it won’t have the gravitational pull to maintain an atmosphere. If it is more than 10 times the mass of Earth, it will become a “cosmic vacuum cleaner,” sucking in elements like hydrogen and helium, creating a planetary surface with the firmness of a soap bubble, Koch said.

obama budget

2009-02-26T11:30:00.000-08:00

It is very hot news to day that how Mr. Obama manage budget. It is his first proposed budget of his government. Mr. Obama attempting to solve the some difficult public-policy problems.
He promissed to change, he is trying his best to deliver.

The Obama budget assumes that the US government will reap hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue from a so-called “cap and trade” system, beginning in 2012.
Under a cap and trade system, the government would cap greenhouse-gas emissions that big industries are allowed to emit. They could then trade or sell their rights to release the pollutants, with the government getting a slice of the overall revenue.

The revenue from this system would be used to help pay for development of renewable-energy technology – as well as subsidize the inevitable cost hikes consumers would face if Congress passes cap and trade legislation.

“Because our future depends on our ability to break free from oil that’s controlled by foreign dictators, we need to make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy,” said Obama in Feb. 26 remarks on the budget’s release.

Increased taxes on the wealthy

On taxes, the Obama administration in its budget proposes boosting federal revenue collections from about 16 percent of the GDP this year to 19 percent in 2013.

The White House would allow some of the tax cuts passed under the previous administration to expire for those making more than $250,000 a year. Officials would also allow the tax on the highest US income tax bracket to rise from 35 to more than 39 percent.
The bottom line here is that beginning in 2011, taxes would begin to rise on the nation’s wealthiest taxpayers.

Big policy shifts

The administration’s healthcare reserve fund, by itself, would represent a huge change in national direction, as it implies that the US will move towards some sort of universal healthcare system.

A cap and trade system similarly would be a matter of enormous import, by itself committing the US to an entirely new way of handling the economics of pollution.

Add in higher taxes – always an item of contention in Congress – and Obama’s budget can be seen as just the beginning of a lengthy and contentious Washington debate.

“This is not a responsible budget. This is a classic tax-and-spend budget,” says Brian Riedl, chief budget analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

The historical level of government spending is about 20 percent of GDP, says Mr. Riedl, yet Obama’s budget projects that that figure will stay at about 22 percent of GDP after the recession has ended.

“A lot of people will give the president a pass for increasing spending during a recession. But he’s assuming that a large expansion of government will occur after the recession,” says Riedl.

But people voted for change, points out Mr. Collender of Qorvis Communications. And, he argues, it is easy to exaggerate the degree to which Obama’s budget represents a permanent expansion of the federal government.

The budget contains a penciled-in increase of $250 billion to help fix troubled banks, for instance. It also contains continued spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, though the need for that spending is predicted to eventually diminish.

facebook error check system

2009-02-21T06:59:00.000-08:00

Today facebook is showing a error messange.

Questions

is this a virus or just a error massege

superbowl

2009-01-31T23:28:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl advertising event is very famus in US. Different advertising companies sale their adds through this event. According to my openion it is very good advertising event.
The Super Bowl is the premier advertising event with an U.S. audience of 100 million viewers, many of whom watch closely during game breaks for the debut of entertaining, big-budget commercials. The ads have sold for between $2.4 million and $3 million per 30-second slot this year.
These advertising milestones show the power of the NFL brand and the strength of the Super Bowl as a TV property in this economic climate,” said Jeff Zucker, president and CEO of NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co. “The Super Bowl has become one of our country’s biggest holidays, a uniquely American day, and advertisers recognized the value in being a part of it.”

Thirty-two advertisers in all will showcase their products during Super Bowl coverage.

NBC said the ads featured during the game also will be available for viewing almost immediately after they air at Web sites including NBC.com, Hulu.com and Superbowl.com.

UFC 94 round by round updates

2009-01-31T23:11:00.000-08:00

Thansks for wisting my site to know the final results about UFC 94 round , official results and tonight winners.
1st visit the results about
UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn II

Tonight's pay-per-view show features the long-awaited rematch between UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and lightweight title-holder B.J. Penn. Top light heavyweight contenders Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva also meet in the co-main event.

Live coverage of the preliminary card begins at 7:45 p.m. EST (4:45 p.m. PST), and the main card kicks off at 10 p.m. EST.

You can chat about tonight's event in our official UFC 94 discussion thread, or meet up with other fight junkies in the MMAjunkie.com MMA Forums.

Also, stay tuned to MMAjunkie.com after the show for full post-event coverage, including UFC bonus winners, gate and attendance information, and other breaking news.

MATT ARROYO VS. DAN CRAMER

Round 1 - Arroyo with an early leg kick, but his shot is stuffed by Cramer. The second, though, is successful, and Arroyo is able to pull guard, reverse the position and immediately take mount. Cramer reverses, but Arroyo quickly secures an arm and tries for the armbar. Cramer escapes and works from inside guard. The fighters catch a breather before Arroyo works elbows from below. Cramer's punches from above are easily deflected. However, Cramer finally gets through a couple elbows and then a big right and blows to the body. Cramer sits up before the blows, but despite telegraphing them, Arroyo can do nothing to stop them. Cramer lands a stiff right, but Arroyo grabs the arm again and works for an armbar. Cramer survives and then batters him with more rights. After standing, Cramer doesn't allow Arroyo to do the same and then smothers his opponent when Arroyo tries to get to his feet. MMAjunkie.com scores it 10-9 for Cramer.
Round 2 - After a touch of the gloves, Arroyo misses on a lazy right and is put on his back after a spinning back kick misses widely. Cramer takes the dominant top position as Arroyo works butterfly guard. Cramer stands over his opponent and then rains down some right hands that connect. Arroyo quickly secures full guard and defends against more right hands from Cramer. Back to butterfly guard for Arroyo, who throws elbows from below. They have little on them, and Cramer again lands some rights from above. Cramer again stands over his opponent, and as he awaits his opening, the crowd begins to boo. Cramer returns to his opponent's guard. Arroyo throws elbows while Cramer patiently looks to connect with big rights. The pace slows as both fighters look to have tired. Referee Steve Mazzagatti halts the action when Arroyo kicks Cramer in the face, and a warning is issued. Back to action, Cramer again stands over Arroyo, and the crowd again grows restless. Little action in the final 30 seconds of the frame. MMAjunkie.com scores it 10-9 for Cramer.

Round 3 - Arroyo has a major black eye as the left side of his face swells. The fighters trade blows in the center of the cage, and Arroyo finally secures a takedown of his own. Cramer, though, looks for the triangle choke, but without the position, he allows Arroyo to take sidemount and then his back. Arroyo climbs onto his back and sinks in a rear-naked choke. Cramer won't tap and breaks free of the choke, but Arroyo still has his back. After throwing some punches from behind, Arroyo again attempts the choke as he locks in a body triangle. Cramer wiggles free and is able to turn free and take top position. Now working from inside his opponent's guard, Cramer rains down elbows. The pace slows as Cramer works elbows. Mazzagatti steps in and restarts them. Arroyo shoots lazily, and Cramer collapses on top of him and immediately rains down elbows that find their mark. Arroyo looks for the triangle choke, but Cramer pulls back and frees himself. With a sense of desparation, Arroyo looks for a submission, but Cramer closes out the round with a flurry of ground and pound. MMAjunkie.com scores it 10-9 for Cramer in what should be a clean sweep of a decision. Dan Cramer def. Matt Arroyo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

mourns another murdered

2009-01-31T22:59:00.000-08:00

Muratov is a famous news reporter of russia. He offten writes at crime cases. Today he was in an understandably foul mood. He says that It is not easy to put a paper out these days.

There's usually a lot of jokes, laughing, talk about ideas. But our batteries are totally spent," says Muratov, 47, billows of pipe smoke filling the long pauses. "How can there be any sort of (normal) frame of mind when a journalist is being buried?

That journalist was Anastasia Baburova, a 25-year-old cub reporter. She and a human rights lawyer were shot execution-style by a masked man with a silenced pistol as they walked together a few blocks from the Kremlin.

In a country considered one of the most dangerous for journalists, no Russian newspaper has suffered like Novaya Gazeta. In a country where most media have been cowed into submission, no other newspaper publishes such probing investigative articles and acid commentary about government corruption, police-state politics and Chechnya war abuses.

"Every two or three years, we lose someone," says Elena Kostyuchenko, a 21-year-old investigative writer for the paper. "But you just have to write, write, write and keep writing. You have to."

Some 16 journalists have died in contract-style slayings or under suspicious circumstances in Russia since 2000. Many more have been assaulted or threatened.

Under Vladimir Putin, who became president in 2000 and now is prime minister, the TV networks watched by most Russians were taken over by the state, their news operations highly sanitized. Big-selling newspapers are either sympathetic to the Kremlin or owned by Kremlin-allied business groups.

Of the many free-spirited papers that sprang up when the Soviet Union collapsed, Novaya Gazeta — meaning New Newspaper — is a rare survivor.

Its most high-profile loss was Anna Politkovskaya, a reporter who savaged the Kremlin for its conduct of the war on Chechen separatists. Her shooting outside her Moscow apartment in 2006 provoked worldwide condemnation and major embarrassment for the Kremlin.

Three Chechens — two brothers and a former police officer — are on trial but the prosecution is not offering a motive or identifying any mastermind, leading Novaya Gazeta and others to claim the trial is a cover-up. Putin has claimed the killing was hatched abroad to discredit Russia.

GOP Governors Press Congress

2009-01-31T22:45:00.000-08:00

Most of Govrners have broken with their GOP colleagues in Congress and depending on
President Barack Obama's economic aid plan that would send billions to states for education, public works and health care.
It is not a Positive step, it can be become dangerous in future.
Their state treasuries drained by the financial crisis, governors would welcome the money from Capitol Hill, where GOP lawmakers are more skeptical of Obama's spending priorities.

The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, planned to meet in Washington this weekend with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other senators to press for her state's share of the package.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist worked the phones last week with members of his state's congressional delegation, including House Republicans. Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, the Republican vice chairman of the National Governors Association, planned to be in Washington on Monday to urge the Senate to approve the plan.

"As the executive of a state experiencing budget challenges, Gov. Douglas has a different perspective on the situation than congressional Republicans," said Douglas' deputy chief of staff, Dennise Casey.

Not a single Republican voted with the majority last week when the House approved Obama's $819 billion combination of tax cuts and new spending. The president's goal is to create or preserve 3 million to 4 million jobs.

Republicans led by House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio complained that the plan is laden with pet projects and will not yield the jobs or stimulate the economy in the way Obama has promised.

Obama Promises New Strategy to Revive Credit Markets

2009-01-31T22:27:00.000-08:00

It is a positive step of Mr. Obama's Administration to discover Black Sheeps and stop their un leagle activities. According to my own openion it is really bold step of Mr. Barack Obama's Administration.

Mr. President Barack Obama informed that his goverment is working on a plan through which they unlock credit markets and lower mortgage rates, and also viewed that company executives will be stopped from siphoning money intended for economic recovery.

Obama said today in his weekly radio address that Soon my Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, will announce a new strategy for reviving our financial system that gets credit flowing to businesses and families

We’ll help lower mortgage costs and extend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs,” Obama said. “We’ll ensure that CEOs are not draining funds that should be advancing our recovery.

Obama expressed outrage earlier this week after the New York state comptroller reported that Wall Street firms disbursed $18.4 billion in bonuses last year as the U.S. sank into a recession. While the figure represents a 44 percent decline from the previous year amid record losses in the securities industry, the bonus pool was the sixth-largest ever, the comptroller said in a yearly report.

Geithner will “have something to say about” bonuses as early as next week, Obama’s senior adviser David Axelrod said in an interview yesterday on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt.

McCaskill said that We have a bunch of idiots on Wall Street that are kicking sand in the face of the American taxpayer.

Storm may leave thousands in darkness

2009-01-29T10:03:00.000-08:00

This news article is about an icy winter storm. It was very dangerous. It destroy homes, buildings, offices etc. The people face a lengthy wait for electricity to come back.
President Barack Obama signed requests late Wednesday from Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe for federal emergency declarations. Crews — even the National Guard in Kentucky — worked around the clock to resurrect power lines downed by thick ice.

At a mall turned into a staging area in Barboursville, W.Va., crews in hard hats met alongside piles of poles, generators, wire and other supplies to find out where to go first. A convoy with crews from as far away as North Carolina was there to help.

"We're attacking it head on," said Appalachian Power spokesman Phil Moye. "As long as the ice is still on the trees, the storm is still here."

Utility officials estimated more than 1.3 million homes and businesses from Arkansas to Ohio were powerless, and warned it could be mid-February before some customers had power.

Various charities opened shelters across the region, but with the power out nearly everywhere — including at some radio stations — it was difficult to spread the word. Some deputies went door to door and offered to drive the elderly to safety.

Some huddled next to wood-burning fires and portable heaters to fend off the frigid air. Communities urged people to conserve water because the outages could limit supplies. Those who stayed put in their homes relied on gas stoves to cook food, and emergency officials feared the crisis could escalate as temperatures plunged.

Americans receiving jobless benefits hits record

2009-01-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

According to the labor department A number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits at all-time record.
There are number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached an all time record, the government said, as layoffs spread throughout the economy.
The Labor Department reported that the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending Jan. 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million, the highest on records dating back to 1967.
A department analyst said that as a proportion of the work force, the tally of unemployment recipients is the highest since August 1983.

The total released by the department doesn't include about 1.7 million people receiving benefits under an extended unemployment compensation program authorized by Congress last summer. That means the total number of recipients is actually closer to 6.5 million people.

Meanwhile, the tally of Americans filing new jobless benefit claims rose slightly to a seasonally adjusted 588,000 last week, from a downwardly revised figure of 585,000 the previous week.

Judgment Day

2009-01-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

Blagojevich said I am here to give you my side of the story. How can you through out a governer from office on a criminal complaint when you haven't proven any criminal activity.
Please allow me bring in my witnesses and show you my innocence.
Speaking to CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine as he entered the Capitol, Blagojevich conceded that he was sad it might be the last time he was walking into the building.

"That's life, you know. You've got peaks and valleys, and there are ups and downs, and there are moments of triumph and there are moments of disappointment, and there are times when you experience great joy and there are times of great sadness," he said. "This is not at all unique to me, and I'm not giving up hope. I'm going to fight for the people of Illinois."

When the hearings resumed at 10 a.m., House prosecutor David Ellis began his hour-long closing argument. He said Blagojevich has proven "a pattern of abuse of power."

Ellis said Blagojevich saw President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat as a "golden goose, as a bargaining chip leveraged for his own future and political well-being." He quoted Blagojevich's alleged words on taped conversations outlined in a federal criminal complaint: "It's an f-ing valuable thing. You just don't give it away for nothing."

Blagojevich countered, saying that having an FBI agent verify the accuracy of the details in that criminal complaint during the trial does not prove anything.

Ellis also played wiretapped conversations between Blagojevich and lobbyist Lon Monk, who were talking about a campaign contribution from racetrack owner John Johnston in exchange for the governor's signature on a bill to aid the racing industry.

"Those four tapes [played at the trial] don't prove anything criminal,'' the governor said.

Ellis also addressed the allegations claiming that Blagojevich threatened to withhold funding to help the Tribune Company sell Wrigley Field unless Tribune editorial writers who opined against the governor were fired.

At 2 p.m., the Senate is expected to begin deliberations on whether to remove Blagojevich from office. If the governor is removed, which is likely, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn will take over.

wagyu steak

2009-01-29T08:41:00.001-08:00

This news article is taken from ABC News.

Drinks Are On the (White) House
Here's the list of President Obama's invited guests to the White House cocktail party tonight essentially the bipartisan bicameral leadership of the House and Senate.

Six House Democrats, six House Republicans, six Senate Democrats, six Senate Republicans. Their spouses are invited as well.

Hors d'œuvres -- chicken curry, wagyu steak -- will be served in addition to drinks.

President Obama, it should be noted, is not a particularly big drinker, though he has been known to enjoy a vodka martini time and again.

In addition to the congressional leaders below, several senior White House staffers will be in attendance, including press secretary Robert Gibbs, senior adviser David Axelrod, senior adviser Pete Rouse, and deputy chief of staff Mona Sutphen.

The party will come after the House passes the president's stimulus package with almost no Republican support, which could make for some interesting cocktail party chatter.

gary dell abate house

2009-01-29T06:35:00.000-08:00

This news article is about Gary Dell’Abate

For over 20 years, my morning routine has had only one real constant. Howard Stern. I did not realize the impact of the habit until a couple of weeks ago, when Howard was on vacation and a special called “The History of Howard Stern, Act II” ran over two weeks on his eponymous Sirius Satellite Radio stations. And I loved every bloody second.
I heard bits, gags and tirades I had not heard since the 80s. The show had a very raw quality back then. Howard was hungry. He never seemed to stop talking. I could not wait to hear the next show when one would end. I began to tape the shows so I could listen after school.

Howard Stern changed the way talk radio is executed. The airwaves are chock full of imitators. Some are handsomely paid and damned great in their own right, too. But none would exist without the trails blazed by the fearsome Jew who grew up in Roosevelt and Rockville Centre. We have taken a ride through life with Howard and his co-host Robin Quivers. We have seen them be celebrated and reviled and become quite rich in the process.

Howard sounds like a wild man on those tapes. His voice is about three octaves higher and he is frantic in his quest to become the King of All Media. The equipment was not as good, the acoustics imperfect and the pace of the show faster and rebellious, like a petulant teenager. Howard was still a married man. He was dancing on the line of sin with his on-air exploits with strippers, porn stars and other people who from the proverbial dark side of life. Listening was exciting.

I am a fan of improvisational music, and listening to some of these shows was not unlike listening to a perfect jam session. In the background, without us knowing, Jackie Martling was scribbling genius one-liners and the ever-incredible Fred Norris occupying his un-Earthly position on the show, dropping in sound effects, impressions and raw insight. For the record, I love Fred.

These recordings took me back to exact places and times, and I can place myself to the exact point when I heard some of them. I can remember what was happening in my life. The lasting impressions of some of them were not obvious at the time. For example, when producer Gary Dell’Abate said Baba Booey for the first time, I had no idea it would be legendary.

And as I listened to the show day after day, my life was changing. I went to college. Started working. Got married. Had a kid. Bought a house. Got divorced. All that time, Howard was there. Every weekday I could hear his voice. I was so pissed at Howard when he got divorced. Selfish, sure but it was a blow to know that he could not make it last. Plus, it would change the show.

whale penis

2009-01-29T05:47:00.000-08:00

This article is about the whale penis, it is unbelieveable that the Blue Whale has largest penis at around 11ft.19".

A YouGov survey says we reckon sex is the best bargain pastime – with a third of folk admitting it is their favourite cost-free craze.

Now JAMES MOORE has put together these sizzling sex facts to stoke the fiery passion of hard-up Brits even more. Enjoy...

1.The average man sees five women a day he would like to sleep with.
2. A whopping 72% of blokes admit to fantasising about their workmates.
3. Man has the biggest penis size relative to body size of all the primates.
4. Lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose – sex has been found to be a natural antihistamine.
5. Casanova, played on telly by David Tennant, 37, boasted he made love to the same woman 12 times in one day.
6. The typical person spends about 600 hours having sex between the ages of 20 and 70.
7. Oysters, lean meat and seafood improve your sex life.
8. Timmie Jean Lindsey, 30, from Texas, was the first person to get silicone breast implants in 1962.
9. Mallanga Vatsyayana, the writer of the Kama Sutra, was rumoured to be celibate.
10. His book describes 529 different sexual positions.
11. Foreplay for the average married couple usually lasts between 14 and 17 minutes.
12. Globally, people have had an average number of nine sex partners.
13. Chocolate spread is one of the top three foods women would most like to lick off partner’s bodies.
14. Experts say sex at least once a week boosts immune systems.
15. Cherry is the most popular flavour for edible undies.
16. The first couple seen in bed together on primetime TV were cartoon faves Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
17. The man is the most likely partner to be tied up during sex, a survey revealed.
18.The Blue Whale has the world’s largest penis at around 11ft.
19. In medieval France unfaithful wives had to chase a chicken through town naked.
20. Men think about sex, on average, every seven seconds.
21. Women who read romantic novels have sex twice as often as those who don’t.
22. A man’s beard grows fastest when he anticipates sex.
23. Kissing keeps tooth decay at bay.
24. June is the most common month to lose your virginity.
25. A sex toy was mistaken for a bomb causing an Aussie airport to be shut.
26. At any given moment 2,000 couples are having sex.
27. The part of a man’s body woman admire most is his buttocks.
28. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
29. In Ames, Iowa, a law says a husband may not take more than three gulps of beer while in bed with his wife.
30. The word sex first turned up in English in a 1382 translation of the Bible.

wstw

2009-01-29T05:34:00.000-08:00

This news article is taken from The News Journal. It is about the Philadelphia Eagles fan.
It's probably not a good idea to pump up a Philadelphia Eagles fan beyond the state that they're already in heading into Sunday's NFC Championship Game with the Arizona Cardinals.

Birds fans, as you might have heard, get a little bit excited at game time.

But Stanley's Tavern, 2038 Foulk Road, Brandywine Hundred, is going to do it anyway with a Pep Rally that gets underway at 7 a.m. - that's right, 7 a.m. - on Friday.

It all starts with a breakfast buffet that’s free with a donation of a canned good (all donations benefit the West End Neighborhood House food pantry).

WSTW and WDEL will broadcast live with appearances by former Philadelphia linebacker Bill Bergey and the Eagles Pep Band. All-day specials include $2.25 pints of Miller Lite, Coors and Yuengling and drawing for finalists in a car give away.

Stanley's will, of course, be showing the game on Sunday along with food and drink specials.

But there won't be any crazy promotions going on once the game gets started at 3 p.m., owner Steve Torpey said.

"We found out in the past that if you do too much during the game you (tick) people off," Torpey said.

blackwater

2009-01-29T04:32:00.000-08:00

This article is about the Blackwater Worldwide operating license. Iraq’s Interior Ministry said January 29, that it will not renew an operating license for Blackwater Worldwide, a contractor for the U.S. State Department that has been accused in the deaths of civilians. The contract already has expired

brooklyn decker

2009-01-29T04:20:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn Decker, the stunning fiance of seventh-seed Roddick, watched on as her beau was handed victory when Robredo retired.
with encouragement from his fiancée Brooklyn Decker -- shifted to a healthier diet, this transformation is just as much about conditioning as it is about weight. Roddick bumped up his interval work on the track at home in Austin, Texas, with strength and conditioning coach Lance Hooton, who has worked with a number of elite athletes, including superlative Olympic sprinter Donovan Bailey.

andy roddick

2009-01-29T04:11:00.000-08:00

Federer beats Roddick
Federer beats Roddick to reach Aussie Open final.Roger Federer has advanced to the Australian Open final.

The Swiss star overpowered American Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 Thursday in the semifinals. He'll play either top-seeded Rafael Nadal or Fernando Verdasco in the final — the two Spaniards will play their semifinal on Friday.

Federer, who lost the French Open and Wimbledon finals to Nadal last year before beating Andy Murray for the U.S. Open title, will attempt to equal Pete Sampras' career Grand Slam mark.

measurement lab

2009-01-29T03:59:00.000-08:00

Google intoduce a measurement tool from measurement lab. Google challenges other Internet services proveder with measurement tool.Now Google is clearly protecting its cloud computing kingdom.

Google opened a new front in the network neutrality war between content providers and ISPs Jan. 28 by offering measurement tools to help computer users determine why their Web applications are balky.

The search company created Measurement Lab, an open platform upon which researchers can deploy Internet measurement tools, in conjunction with the New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute, the PlanetLab Consortium and academic researchers.

Google Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf, one of the Internet's founding fathers, wrote in a post explaining M-Lab:

When an Internet application doesn't work as expected or your connection seems flaky, how can you tell whether there is a problem caused by your broadband ISP, the application, your PC, or something else? It can be difficult for experts, let alone average Internet users, to address this sort of question today.

Cerf added that while researchers today are working on tools to let users gauge their Internet connection speeds and see if their ISP is choking certain Web applications, so far they lack the computing, connectivity and collaboration resources to do so with any authority.

To address this gap, Google will provide researchers with 36 servers in 12 locations in the United States and Europe. Data collected from M-Lab will be made public for researchers' use.

The move is a warning to ISPs that prefer to manage their users' Web connectivity and fight with content providers over this on one of the biggest Internet battlefields: network neutrality.

Part of the House Stimulus Package approved today, net neutrality calls for service providers to have no restrictions on content, sites or platforms, and on the kinds of equipment that may be attached and the modes of communication allowed. It also calls for communication not to be stifled by other communication streams on the Web.

Google, as company whose livelihood and success is predicated on connecting users to content as quickly as possible through its search engine and on delivering quality Web applications to users, is a staunch network neutrality proponent, as are most content providers.

federer roddick

2009-01-29T03:45:00.000-08:00

This news article is about the victories of Roddick. He is well experienced playre.
He gain another dominating victory, ousting Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 Thursday to reach the Australian Open final.
He undertook a rigorous offseason training regime designed to help him beat Federer and top-ranked Rafael Nadal, was in good form.
But the second-ranked Federer outplayed him in every phase of the game. Ripping winners from all over the court and usually forcing Roddick to hit more than one good shot to win a point, he even had more aces than the hard-serving American, 16-8.

Federer, seeking his fourth Australian title, will face the winner of Friday's semifinal between Nadal and fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

The women's final matchup was set earlier in the day. Serena Williams was calm, collected and cool — with the Rod Laver Arena roof closed to keep out Melbourne's oppressive heat wave — to end Olympic champion Elena Dementieva's 15-match winning streak with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

All that stands between her and a 10th Grand Slam title is third-seeded Dinara Safina, who is hungry to take home her first major trophy to go along with the two that brother Marat Safin has earned. Safina ousted fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semifinal. The winner Saturday also will rise to the No. 1 ranking.

By the time Federer and Roddick were on court in the evening, temperatures had dropped to 91 degrees from 112 in the afternoon — news reports called it Melbourne's hottest January day since 1939 — so the retractable roof was open.

That would seem to have given Roddick, who grew up in the heat of Texas and Florida, an edge. Against a hot Federer, it didn't matter. A behind-the-back hit right to the ballboy after a Roddick fault in the first game was a dead giveaway.

Although Roddick won their last meeting, Federer held a 15-2 edge over him coming into the match, and this one played out like many of the Swiss star's previous victories.

Blunting Roddick's blistering serves, Federer broke twice in the first set. Adding to Roddick's frustration was a call that went against him as Federer served at 4-1.

A Federer shot was called out, but he successfully challenged. Chair umpire Enric Molina ruled that Roddick couldn't have gotten to the ball and gave the point to Federer. Roddick argued he stopped running when he heard the "out" call, and he had a running dialogue with Molina during several changeovers.

confickr

2009-01-29T03:31:00.001-08:00

Confickr is just 2 weeks old and infected more than nine million machines. The officials said that tha situation is unique because worms weren't considered as an effective way to make money in cybercrime.It is a challenge for experts to handle this type of issue. However the hackers behind the massive worm have devised an innovative way to spread the attack, making it hard to catch and quarantine.
Instead of using spam emails, the worm initially attacked the Microsoft MS08-067 vulnerability in Windows, allowing it to infiltrate network security. This allowed the worm to spread through open network shares, weak passwords and removable USB drives.

The Microsoft vulnerability had a patch, released last October, that halted the attack. However, the added element of the USB drives made it possible for the worm to infiltrate patched machines as well.

Some businesses and organizations that have tried to update their antivirus product have also run into problems. Confickr prevents already-compromised machines from getting fixed by blocking access to Microsoft's websites and disabling the automatic update function.

everlasting love lyrics

2009-01-29T03:21:00.000-08:00

This article is about Different types of lyrics such as sappy, disingenuous, corny and cliched.There are too many emasculated, blue-balled crooners on the radio right now with no true identity. But Fennessey overlooks a larger point: R&B isn't just ineffectual right now; it's pointless, derivative and boring.
Though always something of a hodgepodge, R&B was once a formidable format, a combination of soul, gospel and funk whose best artists didn't hesitate to experiment with style. But in the '90s and '00s, R&B became pigeonholed. Attempting to piggyback on hip-hop's popularity, its artists use rap beats and hire MCs for guest verses, resulting in a sound that's virtually indistinguishable from rap. (Try turning off the vocals of Ray J's "Sexy Can I," for example, and see if you can tell the difference.) In fact, one of R&B's biggest names, Akon, is so strongly associated with hip-hop that he's sometimes mistakenly referred to as a rapper.

Fusing genres was traditionally a big part of rhythm and blues — Ray Charles initially made a career out of it. But since New Jack Swing injected a street mentality and rowdy back beats in the late '80s, R&B has shown little desire to evolve or take creative risks. Its crooners have become largely segmented onto urban radio stations, inspiring one mildly successful format-following clone after another.

The watering-down of the genre is one reason it's been disparaged as "Rap & Bullshit." Another is because it's artistically moribund. The vast majority of R&B lyrics are sappy, disingenuous, corny and cliched. Enough already with promises of everlasting fidelity sung by men sleeping with King models, and to female empowerment anthems written by women with multimillionaire husbands. The contrast with hip-hop is especially stark considering rap's creative breakthroughs of late. Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and plenty of others are challenging the status quo; for proof, look no further than 808s & Heartbreak, West's top-selling, experimental elegy.

Barack Obama's foreign policy

2009-01-29T00:25:00.000-08:00

The Administration of Barack Obama has draffted a letter to Irani president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face to face talks.
It is a possitive step of Obama's government. The US state department has been working at drafts on the letter since 4 November last year.
It is in reply to a lengthy letter of congratulations sent by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on 6 November.
Diplomats said Obama's letter would be a symbolic gesture to mark a change in tone from the hostile one adopted by the Bush administration, which portrayed Iran as part of an "axis of evil".

It would be intended to allay the suspicions of Iran's leaders and pave the way for Obama to engage them directly, a break with past policy.

State department officials have composed at least three drafts of the letter, which gives assurances that Washington does not want to overthrow the Islamic regime, but merely seeks a change in its behaviour. The letter would be addressed to the Iranian people and sent directly to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or released as an open letter.

One draft proposal suggests that Iran should compare its relatively low standard of living with that of some of its more prosperous neighbours, and contemplate the benefits of losing its pariah status in the west. Although the tone is conciliatory, it also calls on Iran to end what the US calls state sponsorship of terrorism.

The letter is being considered by the new secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, as part of a sweeping review of US policy on Iran. A decision on sending it is not expected until the review is complete.

In an interview on Monday with the al-Arabiya television network, Obama hinted at a more friendly approach towards the Islamic Republic.

Ahmadinejad said yesterday that he was waiting patiently to see what the Obama administration would come up with. "We will listen to the statements closely, we will carefully study their actions, and, if there are real changes, we will welcome it," he said.

Ahmadinejad, who confirmed that he would stand for election again in June, said it was unclear whether the Obama administration was intent on just a shift in tactics or was seeking fundamental change. He called on Washington to apologise for its actions against Iran over the past 60 years, including US support for a 1953 coup that ousted the democratically elected government, and the US shooting down of an Iranian passenger plane in 1988.

The state department refused to comment yesterday on the draft letters.

hamilton county snow emergency

2009-01-28T09:33:00.000-08:00

Plenty of salt to shake around
Most counties say they have enough salt on hand to weather the storm and can get access to more if needed.
Cincinnati has about 18,500 tons of salt, which should be more than enough to get through this storm, said Meg Olberding, a city spokeswoman.

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"When temperatures go below 20 degrees, with this kind of accumulation, salt isn't as effective, and we mainly just plow," she said. "And salt isn't the only thing in our tool kit."

The city will use a combination of salt brine with beet juice and calcium chloride to treat the streets, depending on temperature and road conditions.

Meanwhile, Olberding said, residents need to move their vehicles from emergency snow routes. The city started towing vehicles around noon Tuesday.

In Hamilton County, about 8,000 tons of salt remain and "should be enough to get us through the winter," said Steve Mary of the Hamilton County Engineer's Office.

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At this point, he doesn't expect crews to use that much salt since they want to leave a thin coat of snow on the ground. If freezing rain hits bare pavement, it will get slick and streets will be harder to treat, he said.

There is plenty of salt north and east of the city in Butler and Clermont counties.

While Butler County officials weren't sure of the exact figure, they say it's on track with what's normally used by this time in a typical winter.

man kills family

2009-01-28T09:20:00.000-08:00

In the Wilmington neighborhood, Los Angeles man kills his 5 children, wife and himself.Police find the family shot to death at their home.

Watching his family's new, two-story home being built in 2001, Ervin Antonio Lupoe appeared to be riding a wave of hope and excitement. He dropped by each week to check the progress, one construction worker recalled.

But in what authorities believe was a gruesome burst of anger after he and his wife lost their jobs, the burly 40-year-old X-ray technician turned that same Wilmington home into a family tomb, officials said Tuesday.

billy powell

2009-01-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

This article is about the Matt Soergel Billy Powell, a longtime keyboard player for Lynyrd Skynyrd. He died at his Orange Park condo early this morning.
Orange Park Police Chief James Boivin said Powell called 911 from his condo in Club Continental and was pronounced dead at 1:52 a.m. after rescue crews performed CPR on him. Boivin said he was told Powell had an appointment with his heart specialist Monday but never made the appointment.

Current Lynyrnd Skynyrd singer Johnny Van Zant spent 22 years with Powell in the band. He said the took the news of Powell's death hard.

"You know, they say they've got one hell of a band up in heaven. My brother Ronnie up in heaven is probably saying, 'Billy, what took you so long?' I'm sure they're catching up on things in heaven."

Powell, who went to Bishop Kenny High School, joined Skynyrd in 1972 after working for the Jacksonville band for a couple of years as a roadie. He was seriously injured in the Oct. 20, 1977 plane crash that killed singer Ronnie Van Zant and five other people.

Johnny Van Zant said his brother invited Powell to join the band after he heard him playing piano during a rehearsal of "Free Bird." "Ronnie said, 'What's that?' and Billy said, 'That's the introduction to 'Free Bird.' Ronnie said, 'I like that. You're in the band.'"

The piano introduction to the song became a highly anticipated part of the band's live show, though Johnny Van Zant said Powell was sometimes relucant to jump into the spotlight with it.

"He'd say, 'I don't want to do that, I'm embarrassed to do that,'" said Van Zant. "I'd make him do it: I'd say, 'Come on, it'll make their night.' It made mine."

Earlier this month, Powell and the band took a four-day cruise, called the Simple Man Cruise, on a ship out of Miami with "4,000 crazy Skynyrd fans," said Van Zant.

The band had recorded several songs for a new album and had upcoming gigs in Lousiana, Mississippi and Orlando. They will be canceled, said Van Zant.

"We've got to lay our brother to rest," said Van Zant. "That old saying, the show must go on, always counts. Unless you die.

nassau county school closings

2009-01-28T06:42:00.000-08:00

This news article is about nassau county school.

With a dramatic reduction in sales tax revenue, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi said he will propose layoffs or some reduction in employee work hours to lawmakers that could save the county $20 million.

Suozzi recently called for an emergency meeting of the 19-member Nassau County Legislature on Feb. 2 to talk about the county's finances.

"I'm looking at layoffs, but I don't personally like layoffs," Suozzi said in an interview yesterday.

Suozzi said he is looking at various other options, including shutting down non-health and safety work every other Friday or closing at noon every Friday. He said he is also considering closing the county down early every day, or shutting down the equivalent of 26 days a year.

nyc school closings

2009-01-28T06:33:00.000-08:00

Some schools are closed or delaying the start of classes becauses of a storm expected to dump of snow on some upstate areas.
Only a handful of school closings are reported Wednesday morning in western New York, where up to 4 inches had fallen and up to 12 inches is expected. Most of the closings are in the eastern half of the state, where forecasts predict 8 to 16 inches of snow in the Adirondacks and up to a foot in the Albany area by Wednesday night.

Highway closures were reported in the Hudson Valley after accidents occurred during snowy conditions. The southbound Thruway lanes between exits 18 and 17 and the eastbound lanes of Interstate in Putnam County have since reopened. No details on the accidents were immediately available from state police.

memphis city schools

2009-01-28T06:24:00.000-08:00

This news article is about the Memphis City Schools. Different parents give thier own openion about new technology.
Optional School enrollment begins Friday and Memphis City Schools is trying to eliminate the long lines with a new system. For this year's Optional School enrollment, MCS is utilizing new technology to ease the process.

"I'm all about new technology, especially when you can use a computer to do everything," said parent Rosalind Cohen.

And that's the goal of the district's new bar code system. Parents can now go to the Board of Education building and sign up for a bar code for their child's Optional School enrollment.

"It allows the parents to hold their place in line," said William White with Memphis City Schools. "It serves as a virtual line."

White said the new system goes beyond holding your place in line as the ticket system did last year. This year, once they get a bar code, parents can file their application online and eliminate a trip to the school on Friday.

"If you are a Memphis City Schools student in grades one through ten your parents can go online and submit the application so you don't have to come back when you submit a barcode," said White.

More than 1,000 parents have already taken advantage of the new system and, so far, there are great reviews.

"I'd usually have to stand in a long line," said parent Linda Whitelow. "This process is much easier.

94.3 the point

2009-01-28T06:11:00.000-08:00

This news article is about the Wintrust Financial Corporation Reports Fourth Quarter 2008 Results.Here you can find the progress report of Edward J. Wehmer, President and Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Wehmer
Wintrust Financial Corporation ("Wintrust" or "the Company") (Nasdaq: WTFC) announced quarterly net income of $2.0 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the period ended December 31, 2008, an increase of $0.15 per diluted share, compared to the $2.5 million loss, or ($0.13) per diluted share, recorded in the third quarter of 2008. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2007, earnings per diluted share decreased $0.63 per diluted share, on a $13.7 million decrease in net income.

Edward J. Wehmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We have completed a very difficult 2008 by recording a profit of $2.0 million in the fourth quarter and $20.5 million for the full year. While these levels are not acceptable under normal circumstances, given the current global economic conditions recording a profit during these periods is atypical in the banking industry."

Mr. Wehmer noted, "We recorded $9.9 million of net loan charge-offs and $14.5 million in provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter. Both of these are down significantly from the amounts recorded in the previous quarter. The Company continues to aggressively manage its impaired loan portfolio. Distressed real estate valuations continue to impact this process as values become more distressed due to lack of sales activity, large property inventories, decreasing numbers of potential buyers and other factors. Nonperforming loans increased moderately in the fourth quarter. However, we are focused on resolving existing problem credits and working to identify potential problem credits."

koco

2009-01-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

This news article is taken from NewsOK.com.
"Samantha Who?” 8:30 p.m., KOCO-5. When Sam starts dating rock star Tommy Wylder (John Taylor of Duran Duran), Andrea and Dena’s reactions become embarrassing.

→"Trust Me,” 9 p.m., TNT. Friends who work together at the same ad agency find their friendship tested when one is promoted.

lauren townsend

2009-01-22T23:54:00.000-08:00

This article is picked up from KTNV Las Vegas:

Security preparations are underway for the presidential inauguration, and have been for some time.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is giving the Secret Service some much needed help, and some of it comes from right around our region.

"He has found eleven live devices so far to date, thousands of firearms, and i couldn't even begin to tell you how many rounds of ammunition," says Special Agent Lauren Townsend about her partner, Joe.

That's a lengthy resume for an ATF agent who has only been on the job for seven years.

But Joe isn't your average agent.

Joe is a Labrador Retriever, specializing in explosives detection.

They showed Action News how Joe's colleagues will be working for at the presidential inauguration.

They'll conduct security sweeps.

"Typically, since we agents across the country, and we have a lot of resources," says Townsend.

And a lot of that training.

Agents hid several explosives amid a sea of cars in an undisclosed junk yard on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

"He was in the truck, three hundred yards away," says Townsend.

Methodically, Joe and Lauren begin their search, and then, the tell-tale change in behavior, usually, Joe sitting.

Of course, we can't give away trade secrets, but Joe can find even explosives fragments, like in the Luxor bombing.

He also sweeps major events, like the PBR, an assist for local law enforcement.

"We're all looking for the same thing. Ultimately, our goal is to make sure everyone is safe," says Townsend.

And at only 9-years-old, it's almost time for Joe to retire after a job well done.

ATF typically retires dogs at nine-years-old.

On one of Joe's exploits in the valley, he found a live pipe bomb along with twenty guns.

Agents say that without question, he has saved lives in the Valley.

veatrice rice

2009-01-22T23:31:00.001-08:00

This article is about Veatrice Rice. A webstriker user giving his comments about webstriker.

Hee is Jimmy Kimmel's
Uncle Frank, who is well-known
to any watchers of The
Jimmy Kimmel Show on ABC.
Uncle Frank Potenza is
Jimmy's real-life uncle, and
is a security guard for the show,
but also a member of the
nightly cast. A former
New York City cop, he used
to do security detail for
Frank Sinatra. He was at
the big newsstand at
Hollywood & Cahuenga in
Hollywood, buying about 15
copies of some magazine
which had a story about him,
which he was proudly
displaying. He was on his
way back to the theater,
which is in the old
Masonic Temple on
Hollywood Boulevard
across from the
Chinese Theater, the only
TV show to be broadcast
directly from Hollywood
Boulevard each night, and for
that I love them. And
Uncle Frank is great.
Funny and warm. For years,
lots of TV shows and movies
claim to be made in
Hollywood - when many
are made beyond the
real boundaries of real
Hollywood. But this show
is right on the old
boulevard, right in the heart
and soul of our
Hollywood.

secret life of the american teenager

2009-01-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

The Secret Life of the American Teenager is a television series that debuted on ABC Family on July 1st,2008.

The teen drama focuses on the relationships between families and friends dealing with the unexpected pregnancy of character Amy Juergens, portrayed by Shailene Woodley.[1]

Secret Life ranked number one with the network's key demographic in its debut time slot versus cable television shows.[2] The show earned the Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Show during its premiere season.

Season One had a total of 11 episodes. Season two debuted on January 5, 2009, with a total of 13 episodes planned.[3] The show has also been picked up by Canadian Broadcaster Citytv, which started airing Season 1 in Canada on September 3, 2008.

phi helicopter crash

2009-01-05T11:53:00.000-08:00

Phi helicopter is crashed.
it was carrying two pailots and seven passengers.
Eight people were killed and a ninth was reported injured after a helicopter bound for the offshore oil fields crashed Sunday in marshlands about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans.

The helicopter, operated by PHI Inc., crashed about 3:30 p.m. shortly after taking off from PHI's base in Amelia, said Richard Rovinelli, a spokesman for the company. The cause of the crash was not clear Sunday night.

Rovinelli did not know the model of the helicopter or its exact destination. But he said the helicopter was carrying two pilots and six passengers. Identities of the victims were not released.

dunbar

2009-01-03T05:43:00.000-08:00

This article is about dunbar functions
after reading this article your concepts about dunbar will be caleared.

The study of eudaimonic community sizes began with a seemingly silly method of calculation: Robin Dunbar calculated the correlation between the (logs of the) relative volume of the neocortex and observed group size in primates, then extended the graph outward to get the group size for a primate with a human-sized neocortex. You immediately ask, "How much of the variance in primate group size can you explain like that, anyway?" and the answer is 76% of the variance among 36 primate genera, which is respectable. Dunbar came up with a group size of 148. Rounded to 150, and with the confidence interval of 100 to 230 tossed out the window, this became known as "Dunbar's Number".

It's probably fair to say that a literal interpretation of this number is more or less bogus.

There was a bit more to it than that, of course. Dunbar went looking for corroborative evidence from studies of corporations, hunter-gatherer tribes, and utopian communities. Hutterite farming communities, for example, had a rule that they must split at 150 - with the rationale explicitly given that it was impossible to control behavior through peer pressure beyond that point.

But 30-50 would be a typical size for a cohesive hunter-gatherer band; 150 is more the size of a cultural lineage of related bands. Life With Alacrity has an excellent series on Dunbar's Number which exhibits e.g. a histogram of Ultima Online guild sizes - with the peak at 60, not 150. LWA also cites further research by PARC's Yee and Ducheneaut showing that maximum internal cohesiveness, measured in the interconnectedness of group members, occurs at a World of Warcraft guild size of 50. (Stop laughing; you can get much more detailed data on organizational dynamics if it all happens inside a computer server.)

And Dunbar himself did another regression and found that a community of 150 primates would have to spend 43% of its time on social grooming, which Dunbar interpreted as suggesting that 150 was an upper bound rather than an optimum, when groups were highly incentivized to stay together. 150 people does sound like a lot of employees for a tight-knit startup, doesn't it?

Also from Life With Alacrity:

A group of 3 is often unstable, with one person feeling left out, or else one person controlling the others by being the "split" vote. A group of 4 often devolves into two pairs... At 5 to 8 people, you can have a meeting where everyone can speak out about what the entire group is doing, and everyone feels highly empowered. However, at 9 to 12 people this begins to break down -- not enough "attention" is given to everyone and meetings risk becoming either too noisy, too boring, too long, or some combination thereof.

As you grow past 12 or so employees, you must start specializing and having departments and direct reports; however, you are not quite large enough for this to be efficient, and thus much employee time that you put toward management tasks is wasted. Only as you approach and pass 25 people does having simple departments and managers begin to work again...

I've already noted the next chasm when you go beyond 80 people, which I think is the point that Dunbar's Number actually marks for a non-survival oriented group. Even at this lower point, the noise level created by required socialization becomes an issue, and filtering becomes essential. As you approach 150 this begins to be unmanageable...

LWA suggests that community satisfaction has two peaks, one at size ~7 for simple groups, and one at ~60 for complex groups; and that any community has to fraction, one way or another, by the time it approaches Dunbar's Number.

One of the primary principles of evolutionary psychology is that "Our modern skulls house a stone age mind" (saith Tooby and Cosmides). You can interpret all sorts of angst as the friction of a stone age mind rubbing against a modern world that isn't like the hunter-gatherer environment the brain evolved to handle.

We may not directly interact with most of the other six billion people in the world, but we still live in a world much larger than Dunbar's Number.

Or to say it with appropriate generality: taking our current brain size and mind design as the input, we live in a world much larger than Dunbar's Function for minds of our type.

Consider some of the consequences:

If you work in a large company, you probably don't know your tribal chief on any personal level, and may not even be able to get access to him. For every rule within your company, you may not know the person who decided on that rule, and have no realistic way to talk to them about the effects of that rule on you. Large amounts of the organizational structure of your life are beyond your ability to control, or even talk about with the controllers; directives that have major effects on you, may be handed down from a level you can't reach.

If you live in a large country, you probably don't know your President or Prime Minister on a personal level, and may not even be able to get a few hours' chat; you live under laws and regulations that you didn't make, and you can't talk to the people who made them.

This is a non-ancestral condition. Even children, while they may live under the dictatorial rule of their parents, can at least personally meet and talk to their tyrants. You could expect this unnatural (that is, non-EEA) condition to create some amount of anomie.

Though it's a side issue, what's even more... interesting.... is the way that our brains simply haven't updated to their diminished power in a super-Dunbarian world. We just go on debating politics, feverishly applying our valuable brain time to finding better ways to run the world, with just the same fervent intensity that would be appropriate if we were in a small tribe where we could persuade people to change things.

If people don't like being part of large organizations and countries, why do they stick around? Because of another non-ancestral condition - you can't just gather your more sensible friends, leave the band, and gather nuts and berries somewhere else. If I had to cite two non-regulatory barriers at work, it would be (a) the cost of capital equipment, and (b) the surrounding web of contacts and contracts - a web of installed relationships not easily duplicated by a new company.

I suspect that this is a major part of where the stereotype of Technology as the Machine Death-Force comes from - that along with the professional specialization and the expensive tools, you end up in social structures over which you have much less control. Some of the fear of creating a powerful AI "even if Friendly" may come from that stereotypical anomie - that you're creating a stronger Machine Death-Force to regulate your life.

But we already live in a world, right now, where people are less in control of their social destinies than they would be in a hunter-gatherer band, because it's harder to talk to the tribal chief or (if that fails) leave unpleasant restrictions and start your own country. There is an opportunity for progress here.

Another problem with our oversized world is the illusion of increased competition. There's that famous survey which showed that Harvard students would rather make $50,000 if their peers were making $25,000 than make $100,000 if their peers were receiving $200,000 - and worse, they weren't necessarily wrong about what would make them happy. With a fixed income, you're unhappier at the low end of a high-class neighborhood than the high end of a middle-class neighborhood.

But in a "neighborhood" the size of Earth - well, you're actually quite unlikely to run into either Bill Gates or Angelina Jolie on any given day. But the media relentlessly bombards you with stories about the interesting people who are much richer than you or much more attractive, as if they actually constituted a large fraction of the world. (This is a combination of biased availability, and a difficulty in discounting tiny fractions.)

Now you could say that our hedonic relativism is one of the least pleasant aspects of human nature. And I might agree with you about that. But I tend to think that deep changes of brain design and emotional architecture should be taken slowly, and so it makes sense to look at the environment too.

If you lived in a world the size of a hunter-gatherer band, then it would be easier to find something important at which to be the best - or do something that genuinely struck you as important, without becoming lost in a vast crowd of others with similar ideas.

The eudaimonic size of a community as a function of the component minds' intelligence might be given by the degree to which those minds find it natural to specialize - the number of different professions that you can excel at, without having to invent professions just to excel at. Being the best at Go is one thing, if many people know about Go and play it. Being the best at "playing tennis using a football" is easier to achieve, but it also seems a tad... artificial.

Call a specialization "natural" if it will arise without an oversupply of potential entrants. Newton could specialize in "physics", but today it would not be possible to specialize in "physics" - even if you were the only potential physicist in the world, you couldn't achieve expertise in all the physics known to modern-day humanity. You'd have to pick, say, quantum field theory, or some particular approach to QFT. But not QFT over left-handed bibble-braids with cherries on top; that's what happens when there are a thousand other workers in your field and everyone is desperate for some way to differentiate themselves.

When you look at it that way, then there must be much more than 50 natural specializations in the modern world - but still much less than six billion. By the same logic as the original Dunbar's Number, if there are so many different professional specialties that no one person has heard of them all, then you won't know who to consult about any given topic.

But if people keep getting smarter and learning more - expanding the number of relationships they can track, maintaining them more efficiently - and naturally specializing further as more knowledge is discovered and we become able to conceptualize more complex areas of study - and if the population growth rate stays under the rate of increase of Dunbar's Function - then eventually there could be a single community of sentients, and it really would be a single community.

strangers in the night

2009-01-03T03:18:00.000-08:00

Strangers in the Night, The Valentine Effect.
i have chosen this topic form Daily Californian.
it is very romantic topic, i hope you will enjoy it.

By Stefanie Lee
Contributing Writer

Would it be too much to expect chills from watching your first performance of "The Phantom of the Opera"? After all, there's a lot of long-standing socially-constructed gravitas swirling around this theatrical work. A masked, angry dude pining after a beautiful soprano? A chandelier with a mind of its own? Sequins (in general)? "Phantom" is the complete entertainment package, or so they say. "All I Ask of You" is a pop culture staple, transcending stage origins and popping up as a cell phone ringtone. Yet while the latest San Francisco installment of this timeless story, performed by the Cameron Mackintosh/Really Useful Theatre Company, Inc. at the Orpheum Theatre, brought the occasional shiver, those consistent chills were nowhere to be found.

Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Phantom of the Opera" is a theatrical anomaly. It's the longest-running Broadway show, having overtaken the reign of "Cats" in 2006, yet it hasn't aged a bit since its debut in 1986. The story is still interesting, the costumes are still flashy and the chandelier is still freaky as hell, but there's something stagnant about it. It's hard to place the origins of that missing element. Is it the quality of this particular performance? Or is the work itself an impossible standard to reach?

Although the set as a whole fit comfortably into the Orpheum Theatre's ornate backdrop, its individual parts formed something of a mixed bag. On the plus side, the black-and-gold frame for the stage created the illusion of an impressionist painting. And, if the chandelier wasn't enough, its moving parts allowed the Phantom to haunt his theater (and ours as well) from above the stage.

But the cup of cons runneth over. Years ago, someone came across the problem of simulating several fiery explosions-necessary to the plot, but obviously risky to the venue and the audience. The solution was and still is unimpressive. It's hard to tell where the weak "fireball" comes from, but the most obvious answer is 1986. The good news is that even viewers in the back row can feel the quick heat wave.

Simulation is actually a theme in this production. The use of smoke to recreate the Phantom's watery path to his lair is convincing for a few minutes, but as soon as it hot-boxes the orchestra pit, sympathy for the instrumentalists outrules the cheap showcase. And, speaking of music, perhaps it was this play that taught the makers of "A Knight's Tale" to take guitar riffs and snare drums out of their rightful historical context. Then again, in 1986, there was a first time for everything.

The strongest performance in the cast was arguably the one that needed to stand out. Trista Moldovan as Christine Daae gained vocal confidence as the play progressed, culminating in two musical high points: an emotionally-grabbing rendition of "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" and a powerful duet with the Phantom in "The Point of No Return." The problem was that it took the pair this long to establish any trace of chemistry. Prior to this moment, it was impossible to sympathize with the Phantom's morbidly dreary life, even though we're taught as members of entertainment-hungry society to love him in spite of his faults. John Cuida, who played the Phantom, also improved throughout the show, but there was something incredibly anti-climactic about the mask-removal moment. Remember Dr. Brown from "Back to the Future"? Remove even more hair from his head and he'd bear a striking resemblance to the Phantom. Now that's chilling.

sonny boy

2009-01-03T02:31:00.000-08:00

This artical is about the american blues harmonica player williamson john lee curtis williamson,

Hope you will enjoy this artical.

Sonny Boy Williamson John Lee Curtis Williamson 30 March 1914 — 1 June 1948) was an American blues harmonica player and the first to use the name Sonny Boy Williamson.

His Career

He was born near Jackson, Tennessee in 1914. His original harmonica recordings were considered to be in the country blues style, but he soon demonstrated skill at making harmonica a lead instrument for the blues, and popularized the instrument for the first time in a more urban blues setting. He has been called "the father of modern blues harp".

His very first recording, "Good Morning, School Girl", was a major hit on the 'race records' market in 1937. He was hugely popular among black audiences throughout the whole southern U.S. as well as in the midwestern industrial cities such as Detroit and his home base in Chicago, and his name was synonymous with the blues harmonica for the next decade. Other well-known recordings of his include "Shake the Boogie", "You Better Cut that Out", "Sloppy Drunk", and "Early in the Morning". Williamson's style influenced a large number of blues harmonica performers, including Billy Boy Arnold, Junior Wells, Sonny Terry, Little Walter, and Snooky Pryor among many others. He was easily the most widely heard and influential blues harmonica player of his generation. His music was also influential on many of his non-harmonica playing contemporaries and successors, including Muddy Waters (who had played with Williamson in the mid-1940s) and Jimmy Rogers (whose first recording in 1946 was as a harmonica player, performing an uncanny imitation of Williamson's style); Rogers later recorded Williamson's songs "My Little Machine" and "Sloppy Drunk" on Chess, and Waters recorded "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" in September 1963 for his Chess LP Folk Singer and again in the 70s when he moved to Johnny Winter's Blue Sky label on CBS.

He was popular enough that by the 1940s, another blues harp player, Aleck/Alex "Rice" Miller, who was based in Helena, Arkansas, began also using the name Sonny Boy Williamson. John Lee is said to have objected to this, though no legal action took place, possibly due to the fact that Miller did not release any records during Williamson's lifetime, and that Williamson played mainly around the Chicago area, and Miller seldom ventured beyond the Mississippi delta region until after Williamson's death.

Williamson recorded prolifically both as a bandleader and a sideman over the entire course of his career, mainly for the Bluebird record label, with many early sessions taking place in the ballroom on the top floor of the Leland Hotel in Aurora, Illinois; most later sessions were recorded in Chicago. His final recording session took place in December 1947, backing Big Joe Williams. On June 1, 1948, John Lee Williamson was killed in a mugging on Chicago's South Side, as he walked home from his final performance at The Plantation Club at 31st St. and Giles Ave., a tavern just a block and a half away from his home at 3226 S. Giles. Williamson's final words are reported to have been Lord have mercy.[1]

His legacy has been overshadowed in the post-war blues era by the popularity of the musician who appropriated his name, Rice Miller, who after Williamson's death went on to record many popular blues songs for Chicago's Checker Records label and others, and toured Europe several times during the 'blues revival' in the early 1960s.

Williamson is buried at the former site of The Blairs Chapel Church, southwest of Jackson, Tennessee. In 1991, a red granite marker was purchased by fans and family to mark the site of his burial. A Tennessee historical marker, also placed in 1991, indicates the place of his birth and describes his influence on blues music. The historical marker is located south of Jackson on TN Highway 18, at the corner of Caldwell Road.