zrap world

Maradona Hand Of God

2008-08-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

Why Everyone Should Oppose Same-Sex Marriage

2008-08-06T06:46:00.000-07:00

At the outset, I wish to say that I hold nothing but empathy and love toward my gay brothers and sisters. I wish for little more than that they lead happy, fulfilled lives in the company of the people they love. But this heartfelt caring does not obviate my belief that marriage itself ought to remain solely between a man and a woman.

To answer Wright’s points in order: First, proscribing same-sex marriage does not violate the separation of church and state unless religious belief is the only argument. But it isn’t. Every significant civilization in history has kept marriage strictly between male and female, and not only because of religion.

The main reason, apart from religious belief, for opposing same-sex marriage is the welfare of children. Most people throughout history have understood that children need both types of parents, male and female. One problem with same-sex marriage, which will mean widespread adoption by gays, is that it will involve a radical social experiment on children, who can hardly consent to such adult-focused rearrangements.

All other things being equal, one wonders which parent Wright would willingly have jettisoned in favor of two of the same sex. It should be noted that divorce or death does not deprive a child of an opposite sex parent as does same-sex marriage. Little Jane, having been adopted by John and Steve, will never in her whole life know what it is to have a mother. A baby boy adopted by two women will never have a father—never. Talk about “total deprivation”!

While some do argue that changing the definition of marriage will harm marriage, we can thus see that the larger problem is that it would damage society. It would do this by further breaking down the traditional family—which is the best place in which to raise children—and by fully normalizing homosexual relationships, a trend which is already leading to more same-sex experimentation and sexual confusion in young people.

Changing the definition of marriage will be confusing to all children, who will now be acculturated to ask themselves and each other whether they might like to marry a boy or a girl when they grow up. No preferencing of one situation over the other, either in the classroom or in textbooks or anywhere else, will be allowed once the definition of marriage is changed. Efforts toward this mandated parity are already underway; enacting same-sex marriage would cement them.

Another serious but less recognized concern is that when the definition of marriage is expanded to include same-sex couples, religious liberty is seriously threatened. Laws passed to protect the rights of special interest groups very often interact with religion in ways we don’t expect, as evidenced here and here.

As for enforcing morality through law, we do it all the time, as with current civil rights laws. Some moral principles we enforce through law, some we don’t. On such a massive, unprecedented change, let’s allow the democratic process to decide.

Wright speaks of how marriage benefits both society and couples, whether opposite sex or same-sex. These are fair and powerful points that would be persuasive if the arguments against same-sex marriage were not strong. But the acknowledged benefits of promoting fidelity and monogamy amongst gays must be weighed against the downsides of same-sex marriage, the outgrowth of which may not be fully apparent for some time.

The argument that because we were right to reverse course on slavery, we must be right to change the definition of marriage is a non sequitur. Just because one is wrong doesn’t mean the other is wrong. Slavery was wrong; keeping marriage between a man and a woman may well be right. It does not become wrong simply because a group of people, dwarfed by the judgment of the ages, suddenly decides it is wrong (and it is “suddenly” in the scope of history).

The comparison between proscribing same-sex marriage and proscribing interracial marriage is inapt. There is no essential difference between blacks and whites. There is a world of difference between men and women. Marriage utilizes these differences to bring balance and complementarity both to the relationship itself and the raising of children, who vitally need the unique characteristics male and female bring to their parenting.

As for whether same-sex marriage will be used toward achieving the legalization of polygamy and other creative arrangements, we do not need to wonder. Newsweek has a sobering article on the jump-starting of the polygamy movement, so clearly given impetus, inspiration, and rationale by the successes of the gay rights movement.

Wright wrote, “Same-sex marriage does not pose a threat to me, my choices, or my way of life.”

While it’s not the same, this reminds one of the “divorce-threatens-marriage” canard. “People divorce, people marry their own sex, who cares? MY marriage isn’t affected.”

Wisdom does not only think of oneself or the present; it considers the larger group and the long-range view. This issue of changing the definition of marriage is not simply about me or my way of life. It is about all of us, and it is about the future.

Nothing in the disallowing of same-sex marriage prohibits gays from living as stable, committed couples. But in insisting upon the title of marriage, same-sex partners are demanding that society change what has been true through all of history—that men marry only women, and women only men.

It is an understandable wish, and those making the demand may indeed be accurate in believing they are wiser and more moral than all the religious teachers and all the sages of the past. But at the very least, we should acknowledge the hubris such a belief involves, and we need to be certain the bulk of society is on board with it. Until then, it is patently clear we need a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. As seen in California, this is the only thing that will prevent a single judge’s dubious moral certainty from becoming the margin needed to overturn the clear will and judgment of the people.

Janine Goffar is a Seventh-day Adventist writer living in Loma Linda, California. She is author of “The C.S. Lewis Index: A Comprehensive Guide to Lewis's Writings and Ideas.”

5 ways to save a marriage

2008-08-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Marriage is one of the happiest and memorable moments in our lives. It is a union of not only two individuals, but also of two different upbringings and cultures. After a cheerful start of married life, there might be a possibility or beginning of some conflicts. These may be due to some misunderstandings, ego or other personal problems. Sometimes the bitterness in the relation crosses the tolerance level that the couples think of getting separated.

However, a divorce affects the personal and social lives of both the partners. You will be surprised to know that your marriage problems can be resolved. Here are 5 ways to save a marriage that can be effectively implemented in your married life.

The first step to resolve the marriage problems is to agree that they exist. You should be honest with yourself, should be able to identify the differences in your relationships and try to improve them. If your try to go away from the issues, they will never be solved. Accept the situation as it is and be prepared for the challenges which may lie ahead.

It is said that you cannot fight the enemy that you cannot see. This philosophy is absolutely true in case of marriages. If you feel that your husband has changed the way of interaction, then find out the reasons behind it. The best solution is to start the conversation with your spouse and give him several opportunities to ‘open up’. Keep your ears and mind open for the subtle hints from his conversation.

Saving your marriage is not merely solving the problems. Reigniting your love for each other is one of the effective 5 ways to save a marriage. You can express your passion for your partner with special dates or surprises. Remember the most romantic times you spent together and recreate them with an addition of a unique approach.

Give some time for each other to share the feelings. The purpose is to grab the attention of your partner and make your relationships healthy with natural attraction. If you are successful in developing the passion for each other, then other problems can be immediately solved.

There may be many obstacles when you are trying to fix the relationships. It might be difficult for you to communicate with your husband or you may be facing outside pressures from the family which may prevent you to focus on your goals. Even after facing these barriers, you should be persistent on your aims. If one approach fails, you can try another approach that may work. You should be able to handle the conflicts safely.

One of the important steps among 5 ways to save a marriage is to seek the right advice from your friends and family. You should try to get an expert advice from counseling sessions or books before you take any major decision. A wise advice can save your marriage, while bad advice may ruin it.

Knowing about 5 ways to save a marriage, you would be able to resolve the problems if any in your marriage and live a happy married life.

Green Card Marriage

2008-08-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

Is there a minimum age limit to apply for the DV 2006 program? There is no minimum age limitation to apply for this program but it is necessary to be at least a high school graduate or to have work experience of two years in a field which requires specialty.

Can more than one person from a family apply for the Green Card lottery? Yes. Each of them has the right to apply for individually. However, they cannot sign for each other. Each must sign his/her own application. The applicant should attach his/her own, his/her spouse’s and all children’s ( including those who were adopted by law and step children) newly taken photographs, even though they do not reside with him/her.All applicants must be citizens of the countries which are eligible to apply for the lottery.

I want to go to the States for education. Will the Green Card be useful for me? In the US, yes. Public Universities give discounts for those who have a Green Card. Besides, when you have the Green Card, your possibility to receive a scholarship and/or loan from the American government increases. Also, do not forget that you are allowed to work; you can work wherever you want and make a living.This number varies from year to year but are usually very similar to each other. Last year, about 50,000 people managed to acquire Green Card. After the draw, almost 90,000 people were informed that they won the lottery . However, only 50,000 of them had the right to have their Cards.

How will the winners be selected? All mails received at the Kentucky Consular Center are separated into one of the six geographical regions and are given numbers. At the end of the application period a computer selects randomly from the mails received for each geographical region. Within each regional group, the first mail selected will be registered first and the second mail in the second row. All applications have the same chance.

Is it necessary to appoint a lawyer or a consultant? Appointing a lawyer or a consultant depends merely on the candidate’s decision. The process of applying for the Green Card lottery can be completed by the applicant, following the basic instructions but receiving assistance might also be preferred. There are organizations that provide service with reasonable prices and sometimes it is possible to receive assistance, sometimes for free. On the contrary, there are ones which demand very high prices with unrealistic claims.No, the laws states that candidates have the right to apply for the lottery only once. Applications can be made by themselves or by others. Those who filled more than one application form will be disqualified.

I am an engineer in a technical field. If I mention this, will i have greater chances? No, your job is not important. In this lottery, only the chance factor will have a role in selection. No. There is no such announcement made by INS. Applying for the lottery has no effect on getting a visa for the States.There is no minimum age limitation to apply for this program but it is necessary to be at least a high school graduate or to have work experience of two years in a field which requires specialty.

Meet Joe Black 1998

2008-08-06T06:29:00.000-07:00

Info

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119643

Plot

Bill Parrish, media tycoon, loving father and still a human being, is about to celebrate his 65th birthday. One morning, he is contacted by the Inevitable - by hallucination, as he thinks. Later, Death itself enters his home and his life, personified in a man's body: Joe Black has arrived. His intention was to take Bill with him, but accidentally, Joe's former host and Bills beautiful daughter Susan have already met. Joe begins to develop certain interest in life on earth as well as in Susan, who has no clue who she's flirting with.

Blog Editors, Smashing Magazine Series

2008-08-02T01:24:00.000-07:00

By Glen Stansberry

Desktop blogging tools can benefit designers-bloggers in a number of ways. They provide extra functionality that can significantly speed up the blogging process for both newbies and professionals.

One of the main benefits of using a desktop client is the ability to comfortably write a post offline, and publish it later. Many clients also have a scheduled post feature, so you can define what time you would like to publish your articles. Some editors provide a spell checker, drafts saver, remote publishing and WYSIWYG-editor with advanced formatting options such as inserting media or structuring the post — they may be hard to deal with using standard online blogging-engines.

Let’s take a look at 15 desktop blogging editors which can speed up the blogging process. Some are free and some cost a few dollars, but in the end all of these editors can significantly improve your workflow, regardless of your skills.

Windows Live Writer (Windows)

Windows Live Writer is an impressive blog editor, and is probably the cleanest one. It provides the familiar user interface that one would expect from usual Microsoft applications. Writing a blog entry with intuitive features like a rich text editor and spell checker is easy. Users also have the ability to quickly add images and other media.

The distinctive feature that puts Live Writer ahead of the competition is that you can can add plugins to the editor. For instance, there are plugins that seamlessly integrate with Flickr and Facebook photos; word counting as well as many further features are available as well.

Live Writer is useful for people who don’t necessarily want to mess with HTML and just want to quickly write a blog post, but it’s also great for more advanced users with the ability to add specific features with plugins.

MarsEdit (Mac)

The main advantage of MarsEdit lies in its ability to integrate with other text editors. The client integrates cleanly with BBEdit, SubEthaEdit, TextMate, or TextWrangler. It has a simple yet robust user interface. Users can define powerful markup macros to insert commonly used snippets of code. The tool works with WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Movable Type, LiveJournal, Drupal, and Vox. You can also quickly scan your Flickr library, then insert an image into your blog post with the click of a button.

Another nifty feature is the preview functionality. The tool allows you to build a template to match your blog, then let MarsEdit’s live preview show you how your posts will look before you publish them. Extensive AppleScript support makes it possible to add further features. Price: $29.95. A free 30-days-trial-version is available as well.

BlogDesk (Windows)

BlogDesk is a robust, multi-language blog editor that supports all of the popular blogging platforms except Blogger. If that isn’t a problem for you, then you’ll love the unique and intuitive features BlogDesk provides. The Image Wizard allows you to upload and edit pictures, without editing images in image processing applications. You can also define frequently used phrases and keywords to speed up your writing time, much like TextExpander (Mac).

Links can be easily inserted and edited. If you link to local files (such as MP3 or PDF), BlogDesk will automatically upload them. Dictionaries in 14 languages are available for the integrated spell checker. Posts already published can be edited afterwards and deleted directly from the server. In the Notebook you can insert and rearrange text before you actually use it in your weblog entry. For your convenience you can create multiple categories where text can be saved separately.

Zoundry Raven (Windows)

Zoundry Raven is a free advanced WYSIWYG-blog editor with XHTML editing, drag and drop from browser-functionality. It also provides the Unicode (UTF- support, quicklinks and a template-based preview. Users can manage multiple blogs online and offline and use a built-in indexer that allows to see posts by blogs, links, tags and images.

Zoundry Raven supports Blogger, TypePad, MovableType, MetaWeblog and LiveJournal. The tool is available as a portable application which you can use on your flash/thumb drive. Finally, you can use Raven to create and modify your WordPress Pages just like any other blog post and set WordPress tags as well as import tags from all of your posts.

It is worth mentioning that Zoundry Raven also has an integrated HTML validator built into the code view and includes a publish menu to finalize your decisions, tags, trackbacks, etc.

Ecto (Mac)

Ecto is one of the most popular blog editors, and has earned the respect of some top bloggers like Darren Rowse. It’s a powerful tool with all typical features (Rich text editor, spell check, draft saving, etc.), but it also allows you to extend the functionality by using plugins, much like Windows Live Writer. Amazon’s affiliate scheme seamlessly integrates in Ecto and makes it easier for you to link to a particular Amazon product page.

Ecto also has support for Flickr and del.icio.us. In addition, ecto also lists the tags you have used with del.icio.us and Flickr, so that you can reuse them for your blog entries. The only drawback is that the software costs $17.95, but you can try it out for free for 21 days.

w.bloggar (Windows)

w.bloggar is a professional blog editor for advanced users who are fairly technologically savvy. It’s snappy and has a lot more advanced features built-in than Live Writer. While the interface isn’t as intuitive or elegant as Live Writer and some of the others, it’s a useful little editor.

With w.bloggar you can save posts locally for further publishing, import text files, post to many blogs and ping to Weblogs.Com, blo.gs, Technorati and ping-o-matic. Also, you can download a portable version that you can take with your anywhere on a USB drive. Perfect for bloggers on the go!

Thingamablog (Window, Mac, Linux)

Thingamablog is a hybrid of a blog editor and RSS-feed reader. It’s not quite as polished as other blog editors, but is great for someone needing a cross-platform blog editor. Setting up the blog is a bit cumbersome for the first time, but not unbearable. You’ll need to have Java Virtual Machine downloaded and running on your machine to work.

Thingamablog has a few advanced features that are different from other blog editors. You can import RSS feeds, and you can post to your blog while reading your RSS feeds. It’s a nice program for bloggers who typically write news-related posts. The editor also allows publishing remotely to your blog via email and saving entries as drafts. Thingamablog is released under the terms of the GPL.

Qumana (Windows, Mac)

Qumana has an interesting feature that isn’t found in other blogging platforms. If you are interested in joining an ad network for your blog, Qumana has a built-in ad network (Qads) that allows you to insert ads into your post.

You can use Qumana when you are offline. Save your blog posts to your hard drive and upload whenever you like. Useful for bloggers on the move. Apart from standard features the editor has a handy little feature called the DropPad, which adds drag-n-drop capability to snag links, pictures and text to a desktop pad. Qumana is very intuitive and is definitely an option worth consdering for both newbies and advanced bloggers.

Scribefire (Firefox)

Scribefire is quite different from the other blog editors as it is a Firefox extension. When you want to blog about the page you are currently viewing, hit “F12″ and the scribefire extension pops up in the lower-half of your browser. You can blog about a specific web page without having to leave the browser. You can also click an icon to move blogging frame into a separate tab, if you’re going to need some more space.

Scribefire isn’t as feature-rich as an editor like Ecto or BlogDesk, but it is fast and easy, and works well for everybody in a hurry.

BlogJet (Windows)

If you are a power blogger, BlogJet is definitely a solution worth considering. While the application costs around $60, it manages to combine a number of useful tools in one clean, intuitive interface. It supports most blogging services, integrates with RSS-readers and also allows you to use keyword-shortcuts (like BlogDesk).

BlogJet cares about typography: it automatically replaces quotes and dashes with proper ones as you type. If you are on the road and there is no Internet-connection, or if you want to finish your post later, save it as draft. Then you can get back to finishing and publishing it. The tool also has Flickr and YouTube support, Spell Checker, Word Counter and Blog Statistics, Post Management and Searching. And BlogJet can automatically insert the title and the artist of the song playing in iTunes, Winamp or Windows Media Player.

If you are looking for a free alternative, stick with BlogDesk. It has almost the same features and is free. However, if a beautiful, intuitive design is important to you, then give BlogJet a shot. You won’t be disappointed.

Flock (Mac, Windows, Linux)

Flock is a web-browser that has a built-in blogging tool. The blogging tool allows you to blog directly from the page, similarly to Scribefire, with a keyboard shortcut or a mouse click. However, the interface on Flock is a bit nicer, and has a slightly more seamless integration than in case of Scribefire and Firefox. Also you can use the web clipping tool to save and store clips of information in your browser.

Flock is an optimal tool for simple bloggers who don’t need a lot of bells and whistles that come with other blogging editors.

Post2Blog (Windows)

On the surface, Post2Blog appears to be a very simple blogging tool. If you dig under the hood for a bit, you’ll notice that this lightweight blogging tool has some pretty nifty features. You can quickly add amazon affiliate links to your posts. It even has plugins for Firefox and Internet Explorer for quickly blogging a web page.

The tool also has a “Portable Mode” support, integration with RSS Bandit and Sharp Reader — you can post selected items from these RSS readers using Post2Blog plugin. You can also add Technorati, Del.icio.us, Buzzwords, 43 Things tags to your posts and earn money using “Insert Amazon Link” feature.

The only drawback is that the interface isn’t as elegant or intuitive as other Windows blogging platforms, and the tool isn’t supported by the developers.

Bleezer (Mac, Windows, Linux)

Bleezer is a light piece of software that has all standard features as well some advanced functionality which one would expect from robust editors. Spell checking, pinging services, uploading files and FTP capabilities are available. It’s a handy little tool that is quick and efficient. Again, it doesn’t have the beautiful design that BlogJet has, but it’s free and works smoothly. Bleezer is an optimal choice for advanced bloggers who can appreciate the advanced functionality that the software provides.

Using Bleezer you can work with every blogging service (even Blogger). You can also create custom markup by defining your own key strokes for custom HTML markup. As usual, you can also compose posts offline and post them when you want to. Windows and Linux users should extract the .zip file into a directory and double click the .jar file to run. You will need Java Virtual Machine.

Further Desktop Publishing Tools

Let’s take a look at the brief overview of further desktop blogging tools which may be also useful:

AirPress (cross-plattform, Adobe Air)
AirPress was a promising client with a file I/O API for saving FLV webcam videos record and ActionScript / JavaScript bridging to interact with the text editor made in HTML/Javascript. In the last release AirPress supported only WordPress and DotClear. The project’s official page (AdobeAir.org) has somehow disappeared few months ago. We don’t know the reason.
SharpMT (Mobile, Windows Mobile 5/6, PocketPC)
harpMT is an offline blogging tool that is designed for MovableType-based systems. There are three versions of the application: desktop, PocketPC, and SmartPhone, all of which share the same file format for offline drafts. The application uses text boxes for post entry: it was a design goal to not support WYSIWYG. It also includes the infrastructure to support plugins and XML-RPC calls that were designed to inteface with MT or TypePad. Freeware.

Conclusion

If you have little experience in blogging you might try either Flock, Windows Live Writer or Scribefire. Those three have fairly intuitive interfaces and don’t have all the advanced features that more robust programs have. Also, they are free so you can check out what application better manages to cover your needs.

Advanced bloggers looking for a bit more firepower should try Ecto, BlogJet or BlogDesk. BlogDesk works especially well for bloggers who frequently use photos in their posts (Image Wizard). Windows Live Writer and Ecto have extra functionality built in, as they both allow you to install plugins to add specific features.

Every desktop blog editor is a great benefit to any blogger’s toolkit, as it saves time and has features that traditional blog platforms don’t always have.

Source: http://msonerg.wordpress.com

Nikon D300 Camera Review

2008-07-31T03:25:00.000-07:00

Average user rating: 97%

Brand	Nikon
Type	D300
Resolution	13.10 Mpixel
Maximum resolution	4288x2848 pixels
Optical zoom	n/a
LCD screen size	3-inch
Video function	No
Dimensions	147x114x74

Brooks photography exhibition about Iraq war

2008-07-31T03:23:00.000-07:00

Brooks photography exhibition about Iraq war : In 2004, the U.S. Army 425th Civil Affairs Battalion from Santa Barbara was deployed to Iraq. Among those tasked to complete a tour of duty was Jeff DelaCruz, then a student at Brooks Institute of Photography. With active duty status as an Army Civil Affairs sergeant, the new solider had a front-line view of the impact of war and, as photographer, he had the intuition and ability to try and capture it in pictures. DelaCruz, who has returned to Santa Barbara to continue pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in Professional Photography, will introduce a retrospective of his time in Iraq, A Soldier’s View: A Pictorial Reflection of the War in Iraq, at the Brooks Institute.
Iraq war photo exbhibition
Reservations are not required for the exhibit, reception and presentation by DelaCruz, which will take place on Friday, November 10, from 5 to 7 p.m.. The show will remain open through Friday, December 22, 2006. In a mission statement describing his work, DelaCruz states, “This show defines for me those complexities that, as a young soldier in Iraq, range from touching to horrific. It is the aim of this show to compel viewers to examine the complexities that I experienced, not portrayed by the mainstream media, in hopes of placing the viewers’ opinions in a state of reality.”

Jeff DelaCruz Brooks photo exhibition - Viewpoint
During his tour in Iraq, the prolific photographer shot more than 160 rolls of film, visually journaling his experiences. His images run the gamut from optimistic depictions of the rebuilding efforts, to the frightening and demoralized lives of Iraqi people. As a soldier involved in reconstruction projects, DelaCruz had a unique viewpoint on the impact of war on infrastructure, economy and lives young and old. And, as an independent photographer - one not encumbered by the demands of traditional news media - he had the opportunity to catalog and explore real stories on film.

Photography exhibition - Brooks photography institute
“The common thread of my work all leads back to how war has affected both the lives of the Iraqi people and the soldiers who worked with them,” says DelaCruz. It clearly deeply affected him, and it is this feeling that exudes from his well-organized retrospective of black and white photographs. Even in pictures that present a straightforward or positive image - an average Iraqi family standing together in front of a house or a soldier fishing in the tranquil environment of a pond that is part of what were Saddam Hussein’s private hunting grounds, there is a disturbing undercurrent that pervades every photograph.

Brooks institute - Jeff DelaCruz photo exhibition
But, demurs DelaCruz, “The war in Iraq should not be looked at as simply good or bad. It should be seen as a series of constantly evolving in-betweens that can simultaneously be good, bad, beautiful and terrifying.” That said, those to whom he has presented the show have often expressed the same comment about the war, he says. “The comment I get the most is that it the war is sad.” While a student and prior to being called for army service, DelaCruz and a partner owned the Santa Barbara-based commercial photography firm DeLaQuirk Photography. His work has appeared in a number of publications, including GQ, Santa Barbara Magazine, European Kitchen & Bath and CMYK Magazine, and has been purchased by Penguin Books for a book cover.

About Brooks Institute
Brooks Institute offers a Master of Science degree program in Photography; Bachelor of Arts degree programs in Professional Photography, Film & Video Production, Visual Communication and Visual Journalism; an Associate of Arts degree program in Visual Journalism, and diploma programs in Professional Photography and Film & Video Production. Graduates from Brooks have gone on to work for distinguished organizations including National Geographic, Smithsonian, the Los Angeles Times and other national media outlets, Hallmark Publishing, Cousteau Society, HBO, Kodak and literally scores of other leaders in visual media fields.

Military in Iraq Receive Free Digital Keychain

2008-07-31T03:17:00.000-07:00

Military in Iraq receive free digital keychain : Digital Foci, Inc. announced that they are supporting the “Operation: Support Our Troops” giveaway of 1,000 Digital Foci “Pocket Album” digital keychain photo viewers through the “Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline” radio show as holiday gifts for Military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The “Into Tomorrow” radio show and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will distribute the keychains through on-air promotions and the website. The first 1,000 soldiers to email the show will receive a Pocket Album in time for the holidays. Pocket Album has a retail value of $39/each from Digital Foci, who is assisting with the production of these units.

Free digital keychain
Information about the Pocket Album giveaway will be available on the “Into Tomorrow” radio show heard on the 5 American Armed Forces Networks, where the show has a huge soldier following; as well as on hundreds of radio stations around the US and Canada, and on the XM Satellite Radio.

Military in Iraq - Support Our Troops
“With Pocket Album’s ability to store up to 74 pictures of family & friends and its easy portability in the field, we think it’s the perfect gift for Military in Iraq to keep their special pictures close to them at all times,” said Dave Graveline, Host and Executive Producer of “Into Tomorrow.” The “Operation: Support Our Troops” giveaway comes on the heels of Dave Graveline and his team sending out over 7,000 Skype Kits (headsets, software & calling time) and long distance Calling Cards to US military serving around the world.

Military in Iraq receive free digital keychain
“We are honored to be working with Dave Graveline at ‘Into Tomorrow’ and CEA in supporting this effort that gives the Military in Iraq a great way to view photos of their family and friends who are waiting for them back home,” said Charles Huang, Director of Business Development, Digital Foci.

Pocket Album
Pocket Album has a 1.5-inch color LCD screen that lets you carry your favorite photos right in your pocket to share and re-live your photo moments wherever you go. Pocket Album holds a selection of up to 74 pictures with its 8MB of internal memory. Photos can be viewed by scrolling manually or through an automatic photo slideshow with adjustable slideshow intervals. Photos are automatically re-sized through the included software and can easily be transferred from a computer (compatible with both Windows and Mac) to Pocket Album through its USB connection. Precious photo moments can be pre-loaded on Pocket Album to make it a perfect sentimental gift for your friends and family.

Digital Foci
Digital Foci helps consumers manage and enjoy their digital content collection easily. The company enhances people’s lives by allowing them to seamlessly move digital photos, video, and music from one place to another. With Digital Foci products, consumers are able to enjoy any of their digital content on any device without ever worrying about format compatibility. Digital Foci products include digital picture frames, photo displays, storage devices, and card readers for transfer, storage, and management optimized for any setting where you choose to enjoy your digital content.

Into Tomorrow
For over 13 years, “Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline” has been covering the latest in consumer electronic and technologies. It is heard in many markets around the US and Canada, through XM Satellite Radio and the Armed Forces Radio Network. The program is hosted by Dave Graveline, one of the most talented and professional award-winning radio and television hosts in the business. “Into Tomorrow” broadcasts are also heard on the road at major tradeshows, such as the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas; IFA in Berlin; CEATEC in Tokyo; and many more.

Apple iPod Touch Review

2008-07-31T03:05:00.000-07:00

Apple iPod touch review : Many current music players are capable of doing a lot more than just playing music. And the latest Apple iPod touch is not an exception. It is a full media player equipped with innovative functions such as Internet, WiFi and an option to play YouTube videos for example. The Apple iPod touch came in a surprisingly compact box; only inches larger than the iPod touch itself. The iPod touch comes with a fully loaded battery, so it is not necessary to charge the battery before using the iPod touch. Even the date and time were set correctly on the iPod touch we received. Enough reasons for our partners at LetsGoMobile to test the iPod touch and offer you an extensive review.

16GB Apple iPod touch
The iPod touch has only one dedicated button at its disposal, just as the iPhone, with one function to return to the main menu or in case screen deactivation is on, to activate the screen of the Apple iPod in combination with a sliding movement on the touch screen. The touch screen works flawless and fast. The main menu shows eleven icons, four of which are displayed for playing music, videos, pictures and iTunes. The remaining seven icons are for the Safari web browser, YouTube videos, agenda, contacts, clock, calculator and general settings. Furthermore the battery indicator is shown on the screen in the main menu. The time is rendered in every menu, in other words, it is always visible.

iPod touch Digital Photos
Unfortunately the iPod touch has not been equipped with a digital camera. It is possible however to synchronize the photos from your computer with the iPod touch through iTunes. Once the pictures are on your iPod you can watch them by touching the Pictures icon in the main menu on the iPod screen. Clicking on a picture will make it appear in a medium size in the centre of the screen. And also here, just as is the case when playing music, the picture is automatically rotated when turning your iPod into a different direction. If you turn the iPod one quarter, the picture will be rendered on full screen. The icon that tells you the number of the picture and a second one that lets you go on to the next or previous picture are still visible and available.

Apple iPod touch review
When the touch screen is touched once again on a spot clear from icons, the photo will be rendered fully. Instead of having to use the icons to go to the next or previous picture you can slide your finger to the left or the right on the touch screen and the next or previous picture will appear. An additional amazing function on the iPod touch is zooming in on pictures. Not so much amazing that this function is offered but more so because of the way it is carried out. You have to place your fingers on the exact spot you want to zoom in on and then move them apart. After that you can move to the right or the left sliding on the screen. If you want to go back to full screen and undo the zooming, it is simple; just double-click on the touch screen.

Apple iPhone Photography portal

2008-07-31T03:00:00.000-07:00

R on Risman, the owner of CameraTown, informed us about CameraTown’s latest project; the world's first photography portal for the Apple iPhone. Digital photography is hot and changing almost every week. New products like high resolution digital SLR cameras, entry-level compact cameras, photo printers or top quality pro lenses are introduced by the top of the digital imaging industry. Those Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users who want to be informed by the latest news need to check out this new Photography portal for Apple iPhone. This year is promising lots of interesting new products; the DLSR camera is absolute the product to look out for. New products will come up later on this year!

Apple iPhone Photography
According to Ron: "The World's First Photography Portal for the iPhone was launched today by Cameratown. The new site, specifically designed for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users, provides readers with quick access to "what's new" in photography. Visitors can easily find the latest camera reviews from the best and most trusted sources around the web, new product announcements, the latest headline news, and camera information by brand and model. Photography information is now more accessible than ever. Visit the iphone.cameratown.com portal today."

Digital Photography portal for Apple iPhone users

Cameratown one of the fastest growing digital photography resources on the web. Digital Camera enthusiasts visit our site daily and weekly to keep track of the latest camera reviews and news from around the web. The new portal of Cameratown will give you access to the latest news like you have never had before. Just carry your iPhone or Touch with you and check on a regular base your favorite website and you will be up-to-date the whole day on!

Beijing Olympics 2008 Tattoos, Inspired By Prison Break

2008-07-31T02:46:00.000-07:00

We all know Michael Scofield’s famous tattoo in Prison Break but tattooing The Great Wall of China, dragons, Olympic rings, symbols of Olympic sports and Fuwa? on your body sure comes close in some way.

More Beijing 2008 tattoos after the jump.

Beijing Olympic Torch Relay in Tangshan winds up

2008-07-31T02:42:00.000-07:00

Chen Guoying, mayor of Tangshan, lit the cauldron at Caofeidian Island Hotel Square at 12:05 on Thursday, bringing the Tangshan leg of the Olympic Torch Relay to an end. This is also the last stop for the sacred flame in Hebei Province.

The torch relay in Tangshan was divided into two stages. 59 torchbearers participated in the first part, which spanned 2.7 kilometers. This section of the relay followed a theme of all-round relief efforts and goodwill for Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province, which was devastated by an earthquake on May 12. A few of these torchbearers were selected from the numerous model workers who had served at rescue operations in Sichuan and elsewhere.

The second part, covering 7.4 kilometers with 149 torch bearers, was carried out at Caofeidian Industrial Zone, a promising large-scale industrial area still under construction.

Another highlight of the Torch Relay in Tangshan was that many torchbearers were former Olympic or world champions. Among them were Qian Hong (Women's 100 meter Butterfly champion, 1992 Olympic Games), Niu Jianfeng (Women's Singles champion, 2003 ITTF Professional Tournament), Yun Yanhong (46kg champion, 1994 World Women's Weightlifting Tournament), and Wang Kenan (3m Springboard Men's Doubles champion, 2004 World Cup Diving).

Tianjin will host the next leg of the Torch Relay on August 1.

Ruslana Korshunova Photos and life in Style

2008-07-31T02:25:00.000-07:00

Nicole Kidman Biography (1967– )

2008-07-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

In The Headlines: Actress Nicole Kidman gave birth to a baby girl Monday morning (July 7, 2008) with her husband, country singer Keith Urban, at her side in Nashville.

“Sunday Rose Kidman Urban weighed 6 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces,” said Urban’s publicist, Paul Freundlich. "Mother and baby are very well."

“We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers,” Urban wrote on his Web site shortly after the birth announcement was made.

"We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with all of you today."

The baby is the first for Kidman and Urban.

She has two adopted children, Isabella and Connor, from her marriage to Tom Cruise. Kidman recently told Vanity Fair that she had a miscarriage early on in her relationship with Cruise, leading them to adopt.

Cruise filed for divorce in 2001 after ten years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

Biography: Nicole Mary Kidman was born June 20, 1967, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

At age four she moved with her parents to Sydney, Australia. As a schoolgirl she attended a local theatre group and, encouraged by director Jane Campion, made a notable film debut in Bush Christmas (1983).

Her U.S. breakthrough came with Dead Calm (1989), and success followed with Billy Bathgate (1991), To Die For (1995), Practical Magic (1998), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999), in which she co-starred with husband Tom Cruise (divorced, 2001).

Later films include Moulin Rouge (2000, Golden Globe), The Hours (2002, Golden Globe; BAFTA; Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf), Cold Mountain (2003), and The Interpreter (2005). She married country singer Keith Urban (1967– ), who won a Grammy in 2006 for best male country vocal, in 2006.

Kidman was forced to break her schedule filming Baz Luhrmann's new drama Australia to attend a court hearing on a celebrity photographer’s defamation suit against a Sydney newspaper.

She told the New South Wales Supreme Court on November 19 that she was reduced to tears and feared a car accident when Jamie Fawcett chased her. Kidman spoke of hunkering down in the back seat of her car as she was driven to her parents' home in Sydney on January 23, 2005. She testified that she was "really, really scared" during the ride and was "in tears and distressed" by the time she reached her destination.

Kidman also described two other times that Fawcett had allegedly been intrusive when trying to photograph her: during her honeymoon and again after Christmas 2006. She said he was one of the reasons she employed full-time security guards.

A jury had already found that a Sun-Herald newspaper article defamed Jamie Fawcett by calling him Sydney's most disliked freelance photographer and was determined to "wreak havoc" on Kidman's private life.

The subsequent hearing was held to decide whether the newspaper's publisher, Fairfax Media, should pay the photographer damages, and how much. But Justice Carolyn Simpson ruled February 27, 2008, that Fawcett was not entitled to any financial compensation.

Source: www.biography.com

Top 10 Useful Bookmarklets

2008-07-31T02:01:00.000-07:00

Having a good set of bookmarklets on your browser's toolbar is like having a web-savvy Leatherman handy—you can take them anywhere, use them in many situations, and they just simply work. A bookmarklet is a little different than a plain old bookmark—it's a snippet of JavaScript that can perform all sorts of magic on the web page you're currently viewing. You add bookmarklets to your bookmarks collection to get all sorts of things done as you surf the web. Let's take a look at some of the best bookmarklets available, which can help you search and email, download videos, and work out some of the web's kinks.

To start using a bookmarklet, make sure your browser's bookmarks toolbar is visible. Then, drag and drop the bookmarklet link (enclosed in square brackets below each item on this post) to your bookmarks toolbar. When you're on a page where you want to use the bookmarklet? Just click its name on your toolbar.

10. YubNub Web Search

If you're the type who gives their upper-right search box a serious workout, the "web command line" YubNub could be right up your alley, and its bookmarklet makes it lightning-quick. Using the text box that pops up, type in gmaps Starbucks for a Google Maps look at local chain coffee joints, wp Hawaii for the Wikipedia entry on the 50th state, or whatever shortcuts suit your fancy. For even better browser integration, you can install YubNub in your Firefox address bar.

9. Supercharged GmailThis

Our own JavaScript tweaker Adam took a liking to the original GmailThis bookmarklet, which pops up a Gmail compose window with a link to the page you're browsing already inserted. The Supercharged edition is a custom fit for anyone who does their bookmarking with Gmail, but can also be used to set up multiple pre-addressed, pre-formatted messages: "Thought you'd like to check this out, Boss," "This week's discussion topic," etc. Set it up to your specifications, and it might be faster than your desktop email client.

8. Remove Bloat

Every so often, you find a web page that reminds you of that awkward stage in web development when every other page had auto-loading MIDI music, some kind of Flash animation, and iframes galore. The Remove Bloat bookmarklet, noted by CyberNet's roundup of bookmarklets, instantly strips out Java applications, Flash, music, and third-party iframes. When you just need to get at some text, or want to make your friend's MySpace page just a bit more tolerable, hit this button.

7. BugMeNot

If the web has more of anything these days (besides, you know, that), it's sites with login requirements. If you just want to check out a service or read that regrettably registration-required article, BugMeNot is your one-stop shop for borrowed free web site logins. Click the bookmarklet to fill out a user-submitted site's username and password fields. BugMeNot's been around for a long time, and it's hard to find a site not covered by its helpful submitters (Original post).

6. Google site search

When you want to search within a particular web site which doesn't offer its own search engine (or the one it does turns up less than useful results), you want to use Google to search within that site. We use the site:lifehacker.com advanced Google operator pretty extensively at Lifehacker HQ for those very reasons. The search giant gets beyond a site's own categorization and keyword logic to find exactly what you're looking for, even on since-removed pages. Having the right search modifiers added with one click makes site maps and tag digging feel like relics of the past (Original post).

5. All-In-One Video Bookmarklet

There are tons of extensions and software apps for grabbing video off YouTube and other Flash-based sites, but you can just as easily grab videos in Flash, .avi, and iPod-friendly MP4 formats with this handy link. The bookmarklet supports YouTube, Metacafe, MySpace, Break.com, and many more video-focused sites, and is a nice work-around for locked-down systems. (Original post). Note: The All-In-One Video Bookmarklet is a monster, so click through to its homepage to get the bookmarklet link to drag and drop onto your toolbar.

4. View Passwords

Gina originally posted about this little gem way back in October 2005, but it's just as useful and relevant today. If you're trying to figure out just which typo is causing your online bank to give you the stern "incorrect password" error, or want to quickly see what your auto-filled passwords actually are, this client-side-only bit of code is a serious help.

3. Google Mobilizer

For mobile browsers and anyone pulling down a page that's ... just ... taking ... forever, Google's Mobilizer tool is a serious time (and bandwidth) saver. Web PR worker Steve Rubel has a custom bookmarklet that works great on iPhones, mobile browsers, or a desktop suffering from a slow connection (Original post).

2. FormTextResizer

Some sites, whether through bad assumptions about monitor resolutions or just neglectful design, don't give you quite enough room to type out your comments, email text, or URLs. Web designer Cameron Adams' FormTextResizer enables you to grab, drag, and resize text fields on any page, no extension required. Internet Explorer users should grab an alternate bookmarklet from Adams' site (Original post).

1. TinyURL

For all the clones, mutations, and specific-use hacks of this service, TinyURL has become arguably the most recognized link-maker for the web's most awkward and lengthy addresses. Keeping its bookmarklet at hand cuts down on mangled email links, gives you more room to write in Twitter and Flickr cutlines and other tight spaces, and creates links you have a fighting chance of actually remembering. This bookmarklet lands you at a TinyURL page, which offers both a preview-enabled shortlink (more on that here) and all the info you'll need. Keep this one next to Embiggen for total TinyURL control (Original Embiggen post).

What bookmarklets have stood the test of time on your own toolbar? What clever tools did we miss here? Share your links in the comments.

Election Monitor and Sentiment Quiz

2008-07-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

Facebook has two US election applications for you to add to your Facebook profile. These will let you join in the election and even decide who you want to win.

The Election Monitor lets you vote. Who do you think the next President of the US should be. Watch the statistics change as more people vote.

The Sentiment Quiz can play a game that lets them take sentences from election related news and decide whether they are positive statements or negative statements. They play along side other people so when they get matching answers they earn points. They can lose points be getting different answers than the person they're playing with. Players with enough points can win monthly prized. They'll also be entered into the final competition in November 2008.

Source:

Romulus, My Father (2007)

2008-07-29T07:54:00.000-07:00

It tells the story of Romulus, his beautiful wife, Christina, and their struggle in the face
of great adversity to bring up their son, Raimond. It is a story of impossible love that
ultimately celebrates the unbreakable bond between father and son.

Eric Bana ... Romulus
Franka Potente ... Christina
Marton Csokas ... Hora

Rated R for sexuality, some violence and brief language.

Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/106900675/RMF.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/106906842/RMF.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/106911112/RMF.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/106915702/RMF.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/106919927/RMF.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/106924188/RMF.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/106928593/RMF.part7.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/106928717/RMF.part8.rar

Marihuana (1936) Download

2008-07-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

This companion to Reefer Madness is an early anti-weed faux documentary which chronicles one girl's descent into crime and prostitution, the result of her marijuana dependency. It was originally released as Marijuana - The Devil's Weed.

Download:
http://rapidshare.com/files/115127860/anauhiraM.zip.001
http://rapidshare.com/files/115136098/anauhiraM.zip.002
http://rapidshare.com/files/115144424/anauhiraM.zip.003
http://rapidshare.com/files/115153213/anauhiraM.zip.004
http://rapidshare.com/files/115157882/anauhiraM.zip.005
Password:
killertomato

The Name Of The Rose (1986) Download

2008-07-29T07:49:00.001-07:00

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982) Download

2008-07-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Batman Begins (2008)

2008-07-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

Length: 139 min
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Liam Neeson
Director: Christopher Nolan

This latest and long-awaited installment in the »Batman« series boasts an impressive cast with Michael Caine (»The Quiet American», »The Cider House Rules«), Morgan Freeman (»Million Dollar Baby«, »Unleashed«), and Christian Bale (»American Psycho«, »The Machinist«) as the crime-fighting bat hero, and the acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan (»Insomnia«, »Memento«) as its director. The film explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.

A Wonderfull Free Blogspot Template: Jeans!

2008-07-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

Jeans : Cool Blogger Template

I'm sure that some of you still looking for best blogger template to your blogspot blog. Today, I found a cool blogger template named JEANS.

Take a look the Jeans demo, and you can download here.

VA - VERVE REMIXED 4 (2008) Album Download

2008-07-29T04:44:00.000-07:00

Label: Verve
Release Date: May 27, 2008
Genre: Electronic | Dance
Quality: MP3 VBR ~182 kbps 44khz Stereo
Playtime: 47:09 min
Tracks: 12
Size: 66 Mb

:: TRACKLIST ::

1. Dinah Washington - Cry Me A River (Truth & Soul Remix)
2. Nina Simone - Gimme Some (Mike Mangini Remix)
3. James Brown - There Was A Time (Kenny Dope Remix)
4. Marlena Shaw - California Soul (Diplo/Mad Decent Remix)
5. Nina Simone - Take Care Of Business (Pilooski Edit)
6. Astrud Gilberto - Bim Bom (Psapp Remix)
7. Anita O'Day - Tenderly (Mocky Remix)
8. Sarah Vaughan - Tea For Two (Chris Shaw Remix) 2:42
9. Patato & Totico - Dilo Como Yo (Antibalas Remix)
10. Willie Bobo - Evil Ways (Karriem Riggins Remix)
11. Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves The Sunshine (9th Wonder Remix)
12. Ella Fitzgerald - I Get A Kick Out Of You (Cinematic Orchestra Remix)

DOWNLOAD: VA - VERVE REMIXED 4 (2008)

The Juan Maclean-Less Than Human (2005) Album Download

2008-07-29T04:42:00.000-07:00

DOWNLOAD:RAPIDSHARE

Asha Puthli (1973) Album

2008-07-29T04:30:00.000-07:00

DOWNLOAD

BenX Film is a wonderfull dram

2008-07-29T03:24:00.000-07:00

Ben is different.

His life is a universe to itself, where he plays his favourite online computer game Archlord
avidly, trying hard to train himself for the real world he lives in. The harsh world of a technical school is for him a daily kind of hell.

As the horror of being a daily subject to bullying grows, Ben devises a plan. Then Scarlite comes into his life, the girl he has met in his on-line game. That wasn’t part of the plan...

Obamaticons, the animated Barack Obama emoticons

2008-07-29T03:20:00.000-07:00

Obamaticons, the animated Barack Obama emoticons

We proudly present to you today: the Obamaticons! It's a free set of animated emoticons for Windows Live Messenger starring, you guessed it, rock star presidential candidate: Barack Obama. Use this set as a substitute for the standard yellow emoticons and have Obama laughing, winking, blushing, crying, etc. in your IM conversations. Also included is a bonus display picture that'll animate if you're running the Windows Live Messenger 9.0 Beta.

Adding them to your Messenger account is easy. Download our freeware CustoMess application here or from Download.com. Install and fire it up, then just click the Obamaticons pack in the menu and the animated emoticons and avatar will be automatically added to the currently signed-in Messenger account. The keyboard shortcuts are oba followed by the code you'd use for a default emoticon: oba:@ oba:$ oba:p oba(h) oba:’( oba:D oba:( oba:) oba:o oba;). Remember that you can send a maximum of five custom emoticons in one message.

Mess.be is not affiliated with Obama in any way, we're just infected with the Obamamania now spreading worldwide. I've even set up a separate domain to support the set, check it out at Obamaticons and feel free to link to it.

>> Install the Obamaticons via CustoMess. Download it here or from Download.com

Source: http://www.mess.be

New Spleak bots specialized in games, style and television

2008-07-29T03:08:00.000-07:00

New Spleak bots specialized in games, style and television

dwergs says ( 28 Jul 2008 ):

Three siblings have been added to the Spleak family, focused on games, style and television respectively. The Spleak bots now offer news bites or "tattles" on a total of six topics.

While they lack the more personal touch of "good old Spleak", there are two things I really like about these bots. Firstly, users are encouraged to contribute their own stories, opinions and polls related to the topics. This can be done via the bots or widgets on social networks and websites. For instance, one user of StyleSpleak suggested the concept of "robot models", so real models wouldn't have to starve themselves to look fabulous on the catwalk. Clever... or not? Users decide and rate.

Another thing I find useful are their often updated personal status messages that fill you in on the hottest topic of the day or an interesting thought contributed by a user. From just a quick glance at my contact list (see screenshot below) the status of GameSpleak informed about an upcoming Sega handheld gaming device. Maybe not as comprehensive as an RSS-feed but it keeps you in the loop of all kinds of trivia.

The complete list of Spleak bots:
>> Add CelebSpleak: Celeb@Spleak.com to your contact list.
>> Add VoteSpleak: Vote@Spleak.com to your contact list.
>> Add SportSpleak: Sport@Spleak.com to your contact list.
>> Add GameSpleak: Game@Spleak.com to your contact list.
>> Add StyleSpleak: Style@Spleak.com to your contact list.
>> Add TVSpleak: TV@Spleak.com to your contact list.
>> Win a US $100 iTunes gift certificate for trying out the CelebSpleak toolbar.

Source: http://www.mess.be

Britney Spears Biography (1981-)

2008-07-29T02:33:00.000-07:00

Britney Spears will not be charged over a photographer's claim that she ran over his foot in Los Angeles, prosecutors announced Monday (June 16, 2008).

The paparazzo, who has not been identified, filed a complaint against the singer in early May, almost six months after the alleged incident.

The complaint sought a felony charge of failing to stop after an accident involving an injury.

But Deputy District Attorney Joseph Shidler, who said he studied a video and photos of the incident, blamed the photographer for his injury.

”The video indicates that there was a lot of noise and confusion as the photographers were jockeying for position,” Shidler wrote.

“The driver of the car (Spears) was driving at an extremely slow rate of speed and in a straight path. The only way the victim’s foot could have been where the video indicates it to be was by the victim placing it in that location.”

The pop star has had her share of trouble behind the wheel, including a highly publicized incident in 2006 where she was photographed driving with her young son on her lap.

A 2007 misdemeanor hit-and-run charge was dismissed after she settled with the car's owner. She also pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving without a valid license. And on April 12, 2008, she was involved in a minor fender-bender on a Los Angeles freeway.

Spears was born December 2, 1981 , in Kentwood Louisiana. The daughter of Lynne, an elementary school teacher, and Jamie, a construction contractor, Spears auditioned for the Disney Channel’s Mickey Mouse Club at the age of 8. Producers for the show decided she was too young, but one was impressed enough to help her find an agent in New York.

Accompanied by her mother and younger sister, Spears lived in Manhattan for the next several summers, studying at the Professional Performing Arts School. In 1991, she landed a part as a demonic child in Ruthless, an off-Broadway production based on the 1956 horror film, The Bad Seed.

At age 11, Spears auditioned again, this time successfully, for the Mickey Mouse Club. For the 1993 and 1994 seasons, she lived in Orlando, Florida, where the show is filmed, in a dorm with the rest of the cast—including two future members of the group ‘N Sync and Keri Russell, future star of the WB’s Felicity.

After her run on the MMC, Spears attended high school at home in Louisiana for a year, before heading back to New York at age 15 to audition for executives at Jive Records. She signed a development deal with Jive and over the next two years recorded her debut album with producers Eric Foster White, who had worked with Whitney Houston (one of Spears’ professed influences, with Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Mariah Carey), and Max Martin, who worked with fellow pop stars the Backstreet Boys.

The album, Baby One More Time, was completed by early 1998 but wasn’t released until January 1999. During the interim, Spears set out on a promotional tour to shopping malls throughout America, prompting inevitable comparisons with ‘80s teen pop stars such as Tiffany and Debbie Gibson.

Her first single, also titled “Baby One More Time,” was released in October 1998; its success got Spears a gig opening for ‘N Sync, by then a popular teen band. When Spears’ album was released on January 12, 1999 , it went straight to the top of the Billboard charts, becoming the first album of the year to debut at No. 1. The single, spurred along by a racy video featuring Spears dressed as a bare-midriffed Catholic schoolgirl, also shot up to No. 1. By September, Baby One More Time had sold over 6 million copies. Spears’ first eagerly-awaited solo tour opened in June 1999.

Some controversy surrounded a Rolling Stone cover story in March 1999, picturing the 17-year-old Spears in a seductive, Lolita-esque pose. Spears has vigorously denied the widespread rumor that she has breast implants, as well as the rumor that she is actually in her 20s.

Before the Grammy Awards, held in February 2000, Spears had emerged as one of the leading contenders for Best New Artist. She eventually lost the award, to fellow ex-Mickey Mouse Clubber and teen pop sensation Christina Aguilera.

Spears' second album, Oops!...I Did It Again, hit stores in May of 2000. With 1.3 million copies sold in its first week in stores, the album became the top-selling debut by a solo female artist ever. It earned Spears two more Grammy nominations, for Best Vocal Pop Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for the single “Oops!...I Did It Again”).

Spears released her third album, Britney, in November 2001, which featured the breakout single, I’m A Slave 4 U. With her next album, In the Zone (2003), she tried to sound more adult while at the same time playing up an even sexier image. She collaborated with Madonna on the popular track Me Against the Music and scored a top ten hit with Toxic.

In recent years, Spears has become more famous for her personal life than her music. She dated fellow Mickey Mouse Club alum Justin Timberlake of the blockbuster boy band 'N Sync for a number of years. Their much-talked-about breakup was followed by an annulled impromptu marriage to childhood pal Jason Allen Alexander in 2003.

Spears married dancer Kevin Federline in a much-publicized wedding in September 2004. Their first child, a son, was born on September 14, 2005. Their second son was born on September 12, 2006. Spears filed for divorce in November 2006. The divorce became finalized in July.

After her break-up with Federline, Spears’ personal life seemed to spin out of control. Within days, she was photographed without underwear arriving at various parties. In February 2007, she shaved her head with electric clippers at a tattoo shop in Sherman Oaks, California.

Britney made several attempts at rehabilitation before completing a program at a Malibu, California-based treatment facility on March 20, 2007. But Spears' former bodyguard said he saw her doing drugs shortly after.

Tony Baretto revealed in an interview on Sept. 24 that Spears had done drugs twice at a nightclub, but didn’t say what kind of drugs she did. Baretto, fired two months after that alleged incident, also filed a deposition in her child-custody case claiming to be witness to “nudity, drug use and safety issues” involving her kids.

Spears, who is trailed almost everywhere by a mob of celebrity photographers, has also became notorious for distracted driving. In February 2006, she was photographed driving with her son on her lap.

On August 6, 2007, paparazzi photographed Spears steering her car into another vehicle as she tried to park in a space in a lot in Studio City. The video showed her walking away after assessing the damage to her own car.

The owner of the other car, Kim Robard-Rifkin, learned it was Spears who had hit her car through a video posted on the Internet and filed a police report three days later. Investigators later determined that Spears also did not have a license.

A hit-and-run charge against Spears was dismissed Oct. 25 after she paid an undisclosed amount to the other car's driver in the fender-bender. She also pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving without a valid driver's license and later obtained a temporary California license.

The damage continued to pile up into that October and November as three people, including two paparazzi and a Los Angeles sheriff's deputy, reportedly had their feet crushed as Spears drove her car through crowds.

In addition to her motoring misfortunes, Spears was also dropped by her management company, the Firm, on Sept. 17, eight days after her widely panned performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Still, her new album Blackout came out October 30 to broadly favorable reviews.

She also suffered from pinkeye, a common infection when you have little kids. Spears made that revelation coming out of the Los Angeles courthouse Oct. 15 where she was booked on charges in the Aug. 6 incident. She was wearing large designer sunglasses at night to hide her infection, which she said hurt “really bad.”

The biggest blow, however, was yet to come. Citing concerns about her use of drugs and alcohol, Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon removed Spears from physical custody of her children Oct. 1. Gordon ordered Spears to undergo random drug and alcohol tests and meet weekly with a parenting coach who would report back to the court about her parenting skills.

Gordon later granted some visitation rights to Spears, but reversed that on Oct. 17 after finding she had failed to comply with some conditions for shared custody. He withdrew the visitation ban a few days later, but only in the presence of a court-approved monitor.

Gordon also ordered both parents to complete the court's “Parenting Without Conflict” class. Indeed, they attended their first of six sessions on Oct. 24 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Spears and Federline reportedly discussed how a divorce can affect children, and received instructions on what they should be doing to be good divorced parents.

Spears failed to regain custody of her children Oct. 30, following a damning review of her parenting skills. She was, however, granted two supervised visits per week with her kids if she has regular drug and alcohol tests, childproofs her home, buckles the kids in car seats and continues meeting with a court-appointed parenting coach.

In that ruling, Gordon also noted that Spears had failed to keep appointments with a court-appointed parenting coach, Lisa Hacker, on three occasions before finally holding a series of sessions. Gordon added that while Hacker felt Spears “loves her children and the children are bonded” to her, she had expressed “several observations that are of concern.”

“It seems that her (Spears) choices are dependent more upon what she wants to do at any given time rather than what would be more enjoyable for the children,” Hacker stated in the Oct. 19 report. She added that the Spears household: “Ranged from chaotic to almost somber with no communication at all.”

During all three visits, Hacker said Spears “rarely engaged with the children in either conversation or play” and had displayed a “lack of general attention at times.” Hacker closed her report by stating bluntly: “The problem is that unless Ms Spears realizes the consequences of her behavior and the impact that it has (on) her children, nothing is going to be successful.”

Gordon's nine-page ruling said Spears could have overnight visits with her kids. She would get two visits a week from noon to 7 p.m. and one from noon to 10 a.m. the next morning. All the visits would be monitored. Spears and Federline were also ordered to meet to agree a holiday schedule.

The Oct. 30 ruling followed a tense three-hour hearing Oct. 26 attended by both Spears and Federline. During a break, Spears reportedly began cursing, Access Hollywood reported.

“Eat it! Lick it! Snort it! F*** it!” she was overheard repeating when a reporter tried to ask her a question. Spears also seemed distraught when she eventually left the courthouse for the day.

Spears was ordered to show up for a deposition to determine whether she misused alcohol and substances in front of her young children. But she missed several sessions, including ones scheduled for Dec. 12, 2007 and Jan. 2, 2008.

Another deposition was scheduled for Jan. 3, but Spears arrived so late that it was called off after only 14 minutes. Later that night, she was taken to a hospital after a standoff in her Beverly Hills mansion when she refused to return the children to Federline's bodyguard following a visit.

Spears finally turned over her children after ambulances showed up. She was conscious, alternately smiling and looking distraught, when paramedics took her out of her home in a gurney.

The exact reasons for Spears being taken to hospital were not revealed although there was speculation she was suffering from a long-standing psychological illness, possibly bipolar disorder.

Spears discharged herself Jan. 5, but couldn't get out the door without bumping into psychologist and television talk show host “‘Dr. Phil” McGraw. He had been asked to meet with Spears by her parents. After they chatted, Dr. Phil reportedly escorted Spears to her car.

And then, Dr. Phil started telling everybody about his encounter with Britney, including the media. Britney’s parents, not happy about it at all, said through a spokeswoman that “‘he (Dr. Phil) was not invited to make this part of a public display or part of the media” and called it “‘an example of a trust being betrayed.”

Lou Taylor, a business manager for Spears' mother, Lynne, and younger sister, Jamie Lynn, said Jan. 9 McGraw was planning to do a show on Spears (her parents reportedly declined to participate), but cancelled it, saying her predicament was “‘too intense.”

Mental health professionals also criticized McGraw, saying he went too far. McGraw fired back at his critics in an interview with Entertainment Tonight on Jan. 7.

“‘Somebody needs to step up and get this young woman into some quality care — and I do not apologize one whit, not one second, for trying to make that happen,” he said.

Meantime on Jan. 4, Commissioner Gordon gave sole physical and legal custody of the former couple's two toddler sons to Federline and suspended Spears' visitation rights. That decision was upheld during closed-door meetings on Jan. 14 and Jan. 23.

Spears’ attendance at those hearings were erratic. On Jan. 14, she left the courthouse almost as fast as she arrived with her car surrounded by paparazzi. On Jan. 23, she bolted less than a half-hour after arriving. Although her attendance was not required at either hearing, Spears' lawyers had told the singer she should appear to have any hope of regaining access to her children, as reported widely by celebrity news websites.

Spears did finally show up to a deposition Jan. 21, according to published reports. People.com and TMZ.com said Spears drove to the Los Angeles office of Federline's attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, with a friend and was seen leaving more than two hours later.

Meantime, the lawyers representing Spears in her custody battle declared their intention to quit. The law firm Trope and Trope asked a court on Jan. 2 to be relieved as her attorneys, citing a “breakdown” in communication with Spears that makes representing her “impossible,” according to a filing obtained by CelebTV.com.

The fact that Spears didn’t show for a scheduled deposition Jan. 2 may have been a factor in her lawyers’ decision to drop her. The celebrity website TMZ.com reported that it was the fifth deposition the pop princess had missed. Attorney Stacy Phillips took the reigns in Britney's custody case on Feb. 19.

On Jan. 28, journalist Barbara Walters cited Spears’ friend and sometimes manager Osama "Sam” Lutfi when she broke that news on her ABC television show The View that Spears was suffering from "mental issues" and is seeing a psychiatrist.

"He said that Britney is suffering from what he describes as mental issues which are treatable," Walters said. "He said that she has been to a psychiatrist and that she, I assume, is starting some kind of treatment."

Walters said Lutfi told her Spears was having mood swings and trouble sleeping. But Spears was back in touch with her mother, who had been very supportive.

In the hours following Walters' announcement, a visibly distraught Spears was seen bolting out of a car with Lutfi at her Beverly Hills home. And a few hours after that, her parents, Jamie and Lynne Spears, arrived from their home in Louisiana for a possible "intervention."

The operation to commit Spears to UCLA Medical Center's psychiatric ward appeared to have been "carefully planned over a period of time," the Los Angeles Times reported. A psychiatrist treating the singer had contacted police to set the events in motion.

Authorities entered Spears’ hilltop home in Studio City, known as the Summit, shortly after 1 a.m. on Jan. 31

They were inside for about ten minutes before they spirited Spears away, under the code name "package,” through a side entrance by a motorcade nearly the length of a football field. It included police on nearly a dozen motorcycles and two cruisers. Two police helicopters also followed overhead.

Spears’ mother, Lynne, was seen leaving the UCLA Medical Center psychiatric ward at about 5:30 a.m. When asked whether Britney was doing all right, Lynne Spears replied, "Yeah," before departing in a Range Rover.

Britney was committed on what was supposed to be a 72-hour hold. When the 72 hours were up, her stay was extended Feb. 3 by another 14 days. Hospital staff members cited a section in the state law that allows patients to be retained for medical treatment if they are found to be gravely disabled or a danger to themselves or others.

But on Feb. 6, just three days after that extension, Spears was released against the advice of a psychiatrist. A private security detail reportedly escorted Spears out with relatively little fanfare.

Spears was almost immediately hounded again by paparazzi as she drove around Los Angeles in a black Mercedes-Benz with an unidentified man. At one point, more than 15 people circled the car, shooting still pictures and video. Spears’ parents said they believed their daughter's life is at risk.

"As parents of an adult child in the throes of a mental health crisis, we were extremely disappointed this morning to learn that over the recommendation of her treating psychiatrist, our daughter Britney was released from the hospital that could best care for her and keep her safe," Spears’ parents said in a joint statement.

"We are deeply concerned about our daughter's safety and vulnerability and we believe her life is presently at risk,” the statement read. "There are conservatorship orders in place created to protect our daughter that are being blatantly disregarded. We ask only that the court's orders be enforced so that a tragedy may be averted."

On Feb. 1, Los Angeles Court Commissioner Reva Goetz had named Spears' father as conservator of her person and he and attorney Andrew Wallet as conservators of her $100 estate.

Lutfi, who has been at Spears’ side throughout much of her well-documented public breakdown, was also ordered to stay away from the pop singer and stop harassing her. Lynne Spears claimed that since Britney met Lutfi in October 2007, he had moved into her daughter's home and taking over her finances, controlling the paparazzi following her and putting drugs in Britney's food to keep her quiet.

Lynne Spears also said Lutfi had disabled her cars so she couldn’t leave, "cut Britney's home phone lines and removed her cell phone chargers. He yells at her. He claims to control everything -- Britney's business manager, her attorneys and the security guards at the gate.”

Lynne Spears said when she, her husband and a friend went to Britney's home to stage an intervention, Lutfi told her if she tried to get rid of him, Britney would be "dead.”

"I have no problems with anyone writing anything negative against me,” Lutfi responded in a text message to The Associated Press. "My image is not of concern, hers is.''

The restraining order, approved Feb. 1 and publicly released by the court on Feb. 5, required Lutfi to remain 250 yards away from the medical center where Spears was being held, her home and the homes of her parents, siblings and children.

On May 6, Spears was granted increased visits with her two sons. A lawyer for the singer’s former husband, Kevin Federline, said the longer visits were “recognition of the progress that has been made.”

Source: www.biography.com

Oprah Winfrey Biography (1954-)

2008-07-29T01:07:00.001-07:00

Oprah Winfrey is still the world’s most powerful celebrity.

For the second consecutive year and the fifth time overall, the TV talk show host topped Forbes magazine’s Celebrity 100 list of the richest, most influential artists, athletes and personalities.

Professional golfer Tiger Woods came in second, ahead of actress Angelina Jolie, singer Beyonce Knowles and British soccer player David Beckham .

Rounding out the top ten were actor Johnny Depp, music mogul Jay-Z, the British rock band The Police, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and actor Brad Pitt .

The list is based on earnings, Internet presence and media coverage.

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. After a troubled adolescence in a small farming community, where she was sexually abused by a number of male relatives and friends of her mother, Vernita, she moved to Nashville to live with her father, Vernon, a barber and businessman. She entered Tennessee State University in 1971 and began working in radio and television broadcasting in Nashville.

In 1976, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where she hosted the TV chat show, People Are Talking. The show became a hit and Winfrey stayed with it for eight years, after which she was recruited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show, A.M. Chicago. Her major competitor in the time slot was Phil Donahue. Within several months, Winfrey's open, warm-hearted personal style had won her 100,000 more viewers than Donahue and had taken her show from last place to first in the ratings. Her success led to nationwide fame and a role in Steven Spielberg's 1985 film, The Color Purple, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Winfrey launched the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986 as a nationally syndicated program. With its placement on 120 channels and an audience of 10 million people, the show grossed $125 million by the end of its first year, of which Winfrey received $30 million. She soon gained ownership of the program from ABC, drawing it under the control of her new production company, Harpo Productions ('Oprah' spelled backwards) and making more and more money from syndication.

In 1994, with talk shows becoming increasingly trashy and exploitative, Winfrey pledged to keep her show free of tabloid topics. Although ratings initially fell, she earned the respect of her viewers and was soon rewarded with an upsurge in popularity. Her projects with Harpo have included the highly rated 1989 TV miniseries, The Women of Brewster Place, which she also starred in. Winfrey also signed a multi-picture contract with Disney. The initial project, 1998's Beloved, based on Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison and starring Winfrey and Danny Glover, got mixed reviews and generally failed to live up to expectations.

Winfrey, who became almost as well-known for her weight loss efforts as for her talk show, lost an estimated 90 pounds (dropping to her ideal weight of around 150 pounds) and competed in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC, in 1995. In the wake of her highly publicized success, Winfrey's personal chef, Rosie Daley, and trainer, Bob Greene, both published best-selling books.

The media giant contributed immensely to the publishing world by launching her "Oprah's Book Club," as part of her talk show. The program propelled many unknown authors to the top of the bestseller lists and gave pleasure reading a new kind of popular prominence.

With the debut in 1999 of Oxygen Media, a company she co-founded that is dedicated to producing cable and Internet programming for women, Winfrey ensured her place in the forefront of the media industry and as one of the most powerful and wealthy people in show business. In 2002, she concluded a deal with the network to air a prime-time complement to her syndicated talk show. Her highly successful monthly, O: The Oprah Magazine debuted in 2000, and in 2004, she signed a new contract to continue The Oprah Winfrey Show through the 2010-11 season. The show is seen on 212 U.S. stations and in more than 100 countries worldwide.

According to Forbes magazine, Oprah was the richest African American of the 20th century and the world's only Black billionaire for three years running. Life magazine hailed her as the most influential woman of her generation. In 2005, Business Week named her the greatest Black philanthropist in American history. Oprah's Angel Network has raised more than $51,000,000 for charitable programs, including girls' education in South Africa and relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Winfrey is a dedicated activist for children's rights; in 1994, President Clinton signed a bill into law that Winfrey had proposed to Congress, creating a nationwide database of convicted child abusers. She founded the Family for Better Lives foundation and also contributes to her alma mater, Tennessee State University. In September, 2002, Oprah was named the first recipient of The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.

Winfrey campaigned for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama in December 2007, attracting the largest crowds of the primary season to that point. Winfrey joined Obama for a series of rallies in the early primary/caucus states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. It was the first time Winfrey had ever campaigned for a political candidate.

The biggest event was at the University of South Carolina football stadium, where 29,000 supporters attended a rally that had been switched from an 18,000-seat basketball arena to satisfy public demand.

"Dr. (Martin Luther) King dreamed the dream. But we don't have to just dream the dream any more," Oprah told the crowd. "We get to vote that dream into reality by supporting a man who knows not just who we are, but who we can be."

Winfrey also confronted Obama's chief perceived weakness: his lack of experience.

"Experience in the hallways of government isn't as important to me as the experience on the pathway of life," Winfrey said, citing the Illinois senator's achievements outside Washington.

The power of Winfrey's political endorsement was unclear (Obama won Iowa and South Carolina, but lost New Hampshire). But she has a clear track record of turning unknown authors into blockbuster best-sellers when she mentions their books on her program.

For Oprah, the campaign swing provided a much-welcomed respite from some controversies that put her in the news.

Recently, she was criticized by the victim of a vicious sexual attack in Central Park. Trisha Meili, then a 28-year-old investment banker, nearly died in the April 19, 1989, attack. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent five months at a rehabilitation hospital.

Meili broke her silence 13 years later and published a book, I Am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility. But while still concealing her identity, she was interviewed by Winfrey for the April 2002 edition of O, the talk show host’s magazine. Winfrey asked Meili why she was running alone in the park at night (shortly before 10 p.m.). Meili told Winfrey she realized it was “not a smart thing to do,” but that didn't justify the attack in which she was raped and severely beaten.

Fast forward five years.

Meili told New York1 Nov. 14, 2007, that if she were asked the question again, she would say “If that isn't a blame the victim question, I don't know what is.”

“It's like, ‘Okay, so it's my fault that I was out there?'” said Meili, who has become an advocate for victims of sexual violence. “I think that's still one of the most difficult battles that sexual assault survivors and those who support them need to fight.”

Five men convicted in the assault served prison time before DNA evidence confirmed the confession of another man, Matias Reyes, in 2002. He was already serving a life sentence on unrelated convictions.

A representative for Winfrey said the magazine was sorry to hear Meili's sentiments about the interview, saying that Winfrey “is and has always been an advocate for victims of sexual abuse of any kind.”

Meili’s criticism immediately followed “one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating,” experience of Oprah’s life. Winfrey told reporters on Nov. 5, 2007, that she cried when she heard allegations that a dormitory matron was abusing students at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

The matron, 27-year-old Virginia Makopo, was freed Nov. 5 on $450 bail. She faces 13 charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury committed against at least six students aged 13-15 and a 23-year-old at the school.

Winfrey said the woman's contract with the school wouldn’t be renewed, and that the academy's screening process will be revised. Though she wasn't directly in charge of the screening process, Oprah said “the buck always stops” with her.

Winfrey had recently flown to South Africa for an emergency meeting with parents and school administrators at the campus near Johannesburg. A tearful Winfrey asked parents to forgive her for letting them down.

"I've disappointed you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she said, according to numerous South African media reports.

The $40 million academy has been dogged by controversy since it opened in January 2007 with a star-studded launch attended by actor Sydney Poitier, singers Mariah Carey, Tina Turner and Mary J. Blige, comedian Chris Rock and filmmaker Spike Lee.

In March 2007, some parents complained the school was too strict and access was comparable to prison rules. Two months later, some parents complained that when they visited the school they had to go through a security gate.

Winfrey hand-selected the first class of 152 poor, mostly black pupils to attend the posh school, where tuition and board is free. The academy also provides its 450 students with textbooks, uniforms and meals.

Since 1992, Winfrey has been engaged to Stedman Graham, a public relations executive. The couple lives in Chicago, and Winfrey also has homes in Montecito, California, Rolling Prairie, Indiana, and Telluride, Colorado.

Source: www.biography.com

Maya Angelou Biography (1928 - )

2008-07-29T00:57:00.001-07:00

(Original name Marguerite Johnson)

Writer, dancer, African-American activist. Born Marguerite Johnson on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Angelou spent her difficult formative years moving back and forth between her mother's and grandmother's. At age eight, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend, who was subsequently killed by her uncles. The event caused the young girl to go mute for nearly six years, and her teens and early twenties were spent as a dancer, filled with isolation and experimentation.

At 16 she gave birth to a son, Guy, after which she toured Europe and Africa in the musical Porgy and Bess. On returning to New York City in the 1960s, she joined the Harlem Writers Guild and became involved in black activism. She then spent several years in Ghana as editor of African Review, where she began to take her life, her activism and her writing more seriously.

Maya Angelou's five-volume autobiography commenced with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1970. The memoirs chronicle different eras of her life and were met with critical and popular success. Later books include All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986) and My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me (1994). She has published several volumes of verse, including And Still I Rise (1987) and Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1995). Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Die (1971), was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

In 1993, Angelou read On the Pulse of Morning at Bill Clinton's Presidential inauguration, a poem written at his request. It was only the second time a poet had been asked to read at an inauguration, the first being Robert Frost at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. In 2006, Angelou agreed to host a weekly radio show on XM Satellite Radio's Oprah & Friends channel. She also teaches at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, where she has a lifetime position as the Reynolds professor of American studies.

Source: www.biography.com

John McCain's Biography (1936–)

2008-07-29T00:51:00.001-07:00

John McCain clinched the Republican presidential nomination on Mar. 4, 2008, with primary wins in Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. The victories pushed McCain´s delegate count above the 1,191 needed for the nomination, completing a remarkable comeback for a campaign that had appeared dead just months prior.

“Now, we begin the most important part of our campaign: to make a respectful, determined and convincing case to the American people that our campaign and my election as president, given the alternatives presented by our friends in the other party, are in the best interests of the country we love,” McCain said during a victory speech.

John Sidney McCain III was born on August 29, 1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone, the second of three children born to naval officer John S. McCain Jr. and his wife, Roberta. At the time of his birth, the McCain family was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, under American control.

Both McCain´s father and paternal grandfather, John Sidney McCain, Sr., were four-star admirals and his father rose to command all the U.S. naval forces in the Pacific.

McCain spent his childhood and adolescent years moving between naval bases in America and abroad. He attended Episcopal high School, a private preparatory boarding school in Alexandria, Virginia, graduating in 1954.

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, McCain graduated (fifth from the bottom of his class) from the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1958. He also graduated from flight school in 1960.

With the outbreak of the Vietnam War, McCain volunteered for combat duty and began flying carrier-based attack planes on low-altitude bombing runs against the North Vietnamese. He escaped serious injury on July 29, 1967, when his A-4 Skyhawk plane was accidentally shot by a missile on board the USS Forestal, causing explosions and fires that killed 134.

On October 26, 1967, during his 23rd air mission, McCain´s plane was shot down during a bombing run over the North Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. He broke both arms and one leg during the ensuing crash. McCain was moved to Hoa Loa prison, nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton,” on December 9, 1969.

His captors soon learned he was the son of a high-ranking officer in the U.S. Navy and repeatedly offered him early release, but McCain refused, not wanting to violate the military code of conduct and knowing that the North Vietnamese would use his release as a powerful piece of propaganda.

McCain eventually spent five and a half years in various prison camps, three and a half of those in solitary confinement, and was repeatedly beaten and tortured before he was finally released, along with other American POWs, on March 14, 1973, less than two months after the Vietnam cease fire went into effect. McCain earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross.

Though McCain had lost most of his physical strength and flexibility, he was determined to continue serving as a naval aviator. After a painful nine months of rehabilitation, he returned to flying duty, but it soon became clear that his injuries had permanently impaired his ability to advance in the Navy.

His introduction to politics came in 1976, when he was assigned as the Navy´s liaison to the U.S. Senate. In 1981, after marrying his second wife, Cindy Hensley, McCain retired from the Navy, and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. While working in public relations for his father-in-law´s beer distribution business, he began establishing connections in politics.

McCain was first elected to political office on November 2, 1982, easily winning a seat in the House of Representatives after his well-known war record helped overcome doubts about his “carpetbagger” status. He was re-elected in 1984.

Having adapted well to the largely conservative politics of his home state, McCain was a loyal supporter of the Reagan administration and numbered among a group of young “new Right.”

In 1986, after the retirement of the longtime Arizona senator and prominent Republican Barry Goldwater, McCain won election to the U.S. Senate. Both in the House and the Senate, McCain earned a reputation as a conservative politician who nonetheless was not afraid to question the ruling Republican orthodoxy. In 1983, for example, he called for the withdrawal of U.S. Marines from Lebanon, and he also publicly criticized the administration´s handling of the Iran-Contra affair.

From 1987 to 1989, McCain underwent a federal investigation as a member of the “Keating Five,” a group of senators who were accused of improperly intervening with federal regulators on behalf of Charles H. Keating Jr., a bank chairman whose Lincoln Savings & Loan Association eventually became one of the biggest failures in the savings and loan disasters of the late 1980s. He was eventually cleared of the charges, although investigators declared that he had exercised “poor judgment” by meeting with the regulators.

McCain weathered the scandal and won re-election to the Senate three times, each time with a solid majority. His reputation as a maverick politician with firm beliefs and a quick temper only increased, and many were impressed with his willingness to be extremely open with the public and the press. He has worked diligently in support of increased tobacco legislation and especially the reform of the campaign finance system, professing some more liberal views and generally proving to be more complex than merely a straight-ahead conservative.

In 1999, McCain published Faith of My Fathers, the story of his family´s military history and his own experiences as a POW. He also emerged as a solid challenger to the frontrunner, Governor George W. Bush of Texas, for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000. Many people from both political parties found his straight talk refreshing. In the New Hampshire primary, McCain won by a surprisingly wide margin, largely bolstered by independent voters and cross-over Democrats.

After a roller-coaster ride during the primaries--Bush won South Carolina, while McCain captured Michigan and Arizona--Bush emerged triumphant on “Super Tuesday” in early March 2000, winning New York and California, among a number of others. Though McCain won in most of the New England states, his large electoral deficit forced him to “suspend” his campaign indefinitely. On May 9, after holding out for two months, McCain formally endorsed Bush.

In August 2000, McCain was diagnosed with skin cancer lesions on his face and arm, which doctors determined were unrelated to a similar lesion which he had removed in 1993. He subsequently underwent surgery, during which all the cancerous tissue was successfully removed. McCain also underwent routine prostate surgery for an enlarged prostate in August of 2001.

McCain was back in the headlines in the spring of 2001, when the Senate debated and eventually passed, by a vote of 59-41, a broad overhaul of the campaign finance system. The bill was the fruit of McCain's six-year effort, with Democratic Senator Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin to reform the system. Central to the McCain-Feingold bill was a controversial ban on the unrestricted contributions to political parties known as “soft money.” The new law was narrowly upheld by the Supreme Court in 2003.

McCain supported the Iraq War, but criticized The Pentagon several times, especially about low troop strength. At one point, McCain declared he had “no confidence” in the leadership of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. McCain supported the 2007 surge of more than 20,000 troops, which supporters say has increased security in Iraq.

McCain also publicly supported President Bush´s bid for re-election, even though he differed with Bush on several issues including torture, pork barrel spending, illegal immigration, a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and global warming. He also defended the Vietnam War record of Bush´s opponent, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, which came under attack during the campaign.

With Bush limited to two terms, McCain officially entered the 2008 presidential race on April 25, 2007, during an announcement in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

McCain married Carol Shepp, a model originally from Philadelphia, on July 3, 1965. He adopted her two young children from a previous marriage (Doug and Andy Shepp) and they had a daughter (Sydney, b. 1966). The couple divorced in April 1980.

McCain met Cindy Lou Hensley, a teacher from Phoenix and daughter of a prosperous Arizona beer distributor, while she was on vacation in 1979 with her parents in Hawaii. He was still married at the time, but separated from his first wife. John and Cindy McCain were married May 17, 1980 in Phoenix. They have four children: Meghan (b. 1984), John IV (known as Jack, b. 1986), James (known as Jimmy, b. 1988), and Bridget (b. 1991 in Bangladesh, adopted by the McCains in 1993).

Source: www.biography.com

Frank Lucas Biography (1930- )

2008-07-29T00:34:00.000-07:00

Frank Lucas was born September 9, 1930, in Lenoir County, North Carolina. He moved to Harlem in 1946, becoming the driver and protégé of gangster Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson.

When Johnson died in 1968, Lucas took over his heroin empire and expanded it during the drug-fueled period of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Lucas was particularly known for the “Cadaver Connection.” Lucas smuggled huge amounts of undiluted heroin from Thailand into the U.S. in the coffins of fallen American servicemen.

By establishing his own drug connection in the jungles of Vietnam, he cut out the middleman and undercut the competition. Lucas claimed to have grossed $1 million a day, selling his "Blue Magic."

Lucas also relied on a tightly controlled crew called "The Country Boys." He preferred using relatives and men from his hometown in North Carolina because they were less likely to steal from him.

Lucas was depicted as an entrepreneur who broke through the racial barriers of traditional organized crime in the biopic American Gangster, released in theaters on November 2, 2007.

Lucas was arrested in 1975 and was soon facing up to 70 years in prison. He quickly turned into a government informant, most notably against the then-corrupt Special Investigations Unit of the NYPD. Out of 70 SIU officers, 52 were eventually either jailed or indicted.

"The only people I every ever informed on were them ... cops who took my money," Lucas insists. But prosecutors involved in the case, including Richard "Richie" Roberts, contradicts that.

Lucas' sentence was reduced to five years. But when he got out, he was quickly arrested again for drug dealing, albeit on a much smaller scale. Lucas spent seven more years in prison, and when he got out in 1991, Roberts came to his financial aid.

Russell Crowe plays Roberts in the film, though the character is a composite of the many detectives and prosecutors who arrested and tried Lucas. Today, they are good friends. Roberts is Lucas's defense attorney and the godfather to his 11-year-old son, whose education Roberts has paid for.

Lucas, who uses a wheelchair because of complications from a leg he broke in two places some time ago, lives with his wife and son in Newark, N.J. He supports a charity founded by his daughter, Yellow Brick Roads, that raises money for the children of incarcerated parents.

Lucas says he's repentant.

"I did some terrible things,” he said recently. “I'm awfully sorry that I did them. I really am."

Source: www.biography.com

Jackie Robinson Biography (1919 - 1972)

2008-07-29T00:26:00.001-07:00

Baseball player, civil rights activist. Born Jack Roosevelt Robinson on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. Breaking the color barrier, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play in baseball's major leagues. The youngest of five children, Robinson was raised in relative poverty by a single mother. He attended John Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College, where he was an excellent athlete and played four sports: football, basketball, track, and baseball. He was named the region's Most Valuable Player in baseball in 1938.

Robinson's older brother, Matthew Robinson, inspired Jackie to pursue his talent and love for athletics. Matthew won a silver medal in the 200 meters just behind Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Jackie continued his education at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he became the university's first student to win varsity letters in four sports. Despite his athletic success, Robinson was forced to leave UCLA just shy of graduation due to financial hardship in 1941. He moved to Honolulu, where he played football for the semi-professional Honolulu Bears. His season with the Bears was cut short with the onset of the United States' entry into World War II.

During World War II, Robinson served as a second lieutenant in the United States Army from 1942 to 1944. However, he never saw combat due to an altercation during boot camp in Texas. Robinson was arrested and court-martialed after refusing to move to the back of a segregated bus during training. He was later acquitted of the charges and received an honorable discharge. His courage and moral objection to segregation were a precursor to the impact Robinson would have in the major leagues.

After his discharge from the Army in 1944, Robinson played baseball professionally in the Negro Leagues. (At the time, the sport was segregated, and African Americans and whites played in separate leagues.) Robinson, however, was chosen by Branch Rickey , a vice president with the Brooklyn Dodgers, to help integrate major league baseball. He joined the Montreal Royals, a farm team for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in 1945. He moved to Florida in 1946 to begin spring training with the Royals with his first game on March 17, 1946.

Rickey knew there would be difficult times ahead for the young athlete and made Robinson promise to not fight back when confronted with racism, but rather to remain cool and composed. From the beginning of his career with the Dodgers, Robinson's will was tested. Even some of his new teammates objected to having an African American on their team. People in the crowds sometimes jeered at Robinson, and he and his family received threats.

Despite the racial abuse, particularly at away games, Robinson had an outstanding start with the Royals, leading the International League with a .349 batting average and .985 fielding percentage. His excellent year led to a promotion to the Dodgers, with his debut game on April 15, 1947, marking the first time an African-American athlete played in the major leagues.

The harassment did not end, however, most notably by the Philadelphia Phyllis and their manager Ben Chapman. Many players on opposing teams threatened not to play against the Dodgers. Even his own teammates threatened to sit out. But Dodgers manager Leo Durocher informed them that he would sooner trade them than Robinson, setting the tone for the rest of Robinson's career with the team.

Others defended Jackie Robinson's right to play in the major leagues, including League President Ford Frick, Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler, Jewish baseball star Hank Greenberg and Dodgers shortstop and team captain Pee Wee Reese. In one incident, while fans harassed Robinson from the stands, Reese walked over and put his arm around his teammate, a gesture that has become legendary in baseball history.

Jackie Robinson succeeded in putting the prejudice and racial strife aside and showed everyone what a talented player he was. In his first year, he hit 12 home runs and helped the Dodgers win the National League pennant. That year, Robinson led the National League in stolen bases and was selected as Rookie of the Year. He continued to wow fans and critics alike with impressive feats, such as an outstanding .342 batting average during the 1949 season. He led in stolen bases that year and earned the National League's Most Valuable Player Award.

Robinson soon became something of a hero, even among former critics, and was the subject for the popular song, "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?" An exceptional base runner, Robinson stole home 19 times in his career setting a league record. He became the highest paid athlete in Dodgers history, and his success in the major leagues opened the door for other African American players, such as Satchel Paige , Willie Mays , and Hank Aaron.

Jackie Robinson himself became a vocal champion for African American athletes, civil rights, and other social and political causes. In July 1949, he testified on discrimination before the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1952, he publicly called out the Yankees as a racist organization for not having broken the color barrier five years after he began playing with the Dodgers.

In his decade-long career with the Dodgers, Robinson and his team won the National League pennant several times. Finally, in 1955, he helped them achieve the ultimate victory: the World Series. After failing before in four other World Series match-ups, the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees. He helped the team win one more National League pennant the following season, and was then traded to the New York Giants. Jackie Robinson retired shortly after the trade, on January 5, 1957, with an impressive career batting average of .311.

After baseball, Robinson became active in business and continued his work as an activist for social change. He worked as an executive for the Chock Full O' Nuts coffee company and restaurant chain and helped establish the Freedom National Bank. He served on the board of the NAACP until 1967 and was the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. In 1972, the Dodgers retired his uniform number 42.

In his later years, Jackie Robinson continued to lobby for greater integration in sports. He died from heart problems and diabetes complications on October 24, 1972, in Stamford, Connecticut. He was survived by his wife, Rachel Isum, and their three children. After his death, his wife established the Jackie Robinson Foundation dedicated to honoring his life and work. The foundation helps young people in need by providing scholarships and mentoring programs.

Source: http://www.biography.com

Billie Holiday Biography (1915 - 1959)

2008-07-29T00:17:00.000-07:00

Singer, jazz vocalist. Born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Some sources say Baltimore, Maryland. Her birth certificate reportedly reads “Elinore Harris.”) One of the most influential jazz singers of all time, Billie Holiday had a thriving career for many years before her battles with substance abuse got the better of her.

Holiday spent much of her childhood in Baltimore, Maryland. Her mother, Sadie, was only a teenager when she had her. Her father is widely believed to be Clarence Holiday, who eventually became a successful jazz musician, playing with the likes of Fletcher Henderson. Unfortunately for Billie, he was only an infrequent visitor in her life growing up. Sadie married Philip Gough in 1920 and for a few years Billie had a somewhat stable home life. But that marriage ended a few years later, leaving Billie and Sadie to struggle along on their own again. Sometimes Billie was left in the care of other people.

Holiday started skipping school, and she and her mother went to court over Holiday’s truancy. She was then sent to the House of Good Shepherd, a facility for troubled African American girls, in January 1925. Only 9 years old at the time, Holiday was one of the youngest girls there. She was returned to her mother’s care in August of that year. According to Donald Clarke’s biography, Billie Holiday: Wishing on the Moon, she returned there in 1926 after she had been sexually assaulted.

In her difficult early life, Holiday found solace in music, singing along to the records of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. She followed her mother who had moved to New York City in the late 1920s and worked in a house of prostitution in Harlem for a time. Around 1930, Holiday began singing in local clubs and renamed herself “Billie” after the film star Billie Dove.

At the age of 18, Holiday was discovered by producer John Hammond while she was performing in a Harlem jazz club. Hammond was instrumental in getting Holiday recording work with an up-and-coming clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman. With Goodman, she sang vocals for several tracks, including her first commercial release “Your Mother’s Son-In-Law” and the 1934 top ten hit “Riffin’ the Scotch.”

Known for her distinctive phrasing and expressive, sometimes melancholy voice, Holiday went on to record with jazz pianist Teddy Wilson and others in 1935. She made several singles, including “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and “Miss Brown to You.” That same year, Holiday appeared with Duke Ellington in the film Symphony in Black.

Around this time, Holiday met and befriended saxophonist Lester Young, who was part of Count Basie’s orchestra on and off for years. He even lived with Holiday and her mother Sadie for a while. Young gave Holiday the nickname “Lady Day” in 1937—the same year she joined Basie’s band. In return, she called “Prez,” which was her way of saying that she thought it was the greatest.

Holiday toured with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1937. The following year, she worked with Artie Shaw and his orchestra. Holiday broke new ground with Shaw, becoming one of the first female African American vocalists to work with a white orchestra. Promoters objected to Holiday—for her race and for her unique vocal style—and she ended up leaving the orchestra out of frustration.

Striking out on her own, Holiday performed at New York’s Café Society. She developed some of her trademark stage persona there—wearing gardenias in her hair and singing with her head tilted back.

During this engagement, Holiday also debuted two of her most famous songs “God Bless the Child” and “Strange Fruit.” Columbia, her record company at the time, was not interested in “Strange Fruit” (1939), which was a powerful story about the lynching of African Americans in the South. Holiday recorded the song with the Commodore label instead. This ballad is considered to be one of her signature ballads, and the controversy that surrounded it—some radio stations banned the record—helped make it a hit.

Over the years, Holiday sang many songs of stormy relationships, including “T’ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do” and “My Man.” These songs reflected her personal romances, which were often destructive and abusive. She married James Monroe in 1941. Already known to drink, Holiday picked up her new husband’s habit of smoking opium. The marriage didn’t last, but Holiday’s problems with substance abuse continued. (They later divorced.)

That same year, Holiday had a hit with “God Bless the Child.” She later signed with Decca Records in 1944 and scored an R&B hit the next year with “Lover Man.” Her boyfriend at the time was trumpeter Joe Guy, and with him she started using heroin. After the death of her mother in October 1945, Holiday began drinking more heavily and escalated her drug use to ease her grief.

Despite her personal problems, Holiday remained a major star in the jazz world—and even in popular music as well. She appeared with her idol Louis Armstrong in the 1947 film New Orleans, albeit playing the role of a maid. Unfortunately, Holiday’s drug use caused her a great professional setback that same year. She was arrested and convicted for narcotics possession in 1947. Sentenced to one year and a day of jail time, Holiday went to a federal rehabilitation facility in Alderston, West Virginia.

Released the following year, Holiday faced new challenges. Because of her conviction, she was unable to get the necessary license to play in cabarets and clubs. Holiday, however, could still perform at concert halls and had a sold-out show at the Carnegie Hall not long after her release. With some help from John Levy, a New York club owner, Holiday was later to get to play in New York’s Club Ebony. Levy became her boyfriend and manager by the end of the 1940s, joining the ranks of the men who took advantage of Holiday. Also around this time, she was again arrested for narcotics, but she was acquitted of the charges.

While her hard living was taking a toll on her voice, Holiday continued to tour and record in the 1950s. She began recording for Norman Granz, the owner of several small jazz labels, in 1952. Two years later, Holiday had a hugely successful tour of Europe.

Holiday also caught the public’s attention by sharing her life story with the world in 1956. Her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues (1956), was written in collaboration by William Dufty. Some of the material included, however, must be taken with a grain of salt. Holiday was in rough shape when she worked with Dufty on the project, and she claimed to have never read the book after it was finished.

Around this time, Holiday became involved with Louis McKay. The two were arrested for narcotics in 1956, and they married in Mexico the following year. Like many other men in her life, McKay used Holiday’s name and money to advance himself. Despite all of the trouble she had been experiencing with her voice, she managed to give an impressive performance on the CBS television broadcast The Sound of Jazz with Ben Webster, Lester Young, and Coleman Hawkins.

After years of lackluster recordings and record sales, Holiday recorded Lady in Satin (1958) with the Ray Ellis Orchestra for Columbia. The album’s songs showcased her rougher sounding voice, which still could convey great emotional intensity. She gave her final performance in New York City on May 25, 1959. Not long after this event, Holiday was admitted to the hospital for heart and liver problems. She was so addicted to heroin that she was even arrested for possession while in the hospital. On July 17, 1959, Holiday died from alcohol- and drug-related complications.

More than 3,000 people turned out to say good-bye to Lady Day at her funeral held in St. Paul the Apostle Roman Catholic Church on July 21, 1959. A who’s who of the jazz world attended the solemn occasion, including Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Tony Scott, Buddy Rogers, and John Hammond.

Considered one of the best jazz vocalists of all time, Holiday has been an influence on many other performers who have followed in her footsteps. Her autobiography was made into the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues with famed singer Diana Ross playing the part of Holiday, which helped renew interest in Holiday’s recordings. In 2000, Billie Holiday was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Diana Ross handling the honors.

Source: http://www.biography.com

Hillary (Rodham) Clinton Biography (1947 - )

2008-07-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

QUICK FACTS

Born: October 26, 1947 (Illinois)
Lives in: Chappaqua, New York
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
Family: Married husband and future U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1975, 1 daughter Chelsea
Parents: Hugh Ellsworth Rodham and Dorothy Emma Howell
Siblings: Two younger brothers, Hugh and Tony
Religion: Methodist
Drives a: Lexus LS460H
Education:
- Graduated: Wellesley College (1969) - Major: Political Science
- Law Degree from Yale (1973) - Major: J.D.
Career:
Attorney with Rose Law Firm (1979-1993)
First Lady of Arkansas (1979-1981, 1983-1992)
First Lady of the United States (1993-2001)
U.S. Junior Senator from New York sworn in January 3, 2001
Government Committees:
- Committee on Budget (2001-2002)
- Committee on Armed Services (2003-present)
- Committee on Environment and Public Works (2001-present)
- Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (2001-present)
- Special Committee on Aging
- Commissioner of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (2001-present)
Books:
- It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us (1996)
- Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets (1998)
- An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History (2000)
- Living History (2003)
Campaign Buzzwords: Hillblazers, HillRaisers, Hillstars
Noteworthy Donors: Martha Stewart, Warren Buffett

Hillary Rodham Clinton is a former First Lady, the junior U.S. Senator from New York and a Democratic candidate for president in 2008.

Hillary Diane Rodham was born on October 26, 1947 in Chicago and raised in Park Ridge, Illinois, a picturesque suburb located 15 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.

She was the eldest daughter of Hugh Rodham, a prosperous fabric store owner, and Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham. Hillary had two younger brothers, including Hugh, Jr. (born 1950) and Anthony (born 1954).

As a young woman, Hillary Rodham was active in young Republican groups and campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater in 1964. She was inspired to work in some form of public service after hearing a speech in Chicago by the Reverend Martin Luther King and became a Democrat in 1968.

Rodham attended Wellesley College; she was active in student politics and was elected Senior Class president before she graduated in 1969. She then attended Yale Law School, where she met Bill Clinton. Graduating with honors in 1973, she also attended one post-graduate year of study on children and medicine at Yale Child Study Center.

Hillary worked at various jobs during her summers as a college student. In 1971, she first came to Washington, D.C to work on U.S. Senator Walter Mondale's subcommittee on migrant workers. In the summer of 1972, she worked in the western states for the campaign of Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern.

In the spring of 1974, Rodham became a member of the presidential impeachment inquiry staff, advising the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives during the Watergate Scandal. After President Richard M. Nixon resigned in August, she became a faculty member of the University of Arkansas Law School in Fayetteville, where her Yale Law School classmate and boyfriend Bill Clinton was teaching as well.

Rodham married Bill Clinton on October 11, 1975, at their home in Fayetteville. Before he proposed marriage, Clinton had secretly purchased a small house that she had remarked that she liked. When he proposed marriage to her and she accepted, he revealed that they owned the house. Their daughter, Chelsea Victoria, was born February 27, 1980.

In 1976, she worked on Jimmy Carter’s successful campaign for president while husband Bill was elected Attorney General. He was elected governor in 1978 at age 32, lost re-election in 1980, but came back to win in 1982, 1984, 1986 (when the term of office was expanded from two to four years) and 1990.

Hillary kept her maiden name, joined the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock and in 1977 was appointed to part-time chairman of the Legal Services Corporation by President Carter.

As First Lady of Arkansas for a dozen years (1979-1981, 1983-1992), she chaired the Arkansas Educational Standards Committee, co-founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and served on the boards of the Arkansas Children's Hospital, Legal Services and the Children's Defense Fund.

During this period, she and her husband invested in the Whitewater real estate project. The project's bank, Morgan Guaranty Savings and Loan failed, costing the federal government $73 million. Whitewater later became the subject of congressional hearings and an independent counsel investigation.

She also served on the boards of TCBY and Wal-Mart. In 1988 and 1991, The National Law Journal named her one of the 100 most powerful lawyers in America.

During the 1992 presidential campaign, she emerged as a dynamic and valued partner of her husband, and as president he named her to head the Task Force on National Health Reform (1993). The controversial commission produced a complicated plan which never came to the floor of either house. It was abandoned in September 1994.

Inevitably there were charges of everything from old-fashioned nepotism to new-fashioned feminism, and she became the butt of both good-natured humor and vicious accusations. However, less partisan observers recognized her as simply an example of the new American woman.

She authored It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us (1996) and donated the proceeds to children's hospitals. In it, she advocated for a society which meets all a child's needs.

In 1998, the White House was engulfed with the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. Though she publicly supported her husband, Mrs. Clinton reportedly considered leaving her marriage. He was impeached, but the U.S. Senate failed to convict and he remained in office.

With her husband limited to two terms in the White House, Mrs. Clinton decided she would seek the U.S. Senate seat from New York held by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He was retiring after four terms. Despite early problems, and charges of carpet bagging, Clinton beat popular Republican Rick Lazio by a surprisingly wide margin: 55 to 43 percent.

Clinton became the first wife of a president to seek and win national office and the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from New York. She easily won re-election in November 2006.

Meantime, a volume of her memoirs, Living History, appeared in 2003.

In early 2007, Hillary Clinton announced her plans to strive for another first—to be the first female president.

Source: http://www.biography.com

Barack Obama Biography (1961–)

2008-07-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

aka Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

(1961–)

Barack Obama, the junior U. S. Senator from Illinois, is the first ever African–American to become the presumptive presidential nominee for a U. S. major political party. On June 3, 2008, he gained enough delegates to be nominated by the Democratic party at its national convention in August.

Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Although reared among Muslims, Obama, Sr., became an atheist at some point.

Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he signed up for service in World War II and marched across Europe in Patton’s army. Dunham’s mother went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G. I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved to Hawaii.

Meantime, Barack’s father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya pursue his dreams in Hawaii. At the time of his birth, Obama’s parents were students at the East–West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Obama’s parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. Obama’s father went to Harvard to pursue Ph. D. studies and then returned to Kenya.

His mother married Lolo Soetoro, another East–West Center student from Indonesia. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro–Ng was born. Obama attended schools in Jakarta, where classes were taught in the Indonesian language.

Four years later when Barack (commonly known throughout his early years as "Barry") was ten, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, and later his mother (who died of ovarian cancer in 1995).

He was enrolled in the fifth grade at the esteemed Punahou Academy, graduating with honors in 1979. He was only one of three black students at the school. This is where Obama first became conscious of racism and what it meant to be an African–American.

In his memoir, Obama described how he struggled to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. He saw his biological father (who died in a 1982 car accident) only once (in 1971) after his parents divorced. And he admitted using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine during his teenage years.

After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science.

After working at Business International Corporation (a company that provided international business information to corporate clients) and NYPIRG, Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked as a community organizer with low-income residents in Chicago’s Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on the city’s South Side.

It was during this time that Obama, who said he "was not raised in a religious household," joined the Trinity United Church of Christ. He also visited relatives in Kenya, which included an emotional visit to the graves of his father and paternal grandfather.

Obama entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In February 1990, he was elected the first African–American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991.

After law school, Obama returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer, joining the firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland. He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School. And he helped organize voter registration drives during Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.

Obama published an autobiography in 1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. And he won a Grammy for the audio version of the book.

Obama’s advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat. He was elected in 1996 from the south side neighborhood of Hyde Park.

During these years, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting legislation on ethics, expanded health care services and early childhood education programs for the poor. He also created a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor. And after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.

In 2000, Obama made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the U. S. House of Representatives seat held by four-term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush.

Following the 9/11 attacks, Obama was an early opponent of President George W. Bush’s push to war with Iraq. Obama was still a state senator when he spoke against a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq during a rally at Chicago’s Federal Plaza in October 2002.

"I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars," he said. "What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne."

"He's a bad guy," Obama said, referring to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. "The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history."

"I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U. S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences," Obama continued. "I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda."

The war with Iraq began in 2003 and Obama decided to run for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. In the 2004 Democratic primary, he won 52 percent of the vote, defeating multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull and Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes.

That summer, he was invited to deliver the keynote speech in support of John Kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Obama emphasized the importance of unity, and made veiled jabs at the Bush administration and the diversionary use of wedge issues.

"We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states," he said. "We coach Little League in the blue states, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

After the convention, Obama returned to his U.S. Senate bid in Illinois. His opponent in the general election was suppose to be Republican primary winner Jack Ryan, a wealthy former investment banker. However, Ryan withdrew from the race in June 2004, following public disclosure of unsubstantiated sexual allegations by Ryan's ex wife, actress Jeri Ryan.

In August 2004, diplomat and former presidential candidate Alan Keyes, who was also an African American, accepted the Republican nomination to replace Ryan. In three televised debates, Obama and Keyes expressed opposing views on stem cell research, abortion, gun control, school vouchers and tax cuts.

In the November 2004 general election, Obama received 70% of the vote to Keyes's 27%, the largest electoral victory in Illinois history. Obama became only the third African American elected to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction.

Sworn into office January 4, 2005, Obama partnered with Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana on a bill that expanded efforts to destroy weapons of mass destruction in Eastern Europe and Russia. Then with Republican Sen. Tom Corburn of Oklahoma, he created a website that tracks all federal spending.

Obama was also the first to raise the threat of avian flu on the Senate floor, spoke out for victims of Hurricane Katrina, pushed for alternative energy development and championed improved veterans´ benefits. He also worked with Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin to eliminate gifts of travel on corporate jets by lobbyists to members of Congress.

His second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, was published in October 2006.

In February 2007, Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He was locked in a tight battle with former first lady and current U.S. Senator from New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton until he became the presumptive nominee on June 3, 2008.

Obama met his wife, Michelle, in 1988 when he was a summer associate at the Chicago law firm of Sidley & Austin. They were married in October 1992 and live in Kenwood on Chicago's South Side with their daughters, Malia (born 1999) and Sasha (born 2001).

Source : http://www.biography.com

Frida Kahlo Biography

2008-07-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

Frida Kahlo is one of the most influential and well-known artists of Latin descent from the twentieth century. Born in Mexico to a German photographer and a Catholic housewife, she came of age during an era of great political change and the emergence of modern art.

At 18 years old she suffered critical injuries from a devastating bus accident that left her with a lifetime of pain and unable to bear children. While bed-ridden in a body cast she began to paint, channeling her anguish and pain through self-portraits of striking surreal images that addressed the duality of her heritage and her fractured body. This duality permeated through other areas of Frida’s life as she engaged in love affairs with both men and women and made the traditional Mexican style of hair and dress her signature look even though she delighted in dressing in slacks and men's clothing from time to time.

She was married to the celebrated Mexican artist Diego Rivera, a union that proved to be synergistic as he often painted her into his murals, yet also tumultuous as she struggled with his notorious infidelity.

Despite poor health throughout much of her life, Frida's passion went beyond art and love as she was also extremely political, joining the communist league as a student and actively supporting key figures of the movement.

Frida Kahlo died in 1954 at the age of 47 and is remembered as one of the most important Latin American artists in modern art.

Source: http://www.biography.com

Cindy McCain Biography (1954-)

2008-07-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

Cindy Lou Hensley McCain

Arizona businesswoman, philanthropist and the wife of U.S. Senator John McCain. Cindy Lou Hensley McCain was born May 20, 1954, in Phoenix, Arizona.

As an only child, McCain was raised in Arizona. She earned a B.A. in education and a M.A. in special education from the University of Southern California. She taught at Agua Fria High School in Avondale, Arizona.

She met John McCain in 1979 while she was on vacation with her parents in Hawaii. He was still married, but separated, from his first wife. John and Cindy McCain were married May 17, 1980 in Phoenix.

John McCain was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and to the U.S. Senate in 1986. Cindy McCain was active in her husband’s 2000 bid for the Republican presidential nomination. After he lost to George W. Bush, she was chosen as the Chairwoman of the Arizona delegation to the Republican National Convention.

Cindy McCain founded the American Voluntary Medical Team (AVMT) in 1988, leading several medical missions to developing and war-torn nations during the Team’s seven-year existence.

She made news in 1994 when she admitted to a painkiller addiction and said she had stolen drugs from AVMT. She was not charged with a crime, but agreed to repay the AVMT and attend a drug treatment facility.

McCain serves on the Board of Directors for several non-profit philanthropies, including Operation Smile, which provides reconstructive surgery to children with facial deformities; CARE, which fights global poverty; and the land-mine removal group The HALO Trust.

Since 2000, McCain has served as chairperson of Hensley & Company, the Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship founded by her father in 1955. By 2007, she had an estimated net worth of $100 million.

McCain suffered a stroke in April 2004 due to high blood pressure, but appears to have made a full recovery. She has actively campaigned for her husband during his successful bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

The McCains have four children: Meghan (b. 1984), John IV (known as Jack, b. 1986), James (known as Jimmy b. 1988), and Bridget (b. 1991 in Bangladesh, adopted by the McCains in 1993). She is also a stepmother to three children from John McCain’s first marriage, Doug, Andy and Sidney.

Source: http://www.biography.com

Free Blogger Skins New

2008-07-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Classic and Beta Blogger Templates (Source)

WNBA Lesbian Sex Scandal in Motown

2008-07-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

Love and Basketball, with Two Baskets and No Balls

The Motor City got a little overheated today, fueled by revelations of a secret Sapphic sex tryst back in 2000 between Minnesota Lynx Anna DeForge and the Detroit Shock’s Nancy Lieberman, a married Basketball Hall-of-Famer recently come out of retirement to sign a seven-day contract with the squad.

The rumored rug-munching occurred when Lieberman was the Shock’s coach and DeForge was a player. Management fired Lieberman at the end of the losing season, but now she’s back as a teammate.

For the last few years, DeForge and Lieberman have been running basketball camps together. That’s one camp that has no use for tent poles.

This pic from the Gallic girl-girl flick Secret Things with Coralie Revel might give an idea what it looked like when Lieberman and DeForge practiced layups.

Coralie Revel has been naked in 4 movies and 1 TV show.
Get the bare facts. See her naked now!

How To Get A Woman To Orgasm Real Fast

2008-07-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

Some guys feel the length of the sexual session matters which is wrong. It's not the length but the quality of the session which counts and this is what makes a woman orgasm. It's been said that only one fourth of women out there tend to achieve an orgasm regularly during intercourse. So what does this tell you? Well this means that several men out there do not know the true art of making a woman orgasm therefore it is extremely important to know everything on this subject. Read on to discover some of the most mind blowing ways on how to make a woman orgasm fast and achieve mind blowing results within no time......

Make sure the level of excitement is up-

Unless she is excited enough she would never orgasm. You see the best possible way to really find out whether she is excited enough or not is to see how wet she is. If she is not wet at all it means she is not aroused yet, under this situation you must spend a lot of time on foreplay to really turn her on.

Communicate with her-

Communication is the key to getting a woman to orgasm. You see with physical stimulation she needs mental and emotional stimulation as well and talking to her while doing it is the best possible way to stimulate the right emotions in her mind. Tell her how much you love her and how much you love being around her and making love to her.

Ask her what she likes-

Now this is the most important aspect of getting a woman to orgasm. Often men never seem to ask their partners regarding what they like and dislike and often do what is disliked by women. It's rather better to ask her than to shoot in the dark. Ask her what she enjoys and do exactly that on a constant basis.

What you don't know yet-

Ever tried to wonder what's in a woman's mind? What is she thinking about? Do you know that women do not always mean what they say? They might say something and mean the exact opposite. But what do women actually want? Do you know there are some secrets women don't want men to know but men absolutely must know these secrets in order to succeed with women? Read on to discover some of the most "Shocking Secrets" women don't want men to know- 9 Most Shocking Secrets Women don't want men to know

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Celebrity autopsy photos

2008-07-28T04:29:00.000-07:00

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was found dead from an overdose of sleeping pills on August 5, 1962, by her housekeeper Eunice Murray. She was naked, atop her telephone on her bed, with unhealthy levels of barbiturates in her bloodstream. But the typical signs of barbiturate overdose were completely absent.

Supposedly, Monroe had had an abortion at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on the 20th of July. It has been said that she had as many as a dozen abortions over the years. But certainly it is well known that she was terminated by her job at Fox Studio. And there were problems with her relationship with Robert F Kennedy; he was not returning her calls.

Evidence is missing, including the original autopsy, her supposed suicide note (which mentioned suicide not at all), and original police report. Furthermore, the first officer at the death scene has publicly disputed the suicide finding.

In 1985, a 20/20 episode was to air where Robert Slatzer postulates that Monroe was killed by Bobby Kennedy, or was in his presence when she died. The show is cancelled.

Marilyn is buried at Westwood Memorial Cemetery.

Che Guevara

Image published on the back of Alarma news magazine, 1968.

On October 9, 1967, Bolivian forces executed Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara, and amputated his hands for identification. Guevara had been agitating in Bolivia, a definite no-no. The location of the body remained a mystery for 30 years, until a search by the Bolivian government uncovered it on a mountainside near Vallegrande. Now, Vallegrande is an epicenter for Che merchandising.

Adolf Hitler

This body was discovered by the Russian contingent in Berlin and assumed to be Adolf Hitler. It is actually Gustav Weler, Hitler's doppelganger (body double), who was executed with a gunshot to the forehead.

Hitler's Remains?

The remains above are kept in a cardboard box in the State Archives of the Russian Federation, Moscow, where they were removed to after the Russians occupied Berlin. They are believed to be Hitler's -- charred, age 50's, and dead from a gunshot wound suicide.

Elvis Presley

The National Enquirer achieved yet more notoriety when it published this post-mortem photo of Elvis Presley on September 6, 1977. The King, of course, died on the throne in his bathroom.

Josef Stalin

"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."

Josef Stalin died on March 5, 1953 of a brain hemorrhage. That's the official story. Some say that KGB chief Lavrenti Beria may have been responsible for poisoning the dictator. In any event, the funeral for Stalin, who killed so many millions of soviets, was attended by so many people that some were trampled to death in the chaos.

Stalin's body was embalmed and placed next to Lenin's in the tomb at Red Square. But in 1961, with Stalin falling into disgrace, the corpse was quietly removed and buried.

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Obama's running mate in sex scandal

2008-07-28T04:23:00.000-07:00

It is a sex scandal that a Former White House hopeful could do without at a crucial time in his career. John Edwards is pegged as Barack Obama's running mate. The former North Carolina Senator had said that he would "seriously" consider being Obama's running mate, if asked.

He said, "Anything that I'm asked to do by Senator Obama, either as a presidential candidate or as the next president of the Untied States, I would take seriously and seriously consider."

Edwards ran for Vice-President in 2004 and ended his own presidential bid six months ago.

However, Edwards had hit headlines for allegedly cheating on his wife, who is battling incurable cancer. Media across the United States have been carrying stories about how Edwards reportedly has a mistress.

Some reports have also said that he was seen leaving the hotel room of Rielle Hunter -- a divorcee whom he was rumoured to have made pregnant in 2007.

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Martins House Party at Hardcore Partying Public

2008-07-28T01:30:00.000-07:00

Martin Licking her girlfriend in public friends.

girls long kissing video at home

2008-07-28T01:23:00.000-07:00

i like lesbian kissing. soft lips...