2010 Spelling Bee Update. 06/06/2010
She Made History In 1998 Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica became the first person of African descent and the first spelling champion from outside the United States to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. pearl bridal jewelry http://www.pearlbridaljewelry.org Add Comment The art of the insult...Marvelously Funny 05/16/2010
These glorious insults are from an era when the English language was used as a cutting instrument......LouisP Classic Zingers The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor: She said: "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." He said: "If you were my wife, I'd drink it." A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease." "That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress." "He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." -Clarence Darrow "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway). "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.." - Oscar Wilde "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.... if there is one." - Winston Churchill, in response. "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop "He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb "He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating "In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.." - Oscar Wilde "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts.. . for support rather than illumination. " - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) "He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx Private Personal Loans As reported in The Atlantic May 7, 2010 Solicitor General Elena Kagan is reportedly theoverwhelming front runner to be picked by President Obama as his next Supreme Court nominee. And if she is selected, conservatives could find it tough to mount an attack on her. Critics will have significantly less material to use against Kagan, it seems, than they had against Obama's last nominee, Justice Sonia Sotomayor. I asked Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network (a conservative group focused on judicial nominees) what conservatives are going to say about Kagan, and what Kagan's "wise Latina" moment, if there is one, will prove to be. "She has been much more careful than Justice Sotomayor. She never would have said something like that even if she thinks it. She's been so careful for so long that no one seems to know exactly what she does think," Severino said. Severino attended Harvard Law School, where Kagan served as dean. She asked fellow Harvard people about Kagan's tenure as dean. "Everyone came back with the same perspective, which was she was careful to never say anything on the record, or off the record, to anyone about her own opinions, so I think she's been carefully shepherding her image for a long time, possibly ever since her DC circuit nomination by President Clinton, so that's a long time to effectively live on the short list." Read more Finance Personal Loans How to Excercise Safely - 10 Tips 05/06/2010
How to Excercise Safely - 10 Tips 05/06/2010
Courtesy: Harvard Medical School - Healthbeat Almost anybody can safely take up walking, and light to moderate exercise is usually fine for healthy adults with no troublesome symptoms. But do you need to talk to your doctor before taking on a more strenuous regimen? It’s wise to talk to a doctor if you have any questions about your health or plan to start more vigorous workouts, especially if you haven’t been active recently. Definitely talk to a doctor if you have any injuries or a chronic or unstable health condition, such as heart disease or several risk factors for heart disease, a respiratory ailment like asthma, high blood pressure, joint or bone disease (including osteoporosis), a neurological illness, or diabetes. Also consult your doctor if you suspect you may have an illness that would interfere with an exercise program or if you have been experiencing any troublesome symptoms, such as chest pain, shortness of breath, or dizziness. 10 tips for avoiding injuries Once your doctor gives you the go-ahead to exercise, the tips below can help you avoid injuries:
Let's Put The Reparations Issue to Bed! 05/04/2010
From The New York Times April 23, 2010 OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Ending the Slavery Blame-Game By HENRY LOUIS GATES Jr. Cambridge, Mass. THANKS to an unlikely confluence of history and genetics — the fact that he is African-American and president — Barack Obama has a unique opportunity to reshape the debate over one of the most contentious issues of America’s racial legacy: reparations, the idea that the descendants of American slaves should receive compensation for their ancestors’ unpaid labor and bondage. There are many thorny issues to resolve before we can arrive at a judicious (if symbolic) gesture to match such a sustained, heinous crime. Perhaps the most vexing is how to parcel out blame to those directly involved in the capture and sale of human beings for immense economic gain. While we are all familiar with the role played by the United States and the European colonial powers like Britain, France, Holland, Portugal and Spain, there is very little discussion of the role Africans themselves played. And that role, it turns out, was a considerable one, especially for the slave-trading kingdoms of western and central Africa. These included the Akan of the kingdom of Asante in what is now Ghana, the Fon of Dahomey (now Benin), the Mbundu of Ndongo in modern Angola and the Kongo of today’s Congo, among several others. For centuries, Europeans in Africa kept close to their military and trading posts on the coast. Exploration of the interior, home to the bulk of Africans sold into bondage at the height of the slave trade, came only during the colonial conquests, which is why Henry Morton Stanley’s pursuit of Dr. David Livingstone in 1871 made for such compelling press: he was going where no (white) man had gone before. .. (read more)  A 15-year-old Los Angeles girl who navigated a single-engine Cessna through thunderstorms in Texas and took in breathtaking aerial views of Arizona’s sunsets — landed her plane to cheering crowds at Compton Woodley Airport today, becoming the youngest African American female pilot to fly solo across country. Kimberly Anyadike took off from Compton 13 days ago with an adult safety pilot and Levi Thornhill, an 87-year-old who served with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. They flew to Newport News, Va., making about a dozen stops along the way. Anyadike learned to fly a plane and helicopter when she was 12 with the Compton-based Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, an after-school program that offers aviation lessons to at-risk youth and economically disadvantaged students. The organization owns the small plane. She loved the feeling of streaking across the sky. She told her mom that it was like a wild ride at Magic Mountain. Always up for a challenge, she came up with the idea to fly across the country a few months after learning to fly. Robin Petgrave, the aeronautical museum’s founder, warned that it would take a lot of preparation. “I told her it was going to be a daunting task,” he said, “but she just said, ‘Put it on. I got big shoulders.’ ” Anyadike said she didn’t want to make the trip to set a record or become some kind of celebrity. “I wanted to inspire other kids to really believe in themselves,” she said. She also wanted to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, the U.S. Army Air Corps’ all-black combat unit who served during World War II. “They left such a great legacy. I had big shoes to fill,” she said. “All they wanted to do was to be patriots for this country. They were told no, that they were stupid, that they didn’t have cognitive development to fly planes. They didn’t listen. They just did what they wanted to do.”Me.0711.Pilot.2 Anyadike’s Cessna and the other planes at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum are painted with red tails, similar to the Tuskegee Airmen planes. During her cross-country trip, Anyadike met about 50 Tuskegee Airmen who autographed the Cessna. “That way they can fly with us forever,” Petgrave said. How will the young pilot celebrate? “By sleeping,” she said with a giggle. -- My-Thuan Tran Los Angles Times Gladys Flamer likes to drive her Cadillac in Coatesville, PA. Nothing unusual about that, except that she's 103 years old and she uses her car to help people with no transportation. Flamer has had many jobs; from serving as a domestic for wealthy families, to becoming a nurse at age 59. She's worked in a steel mill and owned a beauty shop. The centenarian retired from the work world when she reached 90, but has not stopped serving her community. She's active on City Council, with her church and in her neighborhood. Jamaican rookie musher, Newton Marshall, completes the 2010 Iditarod Sled Dog race in 47th place out of a field of 71 starters. During the middle part of the race when asked by an reporter: Why do the race? He said "I don't know" and then went on to say but, "There's No Place Like Nome". Nome is where the 1150 mile race which started in Anchorage Alaska ends...Newton as committed! Newton had some difficulty during the race that cost him some time. One of the female dogs on the team was in heat and became the source of distraction for the other male dogs, slowing them down. This included Larry, the lead dog on the team on loan from 4-time consecutive Iditarod winner, Newton's trainer and , and this year's Iditarod winner, Lance Mackey. Check back here for more information, news and pictures of Newton's Iditarod adventure. See finish line pics below.   Waitin' For Newton! There's No Place Like Nome! Newton arrives in Nome with the Flag flying high..This Beautiful.   Jamaican Musher, Newton Marshall, completes the first 515 miles of the 1150 mile Iditarod Sled dog race at 2:36 pm today in Galena, Alaska. The race started last Saturday in Anchorage and will end in Nome Alaska sometime this week. Seventy-one teams started the race each made up of a driver and 16 sled dogs. The teams run day and night taking rest breaks along the way as needed. So far, 13 teams have dropped out of the race. Newton arrived in Galena this afternoon at 2:36 PM AKST and is currently in 48th place. Newton, who lives in St Ann, Jamaica is not a stranger to incredibly long , arduous and cold sled dog races. Last year he became the first Jamaican to enter and complete the Yukon Quest 1,000 mile race held in Canada. I that race he finished 13th out of a group of 32 racers. This is Newton’s first year in the Iditarod, also known as the “The Last Great Race on Earth”. He is holding his own and doing well. See Links below for media coverage. Newton at Iditarod Start 2010
Great Interview with Newton at the Finger Lake checkpoint. Funny Guy: When asked by the interviewer "What made you come up here in Alaska to do the Iditarod." he responded...I have no clue" Click on the audio buton in the link below no listed to his interview with Laureli Kineen, KNOM Newton taking care of his dogs in Finger Lake  |         > 
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