city data

city data
MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--Mexico's stocks rose early Friday, as data showing an improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment fueled buying in the last trading session of May.
The benchmark IPC index of leading issues was up nearly 0.7% at 24,823.41 points around 10:33 a.m. EDT. Volume was 51.3 million shares worth 989.7 million pesos ($75.6 million).
U.S. markets, which influence the IPC, were also higher in volatile trading as an improvement in consumer confidence offset a report showing weaker-than-expected business activity in the Chicago area.
Mexico is heavily dependent on the U.S. economy, buyer of about 80% of Mexico's exports.
Investors face a heavy data calendar next week that could help to extend, or derail, the IPC's three-month rally, with a number of key U.S. economic reports on tap, including personal income, construction spending, factory orders, and the Department of Labor's monthly jobs report.
The CPO shares of cement maker Cemex (CX) were up 1.8% to MXN12.99, the O shares of banking group Banorte (GFNORTE.MX) were trading 3.5% higher at MXN31.56, and the CPO shares of media group Televisa (TV) were 1.3% higher at MXN46.89.
Among declining issues, the B shares of retail giant Wal-Mart de Mexico were down 0.3% to MXN38.80, shares of construction and engineering company Empresas ICA (ICA) were off 0.7% to MXN26.00, and the L shares of mobile operator and market heavyweight America Movil (AMX) were down 0.9% to MXN25.56.
Mexico's peso held on to early gains after the Bank of Mexico said that starting June 9 it will reduce the amount of U.S. dollars it sells directly on the market each day to $50 million from $100 million.
The central bank also said it will cut to $250 million from $300 million the dollars it auctions at a minimum exchange rate of 2% above the previous day's fix.
The Bank of Mexico said its decision was based on a narrower-than-expected current account deficit for 2009, greater stability in the foreign exchange markets, and a $47 billion flexible credit line from the International Monetary Fund.
The peso was recently quoted in Mexico City trading at MXN13.1170 to the U.S. dollar, compared with Thursday's close of MXN13.2410.
"We believe that price action in USD/MXN should be limited," UBS Pactual economist Gabriel Casillas said in a note. "Bank of Mexico will continue selling a significant amount of dollars to the market in the upcoming months."
Meanwhile, the yield on 20-year Mexican government bonds maturing in 2024 was off 11 basis points to 8.29%. Bond prices move inverse of yields.
In local economic news, the Finance Ministry said Thursday night the federal government plans to cut administrative and operating costs by MXN35 billion this year to counter the budget effects of the economic downturn and the recent outbreak of a new strain of influenza.
The ministry said in a statement that the cuts won't affect social development programs or investment projects, and are in keeping with the counter-cyclical spending plans to cushion the economic recession.
The government planned a fiscal deficit equivalent to 1.8% of gross domestic product, but Finance Minister Agustin Carstens said earlier this month that it could end up being 2% as a result of the recession and the measures taken to confront the flu outbreak.
The government expects GDP, which fell 8.2% year-on-year in the first quarter, to end the full year down 5.5%.

french open tennis 2009 schedule

french open tennis 2009 schedule
The French Open Tournament 2009 tournament results are listed below, with the major surprise so far coming from the women's bracket. Agnes Szavay of Hungary, ranked 29th, knocked of number 3 seed Venus Williams in two sets. Szavay finished off Venus's hope of a French Open title with a straight set victory, 6 - 0, 6 - 4.
On the men's side, number one seed Rafal Nadal advanced with an easy straight sets victory of Lleyton Hewitt. Another featured matchup today has #3 Andy Murray trying to advance against Janko Tipsarevic.
Men's Singles - Thrid Round Matches
Finals
(1) R. Nadal defeats L. Hewitt - 6 - 1; 6 - 3; 6 - 1
(3) A. Murray defeats J. Tipsarevic - 7 - 6; 6 - 3
(4) N. Djokovic defeats S. Stakhovsky - 6 - 3; 6 - 4; 6 - 1
(8) F. Verdasco defeats (31) N. Almagro - 6 - 2; 7 - 6; 7 - 6
(10) N. Davydenko defeats (17) S. Wawrinka - 6 - 3; 4 - 6; 6 - 3; 6 - 2
(12) F. Gonzalez defeats J. Ouanna - 7 - 6; 6 - 3; 7 - 5
(23) R. Soderling defeats (14) D. Ferrer - 6 - 7; 7 - 5; 6 - 2; 7 - 6
(30) V. Hanescu defeats (7) G. Simon - 6 - 4; 6 - 4; 6 - 2

Women's Singles - Thrid Round Matches
In progress
(9) V. Azarenka tied with C. Suarez-Navarro - 5 - 7; 7 - 5; entering 3rd set
Finals
(1) D. Safina defeats (27) A. Pavlyuchenkova - 6 - 2; 6 - 0
(8) A. Ivanovic defeats (32) I. Benesova - 6 - 0; 6 - 2
(20) D. Cibulkova defeats G. Dulko - 6 - 4; 6 - 2
(25) N. Li defeats O. Govortsova - 7 - 5; 6 - 1
(29) A. Szavay defeats (3) V. Williams - 6 - 0; 6 - 4
M. Sharapova defeats Y. Shvedova - 1 - 6; 6 - 3; 6 - 4
A. Rezai defeats M. Larcher De Brito - 7 - 6; 6 - 2

robert ferguson

robert ferguson

A Lufkin man suffered severe injuries when he blacked out while driving Wednesday morning near Center, according to ShelbyCountyToday.com.
About 8:15 a.m. Robert Ferguson, 29, was traveling east on state Highway 7 west one mile from Center in a 2008 Honda Civic, according to Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Ryan McCasland.

Ferguson's car moved into the westbound lane, striking the back of a 2002 Chevrolet pickup towing a trailer. Ferguson had incapacitating injuries and emergency responders took him to Shelby Regional Medical Center. A medical center spokeswoman said Thursday she had no information on Ferguson.
No information was available on whether the Chevrolet driver, David John Ray, 62, of Center, suffered any injury, but Ferguson was the only person taken to the hospital from the accident.
It was not clear what caused Ferguson to black out. The accident remains under investigation, according to McCasland.

susan boyle final performance

susan boyle final performance
The Scottish singer from Blackburn, West Lothian, Scotland is forever a star, is taking to the stage of the competition that made her famous. To say the Susan Boyle final performance in the 2009 Britain’s Got Talent final on May 30, 2009 is highly anticipated is — dare we say? — the proverbial understatement.
All it took was a standout audition and now viral video sensation, the Susan Boyle Britain’s Got Talent ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ audition which saw the singer mesmerize an initially contemptuous audience and a panel of disbelieving judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan.
The Britain’s Got Talent semi-final performance on May 24, 2009 of Memory from the musical Cats, saw Susan Boyle falter and persevere in the end and delivering a notable performance which put her in the Final.
The Susan Boyle final performance in BGT could not be more anticipated. The globally known singer has endured weeks of incessant publicity, scrutiny and tabloid headlines and general media frenzy that are all part of celebrity though it has happened remarkably quickly for the previously unknown singer.
Reports of a Susan Boyle meltdown and flurry of headlines in tabloids led to widespread concern, with Judge Piers Morgan and others speaking out in her support and defense. In a sense, the Susan Boyle backlash has led to a backlash of the backlash.
The singer herself was determined to prevail in the BGT final. Judge Simon Cowell offered support on the eve of her performance.
The Susan Boyle May 30, 2009 performance sees her facing off against talented contenders such as the 12-year-old singer, Shaheen Jafargholi who performed the Michael Jackson hit Who’s Loving You and continued to impress with his semi-final performance Dreamgirls hit ‘And I’m Telling You. The 10-year-old Hollie Steel who persevered despite a meltdown when given a second chance in the semi-final. There is also the dance troupe Diversity, and the accomplished saxophonist Julian Smith. All told, a remarkable field of contenders.
The Britain’s Got Talent final taking place on May 30, 2009 sees the winner given the chance to perform for the Queen at the Royal Variety Show and receive a cash prize of £100,000.
More Susan Boyle photos and the new Susan Boyle final performance Britain’s Got Talent video from May 30, 2009 posted below as soon as it is available.

faithful fish

faithful fish
Faithful Fish is a designer Christian lifestyle clothing company that inspires Christians everywhere to "proudly wear their faith".
The company was started by a 20 year old named Chelsea Eubank. She had been a good Christian and once wanted to express her faith at school. However she couldn’t find anything perfect and ended up creating "Faithful Fish".
From Faithful Fish, emerged the idea of Wear It Wednesday.
The “Wear It Wednesday” campaign encourages students to wear their favorite Christian shirt (Christian band, FCA, youth group, etc.) to school on the first Wednesday of each month. The initial goal of the “Wear It Wednesday” campaign is to have 500,000 students log on to www.wearitwednesday.com and register their intention to “wear their faith” on the first Wednesday of each month. Students can then take pictures of themselves and their friends wearing their faith-branded shirts and post them to the Wear It Wednesday website to encourage and inspire others.

bernoulli numbers

bernoulli numbers
A 16-year-old in Sweden says when he first presented his solution to a 300-year-old mathematics formula, he was met with skepticism from his teachers.
Mohamed Altoumaimi, an Iraqi immigrant to Sweden, said undeterred, he presented the formula explaining the calculation of Bernoulli numbers to professors at Sweden's Uppsala University, The Local said Thursday.
"When I first presented it to my teachers, none of them believed that the formula I had written down really worked," Altoumaimi said.
"Right away they wanted to take a look at all my calculations and the documents where I show that the formula really works," the teen added regarding Uppsala professors' interest in his work.
Uppsala professors ultimately verified Altoumaimi's solution to the mathematics problem, which has served as a significant mathematical challenge for 300 years.
The Local said while the Bernoulli numbers formula had previously been solved, Altoumaimi's work was praised as a result of his young age and educational level.
"It's really exciting, now all the teachers have come and congratulated me," the teen said of the response to his formula.
Bernoulli numbers are sequenced rational numbers connected to number theory.

omar edwards

omar edwards

An off-duty rookie cop chasing a suspected car thief in East Harlem with his gun drawn was shot and killed Thursday night when an officer mistook him for a criminal.
"Police! Stop! Drop it!" cops from the 25th Precinct shouted at Omar Edwards, 25.
As he started to turn toward him - the gun still in his hand - an officer opened fire, sources said.
The officer involved in the shooting is white, Edwards is black and had no visible NYPD identification on him, sources said. It was unclear if Edwards identified himself.
"This is always a black cop's fear, that he'd be mistaken for a [suspect]," a source said.
His father couldn't fathom how such a fatal mistake could happen.
"If a police officer sees someone with a gun, you don't just fire without asking questions or trying to apprehend the person," said Ricardo Edwards, 72. "If the person was firing at a police officer, I understand."
"It's a horror for everyone involved. No one comes out unscathed," a police source said.
One dejected cop said Edwards "just became a new father. He took some personal time so he could take the baby to North Carolina to meet his folks."
Edwards' mother, Natalia Harding, said her son had just married his girlfriend, Danielle Glen, last month at City Hall. They have two kids - 11/2-year-old Xavier and 7-month-old Keanua.
"I'm hurt that they took my son. That's my baby they took from me. And all I got was his last hug and kiss when he went to work \[tonight\] and he said, 'Ma, I'll see you when I come home,' " Natalia Harding said between sobs Friday morning at her Brooklyn apartment.
NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Edwards, who had been on the force less than two years and worked out of a Manhattan housing unit, had left work about 10:30 p.m.
He was in street clothes as he walked toward his car parked about a block away on Second Ave. between E. 124th and E. 125th St., where he saw Miguel Santiago rummaging through the vehicle. The driver's side window was busted out.
Edwards grabbed Santiago, who managed to slip out of his sweater and escape Edwards' grip, Kelly said.
Gun drawn, Edwards gave chase.
At the same time, three plainclothes officers in an unmarked car saw Edwards running down the street. The car made a U-turn, and one of the officers, a white cop with more than four years on the job, got out and fired six shots - hitting Edwards twice, once in the left arm and once in the chest, Kelly said.
Edwards did not fire his weapon.
Maalik Lane, 20, who was walking nearby, said suddenly he heard shots.
"More than five, boom, boom, boom, boom. Then there were just a lot of police blocking the streets."
Mayor Bloomberg, at a press conference at Harlem Hospital, said he expressed his sorrow to Edwards' wife.
"Nothing that you can ever say will bring back the deceased. He was there protecting the rest of us. We will find out what happened," Bloomberg said. "This is a tragedy. We'll see what we can learn from it."
Cops discovered Edwards was one of them when rescue crews cut open his shirt to treat the bleeding and saw a police academy shirt. They then searched his pockets and found his shield, sources said.
Investigators said the anti-crime cops arrested the car-theft suspect Santiago.
Edwards' mother said her son's dream was to be a cop.
"Ever since he was a little kid, he wanted to be a police officer. Something I didn't want, but it was his choice and he loved what he was doing. He loved helping other people," Harding said, noting she always worried about his safety.Read more: "Black cop killed by white officer: Horror in East Harlem as off-duty rookie is shot pursuing suspect"

laodicean definition

laodicean definition

Kavya Shivashankar is your 2009 spelling bee champion, the new Akeelah if you will.
She won it by spelling her last name. Just kidding!
Laodicean was the decisive word.
Yes, yes, we're thinking what you're thinking: what the heck does laodicean mean? Here's the definition: lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics.
You can object to the early rounds of the spelling bee being televised on ESPN since it's not a sporting event, but the finals were in primetime on ABC this year. If you want to object to anything, object to that. Little kids in primetime being asked to do extraordinary things.
But seriously, why object? It's awesome television.
Get a look at some of the words in the final round these kids were asked to attempt to spell:
phoresymenhirMaecenassophrosyneisagogeguayaberaophelimityoriflammebouquinisteantonomasiadiacoelereredos
Seriously, these are words? These aren't words. These are those security captcha code words that make you turn your head in nine different directions trying to figure out if that's an "r" or an "f" or an "a" or an "n."
Shivashankar, a 13-year-old girl from Kansas, wrote out every word on her palm as she outlasted the other 11 finalists for 16 rounds. She even gets to bring more than $40,000 in cash and prizes and one huge champion's trophy back home. NIce payday for a 13-year-old.
It appears she won't be able to spell "recession" any time soon. But here are three letters Shivashankar should get real familiar with: I-N-G. Put that money in an account ASAP at let it help pay for college.
The 2009 tournament was Shivashankar's fourth appearance at the bee, having finished 10th, eighth and fourth over the last three years.

lujo virus

lujo virus
ATLANTA — Scientists have identified a lethal new virus in Africa that causes bleeding like the dreaded Ebola virus. The so-called "Lujo" virus infected five people in Zambia and South Africa last fall. Four of them died, but a fifth survived, perhaps helped by a medicine recommended by the scientists.
It's not clear how the first person became infected, but the bug comes from a family of viruses found in rodents, said Dr. Ian Lipkin, a Columbia University epidemiologist involved in the discovery.
"This one is really, really aggressive" he said of the virus.
A paper on the virus by Lipkin and his collaborators was published online Thursday on in PLoS Pathogens.
The outbreak started in September, when a female travel agent who lives on the outskirts of Lusaka, Zambia, became ill with a fever-like illness that quickly grew much worse.
She was airlifted to Johannesburg, South Africa, where she died.
A paramedic in Lusaka who treated her also became sick, was transported to Johannesburg and died. The three others infected were health care workers in Johannesburg.
Investigators believe the virus spread from person to person through contact with infected body fluids.
"It's not a kind of virus like the flu that can spread widely," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped fund the research.
The name given to the virus — "Lujo" — stems from Lusaka and Johannesburg, the cities where it was first identified.
Investigators in Africa thought the illness might be Ebola, because some of the patients had bleeding in the gums and around needle injection sites, said Stuart Nichol, chief of the molecular biology lab in the CDC's Special Pathogens Branch. Other symptoms include include fever, shock, coma and organ failure.
Genetic extracts of blood and liver from the victims were tested at Columbia University in New York, and additional testing was done at CDC in Atlanta. Tests determined it belonged to the arenavirus family, and that it is distantly related to Lassa fever, another disease found in Africa.
The drug ribavirin, which is given to Lassa victims, was given to the fifth Lujo virus patient — a Johannesburg nurse. It's not clear if the medicine made a difference or if she just had a milder case of the disease, but she fully recovered, Nichol said.
The research is a startling example of how quickly scientists can now identify new viruses, Fauci said. Using genetic sequencing techniques, the virus was identified in a matter of a few days — a process that used to take weeks or longer.

beaches

beaches
The Texas Constitution will guarantee public access to state beaches if voters back a November ballot measure that cleared the Legislature this week.
The state’s 50-year-old Open Beaches Act already contains that promise, but the measure’s supporters say that a constitutional amendment would protect it from future tampering.
“We have one of the best coastal access laws in the country,” said Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, a Laredo Democrat who proposed the amendment. “This takes it to another level. It’s more likely that these beaches will remain public forever.”
At the moment, the Open Beaches Act could be changed by simple majorities in the state Legislature, Raymond said. But a constitutional amendment cannot be altered without a two-thirds vote of both houses and the majority of voters.
The push to protect public access comes in the wake of lawsuits challenging what is public and what is private along the 367 miles of mostly wild Texas coastline.
The Open Beaches Act prohibits houses seaward of the vegetation line, which crawls steadily landward as the beaches erode.
While trophy houses, subdivisions and hotels have sprouted along the Gulf of Mexico, rising seas, sinking land and storms have led to the rapid erosion of Texas coastline. By some estimates, as much as 10 feet of beach front washes away each year.
As the sandy shore shifts over decades, a barrier island, such as Galveston, may look the same, but it will be farther landward. Houses that once stood hundreds of feet from the surf will be encroaching on the Gulf.
In some cases, the Texas General Land Office, which is responsible for the coastline, has sued to remove houses from the beach.
Jerry Patterson, the state’s land commissioner, suggested that the proposed amendment wouldn’t change anything along the coast.
“We work every day at the Texas General Land Office to ensure the public’s right to access the beach,” he said.
Property owners contend that the existing state law tramples on their rights and that a constitutional amendment would make matters worse, according to the House’s analysis of the pros and cons of the bill.
J. David Breemer, a Pacific Legal Foundation attorney who is challenging the land office’s enforcement of the Open Beaches Act, said he doesn’t believe a constitutional amendment would insulate the state from lawsuits.
“The issue is how the law is used, not the intent,” Breemer said. “The easement keeps rolling over land that the public hasn’t ever walked and development has already happened.”
Still, beachgoers and environmentalists expressed enthusiasm over the proposed amendment, which cleared the state House on a 140-1 vote and the Senate on a 29-2 vote.
Ken Kramer, director of the Sierra Club’s Lone Star chapter, said the environmental group would campaign in favor of the ballot measure.
“It’s a great issue to elevate people’s awareness of coastal protection,” he said.
Jim Blackburn, a Houston attorney who is an expert on the Texas coast, said the ballot measure will be an opportunity for Texans to decide “whether they want the beach to be there for them and for generations to come. It’s appropriate for the Constitution. It’s that important of an issue.”

noemi letizia pictures

noemi letizia pictures

May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s most explicit denial of month-old allegations he had an improper relationship with a teenager has failed to quell the controversy.
Raising the stakes yesterday, Berlusconi, 72, said he’d quit if he were caught lying.
“There is the smell of blood,” said James Walston professor of International Relations at the American University in Rome. “Will he survive? If you had asked me 10 days ago I would have said yes. Today I’m not so sure.”
The ruckus over Berlusconi’s relationship with now-18-year- old Noemi Letizia has dominated the political landscape and newspaper front-pages since his wife said she wanted a divorce and chastised him for cavorting with minors. It may cost his party votes in next week’s European parliamentary elections and even overshadow his hosting of Group of Eight leaders in July meant to focus attention on fixing the world economy.
“He hasn’t been able to shake off this Noemi thing,” said Antonio Noto, director of Rome-based polling company IPR Marketing. “We’ll have to see if he can turn it round.”
Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party led the opposition Democratic Party by 14 percentage points in a poll conducted May 15-17 on voting intention for the June 6-7 EU parliamentary elections. The poll was based on 4,000 telephone interviews. Italian law doesn’t allow polling in the 15 days before an election and many of the most salacious Noemi revelations have come since the last survey.
Campaign ‘Blocked’
“If people were voting today he would be losing a couple of percentage points for sure,” Noto said. “His campaign has been blocked.”
Letizia’s name and photos in lingerie and bikinis began dominating the news after Berlusconi’s wife, Veronica Lario, denounced Berlusconi in a letter to news agency Ansa on April 28, mentioning that he had recently attended the birthday party of an 18-year-old girl, when he had skipped the birthdays of his own children. Days later she was quoted saying that she wanted a divorce and wouldn’t stay with a man who cavorts with minors.
Berlusconi demanded an apology from his wife and said she had been duped by the “left-wing press.”
The premier said that he met Letizia through her parents, who have supported his version of events. The girl’s ex- boyfriend, Gino Flaminio, disputed the prime minister’s account in an interview with la Repubblica newspaper.
Party in Sardinia
He said Berlusconi didn’t know Letizia’s parents and that he first made contact by phone last year after seeing pictures she was using to try to break into show business. Berlusconi’s Mediaset SpA is Italy’s largest private TV broadcaster and producer.
Berlusconi then invited Letizia and a female friend to his villa in Sardinia for a week-long trip with dozens of other young women that concluded with a New Year’s party, Flaminio told the paper. Letizia has said publicly that the two spoke regularly and that she calls him Papi.
Berlusconi has so far avoided directly answering questions posed by newspapers, led by la Repubblica, such as how he met Noemi, how often and where he had seen her, and if he has spent time with her alone. Yesterday he again addressed the issue.
“Prime Minister, have you had spicy or more than spicy relations with a minor?” Berlusconi asked himself in Rome during a discussion about the reconstruction in Abruzzo province following an earthquake in April. “The response is: Absolutely not. I swear on the heads of my children.”
In Italy, adults are not punishable for sex with partners who are at least 16 years old. The age of consent can be as low as 13, if the partner is less than three years older. If not, it’s 14 unless the partner has “an influence” over the other, in which case the age of consent climbs up to 16, according to article 609 of Italy’s penal code.

melissa weber

melissa weber
A teacher at a Queens middle school was charged with statutory rape of a 14-year-old student on Thursday after his mother searched his cellphone and found logs of hundreds of text messages and calls with the woman, prosecutors said.
The teacher, Melissa Weber, 27, was being held pending arraignment on multiple counts of rape and sexual abuse and on one count of endangering the welfare of a child, the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, said in a news release. If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison.
Prosecutors said the assignations took place after school hours on seven occasions since mid-April in a second-floor classroom at Junior High School 8 in Jamaica. Ms. Weber is accused of telling the boy: “Don’t tell anyone. I could get arrested and I could lose my teaching license.”
The case unfolded quickly, thanks to a diligent sleuth of a mother and a common evidence trail of the wireless age, prosecutors said.
The mother, a member of the Parent-Teacher Association at Junior High School 8, heard suspicions among people at the school that Ms. Weber was engaging in an inappropriate relationship with her son.
She then obtained the teacher’s telephone number and searched for it on her son’s phone on Wednesday.
In one of the most recent text messages, prosecutors said, the teacher gave the boy the assignment “Erase your phone.”
On Thursday morning, the mother brought her son to the local police station house.
“The charges are very disturbing,” Mr. Brown said. “A classroom should always be a safe place for a child.”
Ron Davis, a spokesman for the teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers, said it was required to provide legal representation for teachers. He said he was not yet familiar with the charges, which were announced late in the day.
Ms. Weber, who lives in West Babylon, on Long Island, could not be reached for comment.
The boy had taken a class with Ms. Weber, who taught social studies, according to a spokesman for Mr. Brown.

dell studio 17” core 2 duo 2ghz entertainment notebook

dell studio 17” core 2 duo 2ghz entertainment notebook
Owning a notebook could prove very helpful on many occasions, but I know we are going through a recession. Some of you might say that things are going well, but this is far from being right as the economic crisis is still present, and many companies will cut down many jobs. Hopefully, none of you will be affected, but until then here is the Dell Studio 1737 Red Entertainment Notebook which is not that small, not that big, not that low, not that high, not that cheap, and not that expensive from the laptops category.
The Dell Studio 1737 Red Entertainment Notebook features a 17-inch LCD widescreen with a 1440 x 900 resolution, an Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor at 2.00GHz with a 2MB cache, 4GB of DDR2 at 667MHz, 320GB HDD at 5400 rpm, Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics, Dell Wireless 1510 802.11a/g/n, high-speed Ethernet, and a 9-cell Li-ion battery which should keep your notebook up and running for 6 hours depending on your screen’s settings.
The Dell Studio 1737 Red 17″ Core 2 Duo 2GHz Entertainment Notebook measures 15.46 x 11.36 x 1.18-1.69 inch (392.6 x 288.6 x 30-43 mm), and weighs about 7.6 lbs. I think that this notebook is rather small, however, I think that it’s kinda heavy but this could be because I’m skinny. I admit that it has a lot of specs and hardware, but many of you would have preferred the device to be lighter.

Among the list of specs you will find a built-in 2.0-megapixel webcam, Intel HD audio speakers, 4 x USB 2.0 port, Firewire IEEE 1394 port, microphone jack, headphone jack, 8X Slot Load CD/DVD writer, a HDMI port so that you can connect the Dell Studio 1737 Red 17″ Core 2 Duo 2GHz Entertainment Notebook to a HDTV, a facial recognition biometric security for the webcam, and if you configure the software and turn it on, then you will have to look at the webcam each time you start the notebook which is kinda cool, and useful if you don’t want anybody else to play around with your device.

The Dell Studio 1737 Red 17″ Core 2 Duo 2GHz Entertainment Notebook runs on Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit version, and it runs smoothly thanks to the good processor and the 4GB RAM. Dell used us with little software for laptops, but this comes with a moderate amount of program, but it’s OK and it should bother you at all as you can always uninstall them. The notebook also features a cool Red Deck Lid with Dell’s logo centered which gives a nice touch to a rather serious-looking design of the Dell Studio 1737.
In conclusion I can say that this is a great notebook, but it’s kinda expensive. You can find refurbished units at prices around $650-$700, but in stores this beauty costs $750-$850 depending on specs and retailer.

kara dioguardi bikini girl duet

kara dioguardi bikini girl duet

Bikini Girl Katrina Darrell was back on "American Idol" last night. She came out on stage live, in a bikini of course.
As part of the two-hour finale, Kara DioGuardi sang a duet with her former nemesis. Kara totally destroys her and takes over the singing, it's actually pretty

And then Kara rips apart her dress, revealing a black bikini underneath! The audience goes wild.
We strongly recommend watching the duet, if only for Randy Jackson's priceless reaction when a clearly enhanced Darrell comes out on stage.

the new goodnight kiss

the new goodnight kiss
Right under our noses, girls are trading oral sex for pretty shirts and sex for money. For her new book and film Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss, Canadian journalist Sharlene Azam interviewed teenage and pre-teen girls about sexual attitudes and found many who use sex as currency. Even in middle-class Canada, girls are being recruited — often by other teens — to provide sexual services to groups of men and boys. “I was most surprised to learn that there are girls recruiting other girls,” Azam told Metro. “It is chilling to sit across from a teenage girl who talks about targeting a pretty, popular girl at her school because she thinks she has everything and is jealous of her.”Parents often believe that their daughters are safe when they are at school, at the mall or chatting on the Internet. But Azam found girls as young as 12 were actually giving oral sex to groups of boys and telling their parents they were hanging out with friends. All the boys had to do was say they “want a piece” of her, and she’d perform oral sex while the others watched, reports Azam, who splits her time between Los Angeles and Vancouver. She also interviewed girls who were willing to pose nude on their webcam and get paid to send the pictures to anonymous men.“There is very little education or awareness of what is happening to girls because the problem is so new and it is well hidden.”Why are girls today more promiscuous than in the past? “The Internet has sped up teens’ sexual willingness and behaviour,” says Azam. “Girls are surrounded by a hypersexualized culture where they are being groomed and encouraged to think of themselves as: Hooter’s Girl, Stripper, Porn Star. Exposure affects behaviour.” Girls who are looking for attention know that a sexy video or picture can give them power and launch them into fame.This behaviour can have long-term health effects. It could affect the girls’ ability to trust men later in life and to have normal, living relationships, says Azam, who is married with a young daughter. In addition, many girls are getting STDs. One public health nurse told her that at the four schools she visits, hundreds of kids have Chlamydia. Azam suggests that parents pay close attention to their daughters during their teen years and have regular conversations with them about sex. “The parents that I interviewed wished they had paid attention to the warning signs. When you learn that your daughter has traded sex for $60 or has sold her virginity for $1,000, your whole life stops,” she says. A revealing read • Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss by Sharlene Azam is available through

honduras earthquake

honduras earthquake
Tegucigalpa, May 28 (DPA) At least one person was killed and scores of others were injured when a 7.1-magnitude quake hit Honduras early Thursday, radio reports said.
A 15-year-old boy died when his house collapsed in La Lima 265 km north of the capital Tegucigalpa, the police said, adding that several people were also injured in San Pedro Sula in the north.
The quake, which measured at least 7.1 points, was followed by several aftershocks.
Following the quake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued a tsunami warning in the Caribbean comprising Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and other Caribbean areas except for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
However, only government agencies had the authority to take decisions on official alerts, the centre said.
The 30-second quake was caused by a collision between the Caribbean and North American plates, said seismography expert Gonzalo Cruz from the Honduras National Autonomous University.
US seismology officials said the quake struck at a depth of 10 km and some 320 km northeast of the capital Tegucigalpa.

sara jane moore

sara jane moore

Free after 32 years in prison, Sara Jane Moore says she was wrong, “misled” and “mistaken” in trying to assassinate President Gerald R. Ford in September 1975. However, she added: “I still believe if I hadn’t done it, someone else would.”“It was a time people don't remember. We had a war in this country, the Vietnam War,” Moore told Matt Lauer in an exclusive interview on TODAY Thursday. “The only way it was going to change was by revolution.”It was only later, while spending time in solitary confinement, that the only woman ever to fire a shot at a president said she “had begun to realize that I'd been used.”“I think that I was misled, that I was mistaken. I think I made a serious error,” she told Lauer. “I had to learn later that everyone else didn't feel that way.”‘I’m a human being’Moore tried to kill Ford on Sept. 22, 1975, during a San Francisco motorcade. She spent more than three decades in prison for the crime before receiving mandatory parole on the last day of 2007. She will remain under supervision for at least five years, federal authorities say.Now aged 80, the matronly looking Moore hopes to write a book about her life. “One gets tired of being thought of as a kook, a monster, an alien,” she said firmly. “I'm a human being.”Moore certainly was no ordinary assailant. A 45-year-old suburban mom turned leftist advocate, she'd been married five times and worked with San Francisco's counterculture groups. Because of her connection to radical groups, the FBI recruited her as an informant.“She was a product of those times in a not very successful fashion,” said NBC News’ Tom Brokaw.The morning of the shooting, Secret Service agents and police picked her up, took her .45-caliber pistol and released her on charges of carrying a concealed weapon after she phoned in a threat.She simply bought another gun and waited for President Ford outside San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel.Moore was 40 feet from the president when she aimed her .38-caliber revolver and pulled the trigger. The bullet missed his head, and a bystander wrestled her to the ground.“They picked me up bodily and carried me across the street,” Moore told Lauer. “I had one of those weird moments where I thought I'd never walk the streets again.”Moore spent seven years in solitary confinement. But she also worked in an office in the prison and occasionally had to be taken out for medical treatments.“I hated it, I wouldn't want to live with it,” she said. “But it allowed me to stop, think, get acquainted with myself.“That's when I began to realize that this world I had leaped into and sucked myself into was a minuscule thing.”She even wrote to the president, saying she was grateful that she hadn't succeeded.A few hours of freedomOf course, Moore also escaped from prison in 1979 — literally climbing the fence. Someone had told her, she said, that “when you go over, put your hand straight down on it so all you have is some puncture wounds. And it works.”Authorities recaptured Moore hours later. She was transferred to a federal prison.“Had I realized I was going to be recaptured so quickly, I'd have gone in and gotten a drink or gone in and gotten a hamburger or something,” she told Lauer. “That's my one regret about my mistake — that I didn't take advantage of it.”All that time behind bars taught Moore that “a heart broken too often turns to stone.” So she tried to prevent that from happening. “You can't let yourself care,” she said. “You're a prisoner, but life goes on.”And even after her release, Moore had trouble touching others. “I shut down my heart,” she explained. “I shut down part of my thinking. I remember the first day that somebody actually hugged me, and I thought: ‘Welcome to the human race.’ ”Authorities won't say where Moore lives now. She's been seen around her town, but, except for a couple of close friends, most people don't know what she did. Under the terms of her release, Moore needs permission to travel, including to her appearance on TODAY.
Still, she says, “People are kind. The reins are as loose as they can make them.”As for those who say she should never have been released, Moore says: “We have a Constitution and we have laws. Regardless of who you are, there were conditions to be met for me to be paroled, and I met those conditions.“If people object to that, write your congressman and ask that your law be changed.”

bonnie sweeten

bonnie sweeten
The carjacking happened Tuesday afternoon following an accident in Upper Southampton Township, Bucks County.
A 38-year-old Feasterville woman, Bonnie Sweeten, called 911 later Tuesday afternoon and said she was the victim of that carjacking. Sweeten told a dispatcher that she and her 9-year-old daughter, Julia Rakoczy, were in the trunk of a Cadillac. That call was traced to a cell phone tower in downtown Philadelphia.
Authorities are looking for Sweeten's gold or silver GMC Yukon Denali, which has Pennsylvania license plate GYK-8998. They're also looking for a black 1990s Cadillac.

stanley cup finals schedule 2009

stanley cup finals schedule 2009

The Penguins have managed to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals 2009, thanks to a little help from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The duo has been compared to Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, which has to be a huge compliment to both players.
This is back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Finals for the Penguins, as they have now completed a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes beating them in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, which was held at the RBC Center.
USA Today explains that the Penguins will now have to wait and see if they will face the Detroit Red Wings, last season, they prevailed in six games. The Red Wings are leading the Chicago Blackhawks 3-1, tonight is Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

xbox live

xbox live

Two weeks after less-than-credible rumors about a special game-enabled Zune phone, Microsoft has officially announced the first non-music crossover functionality between its multimedia handheld and game console.
As part of an announcement this evening for the Zune HD--which can browse the Internet, play 16:9 movies in 480x272 resolution, and tune in to digital radio--the company revealed that the new device will have interoperability with the video marketplace on Xbox Live starting this fall.

The Zune HD.
"The Zune music player is an integral part of the overall Zune experience, and we're proud to be growing and extending our offering beyond the device," said Enrique Rodriguez, corporate vice president of Microsoft's TV, Video. and Music Business Group. "Delivering on Microsoft's connected entertainment vision, this news marks a turning point for Zune as it brings cross-platform experiences and premium video content to living rooms around the world."
Unfortunately, other than saying both films and television programs for the Zune would be available on Xbox Live this fall, Microsoft revealed no details about the service. It only promised that attendees at its Electronic Entertainment Expo would "see first-hand how Zune integrates into Xbox LIVE to create a game-changing entertainment experience." GameSpot will be live-blogging and streaming the event on Monday, June 1 at 10:30 a.m. PDT from Los Angeles.
The release also did not mention when--or if--Microsoft will announce the gaming functionalities it promised would arrive on the Zune by the end of 2008. So far, the device only offers five casual games for owners to play: Sudoku, Space Battle, Hexic, Checkers, and Texas Hold 'Em.

spectacular from pretty ricky video

spectacular from pretty ricky video

Recording artist Spectacular of Pretty Ricky, aka, the dude with the braids, recently uploaded a video 'dance off' challenge on YouTube. The video shows Spectacular introducing himself and then challenging 'all them boys that be grinding out there', he says 'this ain't no beef, this is to see who's number one.' Spectacular calls out Lil Bow Wow, Omarion, Chris Brown, Trey Songz and even Day 26 daring them to upload a response video to prove who is the best. However, the video isn't exactly the kind of dance off you might expect. No break dancing moves, popping and locking, or Chris Brown like head spins. It is merely Spectacular in his red briefs winding and grinding like a stripper. The response from viewers is that of speculation of his sexual preferences. I'm not sure what he was trying to accomplish with this video but as a woman I was not the least bit turned on by this display of feminism. TJ Chapman of TJ's DJs, infamous for his DJ retreats, responded to Spectacular with a video where he says 'I don't even know what to say,' he says 'It's not even cool homie.' Although none of the artists that Spec called out have responded, he sure did get a lot of responses from members of the gay community. Many flamboyant men have uploaded videos to prove that they can out wind and grind him. This is a must see.

mike tyson s baby

mike tyson s baby
Exodus Tyson was found Monday morning hanged from a cord that was connected to a treadmill in the family’s activity room in their Phoenix, Arizona home. She was discovered when her mother, who was cleaning in another room, sent the girl’s seven-year-old brother in to check on her.Police are treating the case as an accident, saying it appears the child was playing on or near the treadmill and became tangled in the cord. The girl’s mother was administering CPR when paramedics arrived on the scene. Exodus died a day later of her injuries.Tyson was in Las Vegas at the time of the incident but rushed to his daughter’s side upon being notified of the tragedy.“Mike was very dedicated to that baby,'' said Sig Rogish, a longtime friend of Tyson and his former agent. “I think every parent's greatest fear is that they live beyond their children. I know Mike has had his troubles in his life, but he's always been a good father.”The troubles Rogish refers to are numerous. Tyson’s father left the family when Mike was two; his mother died when he was 16. By the age of 13 he had been arrested 38 times, but was saved from a life on the streets after juvenile hall when a counselor discovered his boxing talent.His short-lived marriage to actress Robin Givens ended amidst allegations of physical and emotional abuse and mental illness. He was convicted of raping a beauty queen and spent three years in prison for the crime. He was stripped of his boxing license for a year after biting off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a match, went to prison again on new assault charges, filed for bankruptcy in 2003 after squandering nearly $300 million -- around the same time his second marriage ended due to his reported infidelities -- and was arrested again in 2006 on charges of DUI and felony drug possession.Tyson knows his life has been one big tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. In 2005 he told USA Today:"My whole life has been a waste -- I've been a failure. I just want to escape. I'm really embarrassed with myself and my life. I want to be a missionary. I think I could do that while keeping my dignity without letting people know they chased me out of the country. I want to get this part of my life over as soon as possible. In this country nothing good is going to come of me. People put me so high; I wanted to tear that image down."

jennifer espinosa

jennifer espinosa

May 25, 2009 (PARK RIDGE, Ill.) -- A suburban Chicago high school teacher has been charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse after police say she admitted having a relationship with a former 16-year-old student.
Authorities say 38-year-old Jennifer Espinosa was ordered held on $50,000 bond Monday. Cook County sheriff's investigators say they found the Maine East High School science and special education teacher in her car with the boy on Saturday while on patrol.
The boy was expelled from Maine East in September. Police say Espinosa told them the relationship began after the teen's expulsion. She said they have had sex at her home, in her car and at the high school.
A phone message left at Espinosa's home was not immediately

monica bellucci s

monica bellucci s

The Italian actress and model was at the closing ceremony of the festival - where she was promoting her film Don't Turn Around - when thieves struck.
Jewellery, laptop computers and her Italian passport were taken.
Bellucci is best known for starring in The Matrix Reloaded and playing Mary Magdalene in The Passion of the Christ.
Police said burglars had entered the fourth floor apartment in eastern Paris from a terrace.
At Sunday's closing ceremony in Cannes, Austrian film The White Ribbon won main prize, the Palme d'Or.
Bellucci's film Don't Turn Around - directed by Marina de Van and co-starring former Bond girl Sophie Marceau - was not in competition for the prize.

wilkes county schools

wilkes county schools
Schools are closed in Wilkes County today because of flooding from heavy rains. Numerous roads remain closed by flooding across southern Wilkes County.
A flash flood warning continues until 3 p.m. today, according to the National Weather Service.
Authorities were evacuating people in the Germantown Road area near Moravian Creek this morning.
Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 2 inches are possible this morning. Runoff from heavy rains could continue to cause flooding of small creeks and streams.
Authorities are warning people not to drive where water covers the roadway. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles. The water is often deeper than it appears, and just a foot of flowing water is powerful enough to sweep a vehicle off the road.

judge sonia sotomayor

judge sonia sotomayor
President Obama will nominate appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, officials said, making her the first Hispanic in history to be elevated to the high court.
Sotomayor, 54, who has been a federal judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 1998, has a formidable resume. From 1992 to 1998, Sotomayor was a federal judge for the U. S. District Court Southern District of New York. She also served as an assistant district attorney for New York County from 1979 to 1984.
Bill Clinton nominated Sotomayor for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1997. George H. W. Bush nominated Sotomayor as a federal judge in 1991 -- a position that made Sotomayor the youngest judge in the Southern District of New York and the first Hispanic federal judge in the state.
A New York native, Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976. She earned her law degree from Yale Law School in 1979.
Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, N.Y., to Puerto Rican parents. Her father, a manual laborer, died when she was nine-years-old. Her mother, a nurse, raised Sotomayor, who was diagnosed with diabetes at age eight.

nikki catsouras accident scene photos

nikki catsouras accident scene photos

A tragic event that occurred nearly three years ago continues to disturb a family in Orange County, Calif. Despite every effort, they are unable to move past the tragedy because the Internet will not allow them to reach closure. Actually, the World Wide Web itself is not to blame as much as the morbid and insensitive individuals who hide on its darker side.
The events surrounding this story began to unfold on October 31, 2006. On that day, 18-year-old Nikki Catsouras (photo here) fatefully grabbed the keys to her father's Porsche 911 Carrera and walked out the front door of her parents' home. Nikki had been forbidden to drive the sports car, and her judgment on that day will forever remain in question.
As a child, Nikki was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Tests showed the growth to be benign; however, she still had to endure radiation treatment which, doctors warned, could cause her to have difficulty with impulse control - issues which may have contributed to the cocaine-induced psychosis that she suffered in 2005. Despite her hospital stay after that incident, Nikki again experimented with cocaine in October 2006. In response, her parents scheduled an appointment with a brain disorder specialist. Unfortunately, Nikki never made the appointment.
It will never be known whether the accident was the result of teen disobedience or a lack of judgment caused by her brain disorder. Regardless of the reason, Nikki got behind the wheel of her father's car and backed it out of the family's garage. Nikki's mother, Lesli Catsouras, heard the commotion outside and ran out, only to see her daughter speeding down the road. Lesli immediately phoned her husband, Christos, who called 911. During the call, the dispatcher informed him that a black Porsche had been involved in an accident on the 241 toll road in Lake Forest. Christos' heart immediately sank to the pit of his stomach.

According to police, Nikki was traveling at approximately 100 mph when she lost control of the car. She hit a Honda driven by a lone man before tumbling over the median and slamming into a concrete toll booth. The accident was so severe that Nikki was nearly decapitated upon impact (those photos will not be shown here). Her remains were in such a horrific state that the coroner would not allow her family to view her body

As tragic as Nikki's death was, it was only the beginning of a long road of suffering that her family would have to endure.
In the weeks that followed the accident, Christos received an e-mail that he assumed was related to his real estate business. However, when he opened it, he was confronted by a gruesome crime scene photo of his daughter and a caption that read, "Whoohoo Daddy! Hey Daddy, I'm still alive."
That e-mail set the stage for a wave of harassment which has targeted each member of Nikki's family. In addition, one particularly sick individual took the time to set up a fake MySpace page in Nikki's name in order to poke fun at her death. Within the comment section, one visitor wrote, "What a waste of a Porsche," while another comment read, "That spoiled rich girl deserved it."
The release of the nine crime scene photos was traced to two California Highway Patrol dispatchers - Thomas O'Donnell, 39, and Aaron Reich, 30. In response, the CHP sent a letter of apology to the family and suspended O'Donnell for 25 days without pay. According to newsweek.com, Reich quit his job for unrelated reasons.
The crime scene photos have since gone viral and can be found on thousands of Web sites. Despite the family's best efforts, they have been unable to have them removed from the Internet. With little remaining recourse, they filed a lawsuit against the CHP for negligence, privacy invasion and infliction of emotional harm.
In March 2008, the Catsouras' case was dismissed by a superior court judge who ruled that rights of privacy do not extend to the dead. The court response to the family's appeal is expected on June 1.
In the wake of the case's recent media coverage, Russian cyber criminals attempted to exploit the situation by registering a domain name to distribute malware under the disguise of a "video" of the crime scene. According to trendmicro.com, the site in question has been optimized to appear as the first result in Internet searches for "Nikki Catsouras." The malware contains several variants of worms and viruses. Perhaps the site is actually doing the family a favor by luring those who wish to view the video. After doing so, they will surf away with a PC full of computer viruses.
Meanwhile, Nikki's parents and siblings have all enrolled in therapy so that they might eventually be able to come to terms with the situation or at least begin travelling the road to closure.
Morbid curiosity is one thing, but to turn Nikki Catsouras' death into a twisted Internet phenomenon is another. The incredible cruelty that the Catsouras family has suffered as a result of this chain of events is inexcusable. The individuals who are responsible should be charged with harassment. Their lack of empathy leaves me utterly speechless.

dream 9 results

dream 9 results

Jose Canseco's mixed martial arts debut lasted just over a minute Tuesday, as the Korean giant Hong Man Choi knocked him to the ground and pummeled him the way everyone expected he would at the Dream 9 tournament in Japan.Canseco threw a hard right punch and a hard right kick in the first few seconds of the fight, and the 7-foot-2 Choi appeared to be surprised that Canseco was even fighting with him. But after that a left jab from Choi sent Canseco reeling, and he spent a short time just trying not to get hit before Choi knocked him to the ground and pounded him a few more times. Once Choi was hitting him on the ground, Canseco tapped out to avoid getting hurt.The bizarre Canseco vs. Choi fight was part of the Dream MMA promotion's "Super Hulk Tournament," a tournament that consisted of a series of fights matching up fighters with enormous size differences between them -- the kinds of fights that Japanese fans love, but that American athletic commissions would never alow. Choi will move on to the Super Hulk Tournament's second round, while Canseco will head home with another quick paycheck.

mike tyson

mike tyson

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter is in critical condition after she was found with a cord around her neck following an accident, according to media reports on Monday.
Exodus Tyson was playing near some exercise equipment when she accidentally got tangled in a cord or rope hanging from a treadmill, the Arizona Republic reported on its website.
The Phoenix Police Department did not immediately return phone calls.
ABC News reported that the child was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in central Phoenix, where she was listed in critical condition on life support.
Police said that based on the initial investigation, the incident appeared to be "a tragic accident," ABC reported.
Tyson is the subject of a new documentary by director James Toback. He was not in Phoenix at the time of the accident, but was shown later on television news arriving at the hospital.

kathy coleman

kathy coleman
Kathy Coleman will play a cameo role in ‘Land of the Lost’ movie slated to release on June 5th. Kathy is a child actress who is known for playing Holly Marshall in the original 1974 TV series on which this movie is based. The film is directed by Brad Silberling and stars Will Ferrell.
The ‘Land of the Lost’ film follows "a disgraced paleontologist, his assistant, and a macho tour guide who find themselves in a strange, alternate world inhabited by dinosaurs, monkey people and reptilian Sleestaks."
Land of the Lost TV series was created and produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. During its original run, it was broadcast on the NBC television network. It was not, however, a prime-time series. It has since become a cult classic and is now available on DVD. It was shot in Los Angeles, California.

bjs wholesale club locations

bjs wholesale club locations

Medford -
With record number of American households stretching dollars to meet their basic food needs, BJ’s Wholesale Club announced it is expanding payment options to its members by accepting government-issued food stamp benefits via Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) payments.
BJ’s is the first U.S. wholesale club to accept EBT chainwide, including its local club location in Medford on Middlesex Avenue.
The Natick–based BJ’s Wholesale Club operates 180 clubs in 15 states, including: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia.

novena carmel

novena carmel

Don't call him that anymore, because the superstar who blended funk, rock, soul and psychedelic sounds in the 1960s and '70s before disappearing from the scene in the '80s is not in hiding, his youngest daughter said.
Stone's media shyness in recent decades earned him a comparison to the late billionaire recluse Howard Hughes, but he's just been living his life and making his music out of the glare of great expectations that superstars suffer.
"It's not like he wasn't making music," said Novena Carmel, his 27-year-old daughter. "He was enjoying his life and riding motorcycles, one of his passions."
Now 66, Sly Stone is talking to interviewers again and sometimes taking the stage at Los Angeles clubs with Novena and her group, BabyStone.
"She is the force that keeps him straight," said Anthony Valadez, a disc jockey with Los Angeles radio station KCRW. "I think it's her energy and their bond that is so sacred that keeps him in line. That's what brings Sly out."
The Sly and the Family Stone founder gave a rare interview to KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic." Though it airs Monday, the interview was taped days ahead -- given Stone's 40-year reputation for not showing up for concerts and interviews.
Sly Stone -- who was Sylvester Stewart before changing his name as a radio DJ -- didn't reminisce in the interview about past troubles. Interviewer Chris Douridas kept the conversation about the music.
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He said he was a child, performing in his family's gospel group, The Stewart Four, when he first realized the power music has over people. It happened as he sang "On the Battlefield" during a Sam Cooke show at the Oakland Auditorium when he was 4.
"Towards the end of the song, people starting running down the aisle and I didn't know what was going on," he said. "I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know they were just happy. So, I turned around and ran, and I've been running ever since."
Stone now says he didn't know then where he was heading.
"Where I was is where I was," he said.
Stone wrote his first hit song for someone else. Bobby Freeman made "Come On and Swim" a Top 10 pop hit in summer 1964.
When he formed Sly and the Family Stone in 1966, the mix of race and gender was unusual for its time.
"It was on purpose -- that's what I intended to do," Stone said.
He recruited two white musicians -- drummer Greg Errico and saxophonist Jerry Martini. Though African-American women were mostly used as backup singers back then, Cynthia Robinson played the trumpet.
Larry Graham's revolutionary style of "slapping" his electric bass guitar strings added to the Family Stone's groundbreaking sound.
The songs appealed to white and blacks equally and regularly topped both the pop and R&B charts.
Stone's lyrics often carried dual meanings.
"Hot Fun in the Summertime" -- released in summer 1969 -- might be a tribute to the fun of summer days to one listener, while another might see satire about the summertime race riots of the late '60s.
Stone set the stage for other superstars to follow, but the band dissolved after one hot decade and success became as elusive as Stone.
Novena may understand her dad better than anyone these days. She's lured him back to the stage for several performances, which she avoids calling concerts. With those, "people expect certain things," such as wanting performers to be what they were 30 years ago, she said.
Instead, it's the "Sly Stone Variety Show," which allows her father "to do whatever he wants to do in the moment."
"It's very wild, in the sense that they have the Sly Stone trivia game onstage with diehard fans," said Anthony Valadez, who has been to several.
The show format is designed "for him to connect with people and people to connect with him," his daughter said.
Novena also knows to not plan too far ahead with her dad, so he doesn't have time to back out.
"If it's done quickly, then it works," she said. "But if he has a tour, then there's a lot of expectations that you have to meet for everybody to be happy."
"My dad would be like, 'I wanna do a show as soon as possible,'" she said. That gives her just about a week to get the show together and promote it.
P-funk architect George Clinton and actor-comedian Eddie Murphy showed up for the last one, which was a sold-out celebration of Stone's 66th birthday.
One indication that Stone has changed his no-show habit, which marred his reputation in younger days, is he actually arrives for shows early, Valadez said.
"Coming early to these gigs, you watch Sly and his affection for his daughter and it's evidence he would do anything for her," he said.

tomb of the unknown soldier

tomb of the unknown soldier
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President Barack Obama joins thousands of Americans in commemorating Memorial Day on Monday by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington. The nation pays tribute to its fallen heroes as it seeks to end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Obama, who spent Memorial Day weekend at Camp David with his family, will lead the traditional ceremony at Arlington at about 10:30 am. He will return to Camp David and spends a quiet day with First Lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters before returning to the White House later in the evening.
The President had honored veterans and servicemen and women in his weekly address on Saturday.
"Our fighting men and women - and the military families who love them - embody what is best in America. And we have a responsibility to serve all of them as well as they serve all of us," he said. "Yet, all too often in recent years and decades, we, as a nation, have failed to live up to that responsibility. We have failed to give them the support they need or pay them the respect they deserve. That is a betrayal of the sacred trust that America has with all who wear - and all who have worn - the proud uniform of our country."
"That is why we are building a 21st century Department of Veterans Affairs with the largest single-year funding increase in three decades... That is why, this week, I signed a bill that will eliminate some of the waste and inefficiency in our defense projects - reform that will better protect our nation, better protect our troops," he added.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has issued a statement urging constituents to "take a moment to remember the extraordinary sacrifices of so many Americans who fought for their flag and their country." He added, "We should be honored to share this land with such brave heroes."
Over the weekend, Defense Sec. Robert Gates spoke before West Point Graduates, praising them for their courage.
"You made your decision to serve knowing not only that America was at war ... but that this war would be bloody, difficult, of indefinite length and uncertain outcome," he said. "In doing so, you showed courage, commitment, and patriotism of the highest order."
Gates also spoke about leadership, saying, "Treating soldiers decently also extends to making sure that they, and their families, are properly taken care of - body, mind, and soul."
More than 100,000 are expected to attend Memorial Day activities at the 128 Veterans Affairs national cemeteries across the nation to pay tribute to the 1 million Americans who have died during wars. The programs began over the weekend and include color guards, bands and choir performances.
At the most active VA natioal cemetery, in Riverside, California, volunteers have been reading aloud since Armed Forces Day a week ago, the names of more than 150,000 veterans buried there.
The Obama administration is currently pursuing a new Afghan strategy that includes sending 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. The new troops will train Afghan Security Forces following a shift in the U.S. mission to training and increasing the size of the Afghan Army to 134,000 and the police force to 82,000 by 2011.
Iraq, meanwhile, has been taking an increasingly larger share for its security from American forces. The President announced in February that U.S. combat troops will all be pulled out from the nation by August next year but a residual force of 35,000 to 50,000 troops will remain to help in the transition until 2011.Read more: "Obama Visits Tomb Of Unknown Soldier As Nation Marks Memorial Day AHN May 25, 2009" - http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7015261665#ixzz0GX7zSfMk&A

susan boyle site youtube.com memories

susan boyle site youtube.com memories
LONDRES (Reuters) - Susan Boyle, a solteirona escocesa cuja voz magnífica se tornou a sensação do YouTube, voltou a encantar o público novamente no domingo, quando se classificou para a final do programa de talentos "Brittain's Got Talent".
Cantando "Memory" do musical "Cats", a mulher de 48 anos superou o nervosismo inicial para produzir mais uma apresentação sublime que lhe garantiu a vitória na votação pelo telefone.
"Você é uma dama especial, eu devo dizer isto, você realmente é", disse Simon Cowell, um dos três jurados do programa, após a nova performance de Boyle.
Vestindo um vestido brilhoso, Boyle estava mais arrumada e enfeitada do que na sua primeira aparição no programa, no mês passado, quando seu jeito deselegante e seu modo peculiar provocou risos na plateia, que supôs que ela não sabia cantar.
Desta vez, seu cabelo estava arrumado, suas sobrancelhas estavam feitas e ela parecia estar no caminho de se tornar uma estrela.
"Que pressão?", disse ela quando questionada posteriormente se estava nervosa. "Foi muito bom hoje à noite, eu realmente gostei... Estou muito feliz em estar aqui e obrigada a todos pelo seu apoio."
Boyle deixou os juízes de boca aberta no mês passado com sua interpretação de "I Dreamed a Dream" do musical "Os Miseráveis", que quase imediatamente se tornou a sensação da Internet, visto mais de 60 milhões de vezes no YouTube.
Com aparições nos programas de televisão da Oprah Winfrey e Larry King, Boyle -- que foi ridicularizada por nunca ter sido beijada -- se tornou uma sensação global, com sua idade e aparência conflitando com a imagem da maioria das celebridades modernas.
Boyle, que cantava em corais quando era jovem, mas que sempre sonhou com uma carreira no West End de Londres, tentou calar a boca deles, dizendo que não presta atenção ao furor global.
Desde a sua apresentação em abril, equipes de televisão de todos os cantos do mundo acamparam em frente a sua casa na Escócia e jornais dedicaram páginas sobre ela.
Um fã dedicou a ela um site "Nunca julgue um livro pela capa".
O sucesso de Boyle fez dela a favorita a ganhar a disputa, que dará ao vencedor um ato no Royal Variety Show e receberá prêmio de 100 mil libras.

diane borchardt

diane borchardt
Diane Borchardt was a former teacher’s aide/study hall monitor at Jefferson High School in Wisconsin. She was convicted of hiring three of her students to murder her estranged husband, Ruben Borchardt, on Easter morning in 1994.
Ruben Borchardt was a widower with two kids who married Diane in 1979. They were living happily till 1993 when Ruben wanted to divorce Diane as he was going around with someone else. Diane then approached three of her students for murdering Ruben and offered the youths $20,000 from a life insurance policy, her wedding and engagement rings and two cars in exchange for the killing.
Although Diane had a good alibi, one of the murderers spoke out of the plot as Diane as the mastermind of the plot. At her trial, Diane Borchardt was found guilty of first degree intentional homicide. She was sentenced to life in prison.

blue ridge log cabins

blue ridge log cabins
BOCA RATON, Fla. - (Business Wire) Blue Ridge Log Cabins, a custom manufactured log home builder, has installed an ADT Security Services video surveillance system to monitor safety and security at its sales center and two manufacturing facilities. The system was originally installed to help protect expensive building materials and quickly became a management tool to improve efficiency, safety and customer service.
The digital video surveillance system was installed at the company’s sales center and manufacturing facilities in Campobello, S.C., outside of Greenville/Spartanburg. The installation included cameras at a new 110,000-square-foot production facility where craftsmen construct and assemble sections of each log home.
Ninety to 100 percent of every home is completed at the factory, which allows Blue Ridge Log Cabins to ensure a uniform product with a guaranteed price. According to the company, all homes are equal to and often better in quality and value than site-built homes. Models range from 900 to 5,000 square feet.
Chip Smith, president, Blue Ridge Log Cabins, said his plant managers are able to remotely monitor equipment, materials and high quality appliances stored on-site via the Internet. The ADT system also lets Blue Ridge Cabins do more than monitor for security purposes.
“We were looking primarily for a security camera system; the ADT system provides that security surveillance and also helps us monitor traffic in our sales facility, in addition to alerting us to customers arriving on site,” Smith said. “It has made our overall operation much more efficient.”
Smith also said that the camera system helped him improve the Blue Ridge Log Cabins safety program by recording and replaying video of incidents that occurred on company property. Video from the system has also given management a valuable tool for helping train employees.
“Many companies find that once you have the security infrastructure in place, the system can be used not only for security purposes, but for everyday operations as well,” said Jeffrey Bean, vice president, ADT Retail Sales and Operations. “The system installed at Blue Ridge Log Cabins allows the company to get added value from its security investment.”
“The system has become a very useful tool for us,” said Smith. “We rely on it to help ensure a safe environment for our employees and customers and to help us produce a quality product more efficiently.”
About ADT Security Services:
ADT Security Services is a unit of Tyco International and part of ADT Worldwide, the world’s largest electronic security provider. In North America, ADT provides electronic security services to nearly five million commercial, government and residential customers. ADT's total security solutions include intrusion, fire protection, video systems, access control, critical condition monitoring, home health services, electronic article surveillance, radio frequency identification (RFID) and integrated systems. ADT’s government and commercial customers include a majority of the nation’s Fortune 500 companies, all U.S. federal courthouses and over 70 mid to large airports. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, ADT has more than 24,000 employees at approximately 240 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

girls gone wild video

Girls gone wild
by sumwoman07-May-2009
The 1960's and the 1970's were definitely wild and unique times. The Black Pathers, the Women's Liberation Movement and the Civil Rights Movement.
The women's movement wasn't unique in itself, for centuries women had been calling for equality. It was unique because it worked, the system gave way and things changed. There should have been a national seance. Gloria Steinem, Joan Baez and all the other women at the forefront of the movement should have had a seance to contact Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary started up the Suffragette Movement in the 1700's.
"Mary, Mary. Are you there?"
"This is Mary."
"Mary, we did it. We realized your dream!"
Mary was a plucky women living in the 1700's. She convinced a whole bunch of other women to march in the streets with her. They were all wearing whalebone corsets and ankle length skirts. There was Mary at the front of the demonstration holding a parasol in one hand and a protest sign in the other.
The sign read, "We are half the population, so we want half the power, but for now we will take 5 percent or even 2 percent of the power. You bastards!" That the was the level of negotiations going on.
The men weren't budging. They were resistant to the idea of sharing power. One guy jumped out in front of the protesters, right in front of Mary and shouted, "You weigh more than a duck!" POW! He smacked Mary right in the nose. Remember, Mary was wearing a whalebone corset, she was unable to absorb the impact of the punch so she fell back like a bowling pin and knocked out the women behind her. In fact, the whole Suffragette Movement fell over like bowling pins. The protesters got up, dusted off their skirts and went home.
Sometimes, the revolution is not just about ideology, it's about the clothes. You gotta have the right clothes. Perhaps, this is what the chicks in the 70's realized? We shouldn't under estimate their impact, these girls changed the course of history. A generation of women gone wild took of their bras and exposed their boobs. A short time later the rest of the women in the nation got the right to gainful employment, that's legalese for Cash Flow. Women didn't have to be perpetually sixteen anymore, that's truly wild.
So you can well imagine my excitement when I heard about the video release of Girls Gone Wild. I thought to myself, the last time the nation was exposed to wild boobs, the television news only covered bits and pieces of the wildness. Little snippets of women on street corners gathered round bonfires of their bras. Even though it was minimal exposure western civilization was shaken to its core.
This time, the boob-o-rama is going to be professionally produced and distributed all over America. Just you wait, right after the show the people will elect a female president. They're not going to wait for the credits to role. In a spontaneous collective gesture, the masses will take to the streets and demand women be put in charge.
It didn't happen. I thought maybe things would turn around with the release of Girls Gone Wild 2. I don't know why, it didn't happen. Certainly the video was a commercial success but in the process the producers may have exposed far more than perky boobs. After the show, I realized, in this world there are titties and then there are titties. The difference being something like this.