вторник, 3 июля 2012 г.
четверг, 15 марта 2012 г.
Dow Shakes Out of Slump
Stock prices finally came to life last week, propelling the DowJones index to its highest level in five months, but the expertswarn that the market is not a place for widows and orphans.
The cure for the market's summer blahs was a report Wednesdayby the Commerce Department that orders for expensive manufacturedgoods took an unexpected 4.2 percent plunge in July.
It said the drop in orders for durable goods - cars, homeappliances and other items meant to last at least three years - wasthe largest in 2 1/2 years.
Wall Street viewed the data as a sign that the threat ofinflation is receding, which tempered concern over further interestrate increases …
No. 7 Texas tops Oklahoma State 61-46
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Tristan Thompson scored all 14 of his points in the second half, Jordan Hamilton added 12 points and 11 rebounds and No. 7 Texas beat Oklahoma State 61-46 Wednesday night as the Cowboys marked the 10-year anniversary of a plane crash that killed 10 people with ties to the basketball program.
The Longhorns (17-3, 5-0 Big 12) wore the same orange "Remember the 10" T-shirts as Oklahoma State during warmups, then deployed the same stiff defense that has provided them a perfect start to conference play.
The Cowboys (14-6, 2-4) shot just 32 percent while being held to their lowest scoring output of the season and having a 13-game home winning streak …
Respected Brazilian journalist Nogueira dies at 83
One of Brazil's most honored sports journalists has died after a long battle with brain cancer. Armando Nogueira was 83.
Globo TV says Nogueira died at his home early Monday, more than two years after his disease was diagnosed.
Nogueira covered World …
среда, 14 марта 2012 г.
Also Opening
An idyllic small town is rocked when Aubrey Fleming (LindsayLohan) is abducted and tortured. When she escapes, the girl whoregains consciousness in the hospital insists that she is not whothey think she is and that …
R. Kelly cuts another CD, 'TP-2.Com'
R. Kelly cuts another CD, `TP-2.Com'
Home Boy R. Kelly and the designated King of Hip-Hop, has another CD circulating everywhere which will probably zoom into the orbit of the gold record status entitled "TP-2. Com." "I Wish" the premiere single is blasting its wan into the arena of the Urban and Rhythm Crossover charts alreade. The Video which has captured audience on BET, The Box and MTV's DFX.
R. Kelly co-directed the video with Christopher Erskin.
In the meantime, R. Kelly will be honored by the Local Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, sponsors of the Grammy Awards, will honor the hip hop King R. Kelly with the industries first …
Leaders call for new rules for financial system
Seeking a common approach to the global financial turmoil, Asian and European leaders called for new rules guiding the global economy and a leading role for the International Monetary Fund in aiding crisis-stricken countries.
The 43 nations participating in the Asia-Europe Meeting summit reconvened for a second day of meetings in China's capital Saturday, a day after adopting a statement calling on the IMF and similar institutions to help stabilize struggling banks and shore up flagging share prices.
"Leaders agreed that the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request," the statement …
Couple open garden to grow charity funds
A LLANGAIN couple have opened their garden to the public onceagain as part of a fundraising drive for the Alzheimer's Society.
Lynn and Anne Davies of Dol-y-Dderwen will open the garden for aweek starting today (Wednesday).
The pair are award winning gardeners and their hard work has beenfeatured on S4C's popular horticultural show Garddio in the past.
Lynn said: "Unlike other years this is not at official openingbut we decided to keep it informal and people can call in throughoutthe …
Iowa Flag-Desecration Laws Tossed
DES MOINES, Iowa - Two state laws that prohibit misuse and desecration of an American flag are unenforceable and unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt said Tuesday that the Iowa laws violate a due process clause in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa brought a lawsuit on behalf of a man charged with a misdemeanor for flying a flag upside down and writing on it and another man also charged with flying a flag upside down. It declared the ruling a victory.
"Today should mark the end of government misuse of these laws to intimidate and harass those who disagree with …
Diplomat: Somalia wants help rebuilding navy
Somalia wants international help to rebuild its navy to combat piracy on the high seas and train security forces to track down pirates in their coastal haunts, a senior Somali diplomat said Monday.
Deputy Ambassador Idd Beddel Mohamed said Security Council resolutions that authorized international action to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia also made clear that the international community should work with Somalia's government to re-establish anti-piracy forces "so we can fight against pirates in the Somali territorial waters but also on land."
While the United States, France, China and other countries have sent warships to try to stop the …
PLUS ENTERTAINMENT
DomRep hospital goes on strike amid cholera cases
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Doctors and nurses at one of the few hospitals in the Dominican Republic with the capacity to treat cholera patients went on strike Thursday after a nurse became infected with the bacteria.
Workers are demanding better sanitary conditions at Francisco Moscoso Puello Hospital, which often lacks water, medication and a system to safely dispose of waste, said Felipe de la Rosa, general secretary for a medical workers union.
Nurse Ramona Rivera is suspected of having contracted cholera this week while handling the waste of other cholera patients at the hospital in the capital, Santo Domingo.
During the strike, medical personnel are …
16 killed in Somalia fighting
Fighting in Somalia's capital killed 16 people Monday and a remote-controlled land mine wounded two aid workers and killed their driver in a southern port town, officials said.
The wounded aid workers were an Italian and a Somali, said Dr. Abdi Rahman of Merka Hospital, who treated them. Their driver, a Somali, died on the way to the hospital. Rahman said they worked for the United Nations.
In the capital, Mogadishu, fighting around the city's bustling Bakara market killed 16 people, said Mohamed Hassan, who owns a stall in the market and counted the bodies. In the past, government officials have suspected insurgents use Bakara market as a base.
…WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET
STAGE
Ten minutes with comic Tim Conway
When given the opportunity to interview a famous actor, it's often with some degree of trepidation that an interviewer agrees. It's hard to know what to expect. The person could play sweet, generous characters on the big and small screens but be a curt, difficult snob over the phone. I'd watched Tim Conway on The Carol Burnett Show for years, had seen more than one story of his life on the Biography channel and had read quite a bit about him. I got the impression that he was as nice in person as he seemed on film and my impression was not wrong. When I called him to do this interview, he answered the phone by pretending he was me. I was caught off guard, but in a way that set the tone for the rest of the call. Although I only spoke to him for 10 minutes, it was evident that Conway is a kind, funny guy, and his humor and wit kept us both laughing through the entire interview.
Boise Weekly: Thanks for agreeing to this interview.
Tim Conway: Thanks for calling me, or I'd have been sitting here talking to no one.
I have fond memories of watching the Apple Dumpling Gang [a 1975 film starring Conway and Don Knotts as a couple of fumbling Old West outlaws].
Well, Don [Knotts] really got me into this business. After watching him on the Steve Allen show and that crazy character he played [Mr. Morrison], I just said, "If I could be in the business and be as happy as that guy and doing what he is doing, I think that's what I want to do." I met him through the Steve Allen show and we came to be very, very good friends. We got to do a couple of Disney movies. I wrote a couple of movies for he and I. It was a wonderful, wonderful association with a wonderful guy.
You and Harvey Korman have been on the road a long time. It's been eight years.
I didn't realize it had been that long.
We didn't either.
Do you have any extended periods of time off for vacations?
We're doing about 150 shows a year, so we're pretty much always working. We occasionally get a few days off. We wander around the country or go to New York or something.
How many shows do you have left?
About seven. Actually, Boise is the last place that we're going to play. We're going to start our retiring shows.
Retiring shows?
Yeah, like everybody else does. They retire nine or 10 times. So this is our first retirement.
It would be safe to say that after eight years, you've got your shows pretty well nailed down...
We've almost got them rehearsed, yes.
But, there's quite a bit of improv in each show, right?
Yes. As a matter of fact, when we were playing somewhere in Canada ...Vancouver, I think. During a question-and-answer thing, some guy stood up and said, "You know, with all this ad-libbing you do, when are we ever going to hear the material we were supposed to hear?" We basically do the same show every time, but we don't always know where we're going to go with it. Somebody in the audience may do something that we'll take off on, so it's also different each time for sure.
Do you add any current events into your shows?
From time to time, but not really. We don't want to denigrate anybody. People make a point of ruining their own lives in public so we don't need to pick on them.
Is there a particular character of yours that you're most fond off?
I think the old man is the best because it's easy to do and for some reason [he] just captures people. It's the fact that this guy is not going to do anything in a hurry. We have a sketch where Harvey needs to catch an airplane to New York in a hurry and I'm the guy who's giving him the ticket.
My favorite sketch with the old man is the dry cleaner sketch where [he] keeps getting hung up on the rotating rack.
They actually couldn't stop that rack. That was the problem. It got stuck going around so I just went with it. I was on there for some time.
Is there a particular character of Korman's that you like?
I never cared for any of them.
So, I guess it's a good thing you guys are going into retirement.
Yeah, I guess it is. No, he used to do a character of a ham actor which I really enjoyed.
I was told you were recently spending 12-hour days in the studio recording. What are you working on?
I just tell my manager that so he'll leave me alone. I was actually at the dentist. Actually, I do a lot of things like Spongebob [Squarepants] voiceovers.
Were you working on Spongebob?
Actually, we're putting together a video tape of this [Together Again] show so I was working for about five days editing that, just trying to edit Harvey out of most of it.
I read that when you were recording the voice of Barnacle Boy for Spongebob, you didn't know that's what it was for.
You record, especially for cartoons, about a year in advance. You do a voice and somebody says, "This is going to be a cartoon someday," and you go, "Oh. OK." So my granddaughter said, "Hey, I think that's you doing that voice!" And, by golly, it was.
Do you have people come up to you and instead of saying, "I loved you on McHale's Navy, " or "I loved you on the Carol Burnett Show, " say "I love Barnacle Boy?"
Absolutely, and I don't know how they put it all together. I mean, they don't see a face.
And he doesn't look much like you...
Pretty much now he does. It really amazes me that people recognize me from just the voice.
Do you have any TV or film projects in the works?
We're doing a bunch of stuff that's going to be interesting because it's going to be on the Net. You know, the networks are tough to work with now and I don't think I'd ever go back to that. It just isn't the fun that it used to be and you have to use foul language and you have to be nude and I've seen Harvey nude and I don't want to subject myself to that again.
Is there anything you'd like to say to add?
We just hope people come out to the show. They'll be seeing the Burnett Show if they come. Everybody they're familiar with: The Old Man, Mr. Tudball, the tennis sketch and things like that. It's kind of a coming home show.
Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., $35, $45, $55, call 426-1110 for tickets. Morrison Center, 2201 Cesar Chavez Lane on the Boise State campus, http://mc.boisestate.edu.
вторник, 13 марта 2012 г.
Unity seen lacking in Mass. Black Caucus
In the Massachusetts House certain issues are called "values votes" -- legislative issues like the death penalty or abortion on which Speaker Thomas Finneran deems it acceptable for law makers to vote their conscience.
That handful of votes underscores the fact that at most other times the speaker doesn't brook dissent.
"They call it voting off," says Rep. Byron Rushing. "They say if you vote "off" on this you're going to have a problem with the speaker."
According to Rushing and the dissident House members backing his numerically-doomed bid to unseat Finneran, the concentration of power in the hands of one man is the crux of the problem in the State House.
"I don't want to be in a position where the leader tells me when I can use my conscience or not," Rushing says. "I ask people what do you call the votes that are not conscience."
Perhaps no vote matters more than the vote lawmakers make on the first of each year to support Finneran's bid for re-election to the speakership. A vote against Finneran can easily land a lawmaker in a remote office with a minor role on an obscure committee.
Thus Rushing finds himself somewhat isolated in his bid for the speakership with just 12 firm commitments for votes -- far short of the 81 he would need to unseat Finneran.
And in an intriguing twist, none of the 12 are fellow members of the Legislative Black Caucus. Rushing says he is surprised.
"I thought I'd get mixed support," he said. "I thought some people would be with me, some would not, depending on the experience that they've had in a closed legislature. I guess those are the decisions that people have to make."
When Rushing came into the State House 20 years ago, the Black Caucus was a radically different entity whose members marched in locked-step in pursuit of a progressive agenda. Now the six-member body is widely seen as fractured, lacking in unity and purpose. And the vote for speaker puts the divisions in the Caucus in the public eye.
Of the five House members on the Caucus, only Gloria Fox says she's undecided on the vote. Marie St Fleur, whom Finneran said publicly is in line for a chairmanship, is expected to vote for Finneran, as are reps Ben Swann and Shirley Owens-Hicks.
Asked about her decision to support Finneran, Owens-Hicks said her chairmanship of the Federal Financial Affairs committee factored into her decision.
"You know I'm a chair of a committee," she said. "I've been fortunate to get some significant things done within the established order," she added, citing funding for the Metco and Headstart programs.
"I think Rep. Rushing is doing what he feels he needs to do at this time," she said, calling his bid for the speakership "symbolic."
The divisions on the Caucus began to emerge long before Rushing's insurgency. While Rushing and Fox have championed progressive causes and often find themselves at odds with the speaker, St. Fleur and Owens-Hicks, whose districts abut Finneran's, have taken more conservative stands on issues.
In the '70s and '80s, Caucus members earmarked their legislative priorities each year and pledged to push their agenda en masse. That unity has disintegrated to the point where the words "black" and "progressive" are no longer synonymous on Beacon Hill. Split by ideological lines and political differences, the Caucus members find fewer issues on which they agree.
A nadir in the Caucus came last year when State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson left the body, reportedly frustrated with the infighting in the group.
Fox acknowledges the ideological differences on the Caucus, but says the unity is still there.
"We're all different individuals who come together for a common cause and a common goal: to serve the people in our districts and represent them in the State House."
But Rushing says personality conflicts and ideology have chipped away at the unity of the Caucus.
"I think it's a combination of personalities that find it difficult to work together and not enough shared ideology," he said. "If we had a shared ideology, the other problems wouldn't be so bad."
Political activist Louis Elisa agrees with Rushing's assessment.
"It's not as cohesive an organization as it was in the past," he said. "You'd like to see them do more together."
Elisa notes that the Caucus has not yet attracted the House's Latino members to its ranks. Although Rep. Jarrett Barrios joined the body after his election in 1998, reps Cheryl Rivera and Jose Santiago have not. In other states like Connecticut and New York, blacks and Latinos have a unified Caucus. In Massachusetts, with just five black lawmakers and four Latinos being seated this year, the bodies remain separate. Neither caucus presents much of a bloc in a House that has 160 members and a Senate that has 40.
"Maybe they just don't see that it's in their interests to work together," Elisa said.
Finneran's leadership has done little to expand opportunities for people of color to gain access to Beacon Hill. His redistricting plan packed people of color into Shirley Owens-Hicks' district while his own district whitened, expanding into the predominantly white town of Milton.
While black and Latino activists sought districts in Boston and Chelsea that would expand electoral opportunities for the growing populations of blacks and Latinos, Finneran's redistricting committee reduced the number of so-called majority-minority districts in Boston from seven to just five.
While some Black Caucus members expressed opposition to the redistricting plan, the disagreement was apparently not enough to sour them on Finneran himself.
Fox said the state's tight fiscal budget -- and the process of allocating scarce fiscal resources -- weighed on the decision-making process she and other Caucus members underwent while considering supporting Finneran or Rushing.
"One of the things we talked about is how decisions were going to be made during the budget process," she said. Fox, who has opposed Finneran on key issues including the Clean Elections Law, a rent control bill and domestic partnership, said she had not made up her mind, but admits there is a gap between the conservative policies embraced by Finneran and his leadership team and her constituents.
"It's been a strained relationship with most members of the House when it comes to issues that community sees as priorities and the leadership does not," she said.
But Fox, who was still undecided on the Speaker vote at the Banner's press deadline, said Caucus members are not completely shut out of the decision-making process in the House.
"The Black Caucus has been able to meet with Finneran on certain matters we want his support on," she said. "We haven't always been victorious. But he is willing to meet with us."
Rushing, however, points to popularly-supported bills like domestic partnerships and rent control, that were buried in committees and never made it to the floor for debate.
"I think more and more people in the black community are concerned that their own state representatives don't have access to the political process," he said. "That's not going to change until we change the culture of the House of Representatives."
Photograph (Byron Rushing)
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