MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Competing in New Hampshire, the top four Democrats were trying to set themselves apart.
During a debate in Manchester sponsored by ABC, Hillary Rodham Clinton accused campaign front-runner Barack Obama of changing his positions on health care and "a number of issues."
"You said you would vote against the Patriot Act. You came to Senate, you voted for it. You said you would vote against the Iraq war, you came to the Senate and voted for" funding, Cliton said.
"I think we should get into examining everybody's record," she said.
But Obama said he has been "entirely consistent" and that he and Clinton have a "philosophical disagreement."
"I didn't hear these kind of attacks from Sen. Clinton when she was ahead," he said. "Now that she's not we hear them."
Clinton, who finished third in Iowa, immediately made clear she intended to run a more aggressive campaign in New Hampshire when she said Obama's record requires more scrutiny. Former Senator John
Edwards described Clinton as a defender of the status quo.
Meanwhile, Republicans also squared off in a 90-minute debate held before Democrats took the stage.
Senator John McCain said he alone among
Republican presidential contenders criticized President Bush's initial policy in the war on Iraq.
But McCain and all but one of the other participants said they now support the administration's overall war on terror. Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul is running an anti-war platform.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney also went after opponents aggressively, clashing with Mike Huckabee on foreign policy and with McCain on immigration.
"It's not amnesty," McCain shot back after Romney criticized his plan for overhauling the immigration system. "My friend, you can spend your whole fortune on these attack ads, but it still won't be true."
Earlier, Romney criticized Huckabee for having written that the Bush administration was guilty of an "arrogant bunker mentality" on foreign policy.
"Did you read the article before you commented on it," asked Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor.
"I read the article, the whole article," retorted Romney.
The event was part of a rare debate doubleheader, Republicans first, Democrats second, in the same hall at Saint Anselm College. Intermission brought White House hopefuls from both parties onto the stage at the same time, an unusual occurrence that left McCain chatting with Democratic hopeful Clinton.
A poll three days ahead of the New Hampshire
primary showed movement in both parties.
On the Democratic side, Obama was even with Clinton at 33 percent. John Edwards is next at 20 percent followed by Bill Richardson at 4 percent.
The CNN/WMUR-TV poll released just ahead of Saturday night's debates had McCain topping Romney by 6 percent, followed by Rudy Giuliani and Huckabee.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Bill Richardson
DES MOINES, Iowa -
Despite his fourth-place finish in Iowa, Democrat Bill Richardson said he'll keep campaigning as the only candidate who will get the troops out of Iraq next year.
"I just believe there is a lot of support for my position on the war, and I'm going to make this campaign a referendum on ending the war," the New Mexico governor said in an interview with The Associated Press shortly before boarding a plane to New Hampshire. Richardson, who got just 2 percent of the vote in Iowa, said he had called Barack Obama to congratulate the Illinois senator for his victory in the first test of the 2008 presidential election.
Richardson ran ads in the final days of the Iowa campaign criticizing the top three finishers _ Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton _ for refusing to commit to a quicker withdrawal of troops. He was the only Democratic candidate to criticize rivals by name in his ads.
Obama, Clinton and Edwards said in a debate three months ago that while they plan to end the war in Iraq, they cannot guarantee pulling out all U.S. combat troops by the end of the next presidential term in 2013. They say some troops would have to stay to protect the American Embassy or for other duties. Richardson has said that's not really ending the war.
Now that Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware have dropped out of the Democratic contest, Richardson suggested he has a better chance of getting his message through.
"We made the final four and we're on to New Hampshire," Richardson said to the loud cheers of about 300 supporters gathered in a downtown hotel ballroom.
Richardson said he'd been held back by a lack of funds, but said his political views would prevail with voters beyond New Hampshire.
"When you're outspent 20-1 it shows, but this race is not over, wait until we get to New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado," he said.
In the interview, Richardson blamed his loss on a large turnout that benefited Obama. He said voters clearly were attracted to Obama's message of bringing change to the White House.
Richardson rose to double-digits in the polls last summer and once seemed set to break into the top tier of candidates. But his climb in the polls stalled in the fall as Obama's campaign began to surge.
A poll of those entering the caucuses showed that Richardson had 7 percent support. But any candidate who doesn't get at least 15 percent support in a given precinct is not viable under Iowa Democratic Party rules and their supporters are free to back other candidates.
Supporter Mike Grooms, 53, of Des Moines, said Richardson supporters at his caucus site all shifted to Obama "because it would damage (Hillary) Clinton," once it became clear Richardson wasn't viable. A Richardson adviser confirmed that the campaign encouraged local organizers to move to Obama when Richardson didn't meet the threshold.
___
Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler in Washington contributed to this report.
Despite his fourth-place finish in Iowa, Democrat Bill Richardson said he'll keep campaigning as the only candidate who will get the troops out of Iraq next year.
"I just believe there is a lot of support for my position on the war, and I'm going to make this campaign a referendum on ending the war," the New Mexico governor said in an interview with The Associated Press shortly before boarding a plane to New Hampshire. Richardson, who got just 2 percent of the vote in Iowa, said he had called Barack Obama to congratulate the Illinois senator for his victory in the first test of the 2008 presidential election.
Richardson ran ads in the final days of the Iowa campaign criticizing the top three finishers _ Obama, John Edwards and Hillary Rodham Clinton _ for refusing to commit to a quicker withdrawal of troops. He was the only Democratic candidate to criticize rivals by name in his ads.
Obama, Clinton and Edwards said in a debate three months ago that while they plan to end the war in Iraq, they cannot guarantee pulling out all U.S. combat troops by the end of the next presidential term in 2013. They say some troops would have to stay to protect the American Embassy or for other duties. Richardson has said that's not really ending the war.
Now that Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joe Biden of Delaware have dropped out of the Democratic contest, Richardson suggested he has a better chance of getting his message through.
"We made the final four and we're on to New Hampshire," Richardson said to the loud cheers of about 300 supporters gathered in a downtown hotel ballroom.
Richardson said he'd been held back by a lack of funds, but said his political views would prevail with voters beyond New Hampshire.
"When you're outspent 20-1 it shows, but this race is not over, wait until we get to New Mexico, Arizona, California and Colorado," he said.
In the interview, Richardson blamed his loss on a large turnout that benefited Obama. He said voters clearly were attracted to Obama's message of bringing change to the White House.
Richardson rose to double-digits in the polls last summer and once seemed set to break into the top tier of candidates. But his climb in the polls stalled in the fall as Obama's campaign began to surge.
A poll of those entering the caucuses showed that Richardson had 7 percent support. But any candidate who doesn't get at least 15 percent support in a given precinct is not viable under Iowa Democratic Party rules and their supporters are free to back other candidates.
Supporter Mike Grooms, 53, of Des Moines, said Richardson supporters at his caucus site all shifted to Obama "because it would damage (Hillary) Clinton," once it became clear Richardson wasn't viable. A Richardson adviser confirmed that the campaign encouraged local organizers to move to Obama when Richardson didn't meet the threshold.
___
Associated Press writer Nedra Pickler in Washington contributed to this report.
Abc Debate
Kucinich files complaint on ABC debate
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Writer
NEW YORK -- Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich filed a complaint with the FCC on Friday after ABC News excluded him, fellow Democrat Mike Gravel and Republican Duncan Hunter from its prime-time debates on Saturday.
Kucinich argued that ABC is violating equal-time provisions by keeping him out of the debate and noted that ABC's parent Walt Disney Co. had contributed to campaigns involving the four Democrats who were invited.
"ABC should not be the first primary," the Ohio congressman said in papers filed at the Federal Communications Commission.
ABC said the candidates left out of the debates failed to meet benchmarks for their support that were outlined to each campaign prior to the Iowa caucus. Kucinich did not complain about these rules ahead of time, said spokeswoman Cathie Levine, who had no further comment since she hasn't seen the FCC filing.
ABC said it hoped to encourage more conversation and interaction among the candidates during the debates, which will both be moderated by Charles Gibson. The stakes are high as candidates take the stage three days before the New Hampshire primary.
The Republican debate will include Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. It starts at 7 p.m. EST.
Shortly after that 90-minute forum, Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Bill Richardson will take the stage at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.
The network set rules to narrow the field. Candidates had to meet at least one of three criteria: place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys.
Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd took some of the pressure off ABC by quitting the race Thursday night.
"In previous debates where the stage was more crowded you had to make sure all of the candidates got fair time," said David Chalian, ABC News political director. "Here you will have more time to go in depth on the issues."
ABC said it believed its rules were inclusive, while also ensuring viewers get a thorough look at the probable next president.
"We're regretful that we're not going to be in it," said Roy Tyler, a spokesman for Hunter. "We're just going to keep working. I think it's a mistake on their part to exclude any viable candidate at this point."
Fox News Channel is sponsoring a debate in its mobile studio Sunday that excludes Paul and Hunter. Huckabee, Giuliani, Romney, Thompson and McCain have been invited.
Each debate will be divided into two parts. During the first 45 minutes, Gibson will select three prominent issues to promote a dialogue. The candidates will be seated and encouraged to talk to each other, and not just to the cameras, Gibson said.
"If I have any personal prejudice against these debates, it's that you see too much of the moderator," Gibson said. "I want to see less of the moderator and more of the candidates."
There won't be any buzzers or lights on the stage to mark time limits for talking, putting the pressure on Gibson to limit filibusters and promote fairness.
The second half of the debate will be a more traditional format, with Gibson and WMUR-TV political director Scott Spradling asking questions on a variety of topics. Candidates will be asked to keep their answers to a minute, Chalian said.
Gibson said he hoped to have a few minutes where both Republican and Democratic candidates are on the same stage, to promote the idea that despite differences, all are Americans hoping for the best for their country. The auditorium will be quickly emptied between debates and a new audience brought in.
Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will lead ABC's coverage. Three hours of live debate with both Republican and Democratic candidates represents a grueling on-air test for Gibson, ABC's chief news anchor.
"I didn't volunteer," he said. "It's something new, it's something different. I can fail miserably at this and may well do so but we're looking for some ways to do something different."
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Writer
NEW YORK -- Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich filed a complaint with the FCC on Friday after ABC News excluded him, fellow Democrat Mike Gravel and Republican Duncan Hunter from its prime-time debates on Saturday.
Kucinich argued that ABC is violating equal-time provisions by keeping him out of the debate and noted that ABC's parent Walt Disney Co. had contributed to campaigns involving the four Democrats who were invited.
"ABC should not be the first primary," the Ohio congressman said in papers filed at the Federal Communications Commission.
ABC said the candidates left out of the debates failed to meet benchmarks for their support that were outlined to each campaign prior to the Iowa caucus. Kucinich did not complain about these rules ahead of time, said spokeswoman Cathie Levine, who had no further comment since she hasn't seen the FCC filing.
ABC said it hoped to encourage more conversation and interaction among the candidates during the debates, which will both be moderated by Charles Gibson. The stakes are high as candidates take the stage three days before the New Hampshire primary.
The Republican debate will include Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. It starts at 7 p.m. EST.
Shortly after that 90-minute forum, Democrats Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Bill Richardson will take the stage at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.
The network set rules to narrow the field. Candidates had to meet at least one of three criteria: place first through fourth in Iowa, poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major New Hampshire surveys, or poll 5 percent or higher in one of the last four major national surveys.
Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd took some of the pressure off ABC by quitting the race Thursday night.
"In previous debates where the stage was more crowded you had to make sure all of the candidates got fair time," said David Chalian, ABC News political director. "Here you will have more time to go in depth on the issues."
ABC said it believed its rules were inclusive, while also ensuring viewers get a thorough look at the probable next president.
"We're regretful that we're not going to be in it," said Roy Tyler, a spokesman for Hunter. "We're just going to keep working. I think it's a mistake on their part to exclude any viable candidate at this point."
Fox News Channel is sponsoring a debate in its mobile studio Sunday that excludes Paul and Hunter. Huckabee, Giuliani, Romney, Thompson and McCain have been invited.
Each debate will be divided into two parts. During the first 45 minutes, Gibson will select three prominent issues to promote a dialogue. The candidates will be seated and encouraged to talk to each other, and not just to the cameras, Gibson said.
"If I have any personal prejudice against these debates, it's that you see too much of the moderator," Gibson said. "I want to see less of the moderator and more of the candidates."
There won't be any buzzers or lights on the stage to mark time limits for talking, putting the pressure on Gibson to limit filibusters and promote fairness.
The second half of the debate will be a more traditional format, with Gibson and WMUR-TV political director Scott Spradling asking questions on a variety of topics. Candidates will be asked to keep their answers to a minute, Chalian said.
Gibson said he hoped to have a few minutes where both Republican and Democratic candidates are on the same stage, to promote the idea that despite differences, all are Americans hoping for the best for their country. The auditorium will be quickly emptied between debates and a new audience brought in.
Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will lead ABC's coverage. Three hours of live debate with both Republican and Democratic candidates represents a grueling on-air test for Gibson, ABC's chief news anchor.
"I didn't volunteer," he said. "It's something new, it's something different. I can fail miserably at this and may well do so but we're looking for some ways to do something different."
Jack Lengyel
Published Jan. 5, 2008 at 5:26 a.m.
This is a busy time of year for football fans.
Amid the orgy of bowl games and impending NFL playoff matchups, the supply of pigskin on TV has been plentiful.
But, the Packers are off this week. That means a lot of casual fans will be looking for something different to do and diehards will be looking for a fix.
May we suggest a football movie?
With help from a few friends and the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), we compiled this list of football movies -- some favorites and some flops -- to help pass the time.
"Friday Night Lights" (2004) -- Adapted from the book of the same name by H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger, this is a look at Permian High School team that captivates the tiny town of Odessa, Texas, where a successful prep football season is surpassed only by food, water and shelter on the necessity scale. Billy Bob Thornton plays coach Gary Gaines and you can see country singer Tim McGraw acting as well. Popcorn talk: Bissinger, who wrote a book about St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, lived in Shorewood for awhile.
"The Longest Yard" (1974; remake in 2005) -- The original, starring Burt Reynolds and Eddie Albert, is an all-time classic. The remake, starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, is serviceable at best. The story centers on a star football player who is incarcerated after a series of personal problems and has to deal with a sadistic warden who makes him lead a team of inmates in a tuneup game against the guards. Reynolds plays the role of veteran inmate / former football player Nate Scarborough in the remake. Popcorn talk: The climactic game in the original takes up 47 minutes of the film, which clocks in at 121 minutes.
"Remember the Titans" (2000) -- Football is the backdrop, but early 1970s race relations provide the primary storyline in this movie based on the integration of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Denzel Washington plays coach Herman Boone, who gets his players to bond during training camp and fashions a championship-caliber team that suffers a setback when a star player is injured in a car accident. Popcorn talk: Disney took some license with this movie, which was filmed in Georgia rather than Virginia. In the movie Gary Bertier, played by Ryan Hurst, is injured before the championship game. In real life, Bertier played in the final game and was injured afterward.
"We are Marshall" (2006) -- A poignant tale about the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed most of Marshall University's football team. Matthew McConaughey stars as head coach Jack Lengyel, who has to rebuild the program while the community around him heals. Bring some Kleenex for this one.
"Rudy" (1993) -- Take Rocky Balboa out of Philadelphia, shrink him to about half-size, drop him onto the Notre Dame campus and -- Presto! -- you've got Daniel Ruettiger. This uplifting tale, starring Sean Astin in the title role, is enjoyable even for the many people who can't stand the Fighting Irish. Although they don't appear in a scene together, Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn both appear in the movie before hitting it big with "Swingers." Popcorn talk: When Rudy looks at the dress list, it contains the names of players who took part in Notre Dame's game against Air Force. Joe Montana led the Irish back from a 20-point deficit to a 31-30 victory. The first two names that Rudy points two belong to the two players who actually carried him off the field following his only appearance.
This is a busy time of year for football fans.
Amid the orgy of bowl games and impending NFL playoff matchups, the supply of pigskin on TV has been plentiful.
But, the Packers are off this week. That means a lot of casual fans will be looking for something different to do and diehards will be looking for a fix.
May we suggest a football movie?
With help from a few friends and the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), we compiled this list of football movies -- some favorites and some flops -- to help pass the time.
"Friday Night Lights" (2004) -- Adapted from the book of the same name by H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger, this is a look at Permian High School team that captivates the tiny town of Odessa, Texas, where a successful prep football season is surpassed only by food, water and shelter on the necessity scale. Billy Bob Thornton plays coach Gary Gaines and you can see country singer Tim McGraw acting as well. Popcorn talk: Bissinger, who wrote a book about St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, lived in Shorewood for awhile.
"The Longest Yard" (1974; remake in 2005) -- The original, starring Burt Reynolds and Eddie Albert, is an all-time classic. The remake, starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, is serviceable at best. The story centers on a star football player who is incarcerated after a series of personal problems and has to deal with a sadistic warden who makes him lead a team of inmates in a tuneup game against the guards. Reynolds plays the role of veteran inmate / former football player Nate Scarborough in the remake. Popcorn talk: The climactic game in the original takes up 47 minutes of the film, which clocks in at 121 minutes.
"Remember the Titans" (2000) -- Football is the backdrop, but early 1970s race relations provide the primary storyline in this movie based on the integration of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Denzel Washington plays coach Herman Boone, who gets his players to bond during training camp and fashions a championship-caliber team that suffers a setback when a star player is injured in a car accident. Popcorn talk: Disney took some license with this movie, which was filmed in Georgia rather than Virginia. In the movie Gary Bertier, played by Ryan Hurst, is injured before the championship game. In real life, Bertier played in the final game and was injured afterward.
"We are Marshall" (2006) -- A poignant tale about the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed most of Marshall University's football team. Matthew McConaughey stars as head coach Jack Lengyel, who has to rebuild the program while the community around him heals. Bring some Kleenex for this one.
"Rudy" (1993) -- Take Rocky Balboa out of Philadelphia, shrink him to about half-size, drop him onto the Notre Dame campus and -- Presto! -- you've got Daniel Ruettiger. This uplifting tale, starring Sean Astin in the title role, is enjoyable even for the many people who can't stand the Fighting Irish. Although they don't appear in a scene together, Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn both appear in the movie before hitting it big with "Swingers." Popcorn talk: When Rudy looks at the dress list, it contains the names of players who took part in Notre Dame's game against Air Force. Joe Montana led the Irish back from a 20-point deficit to a 31-30 victory. The first two names that Rudy points two belong to the two players who actually carried him off the field following his only appearance.
New Hampshire Debates
By Mark Egan Sat Jan 5, 9:27 AM ET
NASHUA, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Barack Obama's bid to be America's first black president is under fire from Democrats and Republicans alike before political debates on Saturday to help voters pick who to vote for in New Hampshire's primary.
ADVERTISEMENT
click here
A day after his unexpected victory as Iowa's choice for the Democratic nomination to run in the November election, Obama's message of hope and change was derided by both Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney -- the leaders of the Democratic and Republican fields here.
"Did you listen to Barack Obama?" Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts seeking to become America's first Mormon president, said at a late Friday rally.
"He is a new face, but gosh when you listen to what comes out of his mouth. It's like, 'We're going to just get our troops out of Iraq," Romney said. "Have you thought about the consequences?"
Romney, who unexpectedly lost in Iowa to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, was referring to Obama's promise to get U.S. troops out of Iraq.
And Clinton, a New York senator, said: "I know that the next president will embody the hopes and dreams of all of us, but I also know that they cannot be false hopes."
Clinton's lead over Obama in New Hampshire shrunk slightly to 4 points, 32 percent to 28 percent, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Saturday. John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator who finished second in Iowa, was in third place with 20 percent.
Among Republicans, Arizona Sen. John McCain's lead over Romney fell by 2 points to 32 percent against 30 percent. Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, gained 2 points to 12 percent.
Most of the polling in the four-day tracking survey was done before the Iowa caucuses on Thursday.
Tuesday's New Hampshire primaries will help decide who runs in November's election to succeed U.S. President George W. Bush.
"We have to pick a president who is ready on Day One to do the job, the tough and difficult job," said Clinton, seeking to become America's first female president.
Clinton and Obama spoke to the same Democratic rally on Friday evening. But on Saturday they will face off against each other in a controversial televised debate which promises an in-depth look at candidates.
The prime-time back-to-back debates on ABC -- first for Republicans and then Democrats -- will have a reduced field.
TIGHT FIELD
Republican Duncan Hunter and Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel were excluded by organizers and Democrats Joe Biden and Chris Dodd quit the race after poor returns in Iowa.
ABC only allowed candidates into the debate if they finished in the top four in Iowa or secured 5 percent in New Hampshire or national polls.
Kucinich's campaign filed an emergency complaint with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission late on Friday saying the network was, "violating its obligation to operate in the public interest" by excluding candidates.
The first debate on Saturday is between Romney; McCain, who won the 2000 New Hampshire primary; Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York City during the 9/11 attacks; Huckabee; anti-war candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas; and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, also known as an actor on TV's "Law and Order."
The Democratic field is smaller -- Clinton, Obama, Edwards and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who served in Bill Clinton's cabinet.
ABC said the tight field will allow Americans to hear more from each candidate and that the format will be novel.
Candidates will sit in a semi-circle and for 45 minutes ABC News anchor Charles Gibson will pose three major issues aimed at getting the politicians to debate among themselves.
There are no time constraints on how long a candidate may speak and Gibson says he plans to intervene only if needed to push the debate forward or calm an argument.
The second half of each 90-minute debate is more traditional with Gibson and a colleague for ABC's local affiliate WMUR asking specific questions of candidates.
ABC arranged the debate in conjunction with Facebook and some of the questions posed may be generated from issues raised by members of the popular networking site on a joint Facebook/ABC page which has been posting a daily question.
(Additional reporting by Jason Szep in Manchester and Claudia Parsons in Nashua; Editing by Eric Walsh)
Marshall University
A | A | A
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Tirrell Baines had 19 points and 13
rebounds to lead Marshall to a 67-62 overtime victory over Winthrop
today in Huntington.
Markel Humphrey added 12 points and Mark Dorris scored 15 points
for Marshall, which improved to 8-4 on the season.
Humphrey scored five points in overtime and Baines had four.
Winthrop took its only lead in overtime, 58-57, after a 3-pointer
by Michael Jenkins with 2:47 left. Baines then made a layup with
2:24 remaining to give Marshall the lead for good.
Dorris' 3-pointer with just under 30 seconds to play tied the
game at 51-51 and forced overtime.
Marshall jumped to a 17-0 lead, not allowing Winthrop to score
until nine minutes into the game before the Eagles closed to 29-23
at halftime.
Jenkins led Winthrop with 23 points and Antwon Harris added 15.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) - Tirrell Baines had 19 points and 13
rebounds to lead Marshall to a 67-62 overtime victory over Winthrop
today in Huntington.
Markel Humphrey added 12 points and Mark Dorris scored 15 points
for Marshall, which improved to 8-4 on the season.
Humphrey scored five points in overtime and Baines had four.
Winthrop took its only lead in overtime, 58-57, after a 3-pointer
by Michael Jenkins with 2:47 left. Baines then made a layup with
2:24 remaining to give Marshall the lead for good.
Dorris' 3-pointer with just under 30 seconds to play tied the
game at 51-51 and forced overtime.
Marshall jumped to a 17-0 lead, not allowing Winthrop to score
until nine minutes into the game before the Eagles closed to 29-23
at halftime.
Jenkins led Winthrop with 23 points and Antwon Harris added 15.
We Are Marshall
Winthrop a huge win for Marshall
Jan 05, 2008 @ 11:29 PM
By GRANT TRAYLOR
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON -- For the first eight minutes, Marshall simply could not miss.
For the next 32, it seemed as though they could not hit.
Thank goodness for Mark Dorris and Markel Humphrey, there was an extra five minutes to make up for lost time.
"We can't do that too often," Dorris said. "We have to go out there and attack from the beginning."
Marshall jumped to a 17-0 lead, Winthrop came all the way back and the Thundering Herd prevailed, 67-62, in a men's basketball overtime thriller Saturday afternoon.
With just more than six minutes left, Humphrey and Dorris had combined for only five points and the Herd trailed 42-38.
With one field goal between them, Dorris said the duo didn't get down on themselves. Instead, they refocused and helped lead the team back.
"We are the experienced veterans on the team," Dorris said. "Markel is attracting a lot of double teams, so we have to pick up and help him out. When open shots come, we have to make them."
After struggling for the first 34 minutes of the game, Dorris hit a three-pointer from the right corner and gave a slight fist pump running back down court after overcoming his slump.
"I try not to get to down on myself," Dorris said. "I know in basketball, you are going to make shots and miss shots. But it did feel good to finally make one. I got excited and it got us going as a unit."
Dorris and Humphrey combined for the final 13 points of regulation, including Dorris' three-pointer to force overtime.
The rejuvenated Herd offense took over in the overtime session, hitting 4-of-6 field goal attempts and eight of 10 free throw attempts to earn the victory.
The importance of the win was not lost on the team as Matt Walls sprinted off the court and others celebrated in the middle of the floor following the game.
"The West Virginia win when Tre Whitted hit that falling three, that's No. 1 on my list," Dorris said. "This is up there at No. 2 or No. 3...Winthrop is a heck of a team. They hit some big three-pointers down the stretch.
"To be able to come back from being up to tied and coming back and winning, that shows our character as a unit."
Dorris finished with 15 points and Humphrey ended with 12 to complement freshman Tirrell Baines who had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the team.
However, Dorris said that at this point, everyone should drop the freshman title from in front of Baines' name and Matt Walls also.
"It's like they aren't even freshmen anymore," Dorris said. "Their confidence coming down the stretch, they play as upperclassmen. Their confidence sure doesn't lack out there."
The win was especially sweet for Baines, a Laurens, S.C., native. He responded by scoring nine of Marshall's first 12 points as the Herd built a 17-0 lead nine minutes into the game.
"It was a big win because I'm from South Carolina, about an hour away from Rock Hill," Baines said. "It was a big win for our program, too."
The win places Marshall at 8-4 heading into conference play Wednesday at Rice.
Jan 05, 2008 @ 11:29 PM
By GRANT TRAYLOR
The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON -- For the first eight minutes, Marshall simply could not miss.
For the next 32, it seemed as though they could not hit.
Thank goodness for Mark Dorris and Markel Humphrey, there was an extra five minutes to make up for lost time.
"We can't do that too often," Dorris said. "We have to go out there and attack from the beginning."
Marshall jumped to a 17-0 lead, Winthrop came all the way back and the Thundering Herd prevailed, 67-62, in a men's basketball overtime thriller Saturday afternoon.
With just more than six minutes left, Humphrey and Dorris had combined for only five points and the Herd trailed 42-38.
With one field goal between them, Dorris said the duo didn't get down on themselves. Instead, they refocused and helped lead the team back.
"We are the experienced veterans on the team," Dorris said. "Markel is attracting a lot of double teams, so we have to pick up and help him out. When open shots come, we have to make them."
After struggling for the first 34 minutes of the game, Dorris hit a three-pointer from the right corner and gave a slight fist pump running back down court after overcoming his slump.
"I try not to get to down on myself," Dorris said. "I know in basketball, you are going to make shots and miss shots. But it did feel good to finally make one. I got excited and it got us going as a unit."
Dorris and Humphrey combined for the final 13 points of regulation, including Dorris' three-pointer to force overtime.
The rejuvenated Herd offense took over in the overtime session, hitting 4-of-6 field goal attempts and eight of 10 free throw attempts to earn the victory.
The importance of the win was not lost on the team as Matt Walls sprinted off the court and others celebrated in the middle of the floor following the game.
"The West Virginia win when Tre Whitted hit that falling three, that's No. 1 on my list," Dorris said. "This is up there at No. 2 or No. 3...Winthrop is a heck of a team. They hit some big three-pointers down the stretch.
"To be able to come back from being up to tied and coming back and winning, that shows our character as a unit."
Dorris finished with 15 points and Humphrey ended with 12 to complement freshman Tirrell Baines who had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead the team.
However, Dorris said that at this point, everyone should drop the freshman title from in front of Baines' name and Matt Walls also.
"It's like they aren't even freshmen anymore," Dorris said. "Their confidence coming down the stretch, they play as upperclassmen. Their confidence sure doesn't lack out there."
The win was especially sweet for Baines, a Laurens, S.C., native. He responded by scoring nine of Marshall's first 12 points as the Herd built a 17-0 lead nine minutes into the game.
"It was a big win because I'm from South Carolina, about an hour away from Rock Hill," Baines said. "It was a big win for our program, too."
The win places Marshall at 8-4 heading into conference play Wednesday at Rice.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Flat Belly Diet
The Flat Belly diet is the latest diet to hit the public. Best of all, it works. How does this simple diet work? Your love handles and that stubborn belly fat will disappear after a few weeks on this diet. What a great way to get rid of those pounds you packed on at Christmas time.
Prevention Magazine online is really promoting this diet and you can go there for more information, and some neat things about this miracle diet. This diet is not like a diet, actually. You can have a delicious snack like chocolate pudding with bananas and graham crackers as well as eating real food like grilled mushroom and roasted pepper burgers. This truly seems like it is not a diet, but it certainly is a diet that will help you to lose weight.
The web site says that a moderate fat diet is better for losing weight then a low fat diet is. The weight not only comes off easier it also stays off better and what make this diet work it is the good fats, also known as monounsaturated fatty acids MUFA.
The Flat Belly diet centers around five foods that have these good fats in them naturally and those five food groups are oils, chocolate, nuts and seeds, olives, and avocados. You simply need to eat one serving from any of these groups at a meal. All meals should be around 400 calories, enough to curb your hunger but not to stuff yourself.
This diet will give you energy and will melt off the stubborn belly fat. ABC News reports many adults have New Year's resolutions of weight loss, and I know I do. Most of us adults have at least a bit of fat here we try hard to get rid off we called it love handles and this diet will do the trick.
The Flat Belly diet is one chocolate lover can stick too, because dark and semisweet chocolate are both on this diet. You simply need to each one serving of chocolate which is about ¼ cup, add some bananas and graham crackers and you got a sweet parfait that will help you loose weight.
One serving of oil is about a tablespoon, and it is easy to add this as well. Just use a tablespoon of olive oil to pan fry some vegetables or a spread a tablespoon of pesto sauce on a sandwich.
Sources:
Prevention Magazine
Prevention Magazine online is really promoting this diet and you can go there for more information, and some neat things about this miracle diet. This diet is not like a diet, actually. You can have a delicious snack like chocolate pudding with bananas and graham crackers as well as eating real food like grilled mushroom and roasted pepper burgers. This truly seems like it is not a diet, but it certainly is a diet that will help you to lose weight.
The web site says that a moderate fat diet is better for losing weight then a low fat diet is. The weight not only comes off easier it also stays off better and what make this diet work it is the good fats, also known as monounsaturated fatty acids MUFA.
The Flat Belly diet centers around five foods that have these good fats in them naturally and those five food groups are oils, chocolate, nuts and seeds, olives, and avocados. You simply need to eat one serving from any of these groups at a meal. All meals should be around 400 calories, enough to curb your hunger but not to stuff yourself.
This diet will give you energy and will melt off the stubborn belly fat. ABC News reports many adults have New Year's resolutions of weight loss, and I know I do. Most of us adults have at least a bit of fat here we try hard to get rid off we called it love handles and this diet will do the trick.
The Flat Belly diet is one chocolate lover can stick too, because dark and semisweet chocolate are both on this diet. You simply need to each one serving of chocolate which is about ¼ cup, add some bananas and graham crackers and you got a sweet parfait that will help you loose weight.
One serving of oil is about a tablespoon, and it is easy to add this as well. Just use a tablespoon of olive oil to pan fry some vegetables or a spread a tablespoon of pesto sauce on a sandwich.
Sources:
Prevention Magazine
Sunday, December 23, 2007
In god's Name
IN GOD’S NAME: Twelve of the World’s Most Influential Spiritual Leaders Address Some of the Most Profound and Challenging Questions of Our Time!
Posted by: Sheldon A. Wiebe in CBS, TV Reviews, Television
This evening CBS presents a unique documentary, In God’s Name [ 9/8C], in which twelve of the most influential spiritual leaders in the world talk about the most pressing questions of our time and discuss how and why they have been able to deal with some of the most of the most devastating events in recent history.
“People of all faiths and of all homelands are divided into reasonable and unreasonable people, and all I wish – and pray to God for – is that reasonable people will outnumber the fools.” – Imam Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar and a prominent Sunni Muslim leader.
Jules Naudet was in the World trade Center, shooting a documentary about New York firefighters when the south Tower fell in one of the most horrific terrorist acts in history. His brother, Gedeon, was afraid that he’d never see him again – and when they were reunited, they realized that they spent their time apart wondering the same things: who am I, why am I here, why is there such evil in the world.
At that time, they determined to seek out world spiritual leaders and find out what they believed. In God’s Name is the result of their travels to spend a day with, and interview, a dozen of those leaders. It is the first time that these twelve spiritual people have been filmed in this context – and the first time that we will see them espouse their beliefs in the same program.
The one belief that is common to all twelve people is that there is no religion that sanctions violence and killing for any reason other defence of self, country or faith. There is further, no sanction for the killing of innocents under any circumstances. Every single one of the twelve denounced acts of terrorism, such as the 9/11 attacks.
What makes these declarations important is that we not only hear them from such influential leaders, but that we are given some insight into the backgrounds of these people: how they were called to lead; the sacrifices they’ve had to make to lead, and some of the ways in which their faith has been tested.
Between them, the twelve are spiritual leaders to something like four billion people! There are various Christian sects, a Hindu leader, the Dalai Lama, the High Priest of Shintoism, the chief Rabbi of Israel, both Sunni and Shiite Muslims and the Sikhs’ highest authority.
The Naudet brothers have done a marvellous job of showing us the daily lives of the twelve. We see Amma [Sri Mata Amritanandmayi], the Hindu spiritual leader known as The Hugging Saint, who spends her days hugging and comforting the people who seek her out; Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar Sri Akal Takht, the Sikh leader, who lives in two small rooms with his wife and daughter; the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile from the Communist China run Tibet, who espouses his appreciation of all faiths, and so forth.
This candid and forthright documentary shows that all of these people have so much more in common than their differences that there should be a way for the reasonable people to indeed outnumber the fools. In the end, In God’s Name is both an indictment of those fanatics who pervert religion to kill, and a call for all the peoples of the world to unite – and share the core messages of their faiths at the most basic levels – in the hope that we can change things for the better.
Jules and Gedeon Naudet have clearly touched the hearts of these twelve spiritual leaders. They have been given unique access to all twelve and put together a film that speaks to us in positive terms, despite the evils of the world around us. It is a once in a lifetime achievement.
Santa Radar
On Santa Claus's trail: one billion people will log on to track his progress
One billion people around the globe will log on to track Father Christmas's progress - and the people behind the website are America's top-secret radar defence experts
Interview by Cole Moreton
Published: 23 December 2007
When Santa Claus leaves the North Pole to begin his epic delivery tomorrow, he will be tracked closely by radar and satellite, and by jet fighters following the sleigh. And this Christmas Eve there will be more men and women and boys and girls watching than ever, as the website showing his progress around the world in real time expects a billion hits.
"Norad Tracks Santa" – run by the deadly serious North American Aerospace Defense Command – has become a massive festive phenomenon. For one night only each year, the organisation set up to defend the US from incoming missiles sets its sights on Santa.
Originally an American craze, tracking Santa is rapidly picking up fans in this country and many others. Last year Jonathan Ross gave an excited commentary as the sleigh swooped over Big Ben, and broadcasters from other nations were also hired to describe Rudolph blazing across their night skies. This time the images from Santa Cams will be in 3D and the audience the largest yet, thanks to a link-up with the search engine Google.
At a retirement home in Colorado, a 90-year-old will follow the reindeer all the way. Harry Shoup is the man who started all this 52 years ago, after taking a very strange phone call. It's a remarkable story. "Oh my goodness, I'll never forget it," says Shoup. On 24 December 1955, he was colonel in charge of a massive radar system built to give the US early warning of the Soviet attack many people feared was imminent. The Cold War was at its height. The Pentagon was building nuclear missiles, the Kremlin doing the same. At his windowless base in Colorado Springs, in front of a massive three-storey map of the world that looked worryingly like the command room in Dr Strangelove, Colonel Shoup was keeping watch for Communist bombers.
"The red phone rang," he says. That never happened, and it meant huge trouble. The red phone was the emergency line: it could only be his commander calling, or the Pentagon. "I picked it up and I said: 'Yes, sir? This is Colonel Shoup.'"
There was no answer for a moment. Then came the hesitant voice of a small boy. "Are you really Santa Claus?"
Shoup was taken aback. "I looked around my staff and I thought, 'Somebody's playing a joke on me. This isn't funny.' I said, 'Would you repeat that, please?'" The boy asked again if he was Santa Claus. "I knew then that there was some screw-up on the phones."
There certainly was. A local Sears Roebuck store had advertised a Santa line, on which children could talk to the man himself as he prepared for his rounds. But the wrong phone number had been published. Instead of talking to a Sears volunteer, the child unwittingly got through to one of the most important lines in America – and certainly to one of the most uptight men in the country that Christmas Eve.
Shoup called his workplace the Ulcer Palace because of the stress he was under there, according to his granddaughter Carrie Farrell. Now working for Google in California, she is telling her family story in full for the first time to The Independent on Sunday. "My grandfather was shocked at first," she says. "He was in no mood for this."
The colonel said no, he wasn't Santa – and could he speak to the boy's mother? She came on the line and explained what had happened, at which point Ms Farrell says, "He started to lighten up. He was a very serious man ... but I think the season eventually got the better of him."
When the boy was told he had actually reached the radar command centre, he asked a question that would have massive implications for the base and for millions of children in the half-century to come. "Do you know where Santa is then?"
Colonel Shoup, laughing by now, decided to play along. He did have three young girls and a baby boy waiting at home, after all. So he spoke to the men who were mapping data on to the huge picture of the world. "They were able to find out where Santa was on the radar," says Ms Farrell. Really? "Oh sure," says the 36-year-old new technology expert, deadpan. "Yeah."
The red phone rang many times that night, and with each call, the radar team got more enthusiastic about this seasonal diversion from their ultra-serious work. "Everyone there went along with it," says Ms Farrell. The bosses did not, at first – until Col Shoup convinced them it was a very good public relations tool for their new defence technology. "The guy comes off as being a bit hard on the outside, but he realised this was a chance for them to stand for something good."
The following Christmas the military actually advertised its ability to tell everyone where Santa was. Over the years a call to Norad became a part of the build-up to Christmas for many children in the US, but it remained an American secret until an internet version was launched in 1998.
In recent years the audience has grown fast. Last year the website – now in five languages – received 941 million hits from 210 countries. The phones were manned by 750 volunteers who took 65,000 calls and answered 96,000 emails. "My grandfather really does realise the scale of what this has become," says Ms Farrell. "He loves his legacy."
Her mother Pam, the middle of the three Shoup girls, was 11 in 1955. "They were taken to see the big screen," says Carrie. "They also got used to having reporters turn up every year."
Pam grew up to marry an air force pilot, who in time became commander of the air force academy at Colorado Springs. They had their own daughter, Carrie, who knew Christmas Eve as the time for Grandpa's ritual. "It was a family occasion with my grandfather at the helm. We would all sit there and he would tell us the story of Santa Claus, and his own personal story involving Santa."
Then he would get on the phone to the base commander. "We got the inside track. There was one set of information that was given to the public, but we got a little bit more information." They believed it too. "He was not kidding. When he told us we had to go to bed right away or Santa wouldn't come, then we did as we were told, because we knew he knew where Santa was."
This was a family in which the children loved science and maths puzzles and many of the adults knew how to fly – so it was no great leap for her to get involved in the internet boom a decade ago. Ms Farrell has worked for Google since 2001, and now recruits engineers from an office in Manhattan, but surprisingly the link-up with Norad wasn't her idea. It came from one of those engineers who get to spend 20 per cent of their time on personal projects. "I hadn't told too many people about my grandfather until I heard about that."
This year Norad will use the Google Earth application which allows users to zoom in on a realistic landscape anywhere in the world, assembled using satellite photographs and overlaid with information. Tomorrow that will include Santa's sleigh as it moves through the sky.
Norad starts tracking at 9am British time, when it is expected he will still be at the North Pole. His route changes from year to year, but always involves starting after sunset somewhere around New Zealand.
Traditions vary: here, most people expect Santa around midnight, but in some countries – such as Argentina, Sweden and Germany – the presents have to arrive on Christmas Eve itself. That makes for a complicated journey, but by flying west from the Antipodes, Santa can pass through different time zones and give himself at least 24 hours to make the deliveries to an estimated 75 million homes.
There are many theories about how he does it. The sceptics say you would need 214,200 reindeer (assuming you had some that could fly) travelling at 650 miles per second, which would cause them to burn up in the sky like a meteorite. But scientists love to show that it's all possible: the astrophysicist Knut Jorgen Roeed Odegaard from Norway says the heat should be no problem if Santa has "an ion-shield of charged particles, held together by a magnetic field, surrounding the sleigh".
At North Carolina State University, Dr Larry Silverberg is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. He says Santa is a super-scientist who travels in a "relativity cloud" that makes the rest of the world appear frozen in a moment and gives him all the time he needs.
"Based on his advanced knowledge of the theory of relativity, Santa recognises that time can be stretched like a rubber band, that space can be squeezed like an orange and that light can be bent," says Dr Silverberg. "Relativity clouds are controllable domains – rips in time – that allow him months to deliver presents while only a few minutes pass on Earth. The presents are truly delivered in a wink of an eye."
As for Norad, it has as little time for sceptics as it once had for Soviets. "The fact that Santa Claus is more than 15 centuries old and does not appear to age is our biggest clue that he does not work within time as we know it."
It will track him using 47 radar installations along the northern border of North America, and orbiting satellites that use infra-red to detect launched missiles – or Rudolph's glowing nose. There are also Santa Cam digital cameras at key locations around the world, and Canadian CF-18 fighters to escort the sleigh through North American airspace.
Harry Shoup, who lives "right across the street" from the air force academy, likes to wear a shirt that says "Santa's Colonel". "He is so excited. He will be tracking Santa, same as always," says his granddaughter.
She won't, though. Carrie Farrell will be on a plane flying to Australia. "There's a good chance I will look out of the window and see Santa in flight. That is exactly what I expect to happen." She says it with such conviction, just like Col Shoup shooing his excited children – and so many around the world – to their beds.
Further browsing If you want to track Santa's journey, go to noradsanta.org
Friday, December 14, 2007
its a wonderful life
It's a wonderful joint life annuity
By Paul Farrow
Last Updated: 12:53am GMT 15/12/2007
Forget about sackfuls of pressies to unwrap or bottles of fine wine to sup, this is the one time of year that we should first and foremost consider the needs of others.
That's the theory anyway.
I have no doubt we momentarily shed our selfish ways for the festive period but what happens when the bedraggled trees have been thrown in the dump and decorations are back in the attic for another year?
Well, I can tell you that two-thirds of men retiring this year won't consider their wife when they buy an annuity. Even though they have a greater chance of meeting their maker before their loved one, they will buy an annuity whose income tap will turn off once they die.
Indeed, so worried are Age Concern that they went on the record a couple of years ago blaming "selfish" husbands for not providing for their wives.
The problem is twofold. Firstly, women tend to outlive men by around five years, while women have long been dealt a duff hand when it comes to pensions.
Just 17 per cent of women have a full basic state pension compared with 78 per cent of men, for instance.
The status quo remains to this day with the vast majority of pensioners opting for a single life annuity. Take Britain's biggest insurer, Standard Life. It informs me that two in three of its retirees opt for a single life annuity - ditto Prudential.
A single life annuity is just that: it pays for one person and when they die, the insurer snaffles the pot. With a joint life annuity, the surviving spouse gets around two-thirds of the annuity income for the rest of their life. But such insurance is not free and the single life annuity pays out a great deal more.
For example, a 65-year-old male would get £3,700 a year with a single life annuity, falling to £3,150 if it is joint.
Whether the decision to opt for a single life annuity is taken for selfish reasons is a controversial point. It has probably got more to do with lack of knowledge, or the realisation that you have not saved enough for retirement.
It could also be that the default option from insurers to would-be pensioners just happens to be a single life annuity. The suggestion from Billy Burrows, the annuity specialist, that a joint annuity should be offered as a default too, seems to have some mileage.
Naturally, when people take advice and are informed of their options they tend to buy a joint annuity; the problem is that most don't seek guidance or even trawl the market for a better solution than the one offered by their pension provider.
Which is why the Government ought to think twice about lifting a safety net on contracted out pensions.
As we report on the opposite page, the Government is proposing to open the playing field for contracted out plans so investors can put them in a Sipp.
The proposal looks sure to get the green light, but there is one potential stumbling block. Currently those who are married or are in a civil partnership are required to buy a 50 per cent spouse's pension with their protected rights pot.
Several providers are against this rule staying put because it will complicate matters and cause an administrative headache. Such a selfish attitude could have unforeseen consequences for a surviving spouse.
Another Christmas Balls-Up
There was more misery for pensioners embattled with the Government. First, Equitable Lifers were informed that the long-awaited report into the collapse of Equitable was delayed for a third time because the Ombudsman has received "substantial representations" from government bodies whose actions under investigation.
Then on Friday the Government published figures showing the number of people who had received some compensation from the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), set up to help victims of collapsed pension schemes. It was revealed that more than half of those who are of pensionable age have still to receive any money.
I've no doubt that Gordon Brown was hoping that we would see his generous side earlier in the week, when he said he was confident that he could guarantee that all the 125,000 who lost their company pension would see their payments increased from 80 per cent to 90 per cent. It certainly sounds a good idea although, as the indefatigable Ros Altmann points out, it is pure spin.
In reality, the pension they get will be worth around half of the amount they were due because it does not include all the benefits they would have got had their pension not gone bust.
Indeed, let us put spin aside for the moment. The FAS was set up more than three years ago to rescue workers whose company pension scheme had gone bust between January 1 1995 and April 5 2005.
The pension it will be paying out has been dubbed a "core pension" which strips out inflation linking, takes away the tax-free lump sum, pays much reduced widow's benefits and removes all ill-health and early retirement benefits.
Since the scheme was set up, the Government has been found guilty of misleading these thousands of workers into thinking their occupational pensions were safe, not once or even twice but four times.
Yet it has still refused to take any blame. Thousands of pensioners will suffer yet another Christmas without so much as a handout. Ministers should be ashamed of themselves.
William Kidd
Shiver me shattered timbers: stiff of despoiled Captain Kidd ship discovered in Caribbean
Last updated at 15:52pm on 14.12.07The remains of a ship plundered by legendary 17th pirate Captain William Kidd has been found in the Caribbean, according to U.S. archaeologists.
A team of underwater researchers from Indiana University discovered barnacled cannons and anchors off the coast of Catalina Island, which belongs to the Dominican Republic.
Archaeologists believe the remnants belong to the wreckage of the Quedagh Merchant, an Armenian ship loaded with satins, muslins, gold and silver - many of which was owned by the British East India Company.
Scroll down for more...
Shock discovery: Treasure hunters had been searching for the Quedagh Merchant for years
Historian Richard Zacks, who wrote a book about the seafaring privateer called The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd, said the Scotsman had captured the 500-ton ship in the Indian Ocean but left it in the Caribbean in 1699 as he travelled to New York to try and clear his name of criminal charges.
Captain William Kidd: 1645-1701
Anthropologist Geoffrey Conrad, director of Indiana University's Bloomington's Mathers Museum of World Cultures, said the men Kidd entrusted with the Quedagh Merchant reportedly looted it, before setting fire to it and letting it drift down the Rio Dulce.
Conrad said the location of the wreckage and the formation and size of the canons, which had been used as ballast, are consistent with historical records of the ship.
Archaeologists also found pieces of several anchors under the cannons.
After imprisonment in the U.S., Kidd returned to London and stood trial on charges of piracy and the murder of his former gunner William Moore.
Kidd was tried without representation and found guilty of all charges.
Kidd's hanging at Execution Dock in Wapping, London, in 1701 was tricky - one the first and second attempt the rope broke, but he was eventually killed on the third attempt.
Scroll down for more...
Meticulous study: Researchers from Indiana University hope to 100% prove the authenticity of the remnants
His body was dipped in tar and placed in an iron cage, which was hung over the Thames for two years as a warning to other privateers.
Charles Beeker, a scuba-diving archaeologist who teaches at Indiana University, said: "When I first looked down and saw it, I couldn't believe everybody missed it for 300 years.
"I've been on thousands of wrecks and this is one of the first where it's been untouched by looters."
"We've got a shipwreck in crystal clear, pristine water that's amazingly untouched. We want to keep it that way, so we made the announcement now to ensure the site's protection from looters."
Beeker is hoping to protect the ship from treasure hunters, who have been looking for the Quedagh Merchant for years, and the university had obtained a license from the Dominican government to study the wreckage and convert the sea floor where the cannons and anchors are marooned into an underwater preserve.
Scroll down for more...
Pirate or privateer?: Captain Kidd was hanged in 1701 after being found guilty of murder and piracy
He explained: "We believe this is a living museum. The treasure in this case is the wreck itself."
The remnants were first spotted by a local man, who reported his findings to Dominican government.
John Foster, California's state underwater archaeologist, has joined the Indiana team for the research.
He said: "I look forward to a meticulous study of the ship, its age, its armament, its construction.
"Because there is extensive written documentation, this is an opportunity we rarely have to test historic information against the archaeological record."
The Adventure Galley: Captain Kidd's main vessel
Snow Globe Boy
Snow Globe Boy Seeking World Record
Submitted by Julie on December 14, 2007 - 10:00am.
Eckerson's snow globe adventure is being shown live, 24-hours per day, 7 days peer week through a webcam at snowglobeboy.mckinney.com. According to the site, he is hoping to set a world record for time spent in such a spot, and hopes to spread some holiday cheer.
He has been spending all but 51 minutes per day inside the snow globe, and utilizes those minutes away to take care of personal needs. All of his meals are delivered to him inside the snow globe, which is located inside the McKinney headquarters building.
Eckerson also has a number of items in the snowglobe to keep himself entertained, including a Playstation, exercise equipment, games, and paper towels.
The idea initially behind the snow globe was to send out a different, creative, yet green holiday card this year, and so the agency came up with the snow globe idea - sending out digital cards through the website. The idea quickly snowballed, and "Snow Globe Boy" became an internet phenomenon.
He says has hes received so many emails since entering the snow globe that he can't even respond to them all. Eckerson plans to leave the globe Friday to attend the company's holiday party.
Alinea Chicago
Show takes a bite out of Chicago
Posted by Bill Daley at 12 p.m. CDT
Geoffrey Baer's two-hour special, "The Foods of Chicago: A Delicious History," premiered Tuesday on WTTW-Ch. 11 and proves once again why Chicago is one of the top food destinations in this country, if not the world.
The show brought the city's array of cultures and food into sharp focus, offering everything from authentic Mexican to those crossculture hybrids unique to Chicago, like deep-dish pizza, Italian beef and chicken Vesuvio. Lots of familiar faces, too, as Baer visits with food writers, including the Tribune's own Donna Pierce, historians, home cooks and restaurateurs.
The timing of this program is particularly appropriate given the attention Chicago's food has received of late. Saveur magazine devoted its entire October issue to the city, a first in its history. Charlie Trotter's $5,000-a-plate anniversary dinner that same month drew superstar chefs and food lovers from around the world. The James Beard Foundation named Rick Bayless' Frontera Grill the best restaurant in the nation last spring at a ceremony considered the food world's version of the Oscars. And Grant Achatz emerged as a superstar chef, whose Alinea restaurant was named No. 1 of the nation's 50 best in Gourmet magazine.
Given Chicagoans' typically self-effacing view of local foods, Baer's program proves there are ample reasons for city residents to toot their own horns. “The Foods of Chicago: A Delicious History” will be rebroadcast at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3, 9:30 a.m. Dec. 8 and 8 p.m. Dec. 9.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Robert Pattinson
New Role for Robert Pattinson in "Twilight" Film
PattinsonDecember 11, 2007, 05:07 PM
Robert Pattinson, who portrayed the character of Cedric Diggory in the “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” film has been cast in a new role for the film adaptation of the first book in Stephenie Meyer’s series, “Twilight.” It was announced today via a press release on the author’s site (PDF download here) that Mr. Pattinson will be taking on the role of Edward Cullen in the upcoming film. Stephenie Meyer is quoted on her website as saying of this casting announcement:
I am ecstatic with Summit’s choice for Edward. There are very few actors who can look both dangerous and beautiful at the same time, and even fewer who I can picture in my head as Edward. Robert Pattinson is going to be amazing.
The press release also quotes Summit Entertainment’s President of Production Erik Feig who speaks on the casting of such a unique and popular character by saying:
“It’s always a challenge to find the right actor for a part that has lived so vividly in the imaginations of readers but we took the responsibility seriously and are confident, with Rob Pattinson, that we have found the perfect Edward for our Bella in TWILIGHT.”
The film is set to begin production in February 2008 with Kristin Stewart (“Panic Room”) taking on the aforementioned role of Bella Swan. You can find the first novel of the series, “Twilight,” in our own Cauldron Shop along with its next two chapters “New Moon” and “Eclipse.”
Thanks to Tempest and Candace for mailing!
Janet Chandler
Janet Chandler's killers mute at sentencing
Posted by Chronicle News Service December 10, 2007 15:30PM
Categories: Breaking News, Janet Chandler murder trial
 |
 |
 |
 |
James and Glenna Chandler, seated second and third from right, watch the sentencing of four men convicted of killing their daughter,Janet Chandler. Anthony William, one of the four sentenced, confers with his attorneys.
James and Glenna Chandler talk to the media after the sentencing at Grand Haven Circuit Court.The last four defendants in the 1979 slaying of Hope College student Janet Chandler were sentenced this afternoon to mandatory terms of life in prison without parole.
None of the defendants, standing only feet from Chandler's tearful parents, had anything to say before sentencing
Arthur "Carl" Paiva, 57, of Muskegon, James Nelson, 60, of Rand, W. Va., Freddie Parker, 50, of Charleston, W. Va., and Anthony Robert Eugene Williams, 56, of Boscobel, Wis., were convicted of felony murder in Chandler's 1979 killing.
Afterward, Glenna and James Chandler said they were not surprised that the defendants failed to show any remorse.
"You'd have thought -- well, what can they say," the father said. "They all say they weren't there, and they're innocent. As a Christian, I just say we should probably forgive. However, you have to ask for forgiveness, and none of these arrogant people showed remorse, much less asked for forgiveness."
They were Wackenhut security guards, in Holland to protect the striking Chemetron Corp. plant. Workers described the guards as thugs. They stayed at the former Blue Mill Inn in Holland, where Chandler, a Hope College student, worked.
Janet Chandler was kidnapped and taken to a guest house where a Wackenhut boss stayed, where she was repeatedly raped, tortured, then finally died after being strangled with a belt.
Her body was dumped on a snowy median of Int. 196 near South Haven.
Soon after Chandler went missing, a Wackenhut guard told Holland police that he was talking to her on the telephone when she reported she was being robbed.
Police considered then that she could have been robbed and kidnapped.
Robert Lynch, 78, of Three Oaks in southwest Michigan, who held the belt when Chandler died, was the first arrested in the case. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving 25 to 50 years in prison. Laurie Swank, 50, Chandler's former boss and roommate who was arrested in Nescopeck, Pa., where she worked as a nurse, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years for second-degree murder.
She cooperated with prosecutors, and testified for the prosecution.
The cold case has drawn national attention, with NBC's "Dateline" -- in court Monday -- expects to air a segment early next year. The case gained attention when Hope College professor David Schock and his students produced a documentary, "Who killed Janet Chandler."
A four-man cold-case team of Holland police and state police investigators traveled the nation to track down witnesses and suspects. In some cases, police made numerous out-of-state trips for re-interviews before they cracked the case, marked by extreme brutality and a 27-year code of silence among defendants as well as witnesses.Monday, December 10, 2007
cns Girls Gone Wild
"Girls Gone Wild" Creator Cries Foul Play From Jail
Ashley Dickson - Celebrity News Service News Writer
Chickasha, OK (CNS) - Joe Francis, the creator behind the "Girls Gone Wild" adult video franchise, has accused guards at the Grady County Law Enforcement Center of abusing him during his stay at an Oklahoma prison facility. Francis, 34, is currently in jail awaiting trail on charges of tax evasion, and his attorneys claim the guards denied him food and blankets and also threatened to strap him naked to a chair for 48 hours.
Francis has been in jail since April when a judge called for him to be held in contempt after yelling at an attorney during his trial. The trial came on the heels of a federal lawsuit brought on by two underage women who were filmed by Francis and his crew.
Francis was held at the Oklahoma facility from May 17 to June 4, while he was being moved from a Florida jail to a facility in Reno, Nevada. Grady County officials are denying all accusations of abuse.
"Mr. Francis was treated like every inmate that comes through the Grady County Law Enforcement Center," jail administrator Shane Wyatt told The Oklahoman newspaper.
Francis has made millions off the "Girls Gone Wild" films, which sends out a camera crew to patrol party-heavy areas in an effort to find college-age girls willing to participate in sexually provocative actsDana Perino
December 10, 2007, 12:17 pm
Nobody’s Perfect: Press Secretary Edition
Press Secretary Dana Perino. (Photo: Ron Edmonds/Associated Press)“This has not been my week,” Press Secretary Dana Perino joked over the weekend, a few days after a widely-circulated dust-up with Helen Thomas, a longtime White House correspondent who believes there’s no such thing as a rude question. In the video, Ms. Perino strongly disagreed.
But that would not be the last time that she provoked critics. On Saturday, she appeared on NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me” during a segment that guarantees embarrassment for its well-known guests, or as the introduction gamely puts it:
The subjects are “asked ridiculous questions about completely random topics and then being mocked and punished for your wrong answers.”
And mocked and punished she was, but not for batting 1-for-3 on the subject of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer minutiae. Instead, it was for volunteering up front the kind of canned tale of self-deprecation that is often seen on late-night-television. The Washington Post retells the relevant passage about a recent question in the White House briefing room that uncovered a glaring historical blind spot for her:
“I was panicked a bit because I really don’t know about . . . the Cuban Missile Crisis,” said Perino, who at 35 was born about a decade after the 1962 U.S.-Soviet nuclear showdown. “It had to do with Cuba and missiles, I’m pretty sure.”
So she consulted her best source. “I came home and I asked my husband,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Wasn’t that like the Bay of Pigs thing?’ And he said, ‘Oh, Dana.’ ”
An account from another reporter who deals with her on a daily basis — this one from The Chicago Tribune’s Mark Silva — also noted the appearance more as a laugh-in-passing.
But bloggers saw it as a moment of truth, with one suggesting that she resign and a leading liberal blog expressing shock: “Seriously?” More from The Carpetbagger Report:
I’d argue that this is more than just a minor embarrassment for a senior White House official. The significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis is probably greater now than at any point in the post-Cold War era.
Less sober reactions are stacking up in Google’s Blog index, with comments attached to at least one post yielding several inevitable uses of the word “bimbo.”
In short, the critical response of Ms. Perino’s appearance on a comedy show was devoid of any sense of humor whatsoever — a perhaps unsurprising result since most folks on the Web learned of the episode via quotes shorn of the frequent outbursts of laughter and pervasive zaniness.
The original broadcast, of course, is the most fair source for your own opinion, but a transcript also does a decent job of conveying the all-in-good-fun mood.
Ms. Perino herself is probably not bothered by all the laughing at her expense. Thick skin is a requirement for the job of White House spokesman, and she put to rest — at least for the moment — a much different label than one she earned on Friday: “Icy Queen.”
Matthew Murray
Matthew Murray Identified as Shooter in Colorado Killings
Atlanta, Ga. 12/10/2007 08:10 PM GMT (FINDITT - Top Story)
The man who shot and killed two members of the Christian-based Youth With a Mission organization in Arvada, Colorado is believe to be the same man who killed two worshippers at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs several hours later.
After being refused a room at the Youth With a Mission building Matthew Murray fired on several of the staff members. Two of those hit were killed while two others received injuries, one with a bullet to the neck and the other a bullet in the leg.
About twelve hours after the first shooting
Led Zeppelin Reunion
Led Zeppelin reunion: live setlist here
Follow the legends' reunion online as it happens
1 hour ago
Led Zeppelin have taken to the stage at the O2 Arena in London tonight (December 10) - and NME.COM will be bringing you the action as it happens.Currently we're experiencing one of technical issues with our live blog, but we don't intend to let that stop us, so we're going to post up the set and the comments from our journalist in the hall in this news story while we get things fixed.
So while it is a bit basic, if you just refresh this news story every few minutes you'll have the action from the Ahmet Ertegun tribute show.
So far Led Zeppelin have played:
'Good Times Bad Times'
"The set started with a clip from 'The Song Remains The Same' DVD with an American news clip telling of they broke The Beatles' attendance record for a gig in 1973 in California. Simple stage set, video screen behind the band."
'Ramble On'
"'Ramble On' done in extremely slow, bluesy manner, with shards of electric guitar from Jimmy Page."
'Black Dog'
"Page wearing dark shades, quite muddy sound. Crowd singing the 'ah-ah' bits back at Plant."
'In My Time Of Dying'
"Page is playing bottleneck guitar. Plant spoke for the first time before song, saying 'Good evening'."
'For Your Life'
"That's not something you get to hear often these days, Led Zeppelin giving a song its live debut."
'Trampled Under Foot'
"Before starting Plant told the crowd it was the band's attempt to sound like Robert Johnson's 'Terraplane Blues'."
'Nobody's Fault But Mine'
"There are huge screen's dominating the O2 Arena, they split into four sometimes, goes monochrome, colour etc...quite spectacular."
'No Quarter'
"Following the song Plant paid tribute to John Paul Jones, who played keyboards and bass on the track."
'Since I've Been Loving You'
"A bit of a style guide for you, all the band are dressed in black bar Page who is rocking a white shirt. As for the song they gone for the epic version....very bluesy."
'Dazed And Confused'
"Settle yourselves in, we're expecting a ten minute version of this classic... it was. At the end of it of the song Plant told the audience 'On guitar Jimmy Page, just as he did on 'The Song Remains The Same' DVD which was filmed in Madison Square Garden in the 70s."
'Stairway To Heaven'
"What do you think happened? Right! From the moment those opening notes rang out the whole audience went absolutely crazy. The atmosphere is electric. Afterwards Plant said "Ahmet, we did it!"
'The Song Remains The Same'
"A fairly straight version of the classic. The sound is still a bit muddy and quiet though."
'Misty Mountain Hop'
"Plant kicked this one off by praising the job drummer Jason Bonham has been doing, stepping into his late father's shoes tonight."
'Kashmir'
"Yet another epic, as this song cracks the ten minute mark. Plant introduced this one declaring 'We've got people from 50 countries here and this is the 51st'. Afterwards they left the stage to loud applause. Will they do an encore? What do you reckon..."
'Whole Lotta Love'
"... of course they come back to deafening applause. And it's an extended version of the old 'Top Of The Pops' theme. Then once more the band leave the stage with a visibly emotional Plant declaring:
'Thanks to everybody. Thanks Ahmet Ertegun, this one for is Ahmet Ertegun as we remember the days when Atlantic Records was the best label on the planet!'."
'Rock And Roll'
"Just time for one more, as after two hours the night reaches its climax, and what a stomper to go out on. And after the hype, the millions of people who entered the ticket ballot and the speculation, Led Zeppelin's reunion show is over. A one off? We dearly hope not."
We will also have the first review which will be filed from the venue just after the band leave the stage.
Meanwhile are you going to the gig? If so send your pictures, videos, reviews and stories to ledzep@nme.com, be sure to include your name and where you come from and we'll publish the best.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)