August 2009

Fame didn't separate Kennedy from little guy (AP)

Posted Thu, 08/27/2009 - 03:55 by admin

BOSTON – The world remembers Sen. Edward Kennedy for his passionate liberalism, legislative skill and stewardship of a political dynasty.
Kevin Larson recalls a McDonald's lunch.
A decade ago, Kennedy hosted Larson's 6- and 4-year-old sons to thank them for returning a lost diamond ring they had found at a playground. Larson remembers his boys bounding past a reception area filled with important people in suits to McDonald's meals Kennedy's staff had waiting for them in his office.
The graciousness Kennedy showed his family that day was repeated in the coming years in notes and Christmas cards.
"He never forgot the little guy," said Larson, who lives in the Boston suburb of Malden.
On Wednesday, the little guy remembered Kennedy, a day after he died of brain cancer.
Outside Massachusetts, Kennedy was loved and hated for the national causes he championed, sometimes with thunderous intensity. But state residents also knew Kennedy for his careful tending to constituents, whether it was his calls to each family who lost someone on Sept. 11, help with State Department bureaucracy for a troubled immigrant, or a handwritten note.
Kennedy took pride in working the hardest and longest on constituent services, so much so that his congressional colleagues could be criticized for paling in comparison.
"He really just truly wanted to reach out, and he just cared about us," said Army National Guard Sgt. Peter Damon, a helicopter mechanic Kennedy befriended after he lost both arms in an accident in Irag. "I think that's his legacy."
Damon met Kennedy in 2003 while he was a patient at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington D.C. The two spoke for an hour about everything from Damon's hometown of Brockton to the New England Patriots, but not his injury. Damon later learned Kennedy's son, Edward Jr., lost a leg to bone cancer as a child. "I think he knew not to dwell on it," Damon said.
Kennedy followed up with personal notes, surprise Patriots football tickets and years of consistent correspondence as he helped Damon navigate the veterans health care system. In 2007, Kennedy learned that Damon, an artist, had opened a gallery in his town of Middleborough and arranged with Sen. John Kerry to display some of his artwork in Senate offices.
"He was just a true friend," Damon said. "We're from just two totally different worlds, but we were able to come together and talk as two long time friends."
Angela Sanfilippo of Gloucester first contacted Kennedy when she was 19 in the late 1960s. Her 2-year-old brother, Vincent, had Down syndrome and local doctors offered little hope to her parents, discouraging them with talk of a short, unfulfilling life.
Sanfilippo knew Kennedy's sister was mentally disabled, so she wrote the senator asking for help getting a more complete diagnosis. Kennedy arranged for Vincent to be examined at a Boston hospital, where doctors brought relief and hope to Sanfilippo's parents by discovering his condition was not as severe as they had been told. Vincent is 43 now, speaks two languages, and has a steady job.
Sanfilippo later worked with Kennedy as head of the Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association, a fishing industry group. The senator called with condolences every time a fisherman was lost at sea, sent numerous personal notes just to keep in touch, and even shared a cheesesteak with Sanfilippo when they ran into each other at a Washington airport.
"Our relationship never ended," Sanfilippo said.
Lauren Stanford also had a deep relationship with Kennedy, even though she's just 17. They connected after Stanford, who has Type 1 diabetes, wrote all her congressmen asking for help searching for a cure. Kennedy responded. The Plymouth resident was 11 when she met the senator at his Washington office. He put the nervous girl at ease by first sending out his playful Portuguese water dogs.
They exchanged several letters, and Kennedy read one of them, about stem cell research, on the Senate floor. Then, in January 2007, he invited Stanford to Washington to speak about the issue in front of the Senate herself.

One of their last contacts came last year, when Kennedy called Stanford's cell phone while she was at field hockey practice, so she couldn't pick up. It turned out to be a lucky break, because Kennedy left a voice mail that she's saved. It starts, "Hi, it's Ted!"

"I think that he represents what a politician should be," Stanford said. "They shouldn't be scary and intimidating, they should be easy to connect to.

"It's so sad that he's gone," she added, "but he did a lot of good for the people before he left."

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Associated Press Writer Glen Johnson contributed to this report

Myrtle Beach Resort

Posted Thu, 08/27/2009 - 02:37 by admin

Myrtle Beach Resort

Some hotels have gained their renown through tradition, by hosting significant events or persons, such as Schloss Cecilienhof in Potsdam, Germany, which derives its fame from the so-called Potsdam Conference of the World War II allies Winston Churchill, Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin in 1945. Other establishments have given name to a particular meal or beverage, as is the case with the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, USA, known for its Waldorf Salad or the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, where the drink Singapore Sling was invented. Another example is the Hotel Sacher in Vienna Austria, home of the Sachertorte or even the Hotel de Paris where the crèpe Suzette was invented.

Prince Felix Yusupov lived in the Hotel Melia Vendôme Paris in Paris.

Woods pulls his weight as PGA Tour playoffs begin (AP)

Posted Wed, 08/26/2009 - 20:27 by admin

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – No matter what players think of the golf course, Liberty National gets universal praise for its intimate view of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty, so close to the shore she looks as if she could tend a flag on the green.
Equally impressive is the view of Tiger Woods suited up for the opening of the PGA Tour Playoffs.
Woods has not played The Barclays in six years, and this will be the first time he competes in all four of the playoff events for the FedEx Cup. At a time when PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is asking players to do more for sponsors in a tough economy, the world's No. 1 player is pulling his weight.
"Tiger Woods playing is really good," Geoff Ogilvy said. "He's been very good for golf lately, not just because of the TV ratings, but he's playing a lot more. Our tour is always better when he's here. Golf is getting spoiled."
Golf went eight months without Woods as he recovered from knee surgery. Now it can't get rid of him.
The Barclays, which gets under way Thursday, is part of a nine-week stretch in which Woods will be playing seven times. He hasn't played that much in such a short period since the end of the 2006 season, when he missed nine weeks because of his father's death.
Asked why he was playing this year, Woods replied, "I qualified."
That he did, winning five times in 13 starts to be the top seed among 125 players who qualified for this $65 million bonanza at the end of the year — a $7.5 million purse at each of the four events, with $35 million in bonus money for the FedEx Cup.
The points system has been tweaked to put more emphasis on the eight months that comprise the regular season, with quintuple the value of points during the playoff events, then a reset of the points that allows for a shootout at the Tour Championship for the $10 million prize.
Woods could have skipped The Barclays and won the FedEx Cup, as he did in 2007. He learned Wednesday that it was possible for him to win the next three tournaments, finish second at the Tour Championship and not capture the FedEx Cup. Or that someone could win the big prize without having won a single tournament this year.
"It is different, there's no doubt," he said. "But then again, this is what we're playing for. This is our opportunity to play well. You play well at the right time, you should be all right."
Whether the system works to everyone's satisfaction this year, the playoffs is off to a solid start, mainly because Woods is playing.
"It's great that everyone is here," Steve Stricker said. "It gets this off on the right foot."
For Woods, it is a continuation of quiet support.
In March, he hosted 16 chief executives of companies that sponsor the PGA Tour for lunch and golf at Isleworth, some of them trying to decide whether to renew contracts. After the second round at Firestone this month, Woods hopped into a cart and headed for a meeting with sponsors.
"Corporate duty," he said with a smile.
He played the Buick Open, even though his endorsement contract with the automaker ended late last year. That meant playing three straight weeks, the final tournament being a major, and Woods said Wednesday that being in contention three straight weeks — two victories and blowing a two-shot lead at the PGA Championship to Y.E. Yang — took its toll.
And now The Barclays.

"I think we have to support the tour, especially in this economy right now," Woods said. "That's one of the reasons why I played Flint, to show my support and my 'thank you' to Buick, and a lot of guys did the same thing. ... And certainly, Barclays has been just a great sponsor over the year, and hopefully, they will continue and we can continue building the partnership."

Woods conceded that he felt a greater responsibility as the sport's top player. He said he couldn't play more earlier in the year because he didn't want to push himself physically while returning from reconstructive knee surgery.

As for his responsibility to tee it up when the playoffs begin?

"You want to be here. You want to be in the playoffs," he said. "And ultimately, this is our opportunity to get in the Tour Championship. So it starts here."

It will end at Liberty National for 25 players who don't finish among the top 100 and advance to the next week at TPC Boston for the Deutsche Bank Championship.

No one has played the golf course in competition, and while the architecture isn't overwhelming anyone, the length has their attention. Liberty National is 7,419 yards and plays as a par 71. The meat of the course is in the middle, with three par 4s at least 474 yards, a par 5 that is 611 yards and the par-3 11th that is 250 yards. The 18th hole is a par 4 at 508 yards, and another great view of New York.

Adding to the difficulty are the undulating greens, with some of the most severe on the long par 4s.

"The holes that are 480 and above," Woods said. "It's going to be hard to get the ball close. But everyone has got to play them."

(This version CORRECTS SUBS 8th graf to correct purse size)

High Performance Driving Schools

Posted Wed, 08/26/2009 - 17:39 by admin

The first auto race in the United States took place in Evanston, Illinois on November 28, 1895 over an 87.48-km (54.36 mile) course, with Frank Duryea winning in 10 hours and 23 minutes, beating three petrol-fueled and two electric cars. The first trophy awarded was the Vanderbilt Cup.

These very successful races ended in 1903 when Marcel Renault was involved in a fatal accident near Angouleme in the Paris-Madrid race. Nine fatalities caused the French government to stop the race in Bordeaux and ban open-road racing.[citation needed]

High Performance Driving Schools

Kennedy to be buried at Arlington Cemetery (Reuters)

Posted Wed, 08/26/2009 - 17:21 by admin

OAK BLUFFS, Massachusetts (Reuters) –
Senator Edward Kennedy will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday near his two brothers who were assassinated in the prime of their political careers.

Kennedy died late on Tuesday in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, at age 77 after battling brain cancer for more than a year. He will be buried at 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Saturday near his brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy, in a private service at the cemetery outside Washington.

Only two U.S. presidents are buried at the site in Virginia: Kennedy and William Howard Taft who died in 1930.

Senator Edward Kennedy was eligible for burial at the cemetery because he both served in the U.S. military and was an elected official.

On Thursday, a motorcade from the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis Port will take the senator's body to his brother's presidential library in Boston.

The senator will lie in repose on Friday at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library that he had helped to develop over years into a forum for debating issues.

It will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. followed by a private "Celebration of Life Memorial Service" from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

A Roman Catholic, Kennedy's funeral Mass is planned for Saturday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston where he prayed daily while his daughter, Kara, was struggling with lung cancer.

President Barack Obama, who is on vacation at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, was expected to attend.

(Reporting by Ross Colvin and Patricia Zengerle in Oak Bluffs, and Andrew Gray in Washington, Writing by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Sandra Maler, Cynthia Osterman and Jackie Frank)

Canadian scientist aims to turn chickens into dinosaurs (AFP)

Posted Wed, 08/26/2009 - 16:57 by admin

MONTREAL (AFP) –
After years spent hunting for the buried remains of prehistoric animals, a Canadian paleontologist now plans to manipulate chicken embryos to show he can create a dinosaur.

Hans Larsson, the Canada Research Chair in Macro Evolution at Montreal's McGill University, said he aims to develop dinosaur traits that disappeared millions of years ago in birds.

Larsson believes by flipping certain genetic levers during a chicken embryo's development, he can reproduce the dinosaur anatomy, he told AFP in an interview.

Though still in its infancy, the research could eventually lead to hatching live prehistoric animals, but Larsson said there are no plans for that now, for ethical and practical reasons -- a dinosaur hatchery is "too large an enterprise."

"It's a demonstration of evolution," said Larsson, who has studied bird evolution for the last 10 years.

"If I can demonstrate clearly that the potential for dinosaur anatomical development exists in birds, then it again proves that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs."

The research is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Research Chairs program and National Geographic.

The idea for the project, Larsson said, came about during discussions with renowned American paleontologist Jack Horner, who served as technical advisor for the Jurassic Park films.

Horner recently wrote a book entitled "How to Build A Dinosaur," in which he refers to the embryo experiment as part of a quest to create a "chickenosaurus."

Larsson's team has previously worked to uncover prehistoric animal remains, including eight unknown species of dinosaurs and five new types of crocodile in Niger. He also recently uncovered the remains of a new carnivorous dinosaur in Argentina.

Eduardo's deception helps Arsenal beat Celtic (AFP)

Posted Wed, 08/26/2009 - 16:54 by admin

LONDON (AFP) –
Arsenal moved into the Champions League group stages in controversial fashion as Eduardo's dive helped secure a 3-1 victory over Celtic in Wednesday's play-off second leg.

Arsene Wenger's team went through 5-1 on aggregate after outclassing the Scots for the second time in the tie, but they needed a moment of deception from Eduardo to end Celtic's hopes.

The Croatia striker won and converted a first half penalty when he exaggerated his fall as Celtic keeper Artur Boruc came out to make a save.

In truth, Arsenal were always in control and second half goals from Emmanuel Eboue and Andrey Arshavin rubbed salt into Celtic's wounds as the Premier League team comfortably secured their place in Thursday's group stage draw.

Wenger said: "Having seen it again on television it doesn't look to be a penalty but we were likely to score the first goal and we always looked in control of the game.

"I believe it was not a penalty but I'm not sure if the keeper touched him. Eduardo might be a bit cautious because of the injury that he had. He might have jumped out of the way.

"I never asked in my life any player to dive to get a penalty but sometimes the player goes down because there is no way to get out of the way."

Hoops boss Tony Mowbray added: "I haven't seen the reruns but all the boys felt there wasn't any contact for the penalty.

"But we can't say Arsenal didn't deserve to go through."

Mowbray had no option but to go for broke as his side chased an unlikely comeback and he restored Scott McDonald and Marc-Antoine Fortune to the starting line-up after surprisingly dropping his most potent forwards for the first leg.

With the tie effectively wrapped up in Glasgow last week and Saturday's visit to Manchester United in mind, Wenger left Arshavin and Robin van Persie on the bench, while captain Cesc Fabregas missed out with a hamstring injury.

Although Arsenal benefited from a deflection and an own goal to win the first leg, there was no doubting their superiority and they were quickly back in the ascendency.

Eboue flicked a Gael Clichy cross into Nicklas Bendtner's path and the Dane's shot was parried by Boruc. The rebound dropped towards Eduardo but he somehow managed to poke a lunging effort wide from no more than four yards.

The speed of Arsenal's passing and movement bewildered Celtic at time and Mowbray's defence stood statuesque as Eboue's flick sent Denilson clear for a shot that crashed past the near post.

Arsenal were well on top but it took Eduardo's exploitation of the game's dark arts to open the scoring in the 28th minute.

He raced onto Bendtner's pass and waited for Boruc to come sliding off his line before tumbling theatrically to the turf. To Boruc's disbelief Spanish referee Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez ruled that the incident was worthy of a penalty.

Eduardo dusted himself down, ignored the chants of cheat from the Celtic fans behind Boruc's goal and calmly sent the Polish keeper the wrong way from the spot.

Celtic had the ball in the net just before half-time when McDonald tapped in Fortune's cross but the Australian's effort was rightly ruled out for offside.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was in the stands to check out Arsenal and, apart from the dive, he must have been impressed by Eduardo's display.

The Brazil-born Croatian almost scored again with a curling effort that Boruc tipped over before Bendtner headed the resulting corner wide.

Arsenal were always capable of carving open the Celtic back-four and Eduardo should have doubled the lead, only to drag his shot wide with just Boruc to beat early in the second half.

A second goal was inevitable and it arrived in the 53rd minute when Eboue's powerful finish capped a fine move between Clichy, Bendtner and Diaby that exposed the gulf in class between the teams.

Arshavin, on as a substitute for Eduardo, gave Arsenal a final flourish in the 74th minute when he took Aaron Ramsey's pass and shot past Boruc.

Massimo Donati got one back for Celtic with a superb volley in stoppage time but it was too little too late.

Slain model's missing car found in West Hollywood (AP)

Posted Wed, 08/26/2009 - 16:36 by admin

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Police say a car found in West Hollywood belonged to an ex-model who police suspect was killed by a former reality show contestant.
Buena Park police Detective Eric Burciaga says police received an anonymous telephone tip Wednesday and found the white Mercedes-Benz belonging to Jasmine Fiore in a parking lot.
Fiore's nude body was found in suitcase in a Southern California trash bin on Aug. 15.
Burciaga says a witness told police the car had been parked in West Hollywood since the day of the killing.
Ryan Jenkins, a wealthy reality TV contestant wanted in the killing, was found hanging from a clothes rack in a hotel room in his native Canada on Sunday.
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Associated Press Writer Gillian Flaccus in Tustin, Calif., contributed to this report.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Police have found a car in West Hollywood that matches the description of a vehicle belonging to an ex-model who police suspect was killed by a former reality show contestant.
Buena Park police Sgt. Bill Kohanek said Wednesday that authorities received a tip that the white Mercedes-Benz had been sitting in a parking lot for several days.
Los Angeles County deputies guarded the car before it was loaded onto a tow truck.
Ex-model Jasmine Fiore's nude body was found in a trash bin on Aug. 15.
Ryan Jenkins, a wealthy reality TV contestant wanted in her murder, was found hanging from a clothes rack in a hotel room in his native Canada on Sunday.
Police have said Fiore may have been killed in her car.
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Associated Press Writer Gillian Flaccus in Tustin, Calif., contributed to this report.