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New Orleans to celebrate Saints’ title tonight

February 9, 2010 By 1 Comment
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Carnival-flavored parade is scheduled to start in afternoon at Superdome NEW ORLEANS - Another jolt of Saints euphoria is on tap for New Orleans Tuesday when the Super Bowl champs board floats borrowed from Mardi Gras krewes for a victory parade through the grateful city. The Carnival-flavored parade honoring the team’s 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts is scheduled to start in the afternoon at their home turf, the Louisiana Superdome. It will include 12 marching bands and one float each from 10 krewes. Float builder Barry Kern said he believes it’s the first time the groups — which celebrate Carnival season with separate parades — will combine floats in one procession. On Monday, swarms of fans in black and gold greeted the players as they stepped off a chartered plane at the suburban airport, cheering them with “Who Dat!” chants. The Saints, cellar dwellers for decades, delivered not just their first Lombardi trophy but optimism for the city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “The Saints kept hope alive in this city that better days were coming,” said Shannon Sims, a 45-year-old criminal court administrator, as she waited for the team. She said the Saints “were the force that kept us moving forward.” The win was not just about football for New Orleans, said John Magill, a historian at Historic New Orleans Collection. “We’re all being told that we’re sinking, why bother rebuild it, there was so much of that attitude,” Magill said. Thanks to the Super Bowl win, he said, Americans will view the city in the positive light it deserves. Sunday’s victory came a day after New Orleans elected a new mayor and several other city officials. But in the area newspapers on Monday there was little besides the Saints. The New Orleans paper, The Times-Picayune, ran a 5-inch headline that said “AMEN.” The subhead read, “After 43 years, our prayers are answered.” At Lakeside News, which usually sells about 100 copies a day, owner Michael Marcello said he had sold 6,000 to 7,000 by 9:15 a.m. “I wish I had some,” he said. “I’m out again. This is the fourth time I’ve run out.” Thousands of fans lined the road outside the airport with their Saints jerseys, “Who Dat!” chants, homemade signs, fleur-de-lis garb, face paint and Mardi Gras costumes (like the Saint-a Claus fellow). Coach Sean Payton held the Lombardi trophy aloft through the sunroof of his car, eliciting wild screams. At the airport, 37-year-old courier Aaron Washington said “the dawn of a new day” had come. A brass-band version of “When the Saints Go Marching In” blared from his car stereo. “This team has allowed us to get past Katrina and look forward to better things,” Washington said. He watched the game with dozens of friends and relatives on a big-screen television in front of a home in eastern New Orleans that was rebuilt after the 2005 hurricane flooded it with 9 feet of water. Also on NBCSports.com Rosenthal: … [Read more...]

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Black History Month – Booker T. Washington

February 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Continuing our efforts and celebration of these great Americans, we found a great link for Adults to review and enhance their knowledge about African-Americans. Click here for info. The History Channel has a great site. Washington, Booker Taliaferro Washington, Booker Taliaferro, 1856–1915, American educator, b. Franklin co., Va. His mother was a mulatto slave on a plantation, his father a white man. After the Civil War, he worked in salt furnaces and coal mines in Malden, W.Va., and attended school part time, until he was able to enter the Hampton Institute (Va.). A friend of the principal paid his tuition, and he worked as a janitor to earn his room and board. After three years (1872–75) at Hampton he taught at a school for African-American children in Malden, then studied at Wayland Seminary, Washington, D.C. Appointed (1879) an instructor at Hampton Institute (now Hampton Univ.), he was given charge of the training of 75 Native Americans, under the guidance of Gen. S. C. Armstrong. He later developed the night school. In 1881 he was chosen to organize a normal and industrial school for African Americans at Tuskegee, Ala. Under his direction, Tuskegee Institute (see Tuskegee Univ.) became one of the leading African-American educational institutions in America. Its programs emphasized industrial training as a means to self-respect and economic independence for black people. Washington gave many lectures in the interests of his work, both in the United States and in Europe, and he was counted among the ablest public speakers of his time. In 1895 at Atlanta, Ga., Washington made a highly controversial speech on the place of the African American in American life. In it he maintained that it was foolish for blacks to agitate for social equality before they had attained economic equality. His speech pleased many whites and gained financial support for his school, but his position was denounced by many African-American leaders, among them W. E. B. Du Bois. Washington was the organizer (1900) of the National Negro Business League, a group committed to black economic independence. He received honorary degrees from Dartmouth and Harvard. Among his many published works are his autobiography, Up From Slavery (1901, repr. 1963), The Future of the American Negro (1899), Tuskegee and Its People (1905, repr. 1969), Life of Frederick Douglass (1907, repr. 1968), The Story of the Negro (1909, repr. 1969), and My Larger Education (1911). … [Read more...]

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Iran 'starts enriching nuclear fuel to 20%' at Natanz

February 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Western powers have urged further sanctions over Iran's nuclear activity Iran has started the process of enriching uranium to 20% in defiance of the West, Iranian state media says. It said the process, which experts estimate would take about a year, began at the Natanz plant in the presence of international inspectors. The move came as Western powers stepped up pressure on Iran, with the US saying it wanted UN sanctions within "weeks". China, a UN Security Council member, called for further talks over Iran's nuclear programme. The US and its western allies say Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon - a charge Iran denies. Iran's top nuclear official, Ali Akbar Salehi, was quoted by state news agency Irna as saying Iran "had started the 20% enrichment in a separate cascade in Natanz" for use in a Tehran research reactor. He said the cascade contained 164 centrifuges and had a production capacity of 3-5kg (6-11lb) a month - more than the 1.5kg (3.3lb) needed for the research reactor. ANALYSIS Jon Leyne, BBC News Technically, anything up to 20% enrichment still qualifies as low-enriched uranium. So Iran could argue that it is still keeping within the letter of the law. But the fear is that this move brings Iran closer to the capability to make a nuclear bomb. Experts say that once Iran has a stockpile of 20% enriched uranium, it could take as little as six months to convert it to weapons grade. It's hotly disputed whether Iran has yet made a conscious decision to make a bomb. But as it builds up, at least the capability, the situation becomes increasingly dangerous. As international pressure grows on Iran, there will surely be those within the Islamic Republic who will argue that Tehran should build a bomb - if only to protect against an attack designed to prevent just such a danger. A spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that its inspectors were at Natanz on Tuesday, but said that they were not expected to report on activities there until next week. The BBC's Jon Leyne says Tuesday's announcement is designed to stress Iran's view that it is only acting within its rights. Iran currently enriches uranium to a level of 3.5% but requires 20% enriched uranium for its research reactor, which is meant to produce medical isotopes. A bomb would require uranium enriched to at least 90%. Enriching to 20% would take about one year, using the 2,000 centrifuges at the underground Natanz facility, experts say. But moving from 20% to 90% would take only six months and only require between 500 and 1,000 centrifuges. Asked if Iran was capable of enriching uranium to 20% and processing it as fuel, Mr Salehi told state news agency Isna: "We have the technical knowledge for this task. However, since it is our first experience we will move more cautiously." Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and designed to provide civilian power. It had already announced on Sunday that it aimed to start producing … [Read more...]

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Toyota recalls thousands of Prius cars worldwide

February 9, 2010 By 3 Comments
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Toyota has announced the recall of about 436,000 hybrid vehicles worldwide, including its latest Prius model, to fix brake problems. The total includes more than 200,000 Prius cars sold in Japan and 8,500 cars in the UK. "We have decided to recall as we regard safety for our customers as our foremost priority," the firm said. The company has already recalled eight million vehicles because of accelerator and floormat problems. Company president Akio Toyoda made the latest recall announcement at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon. TOYOTA RECALLS: STORY SO FAR September 2007, US: 55,000 Camry and Lexus cars in floormat recall October 2009, US: 3.8m Toyota and Lexus vehicles recalled due to floormat problem November 2009, US: floormat recall increased to 4.2m vehicles January 2010, US: 2.3m Toyota vehicles recalled due to accelerator pedal problems (of those, 2.1m already involved in floormat recall) January 2010, US: 1.1m Toyotas in floormat recall February 2010, Europe: 1.8m Toyota's in pedal recall February 2010, Japan, US: 200 reports of brake faults in new Prius. Cars recalled February 2010, worldwide: 436,000 hybrid vehicles in brake recall. Also, 7,300 Camry vehicles recalled in the US over potential brake tube problems Q&A: Toyota recalls Reputation could suffer for years Toyota recall: Your comments "We will do everything in our power to regain the confidence of our customers," he said. After the conference, he told reporters that he might go to the United States next week to explain details about the recall. The Prius was Japan's top-selling car in 2009 and the world's most popular hybrid model. Peter De Lorenzo, author of the book The United States of Toyota, told the BBC that the latest recall would be particularly painful for the company. "The Prius is their shining example of their vision of what we should all be driving and it is everything the new Toyota represents. So for them to have to acknowledge a recall of hundreds of thousands of them is a tremendous blow to their image," he said. Credit rating agency Moody's said it had put Toyota's credit rating on review for a possible downgrade, following the latest recall. "This action is prompted by Moody's concern that the growing scale of Toyota's product problems and associated recalls may have longer term impacts on its brand equity, pricing power and market share in key markets," it said. Toyota's president has come under criticism from Japan's transport minister Seiji Maehara for not reacting quickly enough to recall faulty vehicles, according to reports from the AFP news agency. "I wish you had taken measures earlier rather than simply saying it was not a major technical problem," Mr Maehara told Mr Toyoda in a meeting, says AFP. Software update There would also be recalls of Hybrid Sai, sold only in Japan, and Lexus HS250h, sold globally, the company said on Tuesday. Johnny Goldstone, greentomatocars.com: "If we were concerned... we would take all the … [Read more...]

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How To Tell Her You've Cheated

February 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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After the Tiger Theory, which didn't work out well for him. It's time to understand the situation and how to address it properly. You’ve been a bad boy and now you have to come clean. Whether you were caught up in a moment of passion with a stranger or carried on a long affair with a mistress behind her back, telling your girlfriend you’ve cheated is no easy task. Because we realize this is quite a daunting prospect, we're going to let you in on just how to tell her you've cheated -- and you may just come away with all your limbs and extremities intact. Be sure you want to tell her Occasionally, telling might do more harm than good to your relationship. If you’ve slipped in the fidelity department, but know that it was a huge mistake and are confident that you’ll never do it again, you may want to keep it to yourself. It all depends on how well you can live with the guilt. If you think that it will eat at you until you’re forced to eventually reveal your transgression, get it over with now. You should either tell immediately or not at all. The middle ground in this situation is dangerous. Figure out your reasons for telling Ideally, the reason you want to tell your partner is to be honest and open about your indiscretion. Telling her because the other woman has threatened to tell her first is not the most noble of reasons, but it is valid. The truth should always come from you. If she hears it from someone else, it will be that much harder on her, especially if it’s coming from the other woman. If you want to tell her about your fidelity faux pas because you’re hoping it will hurt her, you either need serious therapy or a new relationship. If you’re hoping that hearing about your affair will make her so angry that she’ll break up with you, try being a man and breaking it off yourself. You obviously don’t want to be in the relationship and although you may think revealing an affair is an easy way to get out of it, it is a cowardly route to take. Timing is everything Time is of the essence when it comes to revealing an affair. The more time that passes between the event and your confession, the more trouble you’ll have convincing her that you sincerely regret it and want to make it right. However, you also want to try to create the best situation in which to have the dreaded conversation. For the best possible results, do not reveal your secret to her in public, while she’s stressed out about work or after she tells you about a fight she’s having with her best friend. Once you know how to tell her you've cheated, you may be able to save the relationship... Also, taking her out on a fabulous date, giving her a massage or drawing a bubble bath to soften her up beforehand is not a very good idea. The bombshell you drop on her once she’s pampered and relaxed will ruin all the work you put into the entire evening. Save the queen-like treatment for after your confession; you’ll need it. Be prepared for the worst Since you're … [Read more...]

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Please Don't Settle For Us

February 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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You may have heard the buzz about Lori Gottlieb’s new book, Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough. The thesis of Gottlieb’s book is that women of marriageable age shouldn’t be so picky when it comes to choosing a mate. Instead of holding out for a 10, they should settle for an 8. The thinking goes that modern women are too focused on checklists. They too often waste their shot at happiness by turning dating into a kind of scavenger hunt, only considering a guy as a potential partner if he drives the right kind of car, likes the right kind of films, works the right kind of job, and sports the right kind of haircut. Gottlieb contends that picky women will only end up kicking themselves later in life. While they’re still waiting around for the mythical Mr. Right, the competition is settling down with Mr. Good Enough. The lesson: Lower standards lead to marriage and happiness, while impossibly high standards keep a girl single and miserable. Thanks, but no thanks We’d like to issue a preemptive response to all the women out there who are thinking about lowering their standards and giving us regular guys a second look. So, on behalf of single men everywhere: Thanks, but no thanks. Please don’t settle for us. Don’t get us wrong; it’s awfully nice of you to let us spend the rest of our lives trying to make you happy despite our obvious deficiencies. We’re honored that you’re willing to consider letting us buy you a diamond ring -- even though our eyes are the wrong color and you’re embarrassed by our lack of wine knowledge. Really, we appreciate it. But the truth is we’re just not comfortable treating marriage like an insurance policy taken out against the prospect of future loneliness -- so, please don’t settle for us. Settling is not the solution While we appreciate that this new doctrine might make some women think twice about dumping a perfectly nice guy just because he chews with his mouth full or uses words like “irregardless,” no guy wants to be a fallback option. We want you to marry us because you love us, not because we’re better than the alternative of ending up as a crazy cat lady. So do us a favor: Don’t settle for us. Frankly, we suspect the concepts of “settling” and “marital bliss” are actually at odds with each other. And besides, guys know the woman with a checklist doesn’t ever really abandon that list -- she just represses it. She may try to deny her unreasonable expectations, but they’re still there. They’re always there, below the surface, until one day they explosively reveal themselves in the form of an itemized outburst detailing all of the things she’s sacrificed for her disappointing marriage. Our rant on why we don’t want you to settle for us continues… The perverse nature of checklists Maybe you think we’re being wishy-washy, here: We don’t want women to rigidly adhere to checklists and we don’t want women to settle. But isn’t there another option? … [Read more...]

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Immoral Productions, XXXJay Quinlan Launch Advertising Supported Free Content Site

February 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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LOS ANGELES — Immoral Productions and Jay ”XXXJay” Quinlan announced StraightDowntheTubes.com today, that's being described as the “world's first advertising-supported exclusive content website." Immoral Productions' extensive catalog of 13 series will be able available for free on the site including never before released scenes from “Cum Hunters,” “Green Card Cuties” and “Fuck A Fan.” Immoral Productions CEO “Porno” Dan Leal said, “When Jay approached me with this idea of going away from the traditional subscription based model and putting our content on the web for free, I thought it made perfect sense. Surfers today want to watch porn for free, so why not give them fresh exclusive brand new scenes to view every single day?” When asked what advertisers he expects on the site, Leal told XBIZ he hopes to bring in some mainstream companies such as liquor companies, smokeless cigarettes, male enhancement pills and dating sites, in addition to traditional adult advertisers like CAMs sites. “Rather than continuing to piss in the wind with trying to monetize subscription models, I decided to try something new and slightly drastic,” said Quinlan. “This project will change the landscape of exclusive content-based adult websites. I approached Dan because I knew he was open minded enough to try this rather than sit around and complain about falling subscription based revenues like other producers.” The partners said they plan to monetize the site in every way possible and “offer rock-bottom deals on advertising” for those who lock-in in the first three months. “I am going to take your money and buy more traffic with it anyway,” Leal said. Quinlan added that the content will be coming straight off the camera onto the web with very little editing. “These guys use real people in their scenes – which add a whole new dimension to your viral marketing with such fresh content. Getting traffic will not just be old school traffic buys and SEO, though we will be doing a ton of that as well,” he said. Immoral Productions Partner and director Jim Powers added, “We view this as the next phase in adult entertainment. I am very excited about the prospect of our movies being seen by millions of adults worldwide.” The partners also plan to extend the site to include free live cam shows daily. To advertise contact XXXJay at jay@straightdownthetubes.com. … [Read more...]

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TMZ: Playboy Shareholders Sue Hef

February 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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Alleged suit claims Hefner 'sabotaged' two deals to buy the company HOLMBY HILLS, Calif.—TMZ has posted a late-breaking story to its site claiming that Playboy shareholders are fighting mad about the falling fortunes of the company, and blame Hef. The gossip site says it has obtained a class action lawsuit filed by a Playboy shareholder who claims “the company is falling apart and Hugh has intentionally sabotaged two potential deals in the last 6 months to sell the company at a decent price.” Complaining that "today, the price of a Playboy magazine is far higher than the price of Playboy common stock," the lawsuit also purportedly contains an analysis of the company by an investment firm, that says, in part, "We think the wildcard here is Hugh Hefner. … If you were Hugh Hefner, 81, would you give up the parade of busty blonds, the fancy mansion and the reality TV show for a payout?" The article does not name any of the plaintiffs in the suit but does say they believe “Hefner runs roughshod over the shareholders and they want unspecified damages.” It was only a few months ago that Bill Asher, co-chief executive of Vivid Entertainment Group—and a former Playboy executive—told DailyFinance that he owns 1 million shares of stock in the company. "Playboy is not in trouble," Asher said at the time. "Playboy needs to get a deal. ... Certainly, anybody who has a brain would be interested." Ironically, considering the reported shareholder lawsuit alleging Hefner has sabotaged pending deals, Asher’s take in December was that the legendary octogenarian was ready to let go. "I am 100 percent positive that Hefner would sell," Asher said. "They have a lot to offer." … [Read more...]

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Super Bowl ad breaks Google's TV silence

February 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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By David Goldman, staff writerFebruary 8, 2010: 4:15 PM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- If you watched the Super Bowl Sunday night, you saw at least two unprecedented events: The New Orleans Saints won their first championship, and Google ran an ad for its search engine on television. The 60-second spot called "Parisian Love" aired during the third quarter of Sunday's game. The commercial featured several queries being typed into Google's search field, beginning with "study abroad paris france" to "translate tu es très mignon" and ending with "how to assemble a crib." The ad closed with the message: "Search on." * Facebook * Digg * Twitter * Buzz Up! * Email * Print * Comment on this story Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) ad stood out, and not just because of its schmaltzy content amid mostly slapstick ads and commercials featuring men with no pants. It was more surprising that Google was putting itself out there since the search giant is notorious for largely refusing to advertise itself. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has said on many occasions that his company's dominant market share (nearly 66%, according to comScore) was earned by quality of searches, not by advertising. Even as competitors like Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) and Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) Bing have launched expensive cross-platform ad campaigns, Google has stayed relatively mum. Google did run several television ads in May 2009 for its Chrome browser; but those ads never mentioned the company's main search tool. Google ads, though few and far between, are becoming increasingly prevalent. They have appeared on the radio, billboards and the Internet. In fact, "Parisian Love" came from a series of similar YouTube videos called "Search Stories" that Google posted over the past three months. 0:00 /2:13Why Google ran a TV ad But on Saturday, Schmidt tweeted that "Hell has indeed frozen over," urging Super Bowl watchers to pay attention to the ads in the third quarter. After the game aired, Schmidt posted a comment on Google's blog, explaining the ad's origin. "We didn't set out to do a Super Bowl ad, or even a TV ad for search," Schmidt said. "We liked this video so much, and it's had such a positive reaction on YouTube, that we decided to share it with a wider audience." Schmidt said that the original intent of "Parisian Love" and the half dozen other Search Story ads was "to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact." Why now? Some analysts think there may have been an ulterior motive. "Google has had its designs on selling ads on television, and it is beginning to develop an interesting business there," said Andrew Frank, Google analyst at Gartner. "Google ... is coming to grips with the fact that the Internet can't persist as a disconnected medium that doesn't interact with other media." Frank suggested that Google used the ad in part to show potential advertisers that the search company … [Read more...]

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