news as issues

dallas snowfall

2010-02-12T07:50:00.000-08:00

dallas snowfall

North Texas hasn’t seen a winter this white in 32 years.

The 11.2 inches of snow that had fallen by midnight Thursday at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport topped the previous record for snowfall in one day of 7.8 inches recorded in 1917 and 1964.

The 12.5 inches that had fallen by 4 a.m. Friday also broke the 24-hour record of 12.1 inches Jan. 15-16, 1964.

Thursday’s snow also catapulted seasonal accumulation to 15.7 inches, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

That ranks as the second snowiest season ever.

Most snowiest was the 17.6 inches that fell in 1977-78.

That year, 13.5 inches fell in February alone, also a record.

The snow appeared to have finally stopped falling by 6 a.m. Friday

The ingredients for a snowy season are simple: multiple upper-level storm systems supported by temperatures low enough to turn moisture to snow.

Those two elements have collided more than once over North Texas this season.

"It's definitely one of those winters," said Bill Bunting, a meteorologist with the weather service. "You never really know when you’ll get one."

Staff writer Mitch Mitchell contributed to this report

The extreme snowfall of February 11-12, 2010 goes down as THE snowiest 24-hour period in the history DFW weather records, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

An amazing 12.5" was measured, 11.2" of which fell on the 11th.

This also sets the new one calendar day record.

The tally also pushes the winter of 2009-2010 into second place, just behind 1977-78 for all time snowiest, and second snowiest February (also behind 1978).

See list compiled by NWS below for complete numbers rundown:

DALLAS/FORT WORTH - SNOWIEST SEASONS

1 17.6 1977-78
2 15.7 2009-10*
3 15.3 1963-64
4 13.5 1923-24
5 10.4 1976-77
6 9.5 1909-10
7 9.2 1916-17
8 8.8 1947-48
9 8.1 1937-38
10 7.3 1965-66
7.3 1941-42

--------------------------------------------------------------------

DALLAS/FORT WORTH - MOST SNOW IN FEBRUARY

1 13.5 1978
2 12.5 2010*
3 7.5 1924

--------------------------------------------------------------------

DALLAS/FORT WORTH - GREATEST 24-HOUR SNOWFALL TOTALS

1 12.5 FEBRUARY 11-12, 2010*
2 12.1 JANUARY 15-16, 1964
3 8.2 JANUARY 14-15, 1917
4 7.5 FEBRUARY 17, 1978
7.5 FEBRUARY 25, 1924
6 6.0 MARCH 13, 1924
7 5.5 DECEMBER 9, 1898
8 5.0 NOVEMBER 22, 1937
5.0 JANUARY 5, 1910
10 4.7 NOVEMBER 13, 1976

abraham lincoln birthday

2010-02-12T07:45:00.000-08:00

abraham lincoln birthday.

Abraham Lincoln was born 201 years ago today.

Happy Birthday, Abe!

Although the 2010 Winter Olympics begin today, lets not let it overshadow the day meant to remember the birth of a great American President, Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 and grew up to become 16th President of the United States. He led this country through the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery. He was assassinated in April of 1965.

Lincoln's Birthday is a legal holiday in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Indiana. It is celebrated on his birthday, or on a Monday closest to his February 12th birthday. Many other states that had formerly observed Lincoln's birthday have created a joint holiday to honor both Lincoln and George Washington, calling it "Presidents Day". It coincides with the Federal holiday officially designated "Washington's Birthday", observed on the third Monday of February. This year President's Day is February 15th

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

--Abraham Lincoln

norwegian buhund

2010-02-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

norwegian buhund

3 new breeds of dogs that will be displayed in the exhibition and Westminster
(philstar.com) occurred in February 12, 2010 05:48

NEW YORK (AFP) – The name Alchemy – Elegant Irish setter red and white, high-energy, but nice.

Next week, he will represent one of the three new strains of their debut at Westminster Kennel Club’s world-class dog show together with Standing Labrador Retriever – just named America’s top dog for the year in a row 19th.

Chemistry, and silky-coated dogs from New Jersey, and will also step outside Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to ring the closing bell at NASDAQ. That moment will be broadcast live on a giant screen Times Square.

The other two strains enter the annual exhibition for the first time dogs are grazing – Sponsor buhund Pyrenees and the Norwegian.

“It’s exciting for me to see beautiful dogs finally get recognized in this country around after hundreds of years in their countries,” said David Frey, a spokesman for the club who participated in the event will host a live television broadcast.

What is called Pyr shep, his home in the mountains of southern France, was guarding the sheep since the Middle Ages. And expressive, the eyes of the user on the intelligence and clear, strong body of work. Breed and come on two types – rough and smooth coated. Hundreds of them have lost their lives in World War I, and the search for wounded men or messengers or guard dogs.

Loyalty and love of fun buhund – either black or cream-colored, with a curly tail – as has existed for centuries, and sailing on the Viking ships and work in rural Norway.

“It’s a dog with pointed ears and a thick coat which appears to be ready to go to work in one of the farms and grazing livestock,” said Fry. “They have a great work ethic.”

Represented by 29 individual dogs in the show, the three strains had reached to 134 cases a year after officially recognized last year by the American Kennel Club, the governing body of the sport purebed dog in the United States. Offer is valid on Monday.

There are several factors required for AKC recognition: solid parent club, which oversees the registry, and this criterion accurate dog breed ideal, with a population of sufficient and distribution in the United States.

“They can not all be on some farms in Georgia,” joked Fry.

In all parts of the world, more than 400 species of dogs are recognized. Although the three new strains in this year’s show has long been accepted abroad, “it took this long for them to receive AKC recognition in this country,” said Fry.

Labrador Retriever was named the top dog in the United States on Wednesday from the American Kennel Club, followed by German Shepherd, and Yorkshire terrier and golden retriever. The ranking is based on the number of registrations to breed with the AKC in 2009; Laboratory is the most popular in Los Angeles.

Westminster and the 2010 rookie of breeds and was due to be presented officially on Friday in a news conference this morning at the Hotel Pennsylvania, across the street from the garden, where they are staying with their owners in rooms normally used by humans. This occasion was to be broadcast on local television stations across the country.

New arrivals bring the exhibition this year to 173 breeds and varieties, up from about 150 two decades ago, said Fry.

“This is the world’s largest dog show, with a cast of characters are different every year,” he said.

Anna Jones is to bring the 9-year-old chemistry together with another Irish setter red and white, 2-year-old candy bar, after a series of other presentations during the past year, who beat dogs enough points to be announced AKC champions, a requirement for Westminster, step on the green carpet.

The red and white setter – the oldest breed of well-known coated mahogany Irish setter – is a lean, elegant hunting dog with the mouth soft enough to retrieve the game without damaging them. Generate have become almost extinct in the early 20th, but was saved by the “fanciers,” said Fry.

Tuesday afternoon, will be Jones’ two of the authors and a group of Pyr sheps buhunds and can be moved away from Madison Square Garden in a pickup truck to ring Nasdaq closing bell. Exactly how the dog rings the bell will remain a mystery until then.

Amid a snowstorm this week, Lisa Donnelly (18 months) buhund old, Lola, was oblivious of the excitement leading up to the show. Each dog was known that she had gotten a bath and was not allowed to Connecticut out of the house to play.

“It’s usually a happy, outgoing and low maintenance,” said Donnelly. “But now, it’s a hissy fit in the basement, and groaning and crying out.”

Westminster is the nation’s second longest continuously held sporting event, after the Kentucky Derby, according to Fry.

Sponsor buhund Pyrenees and will compete Monday in the Norwegian part of the group grazing. Makers will compete in the next day in group sports

john mayer playboy interview text

2010-02-12T07:35:00.000-08:00

john mayer playboy interview text

The singer John Mayer, @johncmayer on Twitter, put this 3-tweet post on his feed:

Re: using the ‘N word’ in an interview: I am sorry that I used the word. And it’s such a shame that I did because the point I was trying/ to make was in the exact opposite spirit of the word itself. It was arrogant of me to think I could intellectualize using it/ because I realize that there’s no intellectualizing a word that is so emotionally charged.

Mayer had the bad luck to have his interview in Playboy (warning: NSFW) reach a wide online audience during a snow day, when the Twitterati were generally housebound and looking for something to talk about. And talk folks did. Among the, uhm, bracingly frank statements he made, two are getting the most attention.

First, the “n-word.” From the interview:

I come on very strong…. That’s why black people love me….. Someone asked me the other day, “What does it feel like now to have a hood pass?” And by the way, it’s sort of a contradiction in terms, because if you really had a hood pass, you could call it a nigger pass. Why are you pulling a punch and calling it a hood pass if you really have a hood pass? But I said, “I can’t really have a hood pass. I’ve never walked into a restaurant, asked for a table and been told, ‘We’re full.’”

What caught my eye more was this one:

PLAYBOY: Do black women throw themselves at you?

MAYER: I don’t think I open myself to it. My dick is sort of like a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock.

I’ve interviewed white supremacists, and the punchline to this joke falls… limp. I can roll with some pretty raw or adventurous humor, but this fratboyesque ahistorical cheap shot shows a profound misunderstanding of of white supremacy. Today’s white supremacists may decry “miscegenation,” but white supremacy resulted in an awful lot of race mixing — the forceable kind. Mayer’s father is Jewish and I wonder how much he knows or cares to about the violent history of white surpremacists towards Jews in the US and abroad.

But what I just said sounds too on-the-nose and preachy even for my own tastes. The reality is that it’s insulting to say black people love you and then profoundly misunderstand the difference between entitlement and humor. The entitlement goes beyond race to (again, boorish) comments about women by name and generally, and an obsession with generalizing his experiences at 32 as if every man shares the same perspective. (Note the phrase “that’s what you do….” If all men do, write in and let me know.):

….during sex, I’m just going to run a filmstrip. I’m still masturbating. That’s what you do when you’re 30, 31, 32. This is my problem now: Rather than meet somebody new, I would rather go home and replay the amazing experiences I’ve already had.

Hey, if that’s his thing, that’s his thing. But to overgeneralize it seems presumptuous and self-serving.

Using the “n-word” publicly often results in an apology, and this is no exception. I think his use of the word isn’t enlightened but it isn’t at all like, say, comedian Michael Richards’. But there’s a lot more going on in this interview around race and gender. I wondered, on Twitter, after doing my share of venting and listening, if we could redirect the conversation in a more positive direction. And the folks in my circle on Twitter really had some fabulous things to say. Among them:

From @bookofjames: The premise of your query doesn’t really get to the root of the problem. Racism cannot be effectively “treated” by triage.

I replied that was open to these random, Twitter-fied pop culture teachable moments, and gave my own two-tweet example:

I had an Asian-American friend who used a term about another Asian-American group. This was over 20 yrs ago in college./ I used term, and a white student schooled me that it was not okay to use. It was a learned moment. Stuck with me.

I hope the conversation was thought provoking for those of us sending in our short-form missives on Twitter. I also hope this entire experience has given Mayer some food for thought. I have compassion for the fact that celebrity makes every move of those who have it uber-public. Not one, but two of Mayer’s songs (including “My Stupid Mouth”) contain the line “I’m never speaking up again,” and now he may well feel like taking his own advice. But that would be a shame. Sometimes the only way to learn is by messing up, getting checked… and then learning to check yourself.

dallas snow

2010-02-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

dallas snow

A rare Dallas snow is blanketing the city, as well as other parts of Texas, in bizarre weather today, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010.

Some of the snow is sticking, and the Dallas Morning News reports that one to three inches of snow is possible for Dallas today.

The snow has already closed some schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including Jesuit College Preparatory and Cistercian Prepartory School in Irving.

Here are some photos from the Associated Press of the strange scene of snow in downtown Dallas:

Dallas-area florists are facing a scary situation.

A lot of people want them to deliver Valentine flowers to their sweetheart's office on Friday. But the National Weather Service is predicting that today's slushy streets could be covered with a hard sheet of ice tomorrow morning

Bruce McShan, owner of McShan Florist in Dallas, encourages customers to ask for delivery today or wait for a home delivery on Saturday. Try to stay away from Friday, he advised.

"If the ice forecast comes to fruition, your sweetheart may not even get to the office on Friday," McShan said. "And if we have icy roads, we may not even be able to get to that office."

Snow, ice and deliveries just don't go together. And that includes things like pizza deliveries and document couriers – not just flowers.

Meanwhile, McShan and other florists are preparing the Valentine floral arrangements in their shops and casting a wary eye out the window to see what the next two days hold for the precarious business of delivering the product to customers

debra medina glenn beck

2010-02-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

debra medina glenn beck

TV and radio commentator Glenn Beck dismissed the candidacy of Debra Medina when she left open the door to a conspiracy fringe group that believes the U.S. government might have been behind the 9-11 destruction of the World Trade Center.

Beck, a leading personality for conservatives, asked her point blank if she believed such a theory.

"I don't have all the evidence there, Glenn," Medina replied. "So I'm not in a place - I have not been out publicly questioning that. I think some very good questions have been raised in that regard. There's some very good arguments and I think the American people have not seen all the evidence there so I've not taken a position there."

He then asked if she would disavow people on her campaign team that held such a theory.

"I'm certainly not into mind control or thought policing people," Medina said. "I don't see us having a team of radical individuals, if you will."

When she signed off the program, Beck let out a long Oooh.

"I think I can write her off the list," he said. "Let me take another look at Kay Bailey Hutchison, if I have to. Rick, I think you I could French kiss right now."

Of Medina giving some countenance to such a conspiracy theory, Beck said, "Wow, the fastest way back to four percent."

UPDATE: Medina's response

"I was asked a question on the Glenn Beck show today regarding my thoughts on the so-called 9/11 truth movement. I have never been involved with the 9-11 truth movement, and there is no doubt in my mind that Muslim terrorists flew planes into those buildings on 9/11. I have not seen any evidence nor have I ever believed that our government was involved or directed those individuals in any way. No one can deny that the events on 9-11 were a tragedy for all Americans and especially those families who lost loved ones.

"The question surprised me because it's not relevant to this race or the issues facing Texans. This campaign has always been about private property rights and state sovereignty. It is focused on the issues facing Texans. It is not a vehicle for the 9-11 truth movement or any other group.

"The real underlying question here, though, is whether or not people have the right to question our government. I think the fact that people are even asking questions on this level gets to the incredible distrust career politicians have fostered by so clearly taking their direction from special interests instead of the people, whether it's Rick Perry and the his HPV mandate or Kay Hutchison and voting for the bank bailout. It is absolutely the right and duty of a free people to question their government. Texas does not need another politician who tells you what you want to hear, then violates your liberties and steals your property anyway. I fully expect to be questioned and to be held accountable as Governor, and that's the underlying issue here: should people be questioning their government. And the answer is yes, they should be

isabella blow

2010-02-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

British fashion icon Alexander McQueen commits suicide days after death of his beloved mother
British fashion designer Alexander McQueen has been found dead after taking his own life.

McQueen with his mother Joyce at the Givenchy fashion show in July 1997

The 40-year-old committed suicide just days after the death of his beloved mother, Joyce, last Tuesday.
His death also comes just three years after his close friend, Isabella Blow – who plucked him

from obscurity and helped him become a star – killed herself.
McQueen, who was christened Lee but used his middle name for his label, was found at his luxury flat in Mayfair, central London. It is believed he hanged himself.
One of his contemporary lines, McQ, was scheduled to be shown at New York Fashion Week on Thursday afternoon.
His design company said in a statement: ‘On behalf of Lee McQueen’s family, Alexander McQueen today announces the tragic news that Lee McQueen, the founder and designer of the Alexander McQueen brand, has been found dead at his home.
‘At this stage it is inappropriate to comment on this tragic news beyond saying that we are devastated and are sharing a sense of shock and grief with Lee’s family.
‘Lee’s family has asked for privacy in order to come to terms with this terrible news and we hope the media will respect this.’
Two police officers were outside the entrance to his flat, which is in a six-storey red-brick building

Scotland Yard said police were called to the property by the London Ambulance Service at 10.20am after he was found dead.
A police statement said: ‘Next of kin have been informed, however we await formal identification. A post mortem will be scheduled in due course, an inquest will open and adjourn in due course. The death is being treated as non suspicious.’
Openly gay, McQueen once described himself as the ‘pink sheep of the family’.
He once said: ‘I was sure of myself and my sexuality and I’ve got nothing to hide. I went straight from my mother’s womb onto the gay parade.’
The designer married his partner, film-maker George Forsyth in 2000 on a yacht owned by the prince of Gambia in Ibiza. Close friend Kate Moss was a bridesmaid.
Alexander McQueen

Loss: British fashion icon Alexander McQueen has killed himself

alexander mcqueen

2010-02-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

Alexander McQueen, Designer, Is Dead at 40

Alexander McQueen, the British fashion designer known for producing some of the most controversial collections of the last two decades, was found dead Thursday morning at his apartment in London, according to Ed Filipowski, a partner in the public relations firm KCD, which represented the designer. Mr. McQueen was 40

The cause was apparently suicide, though Mr. Filipowski said Mr. McQueen’s family had not yet made a statement about the cause.

Though he apprenticed on Savile Row, Mr. McQueen, thumbed his nose at the conventions of English style by staging lavish runway productions that included clothes made with animal bones and models made to look as if they were patients in a mental ward or participants in a life-sized chess match. Yet he was a tailor of the highest order, making impeccably shaped suits that were also surprisingly commercial.

Mr. McQueen’s troubled personal life was often the subject of concern among his colleagues and close friends. He was deeply affected when Isabella Blow, the eccentric stylist who discovered and championed him, committed suicide in 2007, and he was said to be devastated by the death of his mother on Feb. 2.

Mr. McQueen was the youngest of six children and the son of a London taxi driver, who survives him. He left school at 16 to apprentice at Anderson & Sheppard and then Gieves & Hawkes, two of the most revered English tailors. He worked briefly in Italy before returning to London to pursue a master’s degree from the Central St. Martins design college, where Ms. Blow discovered his work and bought his entire thesis collection. His first shows in London, in dark underground places, were received as a break from the traditional luxury collections being shown elsewhere in Europe.

For five years, until 2001, he also was the designer of the couture label Givenchy, where he turned the classic French house on its head, often drawing the ire of longtime fans of a label known for its elegant black dresses. He offended several French journalists by calling Hubert de Givenchy’s past work “irrelevant.” That year, he sold his own label to the Gucci Group — a rival of Givenchy’s parent company, LVMH — following several conflicts with his label’s management.

During Mr. McQueen’s early days in London, his collections often made audiences uncomfortable, as when he referenced the ravaging of Scotland by England by showing brutalized women in a collection called “Highland Rape.” But since he began showing his collections in Paris in 2001, he became more widely respected for designs that were seen as commentary on the often surreal, and self-referential, world of fashion

honda recall airbags

2010-02-10T08:25:00.000-08:00

honda recall airbags .

TOKYO — Honda Motor Co. is adding 437,000 vehicles to its 15-month old global recall for faulty airbags in the latest quality problem to hit a Japanese automaker.

The company will replace the driver's side air bag inflator on the cars because they can deploy with too much pressure, causing the inflator to rupture and injure or kill the driver.

Japan's No. 2 automaker originally announced the recall to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in November 2008 and the total of number vehicles recalled since then is approaching 1 million.

The latest expansion of the airbag recall includes 378,000 cars in the U.S., some 41,000 cars in Canada and 17,000 cars in Japan, Australia and elsewhere in Asia. The North American recall was announced Tuesday and followed Wednesday by the recall in Asia.

Honda's announcement comes at a time of increased attention on automotive recalls. Though the problems are unrelated, rival Toyota Motor Corp. is in the process of recalling more than 8 million cars and trucks due to faulty gas pedals. On Tuesday, Toyota said it would recall more than 440,000 of its flagship 2010 Prius and other hybrids due to a braking glitch.

"There is a heightened sensitivity right now to anything to do with recalls," said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda.

Honda's latest U.S. recall airbag affects certain 2001 and 2002 Accord sedans, Civic compacts, Odyssey minivans, CR-V small sport utility vehicles and some 2002 Acura TL sedans.

The recall now affects 952,118 vehicles, including certain 2001 and 2002 Accord sedans, Civic compacts, Odyssey minivans, CR-V small sport utility vehicles and some 2002 Acura TL sedans.

In Japan, the recall covers three models, including the 2001 sedan Inspire.

deadliest catch captain dies

2010-02-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

deadliest catch captain dies .

Phil Harris, the fishing boat captain from television's wildly popular reality series 'The Deadliest Catch' has died.

The deep-sea fisherman, 53, suffered a stroke on Jan. 29 while in an Alaskan port off-loading a catch. He was flown to Anchorage for surgery and showed signs of recovery through the days following, but ultimately succumbed to the trauma.

"It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad - Captain Phil Harris," his sons Jake and Josh Harris said in a statement posted on the Discovery Channel Web site. "Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end. For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down."

The reality show, which has filmed five seasons, has been one of the Discovery Channel's most popular. Harris was a central figure for this drama featuring the ageless tale of man taking on the elements. It depicts the crab fishing industry in the dangerous waters off Alaska.

In a statement, Discovery Channel senior vice president Elizabeth Hillman says, "Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him."

"We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart," she said.
Harris had been showing signs of recovery from the stroke. His sons wrote in a Feb. 3 posting on the ship's Web site: "No one ever said Captain Phil Harris wasn't tough. Today, dad showed some good signs of improvement, squeezing our hands and even summoning his trademark Captain's bluntness ... We are encouraged, but still very cautious."

Harris began working on a fishing boat at age 7, and by the time he was 21, he was running a fishing vessel out of Seattle.

cornelia marie

2010-02-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

cornelia marie .

Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie has passed away yesterday. The news comes as a great shock to both his families. The reason that I say both his families is because he was loved by so many around the world and he considered his television crew on the Discovery channel to be a part of his family. With his show “The Deadliest Catch” being aired in over a hundred and fifty countries worldwide the news is sure to spread like wild fire.

Phil Harris, Captain of Cornelia Marie was also a deep sea diver and was just fifty-three when he suffered from a stroke on the twenty-ninth of January. Though his family members were of the hope and wish that he may recuperate from his condition, it was not the case. Devastated by the news his sons Jake Harris and Josh Harris stated that he was a fighter.
After undergoing a lengthy duration of twelve hours of surgery Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie was put into a medically stimulated coma. Though there were some signs of his health improving just a few days ago, Phil Harris could not make it through.

Many of his followers have been overwhelmed by the news with one of them holding the view of Phil Harris being the most ‘real’ captain on the show. As followers of “The Deadliest Catch” mourn his sudden death at such an early age one significant point is raised through this incident that life indeed is short and may be taken from us at any time.

earthquake chicago

2010-02-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

earthquake chicago.

A small earthquake in northern Illinois set off car alarms, knocked books off the shelves and jolted scores of people awake at 4 a.m. Wednesday, but otherwise caused no serious damage, officials said.

The United States Geological Survey reported that the earthquake, which had an estimated magnitude of 4.3, was centered near Virgil, about 50 miles northwest of Chicago, at a depth of about three miles. There were no immediate reports of aftershocks.

Sarah Evans, 29, of the northwest Chicago suburb of Elgin, said she was awakened at about 4 a.m. when her house started trembling.

“I popped out of bed,” she said. “I felt extreme shaking. I shook my husband, and said, ‘Oh my God, I think it was an earthquake.'” She said the dogs didn’t bark but it seemed as if everything in her 100-year-old single-family home was shaking, as if a train was roaring by.

Ms. Evans, who is the owner of Sevans Strategy, a public relations strategy firm that guides companies on how to use Twitter and other social media, said she then reached for her iPhone and posted a message on Twitter. “Seriously weird,” she wrote. “Something that felt like a minor quake just woke us up. Can anyone else in the CHI area/burbs confirm?”

Soon, she said, many people were trading information about the quake through the forum.

Pat Gengler, a spokesman for the Kane County sheriff, said the switchboards had been lighting up with calls, but he said there were no immediate reports of any damage.

“Right now the only reports we were getting were some people a little startled at 4 in the morning when their house started shaking,” he said. “We got a lot of snow out here and we had a little earthquake, so it’s been an interesting 12 hours.”

Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist with the agency, said that the tremor was only the second notable earthquake in more than 30 years to rattle the area. Even though the quake was relatively small, it was felt by residents as far away as southern Wisconsin, according to news reports.

“This is not a very seismically active area,” Ms. Vaughan said. “We don’t know what fault system this is, but there are faults everywhere throughout the world that can slip at any given time.”

drew brees on david letterman

2010-02-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

drew brees on david letterman

On Monday night, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees appeared on “The Late Show”. On the show, Saints quarterback Drew Brees talks about the historic win of his team New Orleans Saints at Super Bowl where they marked a splendid win after defeating the Indianapolis Colts. The host of the show “The Late Show”, David Letterman congratulated Drew Brees on their wonderful win. It was a bit tough job for David Letterman to congratulate Brees as the team beaten by the New Orleans Saints was the Indianapolis Colts, which is the hometown team of the famous TV host.

Drew Brees played a vital role in his team’s win and he was also named the Most Valuable Player that really shows his impact. Letterman told Brees that initially he was frustrate by the defeat of the Colts but after he saw Brees with his son celebrating the victory, he felt that it is really fantastic and saying that he congratulated Brees once again. Then he asked Brees to share his feeling when he held his baby son Baylen to celebrate probably the biggest victory of his life. On this Brees responded

brooklyn decker

2010-02-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

brooklyn decker

Looking sexier than ever, Brooklyn Decker has made the honor of cover girl on the famous Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

After 5 years of hard work for the magazine, the 22 year-old model is so excited for the opportunity. “It’s shocking and a dream come true!” said Decker about making the cover
Also new to her are the many interviews. “I’ve never been on one! I’m kind of freaking out,” she said before appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman Monday. “I’ve done news shows, but I’ve never done a big talk show.”

The model’s family also couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw her in a yellow Delfina bikini."My mom cried,” says Decker. The sexy pictures were taken by award-winning sports photographer Walter lioos and inspired by the ‘80s and ‘90s SI covers with Elle Macphereson and Rachel Hunter.

Meanwhile, Decker will soon be celebrating her 1 year wedding anniversary with tennis hunk Andy Roddick, who is 100 percent supportive of her recent victory. He’s so proud. I think this gives him a one-up in the locker room for the next year or so

rock on the range 2010

2010-02-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

rock on the range 2010

romanization
Welp, not Soundgarden or Faith No More, rather than to get Limp Bizkit and Godsmack, a backslash (?), Deftones, Helmet and Mastodon (fuck yes).

If you remember, myself and Chip middle of the night we did our best in the last year to achieve what is happening in the rocks over in 2009 and this year we hope to be different.

A full range of rock on the site long after the jump.

Godsmack
Rob Zombie
Three days grace
Limp Bizkit
Against the rise
Seether
Italic
Deftones
Papa Roach
Five finger death punch
Coheed and Cambria
Bullet for my Valentine
Mastodon
Killswitch Engage
Theory of Deadman
A pool of mud
Sevendust
Drowning Pool
Skillet
Apocalyptica
Halestorm
Air
Mushroomhead
Adelitas road
Helmet
Escape the fate of
Cold
Anberlin
Unstable
2cents
Violence Soho
Janos
Shamans harvest
Long years of disaster
Taddy Porter
Such as storm
Noise Auction
Features: Chip midnight, Columbus Crew Stadium, Deftones, Godsmack, Helmet, Kirk Klein, Limp Bizkit, Mastodon, Rob Zombie, Rock on the Range

bonnaroo

2010-02-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

bonnaroo

Bonnaroo 2010 Lineup Rolls Out: Weezer, Jeff Beck, The Flaming Lips and More
2/9/10, 12:03 pm EST

The lineup for the 2010 Bonnaroo Festival is very slowly rolling out as artists playing the Manchester, Tennessee fest are revealing the news via Twitter, MySpace and their official Websites. It’s all part of the Internet-wide global “virtual event” that organizers planned to drum up excitement for this year’s fest, which will take place June 10th to 13th. Tickets for the festival will go on sale around 12 p.m. EST at the official Bonnaroo Website. At that time, a sampling of the artists recruited to play the 2010 fest will be revealed, with the full lineup scheduled to be unveiled tonight.

Relive ‘Roo ‘09 in photos: Bruce, Phish and more.

Phoenix were the first band to “officially” announce they’ll be performing Bonnaroo, with Weezer coming in a close second. Jeff Beck, Jeff Fogerty, OK Go, Martin Medeski & Wood and the Avett Brothers also confirmed they’ll be on hand. As Rolling Stone previously reported, the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne accidentally let slip that his band will perform Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon during a late-night set, while still-unconfirmed reports named Paul Simon as a potential headliner. Dave Matthews is all but guaranteed a slot headlining one night of Bonnaroo, having left a long gap in his summer touring schedule around the festival, but so far no “official” announcement regarding DMB’s involvement has been made.
This “virtual event,” however, has opened the window for unknown bands and people who aren’t even musicians to tweet that they are included in the lineup. Keep it tuned all day to Rolling Stone as we sift through the truth and the fiction while updating the official Bonnaroo lineup as it is announced.

Check out all of Rolling Stone’s coverage of Bonnaroo.

Artists confirmed for Bonnaroo 2010:

Phoenix
Weezer
Flaming Lips covering Dark Side of the Moon
OK Go
Jeff Beck
John Fogerty
Medeski Martin & Wood
Chromeo w/ guest Daryl Hall
Punch Brothers
The Avett Brothers
Cross Canadian Ragweed
Isis
311
Baroness
Blues Traveler
Bassnectar
Neon Indian
Black Keys
The Constellations

the daily caller

2010-01-11T09:03:00.000-08:00

the daily caller

Welcome to the Daily Caller. Editors' letters have a well-deserved reputation for undue length and self-seriousness, so in 15,000 words or less let me confirm the stereotype.
Just kidding. I'll be (by my standards) brief. This is primarily a news site. We see our core job as straightforward: Find out what's happening and tell you about it. We plan to be accurate, both in the facts we assert and in the conclusions we imply. If we're not, tell us. We'll fix it immediately.

Today, Tucker Carlson of Fox News and former Dick Cheney aide Neal Patel launched The Daily Caller, a new web news portal that they promise will endeavor to maintain nonpartisan civility -- something to which Moonbattery would never aspire. Still, in a world with plenty of state-run media outlets such as CNN, Reuters, and AP still have a significant online footprint, it is refreshing to see that another site plans to bring "fair and balanced" news to the web.

detroit auto show 2010

2010-01-11T08:57:00.000-08:00

detroit auto show 2010

Detroit: Detroit Auto show 2010: North American International Auto Show great success. It was a sweep of the different kind at North America Auto Show this year. Ford is a company that is making waves and it was evident from the fact that the company won the Car of the year and Truck of the year award.

Detrit auto show has emerged as the top auto shows in the world and this year not only car companies were there searching for clues to survive the downturn in their fortunes but also government officials to reassure the worried industry.

The first auto show was held in Detroit in 1907 at Beller's Beer Garden at Riverside Park and since then annually except 1943-1952.

It was renamed the North American International Auto Show in 1989. Since 1961, it has been held at Cobo Center where it occupies nearly 1 million square feet (93,000 m²) of floor space.

The show is particularly important because the Metro Detroit area is the location of the headquarters of the Big Three American automakers, Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.

Transport Secretary LaHood who has been thumping his back since the cash for clunkers program while speaking at the show said, “This is a new day; today is a new day. Today is a new beginning really for the automobile industry…The automobile industry is manufacturing products that people want to drive…As this industry comes back, the economy will come back.”

In the meantime Fusion hybrid won car and Transit Connect, a Euro-designed small commercial van modified for the U.S. market, took top truck honors.

harry reid racist

2010-01-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

harry reid racist

The firestorm over the discovery of Nevada Senator Harry Reid racist comments regarding now-President Barack Obama prove that memories are short. Much has changed since Barack Obama became the 44th President of The United States, specifically attitudes about race and the overall willingness to talk about race and racism.

Harry Reid, the Democratic Senator, is accused of essentially saying that Obama would be a good presidential candidate even though he's African American. According to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, In a new book by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin called Game Change, Reid reportedly said this:
â€œHarry Reid was wowed by Obamaâ€™s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama -- a â€˜light-skinnedâ€™ African American â€˜with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,â€™ as he said privately.â€

At the time, Harry Reid's comments were both race-concious and racist. ABC News George Will is really wrong when he said "there's not a scintilla of racism in what Harry Reid said. At long last, Harry Reid has said something that no one can disagree with, and he gets in trouble for it."

But what he said, and what George Will rubber-stamped on ABC News' This Week, Sunday, is both race-concious and racist. One is OK, but the other, racism, is not. To be race-concious is to be keenly aware of racial differences in people, but not use that to the detriment of the person who's being judged. To be racist is to put down a person - to reject them or avoid associating with them - because that person's skin color is different.

What Harry Reid said both acknowledged and supported the common view that to be black in America is to be judged by whites, and now some blacks, as less than. That a "common" black person speaks in a certain way and has dark-skin. By contrast, Harry Reid was saying, and George Will is acknowledging, that Barack Obama can "pass" for white and that makes him OK.

That view is racist but it was also very common to hear or read in 2008. Barack Obama's successful campaign challenged people who were used to seeing a "whites only" political arena, and even those considered not racist at all, specifically former President Bill Clinton, were recorded making questionable comments regarding Barack Obama.

Clinton's approach in comparing Obama's run to that of Jesse Jackson's in 1984 was attacked as racist, and doomed Hillary Clinton's presidential run.

And some African Americans, particularly many of those over 40, didn't give Barack Obama a chance to win before the 2008 Presidential Primary started. When Obama performed well during that time, some blacks were quick to say that Obama's "not black." That too is racist and is expressed from a "self-hating black" perspective.

All that is in the past; now we have Obama as president and a new America, where commercials pairing interracial couples are the norm. That wasn't true even as recently as 2008. America has gone through a rapid and far reaching wave of cultural change that continues today, that does not mean the past should be rewritten.

What Harry Reid said was in 2008 was racist; but that does not mean he's racist. Reid has apologized to Obama Moreover Reid, like other Americans, has learned a lot about himself and the country in just over one year.

ford transit connect

2010-01-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

ford transit connect

It seems Ford can already pop open the champagne at its Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) stand, as the jury of the 2010 North American Car and Truck of the Year awards has chosen the Ford Fusion and the Ford Transit Connect as its respective winners for the two competitions.

This is definitely a major win, and one of the few times both awards go to a single carmaker. The Fusion hybrid has definitely made an impact in the US, and it’s quite surprising that the European-made (Transit Connect trucks are even made in Romania!) are that successful in North America.

Fusion’s contestants were the Buick LaCrosse and the Volkswagen Golf, while the Transit’s rivals were the Chevrolet Equinox and the Subaru Outback. Ford also won last year’s Truck of the Year award with its F-150.

PHOTO! Here is a picture of the hybrid Ford Transit Connect! The Ford Transit Connect won Detroit Auto Show Top Truck award!

The Ford Transit Connect won today the North American Truck of the Year Award given by the the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS)

The Transit Connect has double the fuel economy of full size vans. Jury member Ken Gross said that the Transit Connect is “comfortable to drive; it turns on a dime, and its broad sides permit billboard ads for your business or someone else’s. Kudos to Ford for strip-mining its European operation.”

laura veirs

2010-01-09T07:26:00.000-08:00

laura veirs .

Laura Veirs has been one of my favorite female singer/songwriters ever since 2005’s wonderful Year of Meteors. She is probably most well-known for the duet she did with Colin Meloy on “Yankee Bayonet” from The Decemberist’s Crane Wife (from reading Meloy’s twitter, it’s obvious he’s still a big fan). Her newest album is called July Flame and all signs point to this being her best work yet. The title track is atmospheric and haunting, using a wistful guitar riff and some understated organ and piano to set the somber mood. Veirs’ vocals are at their captivating best as she yearns “can I call you my own?”. The ending picks up the pace with handclaps, a single violin, and a choir of voices all adding to the song’s alluring appeal.

MP3 Broken Bells – The High Road

Broken Bells is a billed as a collaboration between The Shins’ James Mercer and famed hip-hop producer Danger Mouse, but since Mercer basically broke up the band last year this is really just The Shins feat. Danger Mouse right? Whatever you chose to call it, it’s pretty good stuff. “The High Road” starts out with some trippy keyboards and Mercer’s unmistakable vocals. The best is the uber-melodic, “Lean on Me”-evoking finale. It may not be the next “New Slang” but it’s an enjoyable listen.

MP3 Love Is All – Kungen

Swedish Post-Punk Revivalists, Love is All have a new album out coming out this year and a new label (my midwest homies Polyvinyl Records, who are really loving the Swedes these days). From this first single, “Kungen” it’s obvious that someone’s been spinning some old 60’s folk rock records. Having vocal parts that closely resemble the chorus of “So Happy Together” is never a bad thing though, and it gives the song a retro charm that fits in well with their fuzzy, jagged sound. I’ve never really gotten into this band before, but I like what I’m hearing with this one.

January 9, 2010 - With much of the country in a deep freeze this week, it might be good therapy to daydream about summer. July Flame is the summery title of the new album from Laura Veirs. She's known for writing songs about the great outdoors, and this new record — her seventh — is no exception.

You needn't look any further than the title track as a way to warm up; it's about a peach grown in Veirs' home of Oregon. She saw the peach at a farmer's market and thought it was such a great name that it eventually became a song.

To hear the full Veirs interview with Mary Louise Kelly, click the audio link above. And don't forget that you can hear the entirety of July Flame right here until Jan. 12.

gumby

2010-01-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

gumby .

Art Clokey, the creator of the whimsical clay figure Gumby, died in his sleep Friday at his home in Los Osos, Calif., after battling repeated bladder infections, his son Joseph said. He was 88.

Clokey and his wife, Ruth, invented Gumby in the early 1950s at their Covina home shortly after Art had finished film school at USC. After a successful debut on "The Howdy Doody Show," Gumby soon became the star of its own hit television show, "The Adventures of Gumby," the first to use clay animation on television.

After an initial run in the 1950s, Gumby enjoyed comebacks in the 1960s as a bendable children's toy, in the 1980s after comedian Eddie Murphy parodied the kindly Gumby as a crass, cigar-in-the-mouth character in a skit for "Saturday Night Live" and again in the '90s with the release of "Gumby the Movie."

Today, Gumby is a cultural icon recognized around the world. It has more than 134,000 fans on Facebook.

As successive generations discovered the curious green character, Gumby’s success came to define Clokey's life, with its theme song reflecting Clokey's simple message of love: "If you've got a heart, then Gumby's a part of you."

"The fact is that most people don't know his name, but everybody knows Gumby," said friend and animator David Scheve. "To have your life work touch so many people around the world is an amazing thing."

Clokey was born Arthur Farrington in Detroit in October 1921 and grew up making mud figures on his grandparents' Michigan farm. "He always had this in him," his son, Joseph, recalled Friday.

At age 8, Clokey's life took a tragic turn when his father was killed in a car accident soon after his parents divorced. The unusual shape of Gumby's head would eventually be modeled after one of the few surviving photos of Clokey's father, which shows him with a large wave of hair protruding from the right side of his head.

After moving to California, Clokey was abandoned by his mother and her new husband and lived in a halfway house near Hollywood until age 11, when he was adopted by Joseph W. Clokey. The renowned music teacher and composer at Pomona College taught him to draw, paint and shoot film and took him on journeys to Mexico and Canada.

Art Clokey attended the Webb School in Claremont, whose annual fossil hunting expeditions also inspired a taste for adventure that stayed with him. "That's why 'The Adventures of Gumby' were so adventurous," his son said.

Clokey served in World War II, conducting photo reconnaissance over North Africa and France. Back in Hartford, Conn., after the war, he was studying to be an Episcopal minister when he met Ruth Parkander, the daughter of a minister. The two married and moved to California to pursue their true passion: filmmaking.

During the day, the Clokeys taught at the Harvard School for Boys in Studio City, now Harvard-Westlake. At night, Art Clokey studied film at USC under Slavko Vorkapich, a pioneer of modern montage techniques.

Clokey's 1953 experimental film, "Gumbasia," used stop-motion clay animation set to a lively jazz tempo. It became the inspiration for the subsequent Gumby TV show when Sam Engel, the president of 20th Century Fox and father of one of Clokey's students, saw the film and asked Clokey to produce a children's television show based on the idea.

In the 1960s, Clokey created and produced the Christian TV series "Davey and Goliath" and the credits for several feature films, including "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini."

Gumby's ability to enchant generations of children and adults had a mystical quality to it, said his son, and reflected his father's spiritual quest. In the 1970s, Clokey studied Zen Buddhism, traveled to India to study with gurus and experimented with LSD and other drugs, though all of that came long after the creation of Gumby, his son said.

His second wife, Gloria, whom he married in 1976, was art director on Gumby projects in the 1980s and '90s. She died in 1998.

Besides his son Joseph, Clokey is survived by his stepdaughter, Holly Harman of Mendocino County; three grandchildren, Shasta, Sequoia and Sage Clokey; his sister, Arlene Cline of Phoenix; and his half-sister, Patricia Anderson of Atlanta.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests contributions in Gumby's name to the Natural Resources Defense Council, of which Art Clokey was a longtime member.

"Gumby was green because my dad cared about the environment," his son said.

snowing in florida

2010-01-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

snowing in florida

Well...... I wouldn't call it a big, fluffy, white snowstorm.... But, all of the forecasts say that early tomorrow morning we might see snow flurries!!!
You see, like the rest of the country, we have been in a major cold snap....and by cold (for us in FL) I mean our average temperatures have been in the low 50's (yes, that is freaking cold for me!!).
Well.....there is another big cold front coming in overnight, along with some "moisture" (in Florida, we call that rain); and the combination of those is bringing a CHANCE of snow flurries. Realistically, it probably won't happen... but it sure is fun thinking that we might wake up to see some white stuff falling from the sky!! And for the kids, who are overly excited, I really hope it does!!

West Volusians awoke this morning around 7 a.m. to an odd sound.

It was like rain, but it didn't appear to be raining.

Then, wait, what's that on the car in the driveway? It's white. Is it ... SNOW?

The odd sound was miniature ice cubes falling from the sky onto dry leaves. And the white stuff on the car wasn't really snow, but more like sleet or freezing rain.

But, for Floridians enchanted by the novelty of 2010's weather debut, what's the real difference?

"It's snowing!" one caller to The Beacon enthusiastically reported.

Officially, the National Weather Service (NWS) reported that an "upper level disturbance" moving across Florida was causing areas of light rain mixed with sleet and snow from the Tampa Bay area to Orlando northward.

According to the NWS, this is Central Florida's first snow or sleet event since 1996.

Later today, forecasters said the wet stuff — whatever it is — will move on and clearing skies will usher in some of the coldest temperatures we have seen so far this winter.

Accuweather.com pegged the chances of snow in our area at 50 percent before noon, with the odds for any kind of precipitation lessening throughout the day.

Temperatures in West Volusia were forecast to reach just above 40 degrees by about 5 p.m., before plunging into the 30s and then into the 20s overnight.

Since Jan. 3, NWS said, temperatures across the state have been running about 30 degrees below normal. Wind-chill temperatures could fall into the single digits in some parts of the state Saturday night and Sunday, forecasters said.

Weather Underground predicted a "few flakes of snow" in Central Florida for Saturday, but mostly light rain and sleet, calling for extra caution on the roads.

"Use extra care ... slow down and increase your following distance when driving on area roads through mid-morning," the Weather Underground forecasters advised.

The Beacon invites you to send photos of weather conditions in your area to info@beacononlinenews.com.

disney marathon

2010-01-09T07:11:00.000-08:00

disney marathon

Runners from all over the world are making their way to Orlando, FL as Walt Disney World Marathon weekend is upon us with a whole slate of races on tap from Friday, January 8 to Sunday, January 10. More than 55,000 runners are registered to compete in one of the races - making it one of the largest running weekends in the country (second only to Arizona’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon weekend in 2009). In addition, there are new ticketed events this year including a carb-loading pasta dinner at Epcot on Thursday, January 7. The “Pasta in the Park Party” includes a pasta buffet at the World ShowPlace Pavilion and special seating to view “IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth”. Also new is a private post-race party at Disney’s Hollywood Studios called the “Victory Lap Celebration” that includes a DJ, Disney Characters, cash bar, food vendors, and access to attractions. For those wanting a course preview, I include a mile by mile account of my running of the Walt Disney World Half Marathon in 2009 after the break. Continue on to read more about this year’s event, and listen while I participate in the race.

Almost 24,000 athletes are registered for the full marathon (26.2 miles) and more than 23,000 are registered for the half marathon (13.1 miles) - the two signature races. 7,500 athletes have filled “Goofy’s Race and a Half Challenge” to capacity - requiring runners to complete both the full and half marathons (39.3 miles) in consecutive days. Defending men’s champion, Brazilian Adriano Bastos, returns to attempt to win his sixth straight Disney Marathon.

national championship college football 2010 score

2010-01-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

national championship college football 2010 score

National Championship College Football 2010 score is a question today for everyone who had to miss the big game. The National Championship College Football 2010 score was the the result of an exciting game. What was the National Championship Football 2010 score?

The game ended Alabama 37, Texas 21. The Southeastern Conference won the fourth straight national championship. If you missed the game leading to the National Championship College Football 2010 score, read all the details at the Wall Street Journal blog.

Here is a YouTube video 2010-2009 BCS College Football National Championship - Texas Longhorns vs. Alabama Crimsontide: