Visit One News Page for the latest news on events around the World, aggregated from leading sources including newswires, newspapers and broadcast media. Search more than 1,000,000 news headlines in Business, Science, Sports, Technology and much more. This feed provides the current most relevant news headlines, as determined by One News Page. http://www.onenewspage.com (c) copyright One News Page. All headlines and description content (c) by the accredited news source - see http://www.onenewspage.com/tc.php#accreditation for further details. 15 webmaster@onenewspage.com (One News Page Webmaster) Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:53:27 +0000 http://static.onenewspage.com/ONPglobe100.png http://www.onenewspage.com en-us The driver of a Miley Cyrus tour bus was killed Friday when the bus overturned, but the 16-year-old "Hannah Montana" star wasn't on board, Virginia State Police said. Reported by LocalNews8 7 minutes ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/US/20091120/6033456/Miley-Cyrus-tour-bus-overturns-in-Va.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:46:01 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/US/20091120/6033456/Miley-Cyrus-tour-bus-overturns-in-Va.htm LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The driver of a tour bus for Miley Cyrus died on Friday when the vehicle crashed in Virginia, but the teen singer was not on-board, police said. Reported by Reuters India 22 minutes ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6033226/Driver-dies-in-Miley-Cyrus-tour-bus-crash.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:31:24 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6033226/Driver-dies-in-Miley-Cyrus-tour-bus-crash.htm The parents of Amanda Knox are so hopeful she'll be freed after her murder trial in Italy they have bought an airplane ticket home to Seattle for their daughter. Reported by Seattle Times 23 minutes ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6033090/Parents-buy-ticket-home-to-Seattle-for-Amanda.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:30:05 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6033090/Parents-buy-ticket-home-to-Seattle-for-Amanda.htm Our Bobby McMahon shares his thoughts about Thierry Henry's act of 'cheating' which put France in the Cup. Reported by FOX Sports 39 minutes ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Sports/20091120/6032695/McMahon-The-Thierry-Henry-incident.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:14:20 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Sports/20091120/6032695/McMahon-The-Thierry-Henry-incident.htm SANDRA Bullock almost didn’t make her new movie The Blind Side – because she kept turning down the role! The Hollywood superstar — who plays a wealthy woman who takes in a homeless teenager who goes on to play college football in the movie, based on on a novel by Michael Lewis — admits she was [...] Reported by Showbiz Spy 41 minutes ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6032604/Sandra-Bullock-Kept-Turning-Down-Blind-Side-Role.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:12:15 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6032604/Sandra-Bullock-Kept-Turning-Down-Blind-Side-Role.htm Vintage characters from The Woodentops, Thunderbirds and The Wombles have lined up with more modern shows such as Postman Pat and Bob The Builder for Children In Needs's 2009 single.Fronted by Peter Kay, the single brings together dozens of characters who perform a medley of rather unlikely hits, including Tubthumping by anarchist act Chumbawamba and Elbow's One Day Like This.Under the name The Animated All Star Band the track, being released for the BBC charity's 30th appeal, features more than 100 characters from shows down the ages.The song also sees the return of much-loved Bagpuss, as well as once more featuring the voice of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, as the narrator of Thomas The Tank Engine.Kay stars as his animated alter ego Big Chris from hit show Roary the Racing Car, who takes on a Bob Geldof-style role to bring an animated line-up together in the video for the single.Also featured in the video - which took two years to create - are Teletubbies, Ben 10, Bill and Ben, Andy Pandy, Peppa Pig, Paddington Bear and Scooby Doo among others.Comedian Kay, who previously appeared in the video for Tony Christie's Comic Relief hit Is This the Way to Amarillo, said: "Children, parents, grandparents - in fact everybody is going to enjoy this. I can't believe it's come together and I'm extremely proud of all the work and time everybody has given to the project."The track - which is out now on iTunes and will be released on CD on Monday - also features Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop, Take That's Never Forget and The Beatles' Hey Jude during the medley. Reported by teletext 48 minutes ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6032308/Children-In-Need-single-revealed.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:04:58 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6032308/Children-In-Need-single-revealed.htm Employees at a shop in Los Angeles claim that they have been "offended" by Lindsay Lohan. Reported by Digital Spy 56 minutes ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6032211/Lindsay-Lohan-offends-LA-boutique.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:57:09 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6032211/Lindsay-Lohan-offends-LA-boutique.htm It was hard to care who won last night’s Project Runway season finale, but it was easy to say who lost: fans. The move to Lifetime—and, probably more important, the switch in production companies—proved disastrous for the once-brilliant reality show, Heather Havrilesky writes for Salon . “The story of... Reported by Newser 1 hour ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6031762/Project-Runway-Limps-to-Season-End.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:37:27 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6031762/Project-Runway-Limps-to-Season-End.htm Britney Spears' ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib is being sent to jail for 45 days for leaving the scene of an accident. Reported by Seattle Times 1 hour ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6031709/Britney-Spears-ex-sentenced-to-jail.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:36:24 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6031709/Britney-Spears-ex-sentenced-to-jail.htm Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, one of three lawmakers being wooed by Democratic leaders to back health-care legislation, won the inclusion of an extra $100 million in federal aid for low-income people in her state. Reported by Bloomberg 1 hour ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6031474/Louisiana-Landrieu-Wins-Aid-for.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:25:25 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6031474/Louisiana-Landrieu-Wins-Aid-for.htm They play best friends who teeter on the brink of romance in 'New Moon' -- but what is Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart's relationship like off-screen? Taylor tells all. "We have a similar relationship to Jacob and Bella's," the 17-year-old star tells People about his relationship with Kristen. "We were very open and honest with each other. So it definitely made [filming] a lot easier." When asked what he looks for in a woman, Taylor -- who has been recently snapped out and about with country star Taylor Swift -- tells People that he is drawn toward "somebody who can be themselves and not put on a show." He also dishes about his first kiss, telling the mag that it "wasn't as steamy" as Kristen's on-screen kisses with costar Rob Pattinson. 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' is in theaters now.[Read full story on The Insider] Reported by The Insider 2 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6030542/Taylor-Lautner-on-Kristen-Stewart-We-Are-Similar.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:47:30 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6030542/Taylor-Lautner-on-Kristen-Stewart-We-Are-Similar.htm And so, my friends, it has come to this. As Boyz II Men sang so soulfully, we\'ve come to the end of the road. Or, the runway, I guess. Which means we\'re about to fall off into the lap of the Malaysian Prime Minister, if Zoolander is to be believed. Put on your best vagina dress and grab a cocktail, y\'all--it\'s time to finish this bitch. Previously on: Charming Southern belle Carol Hannah, icy New York princess Irina, and vapid Ohioan Althea made it to the final three, and are so drama-deficient that the primary storylines going into the finale are that Althea \"copies\" Irina--which is obviously not even true--and that Carol Hannah might vomit herself to death. Funny aside: I saw my mom last weekend, and she\'s all, \"I turned on ProjRun this week and I couldn\'t tell what the hell was going on, so I turned it off. But that Carol Hannah, she doesn\'t look good. There\'s something wrong with her.\" I should make a companion to the ShitMyDadSays Twitter feed. We\'re in New York, two days before Bryant Park. At the Grand Hyatt, Carol Hannah grooms herself while Althea and Irina sit in the kitchen waiting, I guess, for her to die so that they can get to the workroom already. \"If I\'m lying with my head in the toilet that\'s not really helpful,\" CH interviews. I bet Irina would beg to differ. She interviews that she feels for Carol Hannah (whose name she pronounces Carol Honna for some reason) but that \"there\'s really nothing I can do to help her.\" Well, yeah, not if you sit drumming your fingers on the table. Someone go hold that girl\'s hair back, at least! All three eventually make it to Parsons. Logan says that he\'s really proud of Carol Hannah for getting it together despite the immense pressure, and hugs her. Gordana interviews that Irina is under so much stress that \"she\'s not 100% cool as she normally is.\" (Perhaps her cryogenic chamber is on the fritz?) Carol Hannah then suddenly starts to weep, cracking under the pressure of all the work that\'s left to be done, and Chris comforts her. He says that he\'s glad to be able to be there for her as a friend and a tailor, and reassures CH that he\'s there to help. For all of the bitching I\'ve done about Chris, he was one of my early favorites and seems like a genuinely sweet person, which is good because the others all stand around woodenly. Althea tries to break the tension by suggesting that they all go get their hair and makeup consultations. If there are kind words exchanged between the three girls, the editors don\'t let us see it. The hair and makeup consultations are predictably dull. They all tell Collier Strong from L\'Oreal that they want the models to look \"glamorous\" and \"soft and pretty.\" Let\'s mix it up! How about \"I want them to look like a drunk Lady Gaga after a visit to the department store makeup counter where Joan Rivers and Miss Piggy worked in The Muppets Take Manhattan!\" or \"I\'m thinking Edward Cullen with pinkeye.\" At the hair counter, Carol Hannah explains that her collection is inspired by Gothic architecture and the stylist nods politely. Back in the workroom, the models come in for fittings. Carol Hannah is having an easy time matching her models to looks but Althea and Irina struggle a bit. Tim arrives to check in on their 13th looks. Irina\'s involves a military-looking hat with a chain chinstrap, and shockingly Tim does not respond by slapping her in the face. He asks about the makeup and Irina says that she is going for a \"muddy\" look. Althea\'s final look is mae up of silk harem-esque pants, a top, and a leather jacket with Star Trekk-y shoulder pads. Tim worries a bit about the exaggerated shoulders. He then asks about her makeup (at the request of the producers, no doubt) and Althea says that it will be a bit messy. \"That sounds like what Irina was telling me,\" Tim says, and ugh I am over this whole copying storyline. I guess Althea is, too, because she starts to cry. Tim checks in on Carol Hannah and asks how she\'s feeling. \"Ok-ish,\" she tells him. Her final look is a pretty blue jersey dress--Tim approves. It\'s now only one day until the big show. Once again we see Carol Hannah getting ready while the other girls wait. But this time, CH is on the mend. \"I dont feel like I\'m going to die!\" she says cheerily. They arrive at the workroom, and Irina debates what look to put her \"muse model\" in. She finally settles on her 13th look, a black dress/tank combination that of course comes with a twee hat. Shirin lives! Later on, Tim comes in to remind us of what we already know, that they are going to Bryant Park and that this is a BIG DEAL. They all put finishing touches on their collections, fret over shoes and accessories, and worry that they\'re forgetting something. They leave. They sleep. And then it\'s D-Day. An alarm clock goes off at 3:14 am. Apparently they have to start super early in order to get all of their models dressed, etc. Carol Hannah puts on a big, bright, one-shouldered blue thing that makes me wonder if she isn\'t still sick, and possibly hallucinating that she\'s an extra in the Pretty in Pink prom scene. They get ready to leave and then... Irina can\'t open the door. It\'s actually kind of funny, if you ignore the fact that this episode didn\'t really need to exist, and that they could have condensed the finale into one hour instead of making us watch these bitches not be able to open a door for five minutes. At Bryant Park we get the obligatory scene in which the girls are overwhelmed by the empty runway and can\'t believe they\'ve made it this far. I don\'t mean to be glib--these women did work very hard and should be proud--it\'s just that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, the sweet, sweet light of 11 pm EST, and like Liz Lemon I WANT TO GO TO THERE. Suddenly it\'s only moments before the runway show, and backstage is total chaos, with the designers crouching and pinning and fretting and Tim having a series of freak-outs because the models aren\'t in full dress. In all of the seasons of the show I\'ve never seen Tim freak out this bad. He\'s pacing and his facial muscles are contorting in all sorts of horrible ways and his brow is so furrowed I\'m afraid it might cave in and swallow his whole head. \"I\'m about to lose it!\" he exclaims, and Carol Hannah interviews that it\'s unnerving for Tim to be so stressed out because he\'s usually their calm center. Seriously, have you ever seen Tim so unhinged? He\'s making blowjob face AND handjob hand at the same time. Also, Carol Hannah must still be pretty sick--is she hooked up to an IV drip? A colostomy bag? Oh, no, wait--that\'s just a steamer. Anyway, we\'ve finally made it--it\'s RUNWAY TIME. Heidi comes out in a hot pink suit with clamdigger pants that I desperately want to mock, but somehow she makes it work. I like to think that in this photo Tim is saying \"Women of America, stay away from this. Heidi is a professional. You will look like Hillary Clinton attending Ziggy Stardust\'s Glam Rock Brunch for the Cure.\" Heidi introduces the judges: Michael Kors, who is wearing mirrored sunglasses indoors (Jess: \"How can he see anything?\"), Nina Garcia, and someone names Suzy Menkes, a fashion critic for the International Herald Tribune whose bangs defy gravity in a way that we have not seen since There\'s Something About Mary. Seriously, this photo does not even do it justice. Also, MK: Glasses off. Here we go. ALTHEA Click here for the NY Mag slideshow I ganked these images from. Well, I\'m stumped. How is catwoman supposed to scale buildings if she can\'t find her hands? Is this model an amputee? Does Mrs. Smith have PMS? I suppose Althea was going for a hard/soft texture combo here, but a PVC bodysuit paired with a comfy sweater doesn\'t compute for me. I can\'t really tell what this is: top and pants? Jumpsuit? Top and skirt? Whatever it is, the legs/hem looks too long. I\'m getting a 70s Bianca Jagger vibe, but I think that\'s thanks to the model. This is Althea\'s 13th look, and while I do not condone harem pants, I must concede that this look is very of-the-moment. Everything looks well-tailored, and I could totally see an actual woman wearing this. A white suit is a ballsy move, and unfortunately this looks like balls. The open jacket looks messy and the pants are ill-fitting, not to mention too long, with a weird ankle cut-out on the sides. It doesn\'t help that the model looks to have been mauled backstage (perhaps by a rabid, manic Tim Gunn) just before she walked. This is fine. But my mother always told me \"If it doesn\'t look good on the model, there\'s no hope for the rest of us.\" These pants widen hips and stop at the thickest part of the calf. I see that on willowy women they\'d look good, but being a normal person I can\'t help but try to apply them to normal women. I won\'t even discuss the canklemakers... I mean, booties. You know, I have a favorite saying when it comes to addressing peep-toe boots: \"If it is cold enough for boots, it is too cold for bare toes.\" This sweater brings to mind a similar adage: \"If it is cold enough for a sweater with enormous sleeves big enough for Fat Albert that swallow your hands and will probably catch fire if you try to cook while wearing them, then it is probably too cold for sternum-baring.\" High-waisted PVC pants: never NOT flattering! I once owned a pair of faux-snakeskin pants in college, which I wore un-ironically and paired with a leotard for some reason that has since escaped me and that I will blame retroactively on hormones. Anyway, one night after a party that involved a few hours of sweaty dancing, I could not get them off. I jumped around and tugged and swore and even knocked over a lamp trying to free myself, but I had to sleep in them and enlist my roommate\'s help the next day. The half-undone zipper and shredding of this model\'s blouse leads me to believe that she found herself in a similar situation backstage. REALLY not liking the sweater. I have a lot of ground to cover, so I\'ll leave it at that. Love this. Love the color, love the jacket, don\'t love the hem but can deal with it. I just wish I could see what the dress looked like underneath: does it have sleeves? I actually like this in theory, although I think that a fitted top would be more flattering. It makes the model look short, though, which I assume she is not, which means, according to my mother\'s wise words, that an average woman would look pretty squat. JASLENE! It\'s so good to know that America\'s Next Top Model winners are actually modeling, even if it\'s for something relatively low-rent like this. Maybe I\'m biased because of my excitement at seeing Jaslene, but I like this. The structured bodice is cool and contrasts nicely with the drapey skirt. Wait, I\'ve seen off the shoulder, but are HALF JACKETS a thing now? Because, no. Take it off, and we\'ll talk. I am not a fan of this. I don\'t know if it\'s the color or the fabric or the cut or some combination thereof, but this looks cheap to me, and bland--too neutral. I think this was a bad choice for the muse model, not to mention an underwhelming final piece. OVERALL: I did not like Althea\'s collection. The craftsmanship we usually see from her wasn\'t as visible here, and while the layered looks were modern, there were no \"wow\" gowns or statement pieces. I also have to say a big WTF to the uncircumsized sweater arms. CAROL HANNAH Click here for the NY Mag slideshow. CH starts out strong. I love the Deco, geometric aesthetic paired with the soft, drapey execution. Eh... I do like the way this looks as kind of an arty piece but I can\'t see it on the street. (Yes, I am still naive enough to believe that fashion should be wearable.) I want that turtleneck, although I suspect it is not flashbulb-friendly... Hmmm. On the rack this looked cool (and also had no sleeves). In motion the ropes form kind of a weird happy face. And I never thought I\'d say this, but I would have preferred this with leggings. The pants do not impress. Are they too-long and bunchy on purpose? Are they inside-out? Either way, do not like. Et tu, Carol Hannah? Creating faux hips where most women need none? Or did some Bryant Park squirrels get in there for a rassle backstage? I LOVE the eggplant hue and the dramatic skirt. I could do without the bar across the collarbone. This dress is pretty, although the model appears to have a torso made of Silly Putty. I love the delicate detailing that turns into a strap. When we saw this in Carol Hannah\'s workshop (like Santa\'s workshop, but with tiny Logans instead of elves), I thought I would love it, but I don\'t. The colors seem too drab for the festivity of the shape, although I suppose if it were bright pink it could turn into a costume. Maybe it\'s that both the skirt and the top are busy. Maybe if she had done a simple tank top the skirt could be the focal point. Thoughts? This vexes me. This top smacks of Louise Black, and we all agreed that it veers a bit too far on the side of maternity wear. I like the purple heels, though. Daaaayyyy-ummmm. This 13th look is bangin\'. And it looks so awesome on this readhead model. Perfect pairing. Love the gold dress, not so into the Christmas bow belt, want to blot model\'s T-zone. \"David Bowie, is that you?\" \"Shhh. Don\'t address me by my human name. I\'m in disguise.\" \"What are you?\" \"What? Isn\'t it obvious? I\'m Formal Shorts Man.\" \"Excuse me?\" \"Formal Shorts Man. I\'m a superhero. Peep the cape.\" \"What do you... do?\" \"I travel the globe saving people from the grave mistake of wearing shorts as formalwear.\" \"But... you\'re... wearing formal shorts.\" \"I\'m leading by example, moron.\" Either chiffon leeches are draining this model of every drop of blood in her body or it\'s the Great Disco Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Either way, this is a misstep. Luckily, she totally makes up for it in her showstopping final dress. I love everything about this, from the freshly churned butter color to the vaguely Zac Posen-y structural detailing to the cool, flouncy, but not over-the-top skirt. OVERALL: I know I\'m somewhat biased, but Carol Hannah\'s was by far my favorite collection of the bunch. I admit it was uneven, and lacking a cohesiveness, but the individual looks were for the most part very strong. IRINA Click here for the NY Mag slideshow. Before her show, Irina says that her collection is about \"what it takes to survive as a woman in New York.\" Apparently, it takes vagina armor, ladies. (Irina: For it to be truly effective, best to make it a full on-bodysuit. Someone could attack from below!) And... here come the caps. I am not a fan of hats, mostly because they do not look good on me. I understand wearing a hat if it\'s cold outside, but wearing a hat as a fashion statement has never made sense to me. In any event, either this Girl Scout is a secret Soviet agent or this Soviet agent is a highly motivated seller of Trefoils. A Clockwork Orange goes to a gothic Renaissance fair. Scarier than the original! Okay... as much as the copying storyline irks me, I find it highly unlikely that two people could decide independently that what\'s really hot this season (well, last season) is to completely immobilize the hands with wool. I understand the need for warmth, but that\'s what gloves are for. Now I just feel like I\'m taking crazy pills. SHOW ME YOUR HANDS! How did you zip up those PVC legwarmers, huh? Riddle me that. While I appreciate the importance of the discreet breast exam this model is giving herself, I hardly think the runway is the appropriate place to do it. Irina: I don\'t think \"breast pocket\" means what you think it means. That said, I like this look from the waist up. I can\'t tell if the bottoms are just leggings or leggings worn with the PVC legwarmers, but either way I\'d like to speak to whomever decided that PVC was an appropriate material for anything other than pipes. (\"They\'re all dominatrixes!\" says Kerry.) I will concede that the model looks fierce despite the stupid hat, but I\'m not sure I can get behind Irina\'s 13th look entirely. The skirt is kind of lapping at the boobs of the top like waves. To quote the lady herself, it looks like one dress is throwing up the other. Perhaps it is an ode to Carol Honna\'s illness... Love the sweater coat. LOVE THE VISIBLE HANDS MORE! Do not love the leggings, but I won\'t belabor the point. This is nice. Fine. Very New York. I apologize; I just know I\'m getting toward the end of the recap and I want to get there faster. Oh, but this requires a HOLD UP. This is too much, I think. Just too much... look. There\'s the helmet with the chain, first of all, which fit more with the dominatrix-y outfits but looks like an afterthought here. There\'s the busy tee shirt scrawled with New York Magazine\'s reasons to love New York, the textured leggings, the sweater capelet, the PVC opera gloves. I think this look, in any challenge, would have landed Miss Meana in the bottom two. I suppose, however, that it does technically fit with her theme of self-protection, because if I saw this woman in the street I would back away slowly with my hands in the air. Are those pants both shredded AND bejeweled? And is that Hagrid\'s scarf? The questions about this look go on and on. Again, so very many things going on here: the scaly cocktail dress over pants. The gloves. The hat. I\'m not reading warrior so much with this one--where\'s the armor? Doesn\'t make much sense in relation to her other looks... And... ditto. Why the gown? Why the gown with the hat? I know this is the final look, but it seems disconnected from the rest, like she just made a gown for the sake of ending with a gown (I\'ll admit, I\'m stealing Michael Kors\' words here.) OVERALL: Again, I know I\'m biased, but I was very lukewarm about Irina\'s collection. It wasn\'t a hot mess like Althea\'s, the knitwear was masterful, and it DID have a strong connective thread what with the caps and armor and amputated hands, but viscerally I didn\'t connect with it as much as I did with Carol Hannah\'s. Phew! I wasn\'t really prepared for 39 looks. And much like Grover in the Monsterpiece Theater version of The 39 Steps, I\'ve now come to a giant brick wall that I must scale in order to be done with this recap: The final panel. After the show, the camera catches up with some of the audience members and gets their take. John Varvatos says he thinks that it was a strong group. Old Austin Scarlett/Siegfried from Episode 4 is there, being scary. Epperson is there, too, being my favorite. Shirin has a new twee red hat. Ari says she liked Irina\'s the best, but no one cares what you think, Ari, you got kicked off on the first fucking episode. STFU. Ra\'mon-Lawrence thinks Carol Hannah deserves to win the most. Finally, the designers assemble on the runway in front of the judges. All of the judges say nice things about the overall work. Out come the models, and the final panel is ON. The critiques: Irina: MK says that quite honestly he\'s seen a lot of the warrior woman as a fashions statement. Suzy Menkes--no, seriously, is she wearing a Bump It? What is going on up there?--says it was very coherent. Nina likes the handmade tee shirts. Michael says that the amount of work that went into the collection is commendable. Nina then calls Irina out on using so much black (\"We talked about this,\" she scolds), saying that black gets very little editorial. Carol Hannah: Nina loved the first look. Heidi loved the blue jersey dress, and is impressed when she finds out that it was the 13th look. Suzy asks about the tutu dress. Heidi says she had hard time seeing the looks as a collection and that it didn\'t seem cohesive. MK says that structured drapery is CH\'s strong suit. Althea: Althea says for the first time that her collection was inspired by the \"new political tone\" (oh, 2008) and is meant to represent looking into the future. Nina loves the dash of color in the green dress. Heidi loved the skirt and shiny top. MK drools over the khaki silk harem pant. Suzy saw a lot of great knitwear. But Nina thought the last three pieces were off and almost felt like different collection. No scathing critiques, no exclamations of Appalachian hookers or garbage bags. The judges, I suppose, realize that now is the time to make the designers feel good about their accomplishments. The deliberations begin. Heidi makes the hilarious declaration that Althea is \"street.\" \"Yes, Althea is nothing if not street!\" Kerry, also from Ohio, crows. \"The streets of Dayton!\" Michael says that Irina has the most showmanship of all three, and the hats, much to my chagrin, are widely praised. The designers come back out. \"Carol Hannah...\" Heidi says, and I shriek because I can\'t BELIEVE that she would be out before Althea. But it turns out Heidi is just talking super slow, you know, for emphasis. \"Althea...\" \"Irina...\" Seriously, if you didn\'t watch this you need to know that Heidi spoke as though reading flashcards in a foreign language from thirty feet away. These final moments were draaaaaaaaaagggggggeeeeeeeeed ooooooouuuuuuuuuuuttttttttttt, y\'aaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllll. Heidi rehashes all of the critiques and stares at them for awhile. Then she says... \"Carol Hannah, I\'m sorry, you\'re out.\" WHAAAAT? Man, I thought she would win! And I\'m pissed that she got kicked off first because now there are only two options: 1. Irina wins, deservedly, and I am pissed at the producers for not making us like her more, because now we have to have the asshole of the season win it all, OR 2. Althea wins, which is a huge upset and not really deserved, and I am pissed at the producers for letting such a boring-ass contestant win it all. I am pissed anyway because our final two are Irina and Althea? REALLY? Could you make me care any less? And then, I am not kidding you, Heidi and the judges stare at Irina and Althea for a good sixty seconds to kill time. Finally we get the drumbeat... DUM. DUM. DUM. DUM. DUM. \"Congratulations....\" OH GET IT OVER WITH. \"Irina! You are the winner of Project Runway.\" Irina kind of clasps her hands together and smiles and this climax could not be any less climactic. Give me a cigarette or something. God. And... I\'m done. OK, OK, fine, I\'ll finish. I think Irina deserved to win this season. She is a skilled designer. But I watch a lot of reality TV and as a viewer I\'m disappointed that we didn\'t get a payoff. The editors knew that Irina was going to win, so they could have given us some moments in which she didn\'t come off like a total bitch. She was just... not someone you want to root for. Which means that when she wins, it feels empty and unsatisfying. To get viewers invested you need to give them an emotional payoff. Carol Hannah winning would have been an emotional payoff. But whatever, this was the perfect ending to a season that has made no sense from day one. I would say I\'m hopeful for next season, but it\'s already been filmed so there\'s no way that the producers could have taken the negative feedback from Season 6 into consideration. Still, you know I\'ll be watching, and recapping. I can\'t help it. It\'s like a sickness. In closing, let me say thank you. I am as serious as Tim Gunn\'s pink tie collection when I say that your support in the comments has kept me going this season. I don\'t know what I was thinking, trying to post entire recaps the morning after, especially since I don\'t have a DVR and can\'t type for shit. Thursday nights and Friday mornings have been rough, but knowing that you were waiting for my posts kept me from procrastinating, having a complete mental breakdown and weeping over my keyboard, or mixing a Bloody Mary at 7:00 am. I have to shout out to Kerry (below, left) and Jess (below, second from left) for hosting each week and providing wine, TV, computers for my typing, and witty asides. Thanks also to Karen (second from right) for putting up with my constant bitching. Here we are reacting to the season being over (hubby Jeff is not pictured, but I thank him for putting up with me and my Bitchfaces through these fourteen weeks): The next season starts in a few short months, so we\'ll be reunited soon. This is just a short break, like when Brenda went to Paris for the summer on 90210 . Which I guess makes you guys Dylan. Don\'t cheat on me with any other recappers, though, or else I\'ll have to get all self-righteous and storm off yelling \"I HATE YOU BOTH! NEVER TALK TO ME AGAIN!!!!!\" Until then, follow the way of the Gunn and... Final self-promotional effort: If I\'ve made you laugh, cry, banish rompers from your wardrobe, or throw things at the TV this season, check out my blog or become a fan on Facebook. And please become my fan on The Huffington Post, too, so that you\'ll get notified when I write new posts. I actually can write non-Project Runway related things, promise. Reported by Huffington Post 2 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Lifestyle/20091120/6030507/Una-LaMarche-Project-Runway-Finale-Recap-Part-Two.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:46:57 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Lifestyle/20091120/6030507/Una-LaMarche-Project-Runway-Finale-Recap-Part-Two.htm The Blind Side lacks inherent suspense—it's based on the true story of Michael Oher, a rookie offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. But the tale of a homeless African-American teen adopted by big-hearted white yuppies, at bottom a Sandra Bullock vehicle, goes over big in football country. Writer-director John... Reported by Newser 2 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6030195/Bullock-Shines-in-Crowd-Pleasing-Blind-Side.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:42:28 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6030195/Bullock-Shines-in-Crowd-Pleasing-Blind-Side.htm Oprah Winfrey said on Friday that she will end her popular TV show in 2011 because it “feels right in her bones” after 25 years, and urged viewers not to believe rumors of why she’s quitting Reported by National Post 3 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6029519/Oprah-Winfrey-says-ending-TV-show-feels.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:13:15 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6029519/Oprah-Winfrey-says-ending-TV-show-feels.htm Heather McComb is single.  Soon to be ex husband James Van Der Beek filed for divorce on on Friday, November 13 in Los Angeles. He cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason.  Jon Boon and Sophie Eager have details... Reported by The National Ledger 3 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6029155/Heather-McComb-Single-Demi-Moore-Airbrush-Photos-Controversy.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:55:25 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6029155/Heather-McComb-Single-Demi-Moore-Airbrush-Photos-Controversy.htm Giving her fans something wonderful to wake up to, Shakira gave a memorable live performance on “Good Morning America&... Reported by celebrifi 3 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6029130/Shakira-Shines-on-%E2%80%9CGood-Morning-America%E2%80%9D-PHOTO.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:54:52 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6029130/Shakira-Shines-on-%E2%80%9CGood-Morning-America%E2%80%9D-PHOTO.htm GENEVA (Reuters) - Somalia has announced it plans to ratify a global treaty aimed at protecting children, leaving the United States as the only country outside the pact, UNICEF said Friday. Reported by Reuters 3 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6029030/Somalia-to-join-child-rights-pact-only.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:51:02 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6029030/Somalia-to-join-child-rights-pact-only.htm Thierry Henry Replay Reported by celebrifi 4 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6028021/Thierry-Henry-Replay.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:11:31 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6028021/Thierry-Henry-Replay.htm Former Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek has filed for divorce from his wife of six years, Los Angeles court records show.  Van Der Beek, 32, and actress Heather Ann McComb had separated earlier Reported by The National Ledger 5 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6026856/Heather-McComb-Photos-James-Van-Der-Beek.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:23:09 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6026856/Heather-McComb-Photos-James-Van-Der-Beek.htm The Daily Beast has named publishing vet Stephen Colvin as the site’s first president. Colvin has left his post as an EVP of CNET after two years. He was previously president and CEO of lad mag purveyor Dennis Publishing for 11 years. In his new post, he’ll handle all aspects of the business, the company said. Colvin reports directly to Tina Brown, the year-old IAC-backed site’s co-founder and editor-in-chief. Specifically, Colvin will be responsible for revenue generation, audience development, brand development and social media. He will also oversee the new Daily Beast/Perseus Books joint venture, Beast Books, and will develop an event series. Reported by paidContent 5 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Business/20091120/6026193/Daily-Beast-Taps-Former-CNET-Dennis-Publishing-Exec.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:57:55 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Business/20091120/6026193/Daily-Beast-Taps-Former-CNET-Dennis-Publishing-Exec.htm The first reviews of New Moon are in, and many aren\'t exactly flattering. Early reviews at Rotten Tomatoes give New Moon a 4.9 out of 10 on average, and just 29 percent of Approved Tomatometer Critics rated it positive. The early consensus from Rotten Tomatoes reads, \"The Twilight Saga\'s second installment may satisfy hardcore fans of the series, but outsiders are likely to be turned off by its slow pace, relentlessly downcast tone, and excessive length.\" The first reviews are in line with the critics\' first takes. Rogert Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times offered, \"Since they know it all and we know all, sitting through this experience is like driving a pickup in low gear though a sullen sea of Brylcreem.\" Claudia Puig of USA Today added, \"New Moon, the film version, does nothing to add depth to a shallow tale.\" Not all are down on the film. Laremy Legel of Film.com admits New Moon has some flaws, but overall Reported by Huffington Post 5 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6026115/New-Moon-Reviews-FLYING-In-Movie-Critiqued-Hours.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:57:21 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6026115/New-Moon-Reviews-FLYING-In-Movie-Critiqued-Hours.htm He set the bar high and smoked the competition. Irvin Rosenfeld, a 56-year-old stockbroker from Fort Lauderdale, will toke his way into the record books today by smoking his 115,000th joint. The best part: It's completely legal. "Yep, provided by Uncle Sam," Rosenfeld told NBC Miami . "They grow it... Reported by Newser 5 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6025661/Fla-Man-to-Smoke-115-000th-Joint.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:41:12 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6025661/Fla-Man-to-Smoke-115-000th-Joint.htm BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders named Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, who is little known outside his own country, as the bloc's first president on Thursday to lead efforts to make it more influential on the world stage. Reported by Reuters 6 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6024508/EU-names-Belgian-PM-Van-Rompuy-as-first.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:06:08 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6024508/EU-names-Belgian-PM-Van-Rompuy-as-first.htm Financial officials, “most notably Timothy Geithner,” deservedly lost the public's trust with their no-strings-attached bailout of AIG, Paul Krugman rails in the New York Times . As a damning report from the TARP inspector general points out, the government made no serious attempt to extract concessions from the banks that made... Reported by Newser 6 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6024504/AIG-Bailout-Squandered-Our-Money-Trust.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:01:14 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6024504/AIG-Bailout-Squandered-Our-Money-Trust.htm Cross-posted with TomDispatch.com. Sure, the quote in the over-title is only my fantasy. No one in Washington -- no less President Obama -- ever said, \"This administration ended, rather than extended, two wars,\" and right now, it looks as if no one in an official capacity is likely to do so any time soon. It\'s common knowledge that a president -- but above all a Democratic president -- who tried to de-escalate a war like the one now expanding in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, and withdraw American troops, would be so much domestic political dead meat. This everyday bit of engrained Washington wisdom is, in fact, based on not a shred of evidence in the historical record. We do, however, know something about what could happen to a president who escalated a counterinsurgency war: Lyndon Johnson comes to mind for expanding his inherited war in Vietnam out of fear that he would be labeled the president who \"lost\" that country to the communists (as Harry Truman had supposedly \"lost\" China). And then there was Vice President Hubert Humphrey who -- incapable of rejecting Johnson\'s war policy -- lost the 1968 election to Richard Nixon, a candidate pushing a fraudulent \"peace with honor\" formula for downsizing the war. Still, we have no evidence about how American voters would deal with a president who didn\'t take the Johnson approach to a losing war. The only example might be John F. Kennedy, who reputedly pushed back against escalatory advice over Vietnam, and certainly did so against his military high command during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In both cases, however, he acted in private, offering quite a different face to the world. We know that there would be those on the right, and quite a few war-fightin\' liberals as well, who would go nuclear over any presidential minus option in Afghanistan. Many of them will, in fact, do so over anything less than the McChrystal plan anyway. And we know that a media storm would certainly follow. But when it comes to how voters would react, especially at a moment when unhappiness with the Afghan War (as well as the president\'s handling of it) is on the rise, there is no historical evidence. Sometime in the reasonably near future, President Obama will undoubtedly address the American people on whatever decision he makes about the war in Afghanistan. Every sign indicates that he will hew to Washington\'s political wisdom about what a war president can do in this country. Ever since late September when someone leaked Afghan War commander General Stanley McChrystal\'s report to the president on the disastrous situation in Afghanistan and the counterinsurgency war he wants to wage there, we\'ve been all but living inside Obama\'s endless comprehensive review of war strategy. After all, we get daily reports from \"the front,\" largely in the form of a flood of leaks to the media, on just what\'s being considered -- from General McChrystal\'s estimated troop escalation numbers, to Ambassador Karl Eikenberry\'s private cables to the president suggesting no more troops be sent, to recent outbursts by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the president decrying all the leaks and rumors. This, of course, is what happens when your deliberations drag out over months while the key players, military and civilian, jostle, jockey, and elbow each other for advantage. In these last weeks, we\'ve grown accustomed to previously esoteric terms like the \"hybrid option\" and \"counterterrorism-plus.\" While we don\'t know what exactly is going through Obama\'s mind, or just when or in what form he will address us, we do know something about what his conclusions are likely to be. While there may be \"off-ramps\" and an \"end game\" for the Afghan War lurking somewhere in the distance in his plan, we know, as a start, that he\'s not going to recommend a minus option. We have long been assured that any proposals for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan were never \"on the table.\" And despite Ambassador Eikenberry\'s near zero-option position, we also know that the president is likely to choose some form of military escalation (even if these days, unlike in the Vietnam era, the word used is usually \"surge\"). We don\'t know how many U.S. troops will be involved or whether they will be weighted toward trainers and advisors or combat forces, but it seems clear that some will be sent. It\'s not for nothing that the Pentagon is ramping up new Afghan bases and reinforcing old ones. Undoubtedly, the President\'s speechwriters are already preparing the text for his Afghan... well, we don\'t really know whether it will be \"remarks,\" an announcement as part of a press conference, or a more formal address to the American people. In any case, we -- the rest of us -- have had all the disadvantages of essentially being in on the president\'s councils, and none of the advantages of offering our own advice. But I don\'t see why we shouldn\'t weigh in. Personally, I prefer not to leave the process to his speechwriters and advisors. What follows, then, is my version of the president\'s Afghan announcement. I\'ve imagined it as a challenging prime-time address to the American people. Certainly, the subject is important enough for such an address, even if the last time Obama did this, in March, it was via an unannounced appearance on a Friday morning. So here\'s my President Obama -- in, I hope, something like his voice -- doing what no American president has yet done. Sit down, turn on your TV, and see what you think. Tom The White House Office of the Press Secretary A New Way Forward: The President\'s Address to the American People on Afghan Strategy Oval Office For Immediate Release December 2nd 8:01 P.M. EDT My fellow Americans, On March 28th, I outlined what I called a \"comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.\" It was ambitious. It was also an attempt to fulfill a campaign promise that was heartfelt. I believed -- and still believe -- that, in invading Iraq, a war this administration is now ending, we took our eye off Afghanistan. Our well-being and safety, as well as that of the Afghan people, suffered for it. I suggested then that the situation in Afghanistan was already \"perilous.\" I announced that we would be sending 17,000 more American soldiers into that war zone, as well as 4,000 trainers and advisors whose job would be to increase the size of the Afghan security forces so that they could someday take the lead in securing their own country. There could be no more serious decision for an American president. Eight months have passed since that day. This evening, after a comprehensive policy review of our options in that region that has involved commanders in the field, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Security Advisor James Jones, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, top intelligence and State Department officials and key ambassadors, special representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, and experts from inside and outside this administration, I have a very different kind of announcement to make. I plan to speak to you tonight with the frankness Americans deserve from their president. I\'ve recently noted a number of pundits who suggest that my task here should be to reassure you about Afghanistan. I don\'t agree. What you need is the unvarnished truth just as it\'s been given to me. We all need to face a tough situation, as Americans have done so many times in the past, with our eyes wide open. It doesn\'t pay for a president or a people to fake it or, for that matter, to kick the can of a difficult decision down the road, especially when the lives of American troops are at stake. During the presidential campaign I called Afghanistan \"the right war.\" Let me say this: with the full information resources of the American presidency at my fingertips, I no longer believe that to be the case. I know a president isn\'t supposed to say such things, but he, too, should have the flexibility to change his mind. In fact, more than most people, it\'s important that he do so based on the best information available. No false pride or political calculation should keep him from that. And the best information available to me on the situation in Afghanistan is sobering. It doesn\'t matter whether you are listening to our war commander, General Stanley McChrystal, who, as press reports have indicated, believes that with approximately 80,000 more troops -- which we essentially don\'t have available -- there would be a reasonable chance of conducting a successful counterinsurgency war against the Taliban, or our ambassador to that country, Karl Eikenberry, a former general with significant experience there, who believes we shouldn\'t send another soldier at present. All agree on the following seven points: 1. We have no partner in Afghanistan. The control of the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai hardly extends beyond the embattled capital of Kabul. He himself has just been returned to office in a presidential election in which voting fraud on an almost unimaginably large scale was the order of the day. His administration is believed to have lost all credibility with the Afghan people. 2. Afghanistan floats in a culture of corruption. This includes President Karzai\'s administration up to its highest levels and also the warlords who control various areas and, like the Taliban insurgency, are to some degree dependent for their financing on opium, which the country produces in staggering quantities. Afghanistan, in fact, is not only a narco-state, but the leading narco-state on the planet. 3. Despite billions of dollars of American money poured into training the Afghan security forces, the army is notoriously understrength and largely ineffective; the police forces are riddled with corruption and held in contempt by most of the populace. 4. The Taliban insurgency is spreading and gaining support largely because the Karzai regime has been so thoroughly discredited, the Afghan police and courts are so ineffective and corrupt, and reconstruction funds so badly misspent. Under these circumstances, American and NATO forces increasingly look like an army of occupation, and more of them are only likely to solidify this impression. 5. Al-Qaeda is no longer a significant factor in Afghanistan. The best intelligence available to me indicates -- and again, whatever their disagreements, all my advisors agree on this -- that there may be perhaps 100 al-Qaeda operatives in Afghanistan and another 300 in neighboring Pakistan. As I said in March, our goal has been to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and on this we have, especially recently, been successful. Osama bin Laden, of course, remains at large, and his terrorist organization is still a danger to us, but not a $100 billion-plus danger. 6. Our war in Afghanistan has become the military equivalent of a massive bail-out of a firm determined to fail. Simply to send another 40,000 troops to Afghanistan would, my advisors estimate, cost $40-$54 billion extra dollars; eighty thousand troops, more than $80 billion. Sending more trainers and advisors in an effort to double the size of the Afghan security forces, as many have suggested, would cost another estimated $10 billion a year. These figures are over and above the present projected annual costs of the war -- $65 billion -- and would ensure that the American people will be spending $100 billion a year or more on this war, probably for years to come. Simply put, this is not money we can afford to squander on a failing war thousands of miles from home. 7. Our all-volunteer military has for years now shouldered the burden of our two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even if we were capable of sending 40,000-80,000 more troops to Afghanistan, they would without question be servicepeople on their second, third, fourth, or even fifth tours of duty. A military, even the best in the world, wears down under this sort of stress and pressure. These seven points have been weighing on my mind over the last weeks as we\'ve deliberated on the right course to take. Tonight, in response to the realities of Afghanistan as I\'ve just described them to you, I\'ve put aside all the subjects that ordinarily obsess Washington, especially whether an American president can reverse the direction of a war and still have an electoral future. That\'s for the American people, and them alone, to decide. Given that, let me say as bluntly as I can that I have decided to send no more troops to Afghanistan. Beyond that, I believe it is in the national interest of the American people that this war, like the Iraq War, be drawn down. Over time, our troops and resources will be brought home in an orderly fashion, while we ensure that we provide adequate security for the men and women of our Armed Forces. Ours will be an administration that will stand or fall, as of today, on this essential position: that we ended, rather than extended, two wars. This will, of course, take time. But I have already instructed Ambassador Eikenberry and Special Representative Holbrooke to begin discussions, however indirectly, with the Taliban insurgents for a truce in place. Before year\'s end, I plan to call an international conference of interested countries, including key regional partners, to help work out a way to settle this conflict. I will, in addition, soon announce a schedule for the withdrawal of the first American troops from Afghanistan. For the counterinsurgency war that we now will not fight, there is already a path laid out. We walked down that well-mined path once in recent American memory and we know where it leads. For ending the war in another way, there is no precedent in our recent history and so no path -- only the unknown. But there is hope. Let me try to explain. Recently, comparisons between the Vietnam War and our current conflict in Afghanistan have been legion. Let me, however, suggest a major difference between the two. When Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson faced their crises involving sending more troops into Vietnam, they and their advisors had little to rely on in the American record. They, in a sense, faced the darkness of the unknown as they made their choices. The same is not true of us. In the White House, for instance, a number of us have been reading a book on how the U.S. got itself ever more disastrously involved in the Vietnam War. We have history to guide us here. We know what happens in counterinsurgency campaigns. We have the experience of Vietnam as a landmark on the trail behind us. And if that weren\'t enough, of course, we have the path to defeat already well cleared by the Russians in their Afghan fiasco of the 1980s, when they had just as many troops in the field as we would have if I had chosen to send those extra 40,000 Americans. That is the known. On the other hand, peering down the path of de-escalation, all we can see is darkness. Nothing like this has been tried before in Washington. But I firmly believe that this, too, is deeply in the American grain. American immigrants, as well as slaves, traveled to this country as if into the darkness of the unknown. Americans have long braved the unknown in all sorts of ways. To present this more formulaically, if we sent the troops and trainers to Afghanistan, if we increased air strikes and tried to strengthen the Afghan Army, we basically know how things are likely to work out: not well. The war is likely to spread. The insurgents, despite many losses, are likely to grow in strength. Hatred of Americans is likely to increase. Pakistan is likely to become more destabilized. If, however, we don\'t take such steps and proceed down that other path, we do not know how things will work out in Afghanistan, or how well. We do not know how things will work out in Pakistan, or how well. That is hardly surprising, since we do not know what it means to end such a war now. But we must not be scared. America will not -- of this, as your president, I am convinced -- be a safer nation if it spends many hundreds of billions of dollars over many years, essentially bankrupting itself and exhausting its military on what looks increasingly like an unwinnable war. This is not the way to safety, but to national penury -- and I am unwilling to preside over an America heading in that direction. Let me say again that the unknown path, the path into the wilderness, couldn\'t be more American. We have always been willing to strike out for ourselves where others would not go. That, too, is in the best American tradition. It is, of course, a perilous thing to predict the future, but in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region, war has visibly only spread war. The beginning of a negotiated peace may have a similarly powerful effect, but in the opposite direction. It may actually take the wind out of the sails of the insurgents on both sides of the Afghan/Pakistan border. It may actually encourage forces in both countries with which we might be more comfortable to step to the fore. Certainly, we will do our best to lead the way with any aid or advice we can offer toward a future peaceful Afghanistan and a future peaceful Pakistan. In the meantime, I plan to ask Congress to take some of the savings from our two wars winding down and put them into a genuine jobs program for the American people. The way to safety in our world is, I believe, to secure our borders against those who would harm us, and to put Americans back to work. With this in mind, next month I\'ve called for a White House Jobs Summit, which I plan to chair. And there I will suggest that, as a start, and only as a start, we look at two programs that were not only popular across the political spectrum in the desperate years of the Great Depression, but were remembered fondly long after by those who took part in them -- the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration. These basic programs put millions of Americans back to work on public projects that mattered to this nation and saved families, lives, and souls. We cannot afford a failing war in Afghanistan and a 10.2% official unemployment rate at home. We cannot live with two Americas, one for Wall Street and one for everyone else. This is not the path to American safety. As president, I retain the right to strike at al-Qaeda or other terrorists who mean us imminent harm, no matter where they may be, including Afghanistan. I would never deny that there are dangers in the approach I suggest today, but when have Americans ever been averse to danger, or to a challenge either? I cannot believe we will be now. It\'s time for change. I know that not all Americans will agree with me and that some will be upset by the approach I am now determined to follow. I expect anger and debate. I take full responsibility for whatever may result from this policy departure. Believe me, the buck stops here, but I am convinced that this is the way forward for our country in war and peace, at home and abroad. I thank you for your time and attention. Goodnight and God bless America. END 8:35 P.M. EDT Tom Engelhardt, co-founder of the American Empire Project, runs the Nation Institute\'s TomDispatch.com. He is the author of The End of Victory Culture, a history of the Cold War and beyond, as well as of a novel, The Last Days of Publishing. He also edited The World According to TomDispatch: America in the New Age of Empire (Verso, 2008), an alternative history of the mad Bush years. Copyright 2009 Tom Engelhardt Reported by Huffington Post 6 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Politics/20091120/6024483/Tom-Engelhardt-The-Afghan-Speech-Obama-Should-Give.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:57:09 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Politics/20091120/6024483/Tom-Engelhardt-The-Afghan-Speech-Obama-Should-Give.htm Dalia Dippolito tried to hire a hitman to take care of her wealthy husband, Michael, but the woman instead hired an undercover police officer and they have it filmed like an episode of COPS. The result... Reported by The National Ledger 7 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Politics/20091120/6022914/Dalia-Dippolito-Photos-Video-Hires-Hitman-Busted.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:55:19 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Politics/20091120/6022914/Dalia-Dippolito-Photos-Video-Hires-Hitman-Busted.htm Hate crimes reported to police declined about 2% in 2008 according to an analysis of official composite government data from 14 states in every region and the District of Columbia conducted by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. The survey total for 2008 of reported hate crime was 4,911-- a decline of 100 from the 5,011 hate crimes reported to police by the same jurisdictions in 2007. Of the 15 jurisdictions surveyed, including the six most populous states, only four-New Jersey, Washington State, Texas and Tennessee, reported increases. New York City and Los Angeles County, the largest city and county also experienced declines in 2008. This overall decrease in reported hate crime comes despite an economic recession, increasing demographic diversification, an apparent increasing number of hate groups and a number of hate crimes connected to the candidacy and election of the nation\'s first African-American president. However, because the decrease is a small one, it may not be replicated by national figures across all states, except Hawaii- a non-participant, when that data is released by the FBI next week. Survey Data Characteristics As has been the case in each prior year since national records have been kept beginning in the early 1990s, racial hate crimes were the most common hate crime victim category and African-Americans the most frequently targeted subcategory. This was true of all survey states (and the District of Columbia), except New York-the state with the largest Jewish population- where religious and anti-Semitic hate crimes again predominated. According to the Census Bureau African-Americans accounted for 12.8% of the nation\' s population, while private estimates for the Jewish population put the percentage just under 2% nationally. Latino\'s who appear to be the most represented ethnic/national origin group among victims are estimated by the Census Bureau to be 15.4% of the American population. Gay and lesbian people ranged between about 12-22% of total incidents among the states surveyed. About 2/3 of reported hate crimes were directed against people and 1/3 against property. Non hate crimes are overwhelmingly directed against property as opposed to persons. In states that had offender data, perpetrators tended to be young male adults or teenagers, although a noticeable minority were in their 30s and 40s. Nationally, youth aged 5-17 constitute 17.4% of the population. Non-Hispanic whites, who are about 66% of the American population were the most common offenders, followed by African-Americans, who appear to be disproportionately represented as offenders as well, though much less so than they are as victims. In Los Angeles County, California, however, Blacks and Latinos, were responsible for over 60% of racial/ethnic hate crime attacks against each other, and the majority of those racial attacks were gang related. The most common offenses were property damage/destruction, intimidation (threatening person directed behavior), and simple assault. The most common locations for hate crime were residences, streets, and schools/universities. Five of the six most populous states reported declines, with only Texas, the second most populous state reporting an increase of 3 incidents or 1.2%. California, the most populous state saw a decline of 29 incidents or 2% from 1426 to 1397, despite an increase of anti-Jewish crimes of 37.5% and anti-Gay crimes of 16.7%. New York State, the third most populous state saw a decline of 7.8%. There was very significant variation in the rate of hate crime by state, calling into question the reliability of data from larger states with low rates and/or apparent non-participation by police agencies. New Jersey, again had the highest hate crime rate of about 9.9/100,000 population. New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation with a highly diverse population occupying a relatively small area. It also is a state that was among the first to institute training programs, enact a hate crime law, collect hate crime data and apply uniform standards. In contrast neighboring and larger Pennsylvania, which reported a double digit percentage decline in incidents, had a hate crime rate that was over ten times lower than that of its smaller neighbor. After Hawaii (which only reported one hate crime) Pennsylvania had the lowest rate with 0.72/100,000. Data Limitations: Extreme Caution Urged While there appears to be a slight downward trend, extreme caution must be used in analyzing the data, drawing conclusions and making comparisons. First, hate crime is vastly underreported by victims, so it is likely that 80% or more do not end up getting recorded in official reported data at all. A 2005 Bureau of Justice Statistics Victimization study found that there were about 191,000 hate crime victimizations annually, but the FBI reported 9535 victims across 7624 incidents in 2007. Moreover, reporting may be affected by a number of victims who are less likely to report these incidents such as immigrants, young people, closeted gays, or those speaking speaking a foreign language. Second, agency participation varies widely by states with 13, 241 agencies out of 16,000 nationwide participating in the 2007 FBI hate crime data collection effort. Furthermore, only 15.3% of \"participating agencies\" actually reported any hate crimes in 2007. It is not known how many agencies that reported zero hate crimes actually experienced hate crimes, but failed to report. Similarly, if there are improvements in reporting efficiencies in states like Mississippi, which reported no hate crime in 2007, that could further impact the data. An increase of only 3 hate crimes in the 36 remaining states could turn the overall national data from negative to positive. Moreover, hate crimes are often times influenced by local circumstances and triggers in individual communities that may not show up or be obvious in an analysis of national data. Lastly, it should be noted that there are variations in some states regarding what they report to the FBI and what they publish in their own autonomous reports on hate crime. Other Data While official national hate crime figures are not expected to be released until next week, these declines appear consistent with trends reflected in overall crime across the United States. In September the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported that the violent crime rate overall fell 1.9% and the property crime rate overall declined 1.6%. Crime rates take into account population. These data also appear consistent with the overall trends reported by private monitoring organizations that track prejudice based incidents, some of which are not crimes. The Anti-Defamation League which tracks anti-Semitic incidents reported a 7% decline in June for 2008 in those \"incidents\". The numbers decreased from 1460 in 2007 to 1352 in 2008, although vandalisms increased from 612 to 702. The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs which tracks homophobic, bisexual and transgender hate crime saw a slight drop from 1688 incidents in 2007 to 1677 in 2008, although the number of victims increased by 2% to 2,424 and murders increased 28%. Hate violence against the homeless, which is not collected in official national data, dropped in 2007, while homicides fell by 1 case according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Federal Data Collection Efforts: Scope & Limitations Official national annual FBI Hate Crime data is scheduled to be released online Monday, November 23 here. The FBI\'s 2007 Hate Crime Report showed 7,624 incidents or approximately one reported hate crime almost every hour. The data was limited by an apparent lack of meaningful participation by several states, as well as a decline in the quality of data from others. Hawaii did not participate at all, and Mississippi reported no hate crime. Three of the five states with the highest proportion of African-Americans, who account for 35% of all reported hate crimes nationally in 2007, barely reported hate crime at all that year: 1. Mississippi, 38% African-American, 0 hate crimes 2. Louisiana, 32% African-American, 31 hate crimes 3. Georgia, 31% African-American, 13 hate crimes Contrast these totals with that of South Carolina, a state in the same region with similar demographics and a total population almost the same as Louisiana and half that of Georgia\'s. South Carolina has over one million African-American residents comprising 29% of the state\'s total population. The state reported 127 hate crimes in 2007. In 2007 Boston, a city with a dedicated police hate crime unit and a population of 500,000, counted more hate crime cases than Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi combined with a total population of about 24.4 million. Also disturbing is the diminishing participation by other states with large and diverse populations. Illinois reported 348 hate crimes in 1996 through 113 participating law enforcement agencies. By 2007 the state reported only 167 incidents to the FBI from only 60 agencies. Other states \"participate\" but merely collect forms showing \"zero\" hate crimes from various counties and municipalities. Because key Southern states with high proportions of African-Americans, as well as three of the most populous states (Pennsylvania, Illinois and Florida) either have limited reporting or large unexplained declines over long reporting periods, national figures may be unrepresentative of the scope and distribution of all actual hate crime. The Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA: 28 USC 534) enacted in April 1990 mandates that the Attorney General collect data voluntarily submitted by states on crimes that \"manifest prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.\" In 1994, Congress added the category of disability. On October 28, 2009 President Obama signed the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act, 18 USC 249, which further expands data collection for future reports under the HCSA to include \"gender and gender identity\" as well as data on crimes involving juveniles. Conclusion: More Questions Than Answers We simply do not know if this small decline is illusory, or if it is not, whether it will be sustained. The decline may be associated with an increasing rejection of prejudice among most youth, who commit many of these crimes, and lower crime rates generally. Unlike past economic downturns, this housing based recession appears less likely to be effectively scapegoated via a focus on affirmative action or foreign wage competition. In addition, since reporting is skewed towards jurisdictions, particularly metropolitan and suburban ones, that also vigorously prosecute hate crime it may reflect a more localized deterrent effect in certain geographic pockets that disproportionately impact reported data overall. This deterrent effect, if it exists, would likely occur among the most common perpetrators- young thrill offenders. Young people, often with no violent history, acting out of a desire for excitement and peer validation are the most common perpetrators of hate crime, but the least ideologically committed to their low level prejudices--making them most susceptible to deterrence. Hard core hatemongers, who are increasingly more vocal, are among the least common type of offender, but much more represented in the small number of particularly violent attacks. However, a decline may also represent a shift by some offenders to victims less likely to report like the homeless, the disabled, rural gays, or immigrants. Any decline could also very well relate to a deterioration in the quality of reporting as both human relations commissions, police, and advocacy groups scale back efforts and coordination due to severe budget constraints. Lastly, as the wave of attacks following 9/11 or the first Rodney King verdict showed, a catalytic event has the ability to spark a significant cycle of retaliatory violence that can immediately, though temporarily, change the trajectory of previous trends. 2009 Hate Survey - Reported by Huffington Post 8 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Politics/20091120/6022070/Brian-Levin-New-Study.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:22:35 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Politics/20091120/6022070/Brian-Levin-New-Study.htm Lily Cole has gone topless for a Pirelli Calendar shoot. See her raunchiest piuctures ever after the jump. Reported by celebrifi 10 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6017873/Lily-Cole-goes-topless-for-Pirelli-calendar-PHOTO.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:35:47 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Celebrities/20091120/6017873/Lily-Cole-goes-topless-for-Pirelli-calendar-PHOTO.htm Dawn Kelley and her partner William Hickman said they can clearly see the face of the late pop star in the ultrasound picture. Reported by MailOnline 11 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6016346/Wacko-mother-says-her-baby-scan-shows-picture.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:28:44 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6016346/Wacko-mother-says-her-baby-scan-shows-picture.htm In Precious , one of the year's best movies, a teacher challenges her students to use the word "relentless" in a sentence. Reported by Toronto Star 12 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6015420/Precious-Based-on-the-Novel-Push-by-Sapphire.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:39:42 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6015420/Precious-Based-on-the-Novel-Push-by-Sapphire.htm Gabourey Sidibe walks into the room and your first reaction is to glance away, but it's not because of the way she looks. Reported by Toronto Star 12 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6015425/Don-feel-sorry-for-Gabourey-Sidibe.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:39:42 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6015425/Don-feel-sorry-for-Gabourey-Sidibe.htm Premiering at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, THE MISSING PERSON is a present-day film noir where there isn’t necessarily a bad guy or good guy but more of an internal fight of good and evil. Reported by Rotten Tomatoes 13 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6014808/38-Missing-Person.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:15:25 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6014808/38-Missing-Person.htm Reported by newKerala.com 14 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6013257/Is-Dustin-Hoffman-out-of-Little-Fockers.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:06:13 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6013257/Is-Dustin-Hoffman-out-of-Little-Fockers.htm Reported by newKerala.com 17 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6009500/Danny-Glover-To-Wed-Brazilian-Girlfriend-Reports.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:20:49 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091120/6009500/Danny-Glover-To-Wed-Brazilian-Girlfriend-Reports.htm By Carmi Levy, Betanews I'm sure I'm not the only one who looks at renderings of Apple's long-rumored tablet - or iTablet, or whatever name the faithful have assigned to it this week - and wishes the FedEx truck would pull up to my door with an early demo in time for the holiday season. I'm sure I'm also not the only one who's ready for the endless speculation to, well, end.I don't think I've ever seen an unreleased product generate so much discussion without so much as a peep from the vendor of record. I realize the frenzied speculation is as frenzied as it is because we're talking about Apple, and that if this were any other company, we'd collectively yawn our response before moving on to the next big thing. This is a company that seems unique in its ability to generate so much activity around what is, for now at least, vapourware. And while I appreciate the value of healthy exchanges in advance of a major product launch, I can't shake the feeling that the never-ending iTablet fever is just a little much, and that we'd all be doing ourselves a favor by giving it a rest and waiting until Apple actually ships a working product.Like junk food - great taste, not so healthyDon't get me wrong: This is all good for Apple. Once again, without spending so much as a dime on advertising, Apple has managed to keep its corporate brand front and center in both tech and mainstream media. It hasn't had to use its PR firm retainers to pre-announce anything because breathless conventional and social media folks have been perfectly willing to share their so-called news on the company's behalf. Any other vendor would sell its first, second and third born offerings to have even a fraction of this kind of market visibility and influence. Decades from now, when media mastery is taught in institutions of higher learning, Apple's ability to time and again conjure a deafening buzz around things that may or may not see the light of day will serve as an iconic case study.But is any of this good for us? Is it helpful or hurtful for consumers and wannabes alike to spend days on end hovering over blog entries, twittering madly or debating in online forums? These activities in and of themselves are the sign of a healthy community, of course, and are crucial to giving vendors the kind of insight they need to continue to deliver market-relevant products and services. But has the uber-hype that seems to follow Apple around - and that has seemingly impossibly shifted into an even higher gear for the iTablet - finally reached the point of diminishing returns?Too much of anything isn't good for youI'm going to argue that the hype has gone well beyond the point at which it adds any value to our collective lives. We're working ourselves into a tizzy over something we know nothing about. We don't know what OS this thing will run, how large it will be, what kind of screen it will have and how much it'll cost. We've seen lots of beautifully rendered images of it and heard a near endless string of confirmed - then scotched - confirmations of imminent component orders and production. And as much fun as it is to bat around possibilities, it hardly seems like a productive way to spend time.That's because while we're all breathlessly sharing thoughts and opinions - but precious few facts - on a mysterious device that we now won't apparently see until late next year, we continue to be challenged with more mundane needs, like using technology that's available today to keep customers happy, our bank accounts filled and our lights on. I have no issue gazing into the collective crystal ball as a means of informing the kinds of decisions we need to make either today or in the near future. Keeping at least half an eye on what's coming is one way of avoiding nasty surprises and keeping one step ahead of everyone else. But when said crystal ball becomes our sole focus of conversation, I'd like to humbly suggest that we've gone too far. Balance matters here, too, and if we're spending all our time discussing a mythical product that's close to a year from possibly seeing the light of day, we're missing the significance of today.We're missing the real pointIn a way, it's a little disappointing that the enormous halo cast by this not-quite-a-product product eclipses the real issue at hand: that vendors have for the better part of the last decade failed to convince consumers that they should pony up for devices in the empty space between pocketable mobile devices and laptops. UMPCs and later MIDs failed to gain any traction thanks to low value propositions and ridiculous pricing. Netbooks have come close, thanks largely to their just-good-enough-for-the-purpose performance, conveniently portable form factor and recession-friendly price point. Timing has also helped netbooks carve out a niche, as their short range wireless and, increasingly, carrier-supported 3G connectivity gives them mobile capabilities that earlier, less well-connected devices could only dream of. Increasingly Web-centric application models don't hurt, either.The success of the netbook is giving rise to new forms of devices and revenue models that could - maybe - finally fill in the veritable valley of death that has already claimed so many mid-sized, mid-priced form factors. While it's unclear where Apple's product will ultimately fit, it's hardly a big story until the company actually moves closer to marketing the thing. Until then, every other competing vendor has just gotten a bit of additional breathing room to figure out what resonates with consumers before Apple satisfies the fanboys and finally introduces its tablet. Or whatever it is.Until then, count me among the cynics who really doesn't care whether or not it has an OLED or a TFT screen, whether it's released as one product or two, or whether it costs $2,000 or half that. Only when we begin to see actual data points will we be able to decide whether it's worth pulling the plastic out or our wallets. For now, even Apple is capable of overstepping the limits of my patience.Carmi Levy is a Canadian-based independent technology analyst and journalist still trying to live down his past life leading help desks and managing projects for large financial services organizations. He comments extensively in a wide range of media, and works closely with clients to help them leverage technology and social media tools and processes to drive their business. Copyright Betanews, Inc. 2009 Reported by betanews 17 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Technology/20091120/6009321/Tuning-out-the-tablet-Time-to-give-the.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:15:56 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Technology/20091120/6009321/Tuning-out-the-tablet-Time-to-give-the.htm Labour will "strongly oppose" the proposed boundaries of Auckland's Super City, saying the boundaries will give National an unfair advantage in the next election.Labour's Auckland Issues spokesperson Phil Twyford says the proposed... Reported by New Zealand Herald 19 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Asia-Pacific/20091120/6007154/Super-City-boundaries-give-Nats-unfair-election-push.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:10:26 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Asia-Pacific/20091120/6007154/Super-City-boundaries-give-Nats-unfair-election-push.htm Reported by VOA News 20 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6005486/Tim-McGraw-Releases-Long-Awaited-Southern-Voice.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:48:48 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6005486/Tim-McGraw-Releases-Long-Awaited-Southern-Voice.htm "The Blind Side," by writer-director John Lee Hancock ("The Rookie"), is a fact-based football story about a bossy Memphis woman (Sandra Bullock) and the teenage sports prodigy (Quinton Aaron) her family adopts. Reported by Seattle Times 22 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6003371/The-Blind-Side-8212-football-movie.htm Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:15:43 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091120/6003371/The-Blind-Side-8212-football-movie.htm Places and objects linked to John F. Kennedy's death still stir strong sentiments 46 years later. "It's not just the assassination," ... Reported by USATODAY.com 22 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/6002031/JFK-relics-scattered-across-still-hold.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:35:37 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/6002031/JFK-relics-scattered-across-still-hold.htm Student protesters chanted “Shame on you! Shame on you!” on the UCLA campus today as the University of California board of regents approved a whopping 32% tuition hike. A year at a UC school—not including room and board—will now cost $10,300, three times the price in 1999.... Reported by Newser 23 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/6001624/University-of-California-Imposes-32-Tuition-Hike.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:12:25 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/6001624/University-of-California-Imposes-32-Tuition-Hike.htm PHOENIX (Reuters) - A week after abruptly quitting his longtime job as a CNN television news host and commentator, Lou Dobbs said on Thursday he is considering career options including possible runs for the White House or U.S. Senate. Reported by Reuters 23 hours ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/6000513/Newsman-Lou-Dobbs-mulls-run-for-White-House.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:26:02 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/6000513/Newsman-Lou-Dobbs-mulls-run-for-White-House.htm Diarrhea and pneumonia kill an estimated 3.5 million kids under 5 each year globally — more than HIV and malaria combined. Reported by msnbc.com 1 day ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/6000347/Top-child-killers-pneumonia-diarrhea.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:21:14 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/6000347/Top-child-killers-pneumonia-diarrhea.htm Brighton CentreThe career of Snow Patrol is an example of pragmatism paying off. They began life as a winsome indie band with a passing resemblance to Belle and Sebastian, performing songs called things like Get Balsamic Vinegar ... Quick You Fool, apparently by mistake: their 2001 album Final Straw suggested what they'd really wanted to do all along was make commercial, post-Coldplay stadium rock of the sort that gets played in the background while children expire on Grey's Anatomy. In fairness, you too might consider a musical volte-face if performing songs like Get Balsamic Vinegar ... had resulted in your playing to 18 people in a strip club in High Wycombe.But now, umpteen million sales later, something odd appears to have happened to Snow Patrol. "I hope you realised before you bought the fucking tickets that we're going to do something different," offers frontman Gary Lightbody, before launching into what seems like a concerted effort to turn Snow Patrol back into the band they once were. They play a plethora of tracks from their first two flop albums – alas, Get Balsamic Vinegar Quick ... is noticeable by its absence – and that of Lightbody's obscure solo project Reindeer Section. Abetted by an army of backing musicians, they perform the big hits in, and there's no getting around this, a style reminiscent of Belle and Sebastian: muted French horns and strings, delicate electric piano, splashes of banjo and pedal-steel guitar.A sceptical voice would suggest that, having made millions courting the mainstream, they're now doing what they actually want to again. Lightbody presents it as a charitable treat for the fans: "The idea is to give you something different from the last time we played." You get the feeling some of the audience wish he'd curbed his munificence, given that the show lasts nearly three hours. They receive the old stuff politely, rather than with the enthusiasm of people experiencing a Damascene conversion, and they have a point – whatever you make of the chart-chasing sound of Run or Chasing Cars, they're better songs than, say, their debut single Starfighter Pilot, although the real problem may be one of a cultural clash. When Lightbody mentions Belle and Sebastian, the audience react as if he's started speaking in Urdu. There's a baffled silence, as if no one has any idea what he's on about.Eventually, they come round, won over by Lightbody's cajoling and a fantastic version of If There's a Rocket Tie Me to It. By the end, they're on their feet, demanding an encore. If you were feeling cynical, you'd say they're doing that in the hope of hearing some songs they know, but cynicism is hard to maintain when the show, for its flaws, displays more in the way of risk-taking and bravery than you might normally associate with the band behind it. At Colston Hall, Bristol, tonight (gigsandtours.com). Then touring. Reported by guardian.co.uk 1 day ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091119/5999584/Snow-Patrol-Pop-review.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:04:01 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091119/5999584/Snow-Patrol-Pop-review.htm They will arrive from over 160 countries; many have already departed for their journey as I write. Some are old, some young, some unborn, some about to leave this life and go into the next. They will all come, however, just as the Qu’ran predicted: “on every kind of camel”. This week, Thursday marks the eve of Hajj, centered on the ancient city of Makkah, located in the Hijaz area of southwestern Saudi Arabia. Today more than 1.4 million Muslims will arrive by air. Often at the rate of 50,000 per hour, columns of robed pilgrims will stream through Jeddah’s specially designed, gleaming Hajj terminals. Others will arrive by land and even sea. In recent years, annually, Hajj has hosted more than 2.5 million Muslims as they engage in the most sacred rituals in Islam.Hajj involves a series of rites, timed over several days. The rituals involve entering a spiritual state of purity through prayer, bathing and dress and immediately, paying homage to God at the Ka’ba in the Al Haram Mosque located at the center of Makkah.  In the days to come, millions at a time will circumambulate this extraordinary cuboid building (draped in a black embroidered veil), which has stood for four millennia in the center of what was, for so long, a caravan stop for nomadic merchants. The Ka’aba is a 49 ft square cuboid “House of God” which Abraham himself built, with guidance from the Archangel Gabriel. After circulating this building which seems as if to emanate an electrifying charge in the atmosphere around it, Muslims move en masse to supplicate in the near by Mina environ, home to the semi-permanent ‘Tent City” where the entire gathering resides for several days. A number of other rituals follow, including standing in prayer on the plain of Arafat where the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) gave his final sermon to his followers and God is believed to be closest to his worshippers at this site. After the exhausting day, considered the pinnacle of Hajj, pilgrims spend a night in prayer in the plain of Muzdallifah, outdoors. At first dawn, the millions begin the march towards a dramatic denunciation of Iblis, the fallen angel -- Satan -- symbolized in the stoning of three pillars at Jamaraat. Finally, reborn, pilgrims again return to Makkah, simulating Hagar’s desperate searching for water for her crying child, and soon after, bid farewell to their Maker by circumambulating the Ka’aba once more. With a final glance at the Ka’aba, Muslims pray they may return to this celestial place once more before death and depart the city limits at once. Much of Islam is based on orthopraxy and not orthodoxy. Hajj is perhaps most emblematic of this theme. Muslims do not go to Hajj for scholarship, rather they go to observe important rituals, which capture the actions of both the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) and the Prophet Abraham.Islam’s most important rite has been unfolding for almost 1500 years since the Prophet Mohammed (SAW) first performed the Islamic Hajj. Preparations for the colossal event this year have been underway for months, especially fevered in the current climate of global H1N1 pandemic influenza. The King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz Al Saud -- in his nation’s role as the Custodian for the Two Holy Cities in Islam (Makkah and Madinah) -- takes Hajj responsibilities very seriously. Safeguarding the pilgrims, the ‘Guests of God’, is an act of grace considered zakat (Islamic charity). It is within the Muslim world an unparalleled privilege to serve these Guests. Each year the Kingdom expends billions of riyals in preparation for every imaginable detail such a mass gathering presents, from healthcare, security, food, water, accommodations, emergency response services, immigration and even repatriation of those who faithful who pass away engaged in the rigors of Hajj. Unlike Olympic Games, Hajj planners do not have a seven year period for languid preparations. Hajj is annual, allowing at most,  a nine month lead-time until pilgrims begin to gather for each new subsequent Hajj season. Planners move fast, and must be agile to a world where SARS can appear one year and Avian Flu another. The degree of international collaboration involved in coordinating 160 nations and their preparations for sending pilgrims is in itself a mammoth undertaking, especially when new infections or emerging diseases threaten to impact Hajj travelers. This year, King Abdullah himself is intensely engaged in pandemic preparations, meeting with Hajj planners personally. He is deeply concerned about the impact of a global pandemic on Hajj travels and feels personally accountable for the welfare of Hajj visitors to his country. His concern is manifested in unprecedented investment and access to the world’s leading experts in mass gathering medicine, pandemic preparedness and crowd dynamics.  Many of these experts are themselves Saudi nationals who have acquired extraordinary expertise in mass gatherings through their Hajj management experience and research. Nonetheless even though H1N1 is a serious concern,  pandemic or not, Hajj must go on. Hajj is eternally a place of dynamism, through time and space, and essentially has never come to a halt, since it first began.  Hajj is the largest mass gathering in the world and the most culturally and geographically diverse. Representing an extraordinary congress of humanity, anyone who has experienced Hajj understands the diversity embodying Islam. My own Hajj would emerge to be an emphatically transformative experience, leading to a new area of academic interest, the kernel of my first nonfiction book and a growing spirituality which had eluded me despite years of ritualistic observation of Islam. Hajj is costly and laborious and so Muslims must prepare and save before they can go. Muslims must be of adequate means, go on their own finances devoid of loans or debts and must be able-bodied, healthy and strong. Islam strongly discourages the weak, ill or frail to go or the poor, to avoid any additional affliction on already challenged lives. But those who have the financial and physical wherewithal are in fact expected to perform Hajj once in this lifetime, both men and women are equally accountable to perform Hajj. It is said one can never go to Hajj until one receives an ‘invitation’ from God. If the invitation comes, Muslims must heed it. Each Muslim who makes Hajj usually has a story  which captures the serendipity in which the remote possibility of an imagined Hajj becomes reality. Whatever the circumstances, in many cultures Hajj is pursued only when close to the end of life, in preparation for the hereafter and thus follows a lifetime of increasing piety. In cultures, including SE Asia’s Indonesia, for instance, and also Malaysia, many pilgrims are often of a younger age, reflecting perhaps more affluence but also the cultural preferences of marrying a woman who has already performed Hajj. Until I had entered the forecourt of the Al Haram Mosque in Makkah, I had only ever been part of one mass gathering. It came to mind as I confronted the Ka’ba. I felt small in the crowds, remembering I had once watched U2 perform their ‘Pop’ concert in the now demolished Shea Stadium. As Bono moved through the crowd of 50,000, I grasped the meaning of celebrity. Several years later, as I approached the Ka’aba, I began to feel the edges of Divinity. I was walking  on the ground floor of the three-level mosque, each floor of which has a capacity of 750,000. God was bigger than Bono. Way bigger.This introduction to the scale of humanity and the insignificance of my own dimensions was an important reminder of the fragility of life and the scale of creation. Understanding my ‘smallness’ was good for an overgrown ego. But even more so, Hajj was key for me feeling at home in Islam and finding my place. As a westernized British female Muslim of Pakistani heritage who had made a home in New York City, I finally felt at home at Hajj surrounded by Muslims who looked and spoke pretty much like I did and were ultimately just as hybrid as myself. Too often, when we are introduced to religion in our childhoods it is served alongside culture without distinction. Cultural mores often overwhelm spiritual ones. Allowing cultural expectations to fall away by observing Muslims from every culture helped me at last engage in Islam.This week, as we watch the pilgrims engage in their rites on CNN with Wolf Blitzer or on Al Jazeera with Riz Khan, one theme will transcend all others: cooperation. And at a time when the world is so lacking in both the will and the opportunity for cooperation, this is a key time to be reminded of this basic human quality which preserves our societies, wherever and whatever they may be.How do 2.5 million manage to perform all these complex steps and movements in confined spaces without the crowds disintegrating into utter and irretrievable chaos? The answer is that everyone is part of a smaller, informal group and these clutches of worshipers are very much enjoined to conduct their Hajj rites in the spirit of collaboration and concern for the weaker, less able:  a wonderful metaphor for the world beyond Hajj.Scholars have long discussed the innate meanings of Hajj in a number of metaphorical contexts. The best place I have read about that is in Robert Bianchi’s seminal academic work “Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World”. Bianchi helps us understand Hajj is a symbolic metaphor for how all Muslims can collaborate to contribute to peaceful, ordered and supportive society. We must do this whether we choose our homes in Manhattan County or Majma in the Najd.Because Hajj ultimately subsumes all cultures and all races, its messages are universal and global. For the short few days that the millions gather, in the eyes of their Maker and one another, they are equal in clothing, status, vantage and rank. The crowd is uniform and cannot be distinguished. An Egyptian professor of English literature prays  next to an African American nurse aide from Newark, New Jersey, an  Arab prince prays abreast with a  shepherd, a reformed Mumbai gangster prays, sobbing, comforted by a Lahori polo-player. For these short dynamic days, in the world of Hajj, they are equal. This after all, is how humanity was intended in the context of Divine ideals. Never has there been a more important time for Muslims to engage in greater introspection, self-evaluation and insight. We face a Muslim world rife with conflicts, sectarian hatreds, misogyny and  injustice. We face misunderstanding, Islamophobia and exploitation by nefarious elements who come from within our midst and pose as Muslims when their conduct and code could not be more alien. As the millions move through the Hajj rituals this week, let us all aspire to greater humility, courage and engagement to improve and advance the constructive contributions Muslims can make around the world, while helping the less advantaged among us. Lets us aspire to being conduits for benevolent Islamic ideals and instruments of clarity in times of crisis and confusion.  Let us do that wherever we may be, whomever we are, however we can. Let us serve our societies as Muslims are enjoined: through creative contribution and as Hajj teaches us, through cooperation and a deep sense of public service, service to our societies. Hajj reminds us that we have three duties as Muslims: duty to ourselves, duty to our Maker and duty to our society. Society waits, Muslims. Will we rise to the task and meet our duty to society? Reported by Huffington Post 1 day ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/World/20091119/5997451/Qanta-Ahmed-MD-Guests-of-God.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:41:36 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/World/20091119/5997451/Qanta-Ahmed-MD-Guests-of-God.htm Procter & Gamble Co. said Thursday it is voluntarily recalling three lots of Vicks Sinex nasal spray because of potential bacterial contamination. Reported by Seattle Times 1 day ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/5994266/Procter-Gamble-recalls-Vicks-Sinex-nasal-spray.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:06:05 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/5994266/Procter-Gamble-recalls-Vicks-Sinex-nasal-spray.htm “Really close” Twilight co-stars Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart lock lips in next year’s The Runaways , and it is indeed a passionate kiss, says Fanning. “We were so into the scene and into the script and the characters,” the 15-year-old tells Access Hollywood . “We’re playing Joan Jett and Cherie Curie... Reported by Newser 1 day ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/5986909/Dakota-Fanning-Dishes-on-Kissing-Kristen-Stewart.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:58:28 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091119/5986909/Dakota-Fanning-Dishes-on-Kissing-Kristen-Stewart.htm Singers Who Lip Synch (VIDEO): Britney Spears, Ashlee Simpson, Milli-Vanilli and even the late Luciano Pavarotti. Lip-synching has become the norm for most performers who have a physical stage show.... Reported by Post Chronicle 1 day ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091119/5982405/Singers-Who-Lip-Synch.htm Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:21:41 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091119/5982405/Singers-Who-Lip-Synch.htm Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister, has voiced “concerns” over the Church of Scientology after a senator detailed explosive allegations about the organisation, accusing it of torture, embezzlement and coerced abortions. Reported by Times Online 3 days ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091118/5941297/Church-of-Scientology-accused-of-torture-and-forced.htm Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:41:07 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091118/5941297/Church-of-Scientology-accused-of-torture-and-forced.htm Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has urged people to come forward about what they may have experienced as members of the Church of Scientology, following his explosive allegations in Parliament last night. Reported by ABC News 3 days ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091118/5934705/Former-Scientologists-urged-to-speak-out.htm Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:10:15 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Front+Page/20091118/5934705/Former-Scientologists-urged-to-speak-out.htm John Cusack's global disaster tale 2012 has opened at the top of the US box office.The movie took $65m in America and pulled in $225m worldwide. Disney's A Christmas Carol slipped to No 2 with $22.3m, down only 26% from its No 1 opening gross a weekend earlier.The Men Who Stare at Goats took $6.2m, which put it in third, and Precious was in fourth place. Reported by teletext 4 days ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091116/5882012/2012-tops-box-office.htm Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:40:20 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091116/5882012/2012-tops-box-office.htm Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry says estranged singer Steven Tyler's surprise guest appearance at a concert Tuesday night "really didn't change anything in my mind" about the status of Aerosmith. Reported by Chicago S-T 1 week ago. This headline has been identified as an important news story by One News Page (http://www.onenewspage.com). http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091113/5812945/Show-going-on-without-Tyler-Perry-says.htm Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:13:50 +0000 http://www.onenewspage.com/news/Entertainment/20091113/5812945/Show-going-on-without-Tyler-Perry-says.htm