Army is to prepare a report on what happened in the final phase of the humantarian operation. It will be prepared after talking to then front line commanders,  Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said. It will reveal the true events that took place in the war front during the final days of the humantarian operation, he added.  Preparing of [...]

ABC15.com (KNXV-TV)

Phoenix police approved kidnapping reality show? ABC15.com (KNXV-TV) The show raises even more questions about Phoenix's kidnapping numbers and the department's motive, criminal justice experts said. And at the same time, a lieutenant who runs the kidnapping team created a side business with the filmmaker without the ...

Unless you live under a rock, you know Donald Trump is thinking about running for president. His sensational public endeavors—pushing the White House to release President Obama’s long-form birth certificate and, most recently, questioning the authenticity of the president’s academic record—have met with astonishment, outrage, and dismay. A recent Bloomberg BusinessWeek cover featured a photo of Trump in mid-rant with the one-word headline, “Seriously?” Journalists, commentators, and even Jerry Seinfeld (who recently canceled an appearance at a Trump fundraiser) have taken to calling Trump a demagogue.

In recent decades, this powerful term, traditionally a scalpel for taking apart dangerous leaders, has become blunt and ineffectual through overuse. I’ve been thinking and writing about demagogues for a decade. I’ve been watching with a mix of bemusement and concern as Trump strains to elevate himself into an actual political figure, rather than the ego tornado he’s been for decades. But one of the lessons of history is that, while it’s easy to underestimate demagogues, it’s also easy to overestimate them. For the time being, I’ve concluded that Trump is not a demagogue. He lacks both the common connection and the lawlessness of classic demagogues, whether Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez today or, in the past, figures ranging from Benito Mussolini to George Wallace to Joseph McCarthy. Instead, call him a quasi-demagogue: a political figure with the desire, but not the chops, to manipulate the masses. 

 

Demagogues are part of the natural life cycle of democracy. So much so that the Founding Fathers designed our various checks and balances and circuit-breakers in part from their mortal terror that a predatory mass leader—a demagogue—would convert popular adulation into American tyranny. James Madison, for instance, explained that “provisions against the measures of an interested majority,”such as an independent judiciary, were required to control “the followers of different Demagogues.” This doesn’t mean, however, that demagogues haven’t popped up throughout the country’s history.

During my years studying and watching demagogues, the one lesson that has stuck with me is this: Many politicians could become demagogues if they wanted to. They could choose the gross emotional appeal, the naked ambition, and the cunning blend of vulgarity and artistry that is the true demagogue’s métier. They don’t because most of them are governed by an ethic of shame. Where others blush and quail, the demagogue happily blusters ahead—crossing boundaries, coloring outside lines, toppling walls. 

Demagogues often look most ridiculous to the people they’re most uninterested in impressing. When the colorful, autocratic Louisiana Governor Huey Long was sworn into the U.S. Senate in 1931, it was precisely his clownishness that gave him such political amplitude. He prompted a firestorm of controversy when he met a German naval commander paying an official call in a pair of green silk pajamas and a bathrobe. One scholar writes, “[T]he lesson he learned from the incident was less the importance of diplomatic niceties than the value of buffoonery in winning national publicity.” With these techniques, Long soon attracted more attention from the press than his 99 Senatorial colleagues combined. He would have challenged FDR for president in 1936, had he not been assassinated by the son of a political opponent in 1935.

You might think that Trump’s own clownishness puts him in the class of a Huey Long. But let’s take a closer look. As I argued in my book Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy from Its Worst Enemies, a true demagogue meets four tests. First, he presents himself as a man of the people, rather than the elites. Second, he strikes a very strong, even overpowering emotional connection with the people. Third, he uses this connection for his own political benefit. Fourth, he threatens or breaks established rules of governance. This fourth test is the most important, distinguishing a demagogue like Huey Long (who routinely used the National Guard to intimidate or brutalize political opponents, for instance) from populists like William Jennings Bryan (who, as rambunctious as he may have been, tended to play by the rules).

For Trump, let’s take the four tests in turn. With his Theater of the Absurd hairdo and his massively knotted silk ties, his Manhattan address and his glitzy brand, Trump is hardly a man of the people. True, he’s employing incautious bluster as a proxy for common appeal. “Authenticity” has become the coin of today’s reality-television realm, and there is a mass appeal to his straight-talkin’ persona—this is why his recent use of the “f bomb” plays to his curious political strengths, even while appalling elites. But for Trump to swap his fancy persona for that of a commoner would require him to blow up the brand he’s spent decades building, a task for which he is probably not constitutionally capable.

Second, Trump does not have the broad emotional appeal to the masses that marks the classic demagogue. Over the last decades, Trump has enjoyed billions of dollars of both paid and earned media exposure. He couldn’t be better-known by the American people. Yet he is consistently polling under 20 percent right now among Republicans and right-leaning independents (a recent CNN poll has him at only 14 percent), giving him a base of well under one in ten among the general voting population. The emotional surge for Trump among the very hard-core Tea Party right should certainly be noted. But it’s more likely this brushfire halts at a particular firebreak: the general American public’s hostility and suspicion to the Tea Partiers.

On the third test, it’s very unclear whether Trump is interested in actual political power, or just in increasing his personal brand and wealth. Even now, we can’t tell whether he will run—and keep running, after the glitz of the initial launch wears off—for president. Even if he gets into the race, will he slog through the hard work of an 18-month campaign, including getting on the ballot in all 50 states, participating in debates, developing policy positions? And, if he drops out, will he really have an interest in putting his shoulder to a real political end? Time will tell, but the initial signs are that this is mostly about Trumpery rather than government.

The most important test is the fourth—that demagogues, unlike populists, bend or break the rules. Trump clearly has no inhibition about lying for political benefit. But real demagogues go much further. Look at Joseph McCarthy, who used his selected issue of anti-communism to demolish people’s personal and professional lives. It’s hard to imagine that Trump really wants to encourage threatening behavior. But, if he ever started to ask his followers to test boundaries of lawfulness, to “challenge authority,” our hackles should quickly rise.

 

None of this means Trump isn’t worth taking seriously. To the contrary: Where Trump is succeeding in his demagogic appeals, he’s also illuminating shadowy corners of the American public. And we have to take a hard look at how this is happening. Demagogues, like nightshade, have always flourished in dark places of extreme economic or social distress. The 1920s were the last great era of American demagoguery, when Huey Long and the Detroit “radio priest” Father Coughlin rallied millions of terrified Americans against elites. It’s been no surprise that the 2010s, a time of similar distress, have fostered divisive figures from Sarah Palin to Glenn Beck to Trump.

The lesson here is that today’s restless, upset public needs reassurance—and vigorous economic policy that addresses their concerns. But we also need the media to exercise some discretion. In today’s fragmented, 24-7 echo chamber, where 500,000 nightly viewers qualify you as a pundit and one persistent blogger can take over a news cycle, the media has more responsibility for steering the ship of state toward calmer waters. Trump—as quasi-demagogue—is a creation largely of the media. The real conspiracy isn’t Trump’s mania du jour; it’s hundreds of news editors, assignment editors, reporters, and bloggers who he’s playing like fiddles.

More broadly, though, history shows that the only real antidote to demagogues is an alert, vigilant civic culture. The ancient Athenians, exhausted by a series of vicious demagogues, passed a law exiling anyone who “proposed a measure contrary to democratic principles.” We probably don’t need to go so far, though some watching Trump today doubtless wouldn’t mind moving him to Canada. America, after all, is the land of the civic mores the visiting Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville chronicled and admired. And we almost always eventually turn on demagogues. The stars of Father Coughlin, Joseph McCarthy, George Wallace, and David Duke all rose for a time, but, when they fell, they crashed hard.

We can never be complacent about our constitutionalism, and the Trump phenomenon bears careful watching, lest the little fires he’s clearly capable of starting spread into a larger conflagration. But, in general, Americans have shown they’ve got what it takes to nip even quasi-demagogues in the bud. Take note of Palin and Beck’s recent fates: Under heavy fire from the public for their own excesses (a persecution complex in Palin’s case, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in Beck’s), they both are retreating to the sidelines.

We’re early in Trump’s political career, so I offer these judgments cautiously, but my suspicion is that Trump, too, will burn out, like a hot fuse on a cold rocket. This may already have started. When President Obama took the stage last week in his stunner of a press conference to take on Trump’s birther attacks, he declared, “We’re not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers.” A hilarious tweet I received shortly after said that carnival barkers were protesting that the comparison with Trump was giving them a bad name. And, of course, the president easily made Trump look both inane and irrelevant when the coverage of Osama bin Laden’s death interrupted “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

There’s also a final thing Trump himself should remember, before he goes farther down what is likely a dead-end road to demagoguery: History remembers Joseph Welch’s famous question to McCarthy—“Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?”—as well as it remembers McCarthy himself. Trump has shown he doesn’t take criticism well, sending an angry retort to Vanity Fair and appearing openly thin-skinned after jokes were made at his expense at the White House Correspondents Dinner. He will likely realize soon, if he hasn’t already, that his brand, not to mention his ego, will not sustain the sort of historical thrashing that will inevitably follow any further pf demagogic aspirations. Indeed, in the end, The Donald’s self-love might just be his own best friend.

Michael Signer is Managing Principal of Madison Law & Strategy Group, PLLC and an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech. He was a 2009 candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia and chairs the New Dominion Project, a Virginia political action committee.

Follow @tnr on Twitter.

 

One of the most unappealing film projects being assembled right now is the comedy version [1] of the baby-birthing manual What to Expect When You're Expecting. The book is frequently called out as being alarmist and a poor lesson plan for expectant mothers, but why not use the very recognizable title (recognizable to the target audience, at least) to sell a movie? Not much different from what's happening with Akira, really. Cameron Diaz is now looking like the lead for this particular movie, which Kirk Jones will direct from a swcript by Heather Hach and Shauna Cross. The picture is meant as a Love Actually-style film in which five couples experience the joy and surprises of impending parenthood. The film will hit on Mother's Day weekend next year -- in other words, a year from today. [Deadline [2]] After the break, Kelly Preston becomes a mob wife and Willem Dafoe is in a mystery movie directed by Abel Ferrara. Gotti: Three Generations lost Nick Cassavetes as director, but he was swiftly replaced [3] by Barry Levinson, who is just finishing up his small eco-thriller The Bay. With a shoot planned for later this year, Gotti is pulling together more cast, and Kelly Preston is now signing on to play Victoria Gotti. So she'll play wife to John Gotti Sr., who will be played on screen by John Travolta. Not the weirdest on-screen 'couple playing a couple' we've ever seen, but given that their daughter will play the Gotti's daughter, as well, it's an unusual situation. Are we sure this is about organized crime and not Scientology? Is there a difference? (Zing!) [EW [4]] Finally, various brief reports [5] about sales planned for Cannes include info about Abel Ferrara's new film, called 4:44 Last Day on Earth, which has Willem Dafoe starring. Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, Chelsea on the Rocks) also wrote, and all we know about the script is that it reportedly is "a look at what would happen if everyone knew the world was ending." [1] http://www.slashfilm.com/nanny-mcphee-director-kirk-jones-turn-pregnancy-manual-movie/ [2] http://www.deadline.com/2011/05/cameron-diaz-to-star-in-what-to-expect-when-youre-expecting/ [3] http://www.slashfilm.com/barry-levinson-is-the-new-gotti-three-generations-director/ [4] http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/05/04/kelly-preston-victoria-gotti/ [5] http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118036368?categoryid=3628&cs=1

In a move every bit as awe-inspiring as a magician pulling a rabbit out of a rabbit hutch, District Attorney George Gascón today trumpeted an election endorsement from the lieutenant governor. "...

William Smith, MS will offer a practical technique for meditation that can positively impact your life. Through first-hand demonstration of this simple, yet highly effective method, you will discover the key to deeper concentration and inner peace.

WAREHAM — Lt. Donald Bliss has been reinstated to the Police Department by a 5-0 decision of the state Civil Service Commission. The panel found he was wrongly terminated for “improper personal motives and undue political influence which have...

North Korea has handed over the remains of a British pilot who died in the Korean War nearly 60 years ago.

The remains are believed to be those of RAF Flight Lieutenant Desmond Hinton whose plane was shot down.

British ambassador Peter Hughes received the fighter pilot's remains at a ceremony in the demilitarised zone.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office confirmed that the remains had been handed over but was able to add few further details. ...

Following the e

read more

Today is another addition to those “literary posts” that I have already shared with you. This day is a day we take some additional advice from the greatest playwright of our time and apply it to the business world and your recruiting department, because what Shakespeare taught us about love and war, he can also teach us about business. These lessons are most applicable to your Internal Recruiting Staff.  Today’s topic: Othello.

If you are unfamiliar with the plot of the play, here is a very brief summary: This is another of William Shakespeare’s tragedies centered on a man named Othello, a highly esteemed general in the Venetian service. He has an ambitious friend named Iago who becomes incredibly jealous when he promotes another friend, Michael Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant. Iago starts a campaign to smear Othello’s name. Othello elopes with his love, Desdemona, but Iago continues to plot against them. This causes Othello to become suspicious of Desdemona and, not knowing of his friend’s treachery, confides in Iago that he plans to poison her. He finds out the truth after it is too late.

There are three lessons we can learn from this play that apply in the business world and your office environment, and they are…

1.  Don’t let jealousy or negative emotion prevent you from making a practical decision. Othello let the jealousy that he felt with Desdemona cloud his decision making. He was so convinced that the things Iago was telling him were true that he didn’t stop to think about what the truth actually was or could have been and instead acted emotionally instead of logically. This can happen to you as well with any business decision – emotions like excitement, eagerness, or the more negative ones like those plaguing Othello in the play – can make you act too rashly or make poor decisions. Think first, and then act.
2. Don’t cut yourself off from others. When Othello, Desdemona and the others left Venice for the island, they found themselves with little to nothing to do. Because of this, they did one of the only things that they could think to do and that was pick apart and turn on each other (sound familiar ???). Always promote clarity and community within your office. Frequently, people say or do things that can cause big ripples without even realizing the extent of their comments, so good policy and clarity of communication and focus is very beneficial.
3. Keep your cards close to your chest. I’m not saying that it is bad to trust people that you work with, but I do think that it is good never to let any single person know everything you have planned. If you spread information out between various sources you can still get the feedback you need to help you create a greater picture. If Othello had not shared his plan with Iago, he may have had more time to stew and realize the negative aspects of what he wanted to do.

 The point of these “literature” blogs is to remind you that the best ways to handle your business is to learn that lessons can be found just about anywhere and the sooner you start looking, the more you will find them in places you would never expect. To stay at the edge of issues on HR and staffing, be sure to subscribe to the Human Capital Supply Chain Blog.

Unmanned US strike aircraft killed 13 "militants" in an attack today in an area of Pakistan's tribal agency of North Waziristan that is known to shelter al Qaeda's top leaders. The strike is the first in two weeks, and the first since US commandos penetrated deep into Pakistan to kill al Qaeda's top leader Osama bin Laden.

Reports from the region indicate that several of the remotely operated Predators or the more deadly Reapers fired eight missiles at a vehicle and a compound in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. Initial reports indicated eight "militants" were killed, but Dawn later reported that 13 were killed.

"We are trying to ascertain the identities of the militants killed in the strike, but initial reports indicate that there are both local and foreign militants who had been killed in the missile attack," a local Pakistani intelligence official told AFP. Pakistani officials use the term "foreign militants" to describe Arab and other al Qaeda fighters.

The nature of the strike, with eight missiles fired, indicates that a senior al Qaeda or Taliban commander was targeted.

Datta Khel is a known al Qaeda hub

The Datta Khel area is administered by Hafiz Gul Bahadar, the Taliban commander for North Waziristan. Bahadar provides shelter to top al Qaeda leaders as well as terrorists from numerous Pakistani and Central Asian terror groups.

Datta Khel is a known hub of Taliban, Haqqani Network, and al Qaeda activity. While Bahadar administers the region, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and allied Central Asian jihadi groups are also based in the area. The Lashkar al Zil, al Qaeda's Shadow Army, is known to have a command center in Datta Khel.

Datta Khel serves as a command and control center for al Qaeda's top leaders, and some of them have been targeted and killed there. A strike in Datta Khel on Dec. 17, 2009, targeted Sheikh Saeed al Saudi, Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law and a member of al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council. Al Saudi is thought to have survived the strike, but Abdullah Said al Libi, the commander of the Shadow Army, and Zuhaib al Zahibi, a general in the Shadow Army, were both killed in the attack.

But the most significant attack in Datta Khel took place on May 21, 2010, and resulted in the death of Mustafa Abu Yazid, a longtime al Qaeda leader and close confidant of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri.

Yazid served as the leader of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and the wider Khorasan, a region that encompasses portions of Pakistan, Iran, and several Central Asian states. More importantly, Yazid was al Qaeda's top financier, which put him in charge of the terror group's purse strings. He served on al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or top decision-making council. Yazid also was closely allied with the Taliban and advocated the program of embedding small al Qaeda teams with Taliban forces in Afghanistan, a practice well-established in the country now.

Despite the known presence of al Qaeda and other foreign terrorist organizations in North Waziristan, and requests by the US that action be taken against these groups, the Pakistani military has indicated that it has no plans to take on Bahadar or the Haqqani Network, the other major Taliban group based there. Bahadar and the Haqqanis are considered "good Taliban" by the Pakistani military establishment as they do not carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Yet Bahadar, the Haqqanis, and other Taliban groups openly carry out attacks in Afghanistan.

The Predator strikes, by the numbers

Today's strike is just the first in May in Pakistan, and the first since US Navy SEALs and CIA operatives raided Osama bin Laden's safehouse in Abbottabad, far from Pakistan's tribal areas, on the early morning of May 2.

The strike today is also the third in North Waziristan since the deadly March 17 strike in Datta Khel that killed more than 30 people, including 10 Taliban fighters and a senior lieutenant loyal to North Waziristan Taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadar. Pakistani officials, including General Pervaz Kayani, the top military commander, denounced that strike and claimed that everyone killed was a civilian attending a jirga, or council, to resolve a local mining dispute. But the Taliban were reported to have mediated the jirga.

During the month of March, the US carried out seven Predator strikes inside Pakistan's tribal areas. Five of the seven strikes in March hit targets in North Waziristan, and the other two took place in South Waziristan. During the month of April, the US launched only two strikes, one in North Waziristan, and the other in South Waziristan.

The pace of the strikes tapered off in February 2011, which proved to be the slowest month for Predator strikes, with three, since November 2009. The recent slowdown in attacks has occurred after the pace of the strikes picked up from the beginning of September 2010 until the third week in January 2011. September's record number of 21 strikes was followed by 16 strikes in October, 14 in November, 12 in December, and 9 in January. The previous monthly high was 11 strikes in January 2010, after the Taliban and al Qaeda executed a successful suicide attack at Combat Outpost Chapman that targeted CIA personnel who were active in gathering intelligence for the Predator campaign in Pakistan. The suicide bombing at COP Chapman killed seven CIA officials and a Jordanian intelligence officer.

The US carried out 117 attacks inside Pakistan in 2010, more than double the number of strikes that occurred in 2009. By late August 2010, the US had exceeded 2009's strike total of 53 with a strike in Kurram. In 2008, the US carried out a total of 36 strikes inside Pakistan. [For up-to-date charts on the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Charting the data for US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2011.]

In 2010 the strikes were concentrated almost exclusively in North Waziristan, where the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, the Haqqani Network, al Qaeda, and a host of Pakistani and Central and South Asian terror groups are based. All but 13 of the 117 strikes took place North Waziristan. Of the 13 strikes occurring outside of North Waziristan in 2010, seven were executed in South Waziristan, five were in Khyber, and one was in Kurram. That trend is holding true this year, with 17 of 21 strikes in 2011 taking place in North Waziristan.

Since Sept. 1, 2010, the US has conducted 82 strikes in Pakistan's tribal agencies. The bulk of those attacks have aimed at the terror groups in North Waziristan, with 70 strikes in the tribal agency. Many of the strikes have targeted cells run by the Islamic Jihad Group, which have been plotting to conduct Mumbai-styled terror assaults in Europe. A Sept. 8 strike killed an IJG commander known as Qureshi, who specialized in training Germans to conduct attacks in their home country.

The US campaign in northwestern Pakistan has targeted top al Qaeda leaders, al Qaeda's external operations network, and Taliban leaders and fighters who threaten both the Afghan and Pakistani states as well as support al Qaeda's external operations. The campaign has been largely successful in focusing on terrorist targets and avoiding civilian casualties, as recently affirmed by the Pakistani military.

For a list of al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in the US air campaign in Pakistan, see LWJ Special Report, Senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders killed in US airstrikes in Pakistan, 2004 - 2011.

Hall of the mountain king Livemint An Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet was written by Samuel Turner about his 1783 journey to Bhutan and Tibet. Turner, at the time a lieutenant in the East India Company army, was lucky enough to have famous relatives: His ...

submitted by JeromeSvigals to IAmA
[link] [377 comments]

Since One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest this gifted bit-part actor has played the psychopath to perfection – but don't expect him to come out into the light in his new vampire movie Priest

Fans of the vampire apocalypse sub-genre will already be en route to the nachos, but no matter what your taste there is at least one reason to recommend the newly released Priest. That reason, buried as he usually is in the depths of the supporting cast, is Brad Dourif. Because I don't think it would be rash to claim Dourif as king of the character actors – champion of that noble tradition of bit-part players and background colour, a self-confessed "whore" who never fails to elevate even the dopiest hokum, psychotic creeps a speciality but capable of much, much more.

Almost everyone reading will, I imagine, have relished a Dourif performance at some point in their lives, in part because the man is as tireless as he is gifted, in part because among his many jobs have been a number of near-inescapable cultural behemoths (leaving aside Star Trek: Voyager, he reportedly dispensed with his eyebrows to appear in two of Peter Jackson's three Lord of the Rings films). But he's due far more reward than a place for life signing headshots at comic conventions. For all his workhorse tendencies, it would be a mistake to laud them over his actual talent – the waxy delicacy of his features the canvas for a rare, skewed intensity, his unnerving presence never once played as smirky camp.

But his gifts were obvious from the start. Because, of course, when we rewind as far back as 1975, we find him as the very newest of Hollywood sensations, and rightly so – the breakthrough Miloš Forman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and his pivotal turn as frail, doomed Billy Bibbit, a role he fitted so perfectly it was if Ken Kesey had foreseen a vision of him writing the source novel 13 years earlier. For a boy of 25 it was a staggering performance, deft and touching and every bit as compelling as those of Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher. His Oscar nomination was inevitable; a stellar career was assured.

Except, as it turned out, it wasn't. Instead of an ascension to the upper slopes of the industry, the decades since have provided a hectic route through strange landscapes and scenic backwaters. There were more great performances – shortly after Cuckoo's Nest came some masterful jitters in the prime slice of New York kink that was The Eyes of Laura Mars, after that John Huston's mordant Wise Blood, most recently a lovely moment as a melancholy alien (surely the role he was born to play) in Werner Herzog's The Wild Blue Yonder. There were also roles in a number of grand cinematic missteps: the daddy of them all, Heaven's Gate; David Lynch's Dune, in which he gamely held forth about "the juice of sapho"; Jean-Pierre Jeunet's rickety Alien Resurrection. But while Lynch would hire him again for Blue Velvet, and Herzog has used him as a one-man rep company, the best part of the last 20 years has been spent paying the bills in all manner of horror projects, from the iconic (in some circles he'll be forever best known as the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play series) to the altogether less celebrated – but always performed with respectful sincerity.

In interviews, Dourif himself talks about the shape of his career as simply a product of a working actor needing work, particularly as a father – in the same year Cuckoo's Nest came out, his first daughter was born. But sometimes when I think about him I also find it hard not to picture that otherworldly bearing and remember the example of another thin young man too wispy and off-kilter to be anyone's male lead: Anthony Perkins. But then, much as I love Anthony Perkins, Dourif is by a long way the better actor, both more intense and more versatile. He could always do repellent (as racist wifebeater Clinton Pell in 1988's Mississippi Burning his presence is skin-crawling) – but his Doc Cochran in TV's old west saga Deadwood was a masterclass in unexpected decency, while what made his work in Herzog's Bad Lieutenant so fine was the way he acted as a steadying hand amid the crazed whirl of breakdancing souls and watchful iguanas.

And it's important, I think, not to embrace him just because he's a favourite of Herzog and Lynch, but because he's been fantastic in their films as he has so many others – and because the risk with anyone so reliable is that they get taken for granted, particularly when the wonders they deliver are small in scale. I'm sure Dourif himself would see his career as anything but thwarted for all that he never did get that Oscar, and we should follow his example. Bills have to be paid, and it would be patronising to assume he would have been happier with his name above the titles of wood-stupid action flicks. In any sane hall of fame, his place is safe already.

We Are Respectable Negroes works because there are good folks who have stuck with it from the beginning. As I continue to evolve WARN, I have been spreading our wings and inviting friends and allies to offer up their thoughts in this, my humble little corner of the digital public square.

I have already offered my two cents on the Birther nonsense and the mouth-breathing white populists who are their base. As a result of releasing his long form birth certificate, it would seem that Obama has ethered most of that crowd. Subsequently, in a nice gesture and complement to the Birther debacle, Carey Carey, one of our frequent commentators, sent the following piece my way. It is a nice and creative final word on the Birther meme. Enjoy.
Gosh, I wish it was all so simple. Wouldn’t it be nice if the recent fiasco concerning President Obama’s birth certificate was merely a movie? You know, like D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation, wouldn’t it be nice if we could sit back, pop and popcorn in hand, and enjoy our new Birth of A Certificate for its technical innovations?

On second thought, maybe I should be careful what I ask for. Don’t quote me, but I believe a couple of the main characters in the original Birth of a Nation were abolitionist Congressman Austin Stoneman and his mulatto protégé, Silas Lynch, who somehow is elected Lieutenant Governor. See, the more I think about it, the movie The Birth of a Nation and The Birth of a Certificate have eerie similarities. Let’s see, a mulatto (excuse my French) an elected official and a “Lynch”, yikes, the Birth of a Certificate - Nation - 2011. Oh Lord, but they’re JUST movies, right?



Well, movies or not, I smell propaganda, but I don’t know who to believe? I mean, some folks are saying President Obama caved in under the pressure of Donald Trump. Other have said Mr. Trump is such a double-speaking slime bag. Yet, some folks are saying Obama's campaign posturing of avoiding race and making Black issues marginal is a backturn turn in our navigation of this life in America as Black Folks and some are saying what the POTUS did last week was brilliant.

Well well well, so many views spoken in so many ways. However, since I am an average black man from the flatlands of Iowa, I tend to view things in a different light. See, I am not a self proclaimed political analyst, nor a quasi-intellectual, so I have to tell it like I see it, in the best way I know how.

Listen, I come from a family of storytellers who always enriched their “messages” and stories by opening with little tidbits of information. So, in true family tradition I offer the following to voice my opinion on the Birth of a Certificate.

The night was glare, the moon was yellow, and the leaves came tumbling down. Quantum banter relinquished it's liberally greased floors to silence. Like the toes of the Wicked Witch of The East, retentively coiled upon losing their ruby red glass slippers, I am suggesting the appendages of the black blogsphere should relax it's pointed index fingers to a slightly paused position.

To make a point, I opened with a line from the song Stagolee. Well, let me hit you with a few more lines...

"I was standin' on the corner when I heard my bulldog bark; he was barkin' at the two mens who gamblin' in the dark. It was Stagolee and Billy, Two men who gamble' late, Stagolee throw seven, Billy swore that he throwed eight. Stagolee told Billy, "I can't let you go with that; You have won my money and my brand new Stetson hat." Stagolee went home, And got his forty-four. Stagolee found Billy, "Oh please don't take my life! I got three little children, And a very sick little wife" Stagolee shot Billy, Oh he shot that boy so fast"

Okay, now I’m thinking about some white folks and Democrats vs. Republicans. Therein lies the core of my discontent with people like Donald Trump and those of his ilk. Look, some folks have no shame and are constitutionally incapable of telling the truth. So no matter what we say, real change will never come from their mouth. My daughter has a couple of sayings that addresses that point...“don’t make a liar lie” (don't ask a liar a question, because they are going to do what they always do... tell you a lie) and “That’s yo lie, you tell it, I’m not cosigning that bullsh*t”

Both Stagolee and Billy knew who was wrong, but somebody didn’t budge.

And you know what, Langston Hughes spoke on The Ways of White Folks. I loved the brilliance of Langston Hughes. His artful way of showing people their evil ways - without yelling at them, or calling them enigmatic names - was a stroke of genius.

Hughes's stories were messages from that other America, sharply etched vignettes of its daily life, cruelly accurate portrayals of black people colliding -- sometimes humorously, more often tragically -- with whites".

So now I’m thinking about President Obama and this latest birth certificate fiasco. But wait, if you’re of the mindset that those who use “bad words” and/or vulgar language, only do so because they possess a limited vocabulary, I say miss me with that BULLSH*T, okay. And, if you’re offended by such language.... as Dr. Seuss said,

Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now, cuz I am about to let it all hang out!

Listen, I’ve said this many times, telling some white folks what they’ve done wrong and shame shame shame on them, does little or nothing to persuade them to stop their evil ways. So, since Obama is a black man, and every black person knows how to say “motherfu*ker”... real good, I know he would like to say exactly what’s on his mind. Seriously, although he is the president, if you show me a black person that can’t cus (when they have to) or at the very least say the word “motherfu*ker” with gusto and passion, I’ll show you an Oreo or a black man that lived in a cave on the south side of the moon.

So, although all that political “correctness” and purple prose we and the president find ourselves engaged in - is the championed voice, I can’t help but believe our president would like to sometimes, some GOTDAMN time, tell a mfer what’s really on his mind. Check this out. If the cameras were not flashing, and if he, President Obama, would not be attacked from jokers on the left and clowns on the right, I believe the conversation would have been as followed--

Donald Trump: Mr. President, since you’re a black man and we’ve never had a black president, would you show us your birth certificate. We know your mother was white so we have a few questions.

The President: Look here you fu*kin’ weasel, you can miss me with that bullshit and kiss the pink part of my assh*le. How dare you offend me and my mother in that fashion.

Trump: But Mr. President, the public has a right to know about all the affairs of your mother and rather or not you’re really an American.

The President: Is that right? Well, I hate to talk about yo momma , she was a good ol' ho, with a two dollar pumtang, and a rubber a$$hole. See man, you done pissed me off and set off the natural black man in me. Your mother was talking about wrappin’ her thang around my chin. I told her she should be blowing it out her a$$ and try to be my mutherfkin’ friend.

Trump: OH NO, not another angry black man?

The President: OH NO MFer, don’t start crying like a bitch now, you started this shit. Your eyes my shine and you teeth my grin, but I’m tired of you diggin’ in my ass one mo again... you and all your friends. Hug me, love me, or leave me the fu*k alone, because I’m the HNIC up in this motherfu*ker.

Well my friends, that’s what the president would like to say. Yeah, he’d like to pull out his Johnson and slap some folks with it. See, as I said, some people are never going to change regardless of what we say or what names we call them. So we might as well lead with a good left hook and an uppercut while they keep on jabbing. Yeah, fuck’em and the Confederate horses they rode in on.

Hey, my daddy told me you have to bring some to get some, or get out of the damn fight. Bullies love punks. I don't like punks and I've never been one, and I don‘t believe Obama could have come this far if he remotely had punkish ways. I know he wouldn’t have a strong black woman like his wife Michelle. Forget about it, she’s from the south side of Chicago. I am left to believe some folks will never seek first to understand and will never admit guilt, and will continue to view our president from a very narrow perspective that fits their own agenda.

The Three Musketeers: One for All!…Optimized to run on old and new Macs alike!

The musketeers have been imprisoned by the villainous count Xavier and his lieutenant, the sinister Orsini! Take on the role of Porthos in Legendo's The Three Musketeers: One for all!, a swashbuckling platform adventure featuring lots of jumping, lush locations, tons of collecting and a variety enemy guards and creatures, traps and obstacles.

• Incredibly easy to play - use the arrow keys to move, SPACE to jump and X to attack.
• Fantastic real-time 3D graphics that provide a unique cartoon look, feels like an animated movie!
• Duel countless enemies, solve fun puzzles, and avoid fiendish traps!
• Locations include lush forests, dark dungeons, towering castles, a haunted abbey and more!
• Features three different endings!

Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later

Download Now

Born on 22 September 1894 in St. Thomas, Ontario - son of Reverend Reuben and Margaret Elizabeth (nee Schell) Millyard - brother of Malcolm Millyard, Toronto, Ontario - at the time of his enlistment in 1915: present address same as brother; trade as actuary; single; no current or previous military service; Methodist; height of 5 feet 7.75 inches; chest of 37 inches fully expanded; dark complexion; blue eyes; brown hair.

Joined the 5th Overseas Universities Company, CEF, in Toronto, Ontario, on 20 November 1915 (number 487280) - taken on the strength of the 38th Battalion, CEF, on 17 August 1917 - wounded on 31 October 1917 - taken on the strength of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on 8 September 1918 - killed in action on 30 September 1918 - buried in Canada Cemetery (grave I.A.1), France.

(sources: Library and Archives Canada (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), online attestation papers; The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa Regimental Museum, A400-0007, Master Personnel List for the 38th Canadian Infantry Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force; Commonwealth War Graves Commission, "Debt of Honour" register, www.cwgc.org)

From his top lieutenant to the scores of unknown rookies recently elected in Quebec, NDP Leader Jack Layton is finding that more MPs can mean more problems.

Section: Macintosh / Apple Hardware, Peripherals, Speakers and Headphones, Mac Software, Miscellaneous / Other

Macintosh product updates and announcements for May 5, 2011:

Software

• Paragon Software Group (PSG) has announced the release of two cross-platform technologies—NTFS for Mac OS X 9.0 and HFS+ for Windows 9.0, designed to eliminate barriers between Windows and Mac operating systems, and ease data manipulation and data transfer for dual boot users. Simple to install, Paragon NTFS for Mac OS X 9.0 is a standalone application that adds NTFS file allocation system support to Mac OS X, including Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, and allows partitioning operations with NTFS volumes under Mac OS X. Paragon HFS+ for Windows 9.0 is an application based on a special driver that allows the operating system to access and manipulate HFS-formatted files.
• Bare Reef has launched its rebranded line of stock market portfolio tracking apps for the iPad, iPhone and Mac. Portfolio Mobile offers the most comprehensive set of features found in any iPad, iPhone or Mac stock portfolio monitoring app. The launch also includes a new web portal that simplifies the process of entering and editing trade history. The new Mac version is available as a 30 day demo exclusively at Portfolio Mobile.
• Ohanaware has announced HDRtist Pro 1.0.1, an update to their popular HDR software for Macintosh computers. HDRtist Pro is the more advanced version of their free HDR software. Featuring a simple yet streamlined workflow, HDRtist Pro been designed to provide more creativity with HDR images, with features such as 1-Click HDR editing. High Dynamic Range and Exposure Blending make it possible to create highly detailed and ultra-realistic photographs with your digital camera.
• Graphic Node has announced its first set of clipart images, People Clipart, containing 100 exciting images depicting people in work, home, and leisure environments. In addition, Graphic Node offers a number of products for iWork, iWeb, and Aperture, which were previously available from its parent company, Jumsoft. Graphic Node creates and markets top-quality templates, themes, and illustrations for the Mac community.
• iWeb Themes Park brings to light the entirely new and impressive iWeb themes to be used with Apple’s iWeb. The new stunning and impressive design themes are for people who want to build a highest quality website in a blink of an eye. Families and couples will find the perfect solutions for presenting their leisure time. Weekend video takers or different hobby representatives will find even more alternatives for their websites. Some new stylish and formal design solutions are available too.
• Legendo Entertainment today announced that its sword-swinging platform adventure The Three Musketeers: One for All! is available for Mac users around the world. The musketeers have been imprisoned by the villainous count Xavier and his lieutenant, the sinister Orsini! Players take on the role of Porthos in Legendo’s The Three Musketeers: One for all!, a swashbuckling platform adventure featuring lots of jumping, lush locations, tons of collecting and a variety enemy guards and creatures, traps and obstacles.
• After five years as a service specializing wholly on photo book and canvas print, UK based, Printing-1, is now expanding to become a full range photo processing service, adding photo printing and enlargements to poster size as well as photographic calendar printing to its product range. The new digital photo print service prints in an eight color process onto 235 g/m photo satin paper. The new photo calendars are being launched in eight formats, all with the hi-gloss option for photo books.
• Spot Documents has announced that their new OS X application for archiving Apple Mail on OS X is now free for a limited time. Email Archiver is a tool for Mac experts, sysadmins, or superusers. Email Archiver creates a permanent, archival quality set of PDFs, one for each email on a computer. Email Archiver works with Apple’s Mail, storing emails as PDFs. It makes them compatible anywhere a PDF works, not just with Mail.app.

Hardware

• Other World Computing has announced its OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express Solid State Drive is now shipping in an industry largest 480GB capacity for all 2010 Apple MacBook Air models. First announced at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show this past January, the OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express line now offers up to 4X greater capacity and up to 68% faster real-world performance than factory available options. This new 480GB model introduction continues OWC’s position as the only aftermarket SSD manufacturer for the 2010 MacBook Air and the most comprehensive U.S. manufacturer of industry leading SandForce processor based SSDs available today with OWC Mercury Pro brand SSD models available for nearly every Mac and PC produced over the past decade.
• Urbanears has announced the release of Plattan Plus—a version of the Plattan headphone featuring an Apple certified microphone and remote, with the additional functionality of volume control. The Plattan Plus comes in Dark Grey, Purple, Pool and Cerise and is available for purchase now. The Plattan is designed to be the perfect classic headphone with all the additional features that make it above and beyond what a static headphone would offer. Because you can fold it down to the size of your fist, the Plattan is extremely mobile, allowing for better protection when not in use.

Full Story » | Written by Kirk Hiner for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

---

Midlands soldier returning from Kuwait surprises daughter at school WIS COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - One of South Carolina's bravest has returned from Kuwait. First Lieutenant Dexter Webb wanted to surprise his daughter, so a surprise was hatched with the help of his wife and his daughter's school. ... and more »

PR Web (press release)

Leeper explains motorcycle safety awareness tips Historic City News FHP Lieutenant Bill Leeper announced to Historic City News local reporters that the State of Florida is using Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month as a springboard to remind everyone on our roadways to give others a break and share the road. ... Washington Motorcycle Accident Attorney Urges Drivers To Pay Attention To ...Benzinga Why motorcycle education is important for all ridersThe Daily Toreador (registration) all 5 news articles »

David Sokol, the former lieutenant to Warren Buffett who’s been caught up in a stock-trading scandal, is increasing his stake in a small bank in which he has a significant investment.

We will probably never know a lot of what transpired in that shabby villa in Abbottabad but what we do know is that the release of information has been dreadfully mismanaged by the White House and calls into question whether anyone there is interested in much more than making themselves look good or damaging someone else.

The number of stories emerging from the White House and immediately being contradicted by the White House, and in the process leaving the White House spokescritter, Jay Carney, resembling a stunned mullet, include: which of bin Laden’s sons was killed, bin Laden using a woman as a shield, his wife being killed, bin Laden firing at US forces, the raid being monitored in real time, and the cause of the helicopter crash.

We also can say with some degree of certainty that we’ve been misled on the involvement of Pakistan.

Oddly enough, the one area that everyone seems to have fallen over themselves in agreeing about was Pakistan’s involvement in the operation. While bin Laden’s carcass was still cooling anyone who was anyone in Pakistan was claiming there were no consultations. CIA Director Leon Panetta joined the chorus in rubbing the nose of the Pakistanis in their own unreliability.

But the CIA ruled out participating with its nominal South Asian ally early on because “it was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardize the mission. They might alert the targets,” Panetta says.

To set the stage for this one has to take into consideration the nature of Abbottabad. It was founded by a British general and, under British rule, was the administrative center of the Hazara District of Punjab. Since independence it has remained a garrison town. It currently is the headquarters of two infantry regiments, the Baloch Regiment and the Frontier Force Regiment. In addition, the compound where bin Laden was killed is about 300 yards from a police station, about half that distance from a university, and half a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy. It is also very close to Kashmir. So bin Laden’s hideout was in a residential area, in a heavily garrisoned town, close by a disputed frontier.

The main concern, again from Panetta, was the Pakistani reaction, again from TIME:

Some of the aides had been involved in the Carter Administration’s effort to go after the hostages held by the Iranians 30 years ago; others had been involved in the ill-fated “Black Hawk Down” raid against Somali warlords in 1993. “What if you go down and you’re in a firefight and the Pakistanis show up and start firing?” Panetta says some worried. “How do you fight your way out?”

A very real concern that we will touch more upon later. On any raid getting into the objective and accomplishing your mission tends to be the easiest part of the planning process. Getting out with your skin mostly intact is always the hardest nut to crack. And how do you unscrew the situation created by having your armed forces in a fire fight with the armed forces of an ostensible ally, and ally who controls your supply routes into Afghanistan, in the middle of one of their cities?

The scenario, as we’ve been told, unfolds like this: Around 2am a helicopter crashes into a residential neighborhood, in this otherwise quiet garrison town not far from a contested border region. There are immediate explosions as breaching charges cut holes in the walls and doors of the bin Laden’s compound and a 40 minute fire fight ensues. As the gunfight winds down there is an explosion as the disabled helicopter is demolished and another, larger and noisier, helicopter arrives on the scene. Then both helicopters fly away.

No local constable decided to mope over to the crash site. No fire trucks or ambulances scrambled to the scene. The gun fight, even though it was tweeted live, didn’t provoke a response from either the police or either of the infantry regiments garrisoned in the city.

A lot of dogs didn’t bark, so to speak.

What we know about the raid, and I use the work “know” very advisedly, is that it apparently consisted of three helicopters. Two of the helicopters were MH-60 variants, one was apparently an MH-47. At least one story mentions a fourth helicopter of undefined type. The number of shooters involved was about 20, according to latest reports, with more than likely additional personnel involved in the intelligence exploitation of the objective.

The critical piece missing from this picture is a security element for the assault force. If, as Panetta suggests, one of the concerns was that Pakistani security forces would show up and start shooting the raiding force, more likely than not, would have contained a security force to stop anyone from interfering with the operation. The last thing you’d want is a couple of dozen SEALs sandwiched between an unknown number of al Qaeda fighters with bin Laden and a couple of Pakistani infantry battalions. Typically this security element would have been a contingent from the Ranger Regiment.  For instance, in the prisoner snatch that led to the Battle of Mogadishu, a small Delta contingent was used to attempt to capture a Somali warlord while a company of Rangers sealed off the objective area. This contingent would have added another 40 persons to the raid and at least one, or maybe two, MH-47s.

Even if we can explain the  absence of curiosity on the part of Pakistani security forces and emergency services by incompetence we are still confronted with both the absence of a security force, and a rather, in my opinion, leisurely amount of time the raiders spent on the objective when every minute exponentially increased the chance that Pakistani police or army would arrive on the scene.

In my view, this all leads to the conclusion that the local Pakistani officials were complicit in the raid. They may not have know when it was coming but they knew enough not to send out police, fire, or military personnel to the scene until after everything was over.

And then there is the former head of Pakistan’s ISI who insists that not only was there security but the Pakistanis provided it:

Lieutenant General Durrani, however, said that the denial was a “political” maneuver by the intelligence services to avoid claims that they were working too closely with the US.

He said: “It is more likely that they did know [about the raid]. It is not conceivable that it was done without the involvement of Pakistani security forces at some stage. They were involved and they were told they were in position.

“The army chief was in his office, the cordons had been thrown around that particular place. The Pakistani helicopters were also in the air so that indicates that it was involved.

Was the national leadership in on the raid? We can’t know. We can suspect from the speed with which Panetta said the Pakistanis were cut out and the Pakistanis claim they were cut out of the mission that maybe both are being somewhat parsimonious with the truth. The claim that Pakistan scrambled fighters to intercept the raiders, when neither their police nor army showed any inclination to do so despite being within an easy walk of the scene also sounds suspicious. Going a bit farther, Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith said in an interview:

Mr Smith disputed a suggestion the Pakistan government knew bin Laden’s whereabouts.

“It doesn’t follow from that that Pakistan or the Pakistan state or the Pakistan government was knowingly harbouring,” he told ABC Television today.

US President Barack Obama praised Pakistan for helping US forces kill and capture bin Laden, and had rung Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to thank him, Mr Smith said.

The minister also disputed an assertion the US didn’t notify the Pakistan government of bin Laden’s death.

“It’s clear to me from President Obama’s comments that he was pleased with Pakistan’s assistance,” Mr Smith said.

This makes sense when one considers that early reports were that the raid was staged out of Tarbela Ghazi air base in Pakistan:

From Ghazi Air Base in Pakistan, the modified MH-60 helicopters made their way to the garrison suburb of Abbottabad, about 30 miles from the center of Islamabad. Aboard were Navy SEALs, flown across the border from Afghanistan, along with tactical signals, intelligence collectors, and navigators using highly classified hyperspectral imagers.

Later reports claim that the raid was launched from Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Either site it well within range of the MH-60 but Jalalabad is 160 miles, or about an hour, away. Tarbela Ghazi is about 35 miles away. All things being equal you’d prefer the shorter distance for the sake of simplicity and reduced fatigue on the part of your troops.

At a minimum if there was no “official” cooperation there appears to be significant coordination between elements of the Pakistan government and the US government on this raid. To the extent this cooperation was unitary or to which it was facilitated by cash transactions we’ll probably never know. But it would have been the height of irresponsibility to send a small raiding force into an ostensibly hostile environment without providing protection for the raiders. It would have been equally irresponsible to send in a security force and risk a full fledged gun battle between US troops and Pakistani security forces. And I can’t believe that any military commander would have let that happen.

Source: [b]BBC News[/b]

North Korea has handed over the remains of a British pilot who died in the Korean War nearly 60 years ago.

The remains are believed to be those of RAF Flight Lieutenant Desmond Hinton whose plane was shot down.

British ambassador Peter Hughes received the fighter pilot...

Authors and source

External author: 

BY JIM WOODS

The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Two firefighters were injured when portions of a stairwell collapsed while they were battling a fire inside an East Side town home yesterday evening.

A Columbus firefighter was taken to Grant Medical Center to be treated for leg and hip injuries. A Whitehall Fire Department lieutenant was treated at the scene and declined to go the hospital.

Columbus and Whitehall firefighters responded at 6 p.m. to the report of a fire at 3482 Cunard Square, in the Cushing Arms Townhomes.

Related Content

Related internal resources: 

The SCBA Lifeline and Air Management

Saving Our Own: The Powell Doctrine and Interior Fire Operations

Trics of the Trade: Firefighter Removal Using A Hoseline

Missouri is one of those states with the unusual circumstance of a Democrat governor and a Republican lieutenant governor. Now the second-in-command appears ready to take aim at the top spot:

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder isn’t ready yet to officially declare that he’s running for governor.

But the Cape Girardeau Republican is ready to hire staffers to work on the campaign, even if it doesn’t quite exist yet.

A job listing circulating a local university indicates Kinder is seeking “campaign interns and a limited number of paid campaign staffers” for positions begining next month.

“The program is an exciting opportunity to gain real, hands-on experience in a high-level Missouri political campaign,” the listing states.

The position would be with Friends of Peter Kinder, which the listing describes as “Lt. Governor Peter Kinder’s campaign committee set up to challenge Democratic Governor Jay Nixon for Governor in 2012.”

I wonder if his campaign pledges will include a “Kinder and Gentler Missouri.”

Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick, the Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, blogs again from Afghanistan about his experience of recent events including Easter and the Royal Wedding. The news over the last few weeks has been dominated by the Royal Wedding...

Sky News

N Korea hands over RAF pilot body BBC News North Korea has handed over the remains of a British pilot who died in the Korean War nearly 60 years ago. The remains are believed to be those of RAF Flight Lieutenant Desmond Hinton whose plane was shot down. British ambassador Peter Hughes received ... Britain receives body of Korean War fighter aceTelegraph.co.uk North Korea hands over possible remains of RAF pilotThe Guardian N Korea Hands Over RAF Pilot's RemainsSky News Reuters India -The Independent -AFP all 170 news articles »

Lexington Herald Leader

Candidate for governor David Williams stops in Maysville Ledger Independent With less than two weeks until the primary election, Senate President David Williams, candidate for governor on the Republican ticket, and Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer who is on Williams' ticket as candidate for lieutenant governor, ... Richie Farmer turning out to be defense liabilityWashington Post (blog) Richie Farmer to pay back taxes on personal mileageLouisville Courier-Journal Richie Farmer failed to report personal use of state vehicle for tax purposesLexington Herald Leader WFPL -WBKO all 31 news articles »

This is outrageous. Putting together a staged photo that did not accurately describe what happened should generate a lot of anger, though I am still waiting for an explanation for why the administration gave orders to kill and not capture Osama.

Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, revealed there was a 25 minute blackout during which the live feed from cameras mounted on the helmets of the US special forces was cut off.
A photograph released by the White House appeared to show the President and his aides in the situation room watching the action as it unfolded. In fact they had little knowledge of what was happening in the compound.
Mr Panetta said: "Once those teams went into the compound I can tell you that there was a time period of almost 20 or 25 minutes where we really didn't know just exactly what was going on. And there were some very tense moments as we were waiting for information.
"We had some observation of the approach there, but we did not have direct flow of information as to the actual conduct of the operation itself as they were going through the compound." . . .
The President only knew the mission was successful after the Navy Seals commander heard the word “Geronimo” on the radio, a code word from commandos reporting that they had killed bin Laden.
The absence of footage of the raid has led to conflicting reports about what happened in the compound. According to Pakistani authorities one of bin Laden’s daughter’s, who was present during the raid, claimed that her father was captured alive before he was killed.
There was also growing doubt about the US claims that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies involved in the raid.
Lieutenant General Asad Durrani, former head of the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence service, said it was "inconceivable" that his government was unaware of the US raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. . . .

The rest of the article details how the administration is going back and forth with the Pakistani government over whether the Pakistanis were involved in the operation. If the Pakistanis were involved, why would the Obama administration keep insisting that they were when it is obviously putting the Pakistani government in a difficult position? If the Pakistani weren't involved, it makes even less sense to make these claims.

by A.C. Thompson

Federal judge Lance Africk today voided the conviction of former New Orleans police lieutenant Travis McCabe, who was found guilty of falsifying a police report and misleading federal investigators about the murder of Henry Glover.

Africk ordered a second trial for McCabe.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, an NOPD officer murdered Glover and another burned his corpse, leaving his charred remains on a Mississippi River levee. (For more on the case, which ProPublica has been following since 2008, see our complete coverage of the troubled New Orleans Police Department here.) Late last year, a jury convicted McCabe and two other ex-cops in connection to the killing and cover-up.

The prosecution's case against McCabe's centered on a police report about Glover's shooting by then-officer David Warren, who was armed with an assault rifle. According to prosecutors, after one officer wrote a report accurately depicting the shooting, McCabe rewrote the document, sanitizing it.

After the jury verdict came down, McCabe petitioned the court, saying he had obtained new evidence clearing him of the charge -- a second version of the report, which shows that he didn't materially alter the document. According to McCabe, the second document surfaced only after the trial.

In his 16-page order, Africk said the "newly discovered evidence casts grave doubt on the criminal conviction that the government secured against" the former cop.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama nominated Dennis J. Erby to serve as U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Mississippi and Edward M. Spooner to serve as U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Florida.  

“Dennis J. Erby and Edward M. Spooner have dedicated their career to protecting their fellow citizens,” said President Obama.  “They have displayed courage and persistence in the pursuit of justice, and I am honored to nominate them today to continue their selfless work on behalf of the people of Mississippi and Florida as U.S. Marshals.”

US MARSHALS
 
Dennis J. Erby:  Nominee for United States Marshal for the Northern District of Mississippi
Dennis J. Erby currently serves as a Supplemental Compliance Monitor for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and Planning.  He spent the majority of his law enforcement career with the Mississippi State Highway Patrol where he entered as a patrolman in 1978 and rose through the ranks to Lieutenant.  Mr. Erby served in the Mississippi National Guard from 1974 to 1980.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi State University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.   
 
Edward M. Spooner:  Nominee for United States Marshal for the Northern District of Florida
Edward Spooner, a life-long Florida resident, began his law enforcement career as an intern with the Florida Highway Patrol in 1973.  He served as a patrol and training officer with the Tallahassee Police Department from 1973 to 1977.  Mr. Spooner trained law enforcement officers as an instructor at the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy from 1977 to 1979.  In 1979, he was named the Director of Public Safety for Quincy, Florida, a position he held until 1991.  Mr. Spooner has served on the Florida Parole Commission from 1991 to 1998, as Chief Deputy of the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office from 1998 to 2004, and as Sheriff of Okaloosa County from 2009 to 2010.  He currently serves as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

A few years ago, I had a reunion with some old high school buddies that I hadn't seen in nearly 50 years. It was an amazing experience and a lot of fun.

But I remember one comment my old friend Brian made about me: “Coates, you were always up to something. I never knew what you’d do next.” His tone was that I was some kind of trouble-maker. I thought it was an odd perspective, and at the time I didn't know what to make of it. A lot of water had flowed under the bridge since I was a freshman in high school - an inconceivable amount of life experience and learning. I'm not at all the same person Brian knew back then.

If you've been following my blog, you know that I've been writing about "teen journeys," a topic that has become a passionate interest. Recently I did the memory work to recall my own teen journey. And much to my surprise, I concluded that I was indeed a trouble-maker!

Yes, I was an Eagle Scout, active in my church, and a straight-A student. In fact, I was the only student at the high school to make an A in every course.

But I cut up in class a lot. You might even say I was disruptive. In science class my buddy Dick (who was also at the reunion) and I used to sit in the back of the room and draw Mad Magazine cartoons and compete with each other to catch flies. We'd grab them out of the air, mark a scoresheet and then turn them loose. One day we hid in the storage closet and tried to hypnotize each other. On another occasion, we persuaded the science teacher, who had a fine singing voice, to sing pop tunes for us. I think I paid attention to his instruction only 10% of the time. Amazingly, in spite of my shenanigans, my teacher considered me his best student and gave me an A. But when I think about how hard I made his job, I feel regret.

And that's the least of my misdeeds back then. I did things that were destructive and against the law. I won't go into the details in this post, because to tell you the truth, it's embarrassing to even think about it. Just take my word for it - I had a secret life that could have launched me on a pathway towards big-time trouble. The more I remember about my early teens, I have to admit that yes, Brian was right. I was always up to something.

But why?

I can only give the same strange answer that teenagers still give to this day: “I don’t know.”

Like every teenager who ever lived, my pre-frontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that handles foresight, logic and critical thinking, was "under construction." I made a lot of my decisions impulsively based on emotion. My pranks seemed like something exciting to do at the time, and I gave no thought to the consequences.

And that's one of the perils of the teen journey. Kids do wild and crazy things for no good reason. The consequences can be enormous. People can get hurt. Kids can befriend the wrong people and get in trouble with the authorities. They can ingrain bad behavior patterns. Alcohol and drugs can keep their brains from developing normally. And teens can become addicted to these substances.

Worst of all, if their failure to exercise critical thinking isn't corrected and becomes a pattern that persists into their early 20s, the window for brain development will close and their intelligence will be dramatically limited for the rest of their life.

A lot can happen to help a young person survive the teen journey and become strong for adult life - good parenting, adult mentoring, team sports, a job, religious faith, a passionate interest, etc.

More than anything, what rescued me was nothing more than luck. First of all, I never got caught. Secondly, my father was in the Army and my family moved away from this community to Germany. I left my buddies and all the silliness of early adolescence behind. My dad went overseas ahead of us and as the oldest child I had to take responsibility for helping my mother with the relocation. When we finally made it to Germany I was a stranger in a strange land. At the age of 15 I became one serious dude. I later graduated as high school valedictorian, went to West Point, served a year in Vietnam, got a Ph.D., and retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel. I've been a successful small business entrepreneur for the past 25 years.

It's humbling to realize how lucky I've been. It motivates me to share what I've learned about the teen journey to help parents understand what their kids are going through and what to do to give them an edge in life.

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2011. Building Personal Strength .

Remains are thought to be those of Flight Lieutenant Desmond Hinton, whose jet was shot down during Korean war in 1952 The British ambassador to North Korea, Peter Hughes, holds a case containing the unconfirmed remains of an RAF pilot shot down in the Korean war.

Lieutenant Colonel Tim Purbrick, the Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, blogs again from Afghanistan

British officials have received what is believed to be the remains of Flight Lieutenant Desmond Hinton, a Royal Air Force pilot who died near Pyongyang almost 60 years ago.

Remains are thought to be those of Flight Lieutenant Desmond Hinton, whose jet was shot down during Korean war in 1952

Almost 60 years after his plane was shot down during the Korean war, remains thought to be those of a young RAF pilot have been handed to British officials by the government in Pyongyang.

Although a scientific identification has yet to be carried out, it is believed the remains are those of Flight Lieutenant Desmond Hinton, who died in 1952 while seconded to the US air force.

His F84e Thunderjet was hit on 2 January near what is now Pyongyang airport.

UK officials, including Peter Hughes, the British ambassador to North Korea, received the remains at a ceremony in the village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone.

The Foreign Office confirmed that the remains had been handed over: "We are unable to confirm the nationality or identity of the remains at this time. A detailed forensic analysis will now take place."

The remains will be examined by the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command, which is based in Hawaii.

Hinton's younger brother, David, travelled to North Korea in 2004 and found the grave where Desmond had been buried.

In an interview two years ago, he spoke of the impact Desmond's death had had on his life.

"I was very close to my brother, who was very much my role model and a father figure to me," he told Asia Times. "I have never stopped missing him every single one of the 57 years since he died."

According to North's Korea's KCNA news agency, this is the second time the Pyongyang military have sent back the remains of a British soldier.

It said the remains of a British private had been returned in 1995.

KCNA added that the UK had expressed deep gratitude to North Korea over the repatriation of the remains and said that "such co-operation would mark a good occasion in developing the relations between the two countries".

During the war, 63,000 British service personnel joined a US-led UN contingent fighting alongside South Korea against invading troops from North Korea and its ally, China. The fighting eventually claimed 1,100 British lives.

Each week Entertainment Weekly reviews a small selection of popular new books. Titles available for the Kindle reviewed in the May 6th issue include:

The Year We Left Home, by Jean Thompson. Simon & Schuster, 2011. Print length: 256 p. NOVEL. EW's slant: "...spare, startling resonant...even minor characters receive the full attention of the author's prodigious talents." Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (2 reviews). Kindle edition $11.99; Hardcover $15.67. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.
"...a sweeping and emotionally powerful story of a single American family during the tumultuous final decades of the twentieth century. It begins in 1973 when the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa, gathers for the wedding of their eldest daughter, Anita. Even as they celebrate, the fault lines in the family emerge... Stretching from the early 1970s in the Iowa farmlands to suburban Chicago to the coast of contemporary Italy - and moving through the Vietnam War’s aftermath, the farm crisis, the numerous economic booms and busts - The Year We Left Home follows the Erickson siblings as they confront prosperity and heartbreak, setbacks and triumphs, and seek their place in a country whose only constant seems to be breathtaking change." - Amazon.

The Social Climber's Handbook, by Molly Jong-Fast. Villard, 2011. Print length: 256 p. NOVEL. EW's slant: "...somehow calls to mind both Gossip Girl and American Psycho." Amazon customer rating: 3 1/2 stars (6 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99; Paperback $9.71. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Upper East Side socialite Daisy Greenbaum is accustomed to the finer things - designer clothes, summers in the Hamptons, elite private school educations for her daughters, and a staggeringly expensive Park Avenue apartment. But Daisy finds her well-heeled lifestyle on precarious footing after her husband, master of the universe Dick Greenbaum, learns about some shady dealings that threaten his position at The Bank. Daisy refuses to allow her family to slip down the social ladder, so she devises a madcap plan: Anyone who jeopardizes her place at the top will simply have to be dispatched - six feet under..." - from the trade paperback edition.

Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II, by Mitchell Zuckoff. Harper Collins, 2011. Print length: 400 p. NONFICTION. EW's slant: "...grippingly cinematic account...thorough research..." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (29 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99; $15.69. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Near the end of World War II, a plane carrying 24 members of the United States military, including nine Women’s Army Corps (WAC) members, crashed into the New Guinea jungle during a sightseeing excursion. 21 men and women were killed. The three survivors - a beautiful WAC, a young lieutenant who lost his twin brother in the crash, and a severely injured sergeant - were stranded deep in a jungle valley notorious for its cannibalistic tribes. They had no food, little water, and no way to contact their military base. The story of their survival and the stunning efforts undertaken to save them are the crux of Lost in Shangri-La, Mitchell Zuckoff’s remarkable and inspiring narrative." - Lynette Mong for Amazon.com Review.

In Zanesville, by Jo Ann Beard. Little, Brown and Company, 2011. Print length: 272 p. NOVEL. EW's slant: "These thoughtful, funny, awestruck, slightly peculiar girls are so endearing, so painfully true, that they almost make a reader wish she were back in high school so she could be friends with them." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (3 reviews). Kindle edition $10.99; Hardcover $14.11. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The beguiling fourteen-year-old narrator of In Zanesville is a late bloomer. She is used to flying under the radar - a sidekick, a third wheel, a marching band dropout, a disastrous babysitter, the kind of girl whose Eureka moment is the discovery that 'fudge' can't be said with an English accent. Luckily, she has a best friend, a similarly undiscovered girl with whom she shares the everyday adventures of a 1970s American girlhood, incidents through which a world is revealed, and character is forged. With dry wit and piercing observation, Jo Ann Beard shows us that in the seemingly quiet streets of America's innumerable Zanesvilles is a world of wonders, and that within the souls of the awkward and the overlooked often burns something radiant and unforgettable." - Amazon.

The Preacher, by Camilla Läckberg. Pegasus Books, 2011. Print length: 432 p. THRILLER. EW's slant: "...proves last year's rave reviews were no fluke." Amazon customer rating: 3 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $14.29; Hardcover $17.13. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"In the fishing community of Fjallbacka, life is remote, peaceful, and for some, tragically short. Foul play was always suspected in the disappearance twenty years ago of two young campers, but their bodies were never found. But now, a young boy out playing has confirmed the grim truth. Their remains are discovered alongside those of a fresh victim, sending the tiny town into shock. Local detective Patrik Hedstrom, expecting a baby with his girlfriend Erica, can only imagine what it is like to lose a child. When a second young girl goes missing, Hedstrom’s attention focuses on the Hults, a feuding clan of misfits, religious fanatics and criminals. The suspect list is long but time is short - which of this family’s dark secrets will provide the vital clue?" - Amazon.

Divergent, by Veronica Roth. Harper Collins, 2011. Print length: 384 p. NOVEL. EW's slant: "...Edgy YA debut...set in a dystopian Chicago." Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (32 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99; Hardcover $10.58. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue - Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is - she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are - and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death..." - Amazon.
_______________________

Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.


see more dog and puppy pictures

As the world learns more about the US operation that killed Osama Bin Laden, a serving Navy Seal has described the mission to bring him to justice. Lieutenant Commander Eric Greitens is a US Navy Seal officer and a former … Continue reading →

Even though Al-Qaeda founder and terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden is dead, his lethal legacy affected more than just those who perished in the September 11th attacks. For Alice Hoagland who lost her gay son Mark Bingham in the attacks, Bin Laden’s death brings closure and consolation. But Lieutenant Dan Choi and sex columnist Dan [...]

THE medals of an heroic prisoner who escaped from the notorious Colditz Castle are to be sold at auction for an expected 12,000. The incredible 'home run' of Lieutenant Colonel Ronnie Littledale during the Second World War could have come straight from a work of fiction.

Pakistan says raid on Bin Laden's house was 'unauthorised' while CIA director defends decision not to inform Islamabad

The war of words between Pakistan and the US in the wake of Osama bin Laden's killing has intensified as senior officials on both sides traded barbs that underlined their mutual mistrust, and the White House reversed its position on key details of the raid.

In Islamabad the Pakistani foreign ministry issued a hard-worded statement condemning the raid on Bin Laden's house as an "unauthorised unilateral action", and warned that it would not be tolerated in future.

In Washington, the CIA chief Leon Panetta said Pakistan was not informed of the assault on Abbottabad, a military garrison town, because US officials feared the al-Qaida leader could have been warned in advance.

"It was decided that any effort to work with the Pakistanis could jeopardise the mission. They might alert the targets," he told Time.

Pakistan's foreign secretary Salman Bashir described the American attitude as "disquieting", asserting that Pakistan had played a key role in the fight against Islamist militancy.

"Most of these things that have happened in terms of global anti-terror, Pakistan has played a pivotal role," said he said. "So it's a little disquieting when we have comments like this."

Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari said American claims were "baseless speculation … that doesn't reflect fact".

Meanwhile, American accounts of Bin Laden's death have come under intense scrutiny following White House admissions that early official reports claiming Bin Laden had been armed and cowered behind his wife during the assault were false.

Bin Laden's wife, earlier said to have been killed, in fact survived and is currently in Pakistani custody. Pakistani television station Geo published a copy of her passport, naming her as Yemeni citizen Amal Ahmed Abdel Fatteh.

The Obama administration is still mulling how to release gory photos of Bin Laden's body to counter claims in the region that he had not been killed at all. "There are sensitivities about the appropriateness," said spokesman Jay Carney. "It is fair to say it is a gruesome photograph."

Panetta told NBC news: "I don't think there was any question that ultimately a photograph would be presented to the public."

Pakistan's military, the brunt of much of the speculation, has been largely quiet, although officials from the Inter-Services Intelligence have released some details about the raid based on interviews with Bin Laden relatives left behind by the US Navy Seal team.

A senior ISI official said that Bin Laden's 12-year-old daughter had witnessed her father being killed and confirmed his death. "She said she saw him being shot," said the official.

The official did not know the name of the girl, adding that between 18 and 19 people were present in the compound at the time of the attack.

He said the ISI had raided the Abbottabad house as it was under construction in 2003 in search of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, an al-Qaida lieutenant who was eventually captured two years later.

But satellite imagery from 2004 shows an empty field on the site of the present house, and later images suggest that construction started a year later, shortly before US officials say in Laden and his family moved in.

Pakistan's role is coming under intense fire in the US Congress. Patrick Meehan, chair of a House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, expressed frustration, wondering aloud if the country was driven by "divided loyalty, complicity [or] incompetence". Democrat Jackie Speier called it "the elephant in the room". Inside Pakistan, media coverage has focused on whether Pakistan's government or military had advance knowledge of the raid – a sensitive issue given widespread anti-American sentiment and worries about breaches of sovereignty.

The foreign office statement said reports that US helicopters had taken off from Ghazi airbase inside Pakistan were "absolutely false and incorrect". It continued: "Neither any base or facility inside Pakistan was used by the US Forces."

There have also been questions about how US helicopters managed to enter Pakistani airspace, conduct a violent raid lasting 40 minutes, then return unhindered to Afghanistan.

The foreign office said the US choppers "made use of blind spots in the radar coverage due to hilly terrain", facilitated by "mountainous terrain, efficacious use of latest technology and 'nap of the earth' flying techniques".

That, for some reason, was my favorite line in tonight's excellent NCIS 8.22 - "I'd rather have a lead" - maybe because although there seem to be some leads about the identity of the port-to-port killer, we're really still not much closer to knowing who he or she is.

The line is spoken by Gibbs, in response to Tony saying he wished that they had a pre-crime unit - as in Minority Report, where pre-cogs (psychics) can foretell who will commit crimes.  But Gibbs is not always allergic to DiNozzo's movie references, as we find out in the other part of tonight's episode, which features Tony and Gibbs first meeting, 10 years ago.

The acting and make-up is great - both do look and act a little younger, DiNozzo more than Gibbs, which is just right, since DiNozzo 10 years ago was a much younger guy than Gibbs was then.   Gibbs' heart is big, as we would expect it to be.  When DiNozzo lets his corrupt partner go - in the Baltimore police department - Gibbs, already with NCIS, understands, because he believes in loyalty to partners, and he doesn't stop DiNozzo.   But DiNozzo is disgusted enough by the events that he leaves the Baltimore PD, comes to work at NCIS, and gets a sexy human resources babe and his first slap on the head from Gibbs as his reward.

Turns out that DiNozzo's boss back then on the Baltimore PD is also a bad guy - worse than DiNozzo's partner - and in fact kills DiNozzo's partner, who is no longer his partner, in the present.  Not only that, the bad lieutenant masquerades as the port-to-port killer.  Ducky figures that part of it out.  But the bad news is that catching this guy brings the team no closer to getting the real port-to-port killer.  That's what I was getting at when I said that the team could use some leads in this p-2-p case looming ever larger.

The faux p-2-p killer - that is, DiNozzo's boss from 10 year ago - did at least provide us with the benefit of seeing DiNozzo and Gibbs back then, and I forgot to mention Gibbs' movie quip from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid right after Gibbs hires DiNozzo, but who the hell is this port-to-port killer?

In fact, who are each of these three people:  (1) the person with the blue eye who had lasik surgery, male in his 30s, whose eye opened MTAC, (2) the person at NCIS who may be in that medical examiner's wagon  that we see in the coming attractions for next week, and (3) the port-to-port killer?

We do learn this week that the port-to-port killer is someone very close to NCIS, maybe working right there - because the killer knew that DiNozzo's bad former boss was pretending to be the p-2-p killer - but we already knew that the real killer was close to NCIS.

I can't even hazard a supportable guess at this point.  But I've got a feeling - just a feeling, no evidence - that McGee is more a part of this than, ah, meets the eye.

See also NCIS Back in Season 8 Action ... NCIS 8.2: Interns! ... NCIS 8.3: Tiff! ... NCIS 8.4: Gary Cooper not John Wayne ... NCIS 8.5: Dead DJ, DiNozzo Hoarse, and Baseball ... NCIS 8.6: The Written Woman ... NCIS 8.7: "James Bond Movie Directed by Fellini" ... NCIS 8.8: Ziva's Father 
... NCIS 8.9: Leon's Story ... NCIS 8.10: DiNozzo In and Out ... NCIS 8.11: "The Sister Went Viral" ... Bob Newhart on NCIS 8.12 ... NCIS 8.13: The Wife or the Girlfriend ... NCIS 8.14: Kate ... NCIS 8.15: McGee and DiNozzo's Badges ... NCIS 8.16: Computer Games ... NCIS 8.17: Budget Cuts ... NCIS 8.18: Gibbs vs. the Kid ... NCIS 8.19: The Deadly Book ... NCIS 8.20: CIRay ... NCIS 8.21: Mask and Eye

And see also NCIS  ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties ... NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker ... NCIS 7.21: NCIS Meets Laura ... NCIS Season 7 Finale: Retribution

---

                 Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic

---

---

The Plot to Save Socrates


"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

---

A female employee within the department told Lt. Doug Burris in 2009 that a fellow police employee started harassing her when she started working for the department in 2000.

(Lord's day). Up, and to church, where I saw Sir A. Rickard, though he be under the Black Rod, by order of the Lords' House, upon the quarrel between the East India Company and Skinner, which is like to come to a very great heat between the two Houses. At noon comes Mr. Mills and his wife, and Mr. Turner and his wife, by invitation to dinner, and we were mighty merry, and a very pretty dinner, of my Bridget and Nell's dressing, very handsome. After dinner to church again ... So home and with Sir W. Pen took a hackney, and he and I to Old Street, to a brew-house there, to see Sir Thomas Teddiman, who is very ill in bed of a fever, got, I believe, by the fright the Parliament have put him into, of late. But he is a good man, a good seaman, and stout. Thence Pen and I to Islington, and there, at the old house, eat, and drank, and merry, and there by chance giving two pretty fat boys each of them a cake, they proved to be Captain Holland's children, whom therefore I pity. So round by Hackney home, having good discourse, he [Pen] being very open to me in his talk, how the King ought to dissolve this Parliament, when the Bill of Money is passed, they being never likely to give him more; how he [the King] hath great opportunity of making himself popular by stopping this Act against Conventicles; and how my Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, if the Parliament continue, will undoubtedly fall, he having managed that place with so much self-seeking, and disorder, and pleasure, and some great men are designing to overthrow [him], as, among the rest, my Lord Orrery; and that this will try the King mightily, he being a firm friend to my Lord Lieutenant. So home; and to supper a little, and then to bed, having stepped, after I come home, to Alderman Backewell's about business, and there talked a while with him and his wife, a fine woman of the country, and how they had bought an estate at Buckeworth, within four mile of Brampton.

While US officials amend narrative of raid, Abbottabad residents describe Bin Laden's 'mansion' and the brothers who built it

By the time Pakistani soldiers lifted the cordon around Osama bin Laden's house in the garrison town of Abbottabad, triggering a media stampede, the most obvious traces of its infamous resident had been effaced.

The American soldiers who had swept in aboard four helicopters on Sunday night had scoured the three-storey building, taking away computer hard disks and a trove of documents – as well as Bin Laden's bloodied body, which was later buried at sea.

The following day, Pakistani intelligence – angered at not having been informed of the raid, and embarrassed that it took place under their noses – made a second sweep. Tractors carted away furniture and other belongings. But it was impossible to erase every trace of the drama that ended the manhunt.

Beyond the gates, children in flip-flops and salwar kameez fished chunks of blackened helicopter debris from the surrounding fields, flung there after a US helicopter that failed to take off was blown up by its own soldiers.

One boy produced a jagged, soot-encrusted chunk of metal, perhaps part of an exhaust, from a drain. "This is silver!" declared 12-year-old Yasser. A nervous looking intelligence official, loitering nearby, grabbed the child by the hand and led him away.

Fascination with the raid was not confined to Abbottabad. In Washington, fresh details were being revealed by the White House, some which contradicted the earlier version of events surrounding the killing of their most wanted man.

In the immediate hours after Bin Laden's death, US officials had briefed that he had put up a fight and shot at the Seal 6 team that had stormed the second and third floors of his hideout. Other details suggested he had used one of his wives as a human shield.

The White House confirmed that neither was true. Bin Laden was unarmed, was shot in the head and chest, and his wife had been wounded in the leg while rushing towards the special forces before he was killed.

The photographs of his body, the spokesman said, were probably too gruesome to be released.

Another narrative to change somewhat concerned the property itself. Up close, Bin Laden's house, a tall, unlovely piece of architecture, towering over the policemen guarding the gate, was not quite the million dollar mansion described by officials. The walls were high, certainly, but not unusually so for north-western Pakistan, where privacy is jealously guarded. The paint was peeling, there was no air conditioning.

But it was the only house in the neighbourhood with barbed wire and surveillance cameras. And it towered over its only neighbour, a small, ramshackle dwelling made of rough bricks with plastic sheeting for windows. The people inside were scared and apprehensive.

Zain Muhammad, an elderly man perched on a rope bed on the porch, said Pakistani soldiers had come in the night and taken away his son, Shamraiz. He produced a photo of a smiling man with a moustache in his early 40s. "I've no idea where he is. The soldiers won't allow us to leave, not even to fetch water." The residents had had their suspicions about the house across the street, they said: the thick walls and barbed wire, and the two secretive brothers who owned it, described as ethnic Pashtuns.

"They told us they had to protect themselves because they had enemies back in their home village. They said they had to screen off the house to protect their women. A lot of us thought they were smugglers," said Abid Khan.

The house, it turned out, had been on the radar of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for more than eight years. Construction started around 2001. Two years later, when it was still unfinished, ISI agents raided it in search of Abu Faraj al-Libbi, a senior Bin Laden lieutenant, but left empty-handed, an ISI official said.

Around 2005, Bin Laden moved in, according to US officials – around about the time of the devastating Kashmir earthquake that killed 73,000 people in October of that year. As the wounded flooded into Abbottabad's military hospital a mile away – so many that doctors set up a tent on the main lawn – the Saudi fugitive and his clan were settling into this house down the road.

There had been great speculation about his whereabouts. Across the border in Afghanistan, US soldiers distributed matchboxes with Bin Laden's picture and details of a $25m bounty.

In Pakistan, the US embassy paid for expensive television ads appealing for information. "Who can stop these terrorists? Only you!" implored a voice as images of Bin Laden and 13 henchmen flashed across the screen.

The then president, Pervez Musharraf, insisted the Americans were wrong. His security forces had "broken the vertical and horizontal command and communication links of al-Qaida" in Pakistan, he boasted. "There are a lot of people who say that Osama bin Laden is here in Pakistan," he said. "Please come and show us where."

In Abbottabad, the two Pashtun brothers had finally completed their house, less than a mile from the Pakistan Military Academy where Musharraf himself had been trained.

One of them was Bin Laden's courier, the man trusted to take his messages to the outside world. CIA officials learned his nom de guerre from an al-Qaida militant picked up in Iraq: Sheikh Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. US officials described him a Pakistani brought up in Kuwait.

To the locals, however, he was simply a Pashtun businessman with an identity card issued in Charsadda, north of Peshawar. He and his brother seemed to be known by several names: Arshad and Tariq Khan, but also Rasheed, Ahmed and Nadeem. The gas bill was in the name of the elder brother, Arshad Khan, presumed to be the "courier" sought by the Americans. Oddly, the house had four separate gas connections. They kept largely to themselves, coming and going in a small white Suzuki van and a red jeep. But they joined in with neighbourhood rituals, condoling the bereaved, celebrating weddings and births. It may have been a necessary part of the cover story; to have done otherwise could have aroused greater suspicion.

"They weren't chatty," said Rasheed, a 32-year-old local shopkeeper, lounging behind his counter. He sold the brothers salty biscuits and chewy toffees when they visited with their seven children.

He refused to believe they had any links to Kuwait. "We absolutely believed they were Pashtuns," he said.

But he had noticed something odd. He had worked on the house as a labourer when it was being built, and had wondered why the brothers insisted that the walls should be 3ft thick.

In the end, the two brothers were Bin Laden's downfall. The CIA learned of Arshad Khan's identity four years ago, and after a two-year hunt learned that he lived in the Abbottabad area.

Then, last August, a Pakistani working for the CIA followed one of the brothers as he drove his Suzuki van from Peshawar, leading them to the house. In February, the CIA became convinced Bin Laden was inside, leading to last Sunday's raid.

The two brothers were killed, according to the CIA, along with Bin Laden and one of his sons, thought to be Khalid.

Many details, however, remain blurred. US officials amended their initial version to reveal that a woman who was killed during the raid on the compound was not Bin Laden's wife.

It is also not clear how Bin Laden, who was cornered in a third-floor room now marked by a shattered windowpane, resisted as the US soldiers barged into his room.

President Barack Obama insists the Navy Seals would have detained him if they could, but it is hard to imagine US officials would have relished either a trial or the spectacle of the al-Qaida leader being held in Guantánamo Bay.

Bin Laden's erstwhile neighbours, now in the gaze of the world's media, congregated outside his house. Some seemed angry, others bemused. One bearded man scolded his friends for speaking to the foreign press; others seemed to relish the attention, presenting themselves for detailed interviews about their brushes with the neighbour they never knew. A few displayed pro-Osama bravado. "I would have opened fire on the Americans myself if I had to defend him!" declared one man.

Others worried about more material problems. "It's going to destroy property prices in this area," muttered one. And there was a surreal moment when an Osama lookalike – a man with a thin face and a full, scraggly beard – turned before the front gate, triggering laughs and a flutter of camera shutters.

But there was no sign of life from a large neighbouring house, about 50 metres from Bin Laden's back wall, which also had a high perimeter wall and two watchtowers. Neighbours said it had been built three years ago by a man whose family has long owned property in the area. The nameplate read: Major Amir Aziz. Locals said he was a serving Pakistan army officer. Despite repeated rings on the doorbell, he refused to answer.

It is unclear what will happen now to the house that Osama built. It has become an embarrassment for Pakistan, a reminder of the fact that the world's most famous fugitive managed to live in suburban comfort, apparently undetected, for up to six years.

Some fear it could become a shrine of sorts for al-Qaida supporters, and so it may be destroyed. But failing that, it may simply be rented out again. It is, after all, an attractive property – spacious, well located, and fully fitted with advanced security features. In fact it's just the sort of house that is favoured by security-conscious US diplomats elsewhere in Pakistan. Perhaps they might consider taking it.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, in 1940, Lieutenant Kurokawa returns home as a honoured and decorated soldier, but deprived of his arms and legs lost in battle in mainland China.

Add this to your queue
Added: Tue May 03 19:39:08 UTC 2011
Air date: Fri May 06 18:05:47 UTC 2011
Duration: 01:29

Penguin's Book Country is a Brand New Online Community For Genre Fiction Writers And Readers [image]This week Penguin Group (USA) announced the soft launch of Book Country, an online community where readers and writers can come together to read original fiction, post work or comments, and make a name for themselves. The free, multi-faceted site, led by Book Country President Molly Barton, Penguin's Director of Business Development, defines "genre fiction" as all the subgenres of romance, mystery, thriller, science fiction, and fantasy. The site is a creative and supportive space where writers and readers can give and receive constructive criticism, discover new books, discuss and share tips and experiences, and learn about the publishing industry. Book Country also offers agents, publishers and editors a place to discover new voices. Later this year, Book Country will offer self-publishing services for eBooks and print books. Though owned by Penguin Group (USA), Book Country includes books from publishers across  the industry on the Genre Map, and staff members from all publishers are welcome to participate. "We created Book Country because while writing and publishing sites have proliferated in recent years, none were designed by publishing experts to create a more valuable pathway forward for new writers," explained Book Country President Molly Barton. The new site has already gained widespread national attention. An article on the front page of The New York Times Arts section ran on launch day. Publishers Weekly and Publishers Lunch also covered Tuesday's soft launch of the site, as Book Country's traction in the genre fiction community is growing rapidly. Follow Book Country on Facebook and Twitter. Beloved Betty White's If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't) is the Talk of the Nation [image]The book everyone has been buzzing about has finally arrived. Beloved seven-time Emmy winner Betty White brings her wit and wisdom to fans throughout the country with G. P. Putnam's Sons May 3 publication of If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't), a collection of all new material that includes her thoughtful observations and humorous stories that are funny, sweet, and to the point—just like Betty. The media blitz begins with a wonderful feature by Frank Bruni in The New York Times Arts Section this Sunday, May 1, followed closely by another major feature with photos in USA Today on Monday, May 2. On publication day, Betty will be making the rounds to the top television shows starting with an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, then on to co-host the The View, and over to CBS' Late Show with David Letterman to deliver the "Top 10" list on Wednesday, May 4. Other major media coverage kicks off with a stellar lineup of print features running in Newsweek, Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, USA Weekend, Thomson Reuters, AARP online, and a Books-A-Million BookPage cover story. Additional national television appearances include PBS' Tavis Smiley Show, CNN's Joy Behar, and the "Gayle King Show" on OWN and SIRIUS XM radio. Tune in to hear Betty on NPR's Weekend Edition, The Takeaway, and Leonard Lopate Show, as well as the syndicated Joan Hamburg Show, and Mitch Albom on ABC Radio. She will also reach homes across nationwide via television and radio satellite tours that will hit top markets throughout the country. Look out for reviews and book coverage in Entertainment Weekly, Ladies' Home Journal, TV Guide Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Time Out New York, Chicago Tribune's RedEye, and New York Magazine's popular "Vulture" blog. Fans will have a chance to meet Betty White during a two-week national book signing tour in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles that includes two on-stage conversations with Frank Bruni at TimesTalks in New York City and with actor Carl Reiner for Writers Bloc at The Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles. Additional book signings will take place at Barnes & Noble in Lake Grove, Long Island, the Fifth Avenue store in New York City, and Skokie, IL, as well as Costco in Marina del Ray and Book Soup in Los Angeles. Janny Scott's A Singular Woman Draws Major National Media Coverage [image]Stanley Ann Dunham, President Obama's mother, is the subject of a deeply reported and researched biography, A Singular Woman, by award-winning, New York Times reporter Janny Scott.  Little is known about the fiercely independent, spirited woman who raised the current president of the United States. Through her exhaustive research, Scott uncovered the full breadth of Dunham's life.  This acclaimed book has captured national attention in advance of its release by Riverhead on May 3.  A major national media campaign launched with an excerpt from the book in The New York Times Sunday Magazine. The piece ran as the cover story in the April 24th print edition of the magazine and was featured online on the Times' homepage last week. The online excerpt generated hundreds of comments and sparked a media frenzy, with blogs and websites across the country and all over the world picking it up, including Salon.com and New York Magazine. Salon called the excerpt "a tantalizing slice of what will likely become one of the most talked about books of the spring, and a compelling portrait of a woman whose unorthodox life would make for a compelling read even if her only son hadn't become the 44th president." On publication day, the author will appear on WHYY's Fresh Air, interviewed by Terry Gross; on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, in a live, in-studio interview; and on PRI's The Takeaway (one million listeners and airs on 50 stations nationwide). She will also be interviewed on PBS' The Charlie Rose Show and on WAMC FM's The Roundtable. In the following week, she will appear on C-SPAN's After Words. We've also scheduled interviews for Scott on Sirius XM's Bob Edwards and The Maggie Linton Show. Scott will also take part in a national tour, including appearances in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, and Chicago. On May 4, Scott is scheduled for an 18-20 city national radio satellite tour, followed by an 18-20 city national television satellite tour on May 5. Look for upcoming review coverage of A Singular Woman in The New York Times Sunday Book Review, The New York Times daily edition on May 3rd, USA Today, People Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe, among other publications. Five Penguin Group (USA) Books Lead USA Today's Preview of "May Books Not to Miss" [image]USA Today's "May Books Preview," featured prominently in the Life section of Thursday's edition of the paper, was led by five books published by Penguin Group (USA). Betty White's If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't), on sale May 3 from Putnam, is the lead title among "books not to miss in May" in a full-page spread on celebrity memoirs and biographies. The Story of How I Became a Man by Chaz Bono, to be published by Dutton on May 10, is also featured on this page.  USA Today reporter Carol Memmott focused on ten fiction and nonfiction books not to miss in May, and ranked #1 is A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother by Janny Scott, which goes on sale from Riverhead on May 3. Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks, being published May 3 by Viking, is #2.  The Immortal Story of Cleopatra: Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley, which goes on sale from Dutton on May 12, is #6.  Putnam and the Robert B. Parker Estate to Continue Publication of Parker's Top Best-Selling Series with New Authors [image]G. P. Putnam's Sons and the Robert B. Parker estate have come together to strike a deal that will allow Parker's top bestselling series, Spenser (39 novels since 1974) and Jesse Stone (9 novels since 1997), to continue in the hands of two new, highly respected and accomplished writers, Michael Brandman and Ace Atkins. Parker, who authored more than 60 novels between 1974 and 2010, most of them national best-sellers, passed away in January of 2010, after which his last few completed novels were published posthumously by Putnam. The final work, Sixkill, the 39th entry in the beloved Spenser series about the now-legendary Boston private detective who goes only by his surname, goes on sale May 3.   Joan Parker, Robert's widow, and his soul-mate since they met as teenagers in Massachusetts in the early 1950s, expressed her enthusiasm for the new arrangement with Putnam and the new authors: "I am delighted that the worlds of Spenser and Jesse Stone will live on in the capable, talented hands of such gifted writers," she stated.   Putnam President Ivan Held noted that "It is exciting to think that we can keep these two iconic characters that Bob invented going with the deft touches of our new authors, Michael Brandman and Ace Atkins under the eye of  Bob's longtime editor Chris Pepe. They have truly captured the voice that gave—and still gives—so many readers great pleasure." Putnam Executive Editor Chris Pepe recalled, "I started working with Bob Parker as a young editor more than twenty-three years ago. Although I was new to the publishing world, I knew Bob: he had long been one of my father's literary idols, and therefore became one of mine. How lucky for me, then, to work with him for all those years, on forty-seven incredible books. He was an absolute joy, and clearly very patient: he's the one who really taught me to be an editor, and so I owe him a tremendous debt. I'm thrilled that we have found two such talented writers to carry on Bob's work; they respect and understand the characters of Spenser and Jesse, and are ideal stewards to bring both series into the future." Michael Brandman is a long-established Hollywood producer and screenwriter who, with actor Tom Selleck, both co-wrote and produced the CBS television movies featuring Selleck as Parker's creation Jesse Stone, a small-town Massachusetts police chief, in such films as Stone Cold, Night Passage, Sea Change, and Death in Paradise. Ace Atkins, who will be continuing as the new author of the bestselling Spenser series, is already well-established with Putnam, having authored a number of well-received novels based on historical crimes and criminals, including White Shadow, Infamous, and Wicked City.  Atkins' next Putnam book, The Ranger, the first entry in a new series about Army Ranger Quinn Colson, goes on sale June 9.   See our full catalog of books by Robert B. Parker. Ace Editor in Chief Ginjer Buchanan, Ace Authors Alastair Reynolds and Allen M. Steele, and Viking/Penguin author Lev Grossman Nominated for Hugo Awards [image]The Hugo Awards, which are among the most prestigious awards in speculative fiction, are presented every year to highlight the most interesting, creative, and culturally significant works and achievements in  science fiction and fantasy writing. The 2011 Hugo Award nominations were announced on Sunday, April 24rd and Berkley's very own Ginjer Buchanan has been nominated for the "Best Editor, Long Form" Hugo Award. She is pictured here, on the left, with author Charlaine Harris. Buchanan has been an influential member of the Ace editorial team for more than 27 years, rising to the rank of Editor in Chief in 2007. She has edited some of the imprint's best -known writers, including Charlaine Harris, Charles Stross, and Robert Sawyer, as well as up and coming authors like Taylor Anderson. Joining Buchanan among this year's nominees are Ace authors Alastair Reynolds and Allen M. Steele, as well as Viking/Penguin's Lev Grossman. Reynolds is nominated for "Best Novella" for Troika, with fellow Ace author Steele nominated for "Best Novelette" for The Emperor of Mars. Grossman, author of The Magicians, is nominated for a John W. Campbell Award for "Best New Writer." The Hugo Award ceremony will take place at the World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, Nevada this August. Click here to see the full list of nominees. Please join us in congratulating our colleagues! The Penguin Press Acquires Pulitzer Prize Winner Ron Chernow's Biography of Ulysses S. Grant and a New Book on Innovation by California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom Ann Godoff, President and Publisher of The Penguin Press, announced this week the acquisition of new books by Pulitzer Prize winning-author Ron Chernow and California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom will show how citizens can use social media, technology and available government data to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and redesign government in their own image. This solution-driven book suggests that we are at the dawn of a revolutionary change in the way government and the people interact. "Gavin Newsom's employing what America does best—innovation—and using it to call for many local revolutions that will overcome the epidemic gridlock in our government bureaucracy," Godoff said. "Just as Apple's app store succeeded by tapping into the ingenuity of ordinary Americans, so can government harness the collective intelligence of citizens to help solve our greatest challenges," said Newsom. Publication is planned for Winter 2013. Ron Chernow, this year's winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his magisterial biography of George Washington, moves from that towering figure of the Revolutionary War to write a sweeping and comprehensive biography of his counterpart in the Civil War: Ulysses S. Grant. A publication date has not yet been determined. Read an excerpt from Washington: A Life. Bestselling Author C.J. Box Offers Readers His First eSpecial, The Master Falconer, Featuring Series Leads Joe Pickett and Nate Romanowski [image]This week, bestselling Putnam author C.J. Box released his first Penguin eSpecial, a short story called The Master Falconer. This is the second recent big first for Box, who recently made his first appearance on The New York Times hardcover fiction bestseller list with Cold Wind (Putnam). In the words of the Dallas Morning News, "With each new book, the New York Times best-selling author is cementing a national reputation as one of today's most authentic chroniclers of the American West."   The West is not the way it's portrayed in the movies—most of the time. But when a dangerous foreigner in a private jet brings trouble for master falconer Nate Romanowski and his trusted friend, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, it may just be time to Cowboy Up. Box is the author of 11 Joe Pickett novels and three stand-alone thrillers. He has won the Anthony, Macavity, Gumshoe and Barry Awards, as well as the French Prix Calibre .38, and has been an Edgar Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, all for the Pickett novels. His first stand-alone novel, Blue Heaven, won the Edgar Award for best novel of 2009. This eSpecial short story is an exciting new addition to the Joe Pickett series hailed by People Magazine as one that "combines harrowing adrenaline rushes with complex morality, humor, and a landscape described so vibrantly it seems to have a life all its own."   Tarcher Author's Ten-City "Hair Tour" Promotes The Internet is a Playground and Raises Funds for National Children's Cancer Society [image]Did you know that a lock of Justin Bieber's hair is currently on tour—with a bodyguard no less? Frenzied fans are lining up across the nation to get their picture taken with Bieber's hair for one dollar, with the proceeds going toward tsunami relief. Though Bieber's hair may not be stopping at bookstores, author David Thorne's hair will. His book, The Internet Is a Playground (Tarcher), is being promoted through a ten-city David Thorne Hair Tour to create buzz for the bitingly funny book, which has already pre-sold more than 2,000 copies. [image]According to Thorne's editor, Michael Solana: "Thorne declared war on Justin Bieber last month with his site HelpMeSellMoreBooksThanJustinBieber.com. A 10-city tour of his hair was kind of inevitable." Solana's enthusiasm is clear in the photo at left. A lock of Thorne's hair will spend three days at each participating store, and for every store on the tour route, Tarcher will donate $200 to the National Children's Cancer Society. The $1 fee customers pay to have their picture taken with the hallowed lock will also be donated to this cause. In addition to this unusual tour, which was mentioned in GalleyCat and will be in Shelf Awareness soon, the book was featured in the May issue of Wired and excerpted for their iPad app. It will be reviewed on BoingBoing, featured on PopMatters.com in a Q&A that will also run in papers via McClatchy, excerpted on nerve.com, and the subject of a Washington Post Live chat. Wired writes: "There is usually a fine line between genius and insanity, but in this case it has become very blurred. Some of the funniest and most clever writing I have read in years." Karen White's On Folly Beach Chosen as Finalist for The Southern Independent Booksellers Association 2011 Book Awards, as She Tours for her New NAL Novel, The Beach Trees [image]NAL author Karen White's bestselling novel On Folly Beach has been chosen as a finalist for the Southern Independent Booksellers Association 2011 Book Awards in the fiction category. Winners will be announced the first week of July. White sets off on a twenty-city tour next week for her new novel, The Beach Trees (New American Library Trade Paperback Original), travelling to such cities as Atlanta, Savannah, Charlotte, Charleston, Memphis, Lexington, Dallas, Houston, and Philadelphia for book signings. While on tour White will appear on WLMT-TV's "Eyewitness News this Morning" in Memphis, and on Clear Channel Radio in Savannah, GA, and she will be featured in local newspapers and magazines such as the Atlanta Intown Paper, Southern Seasons, and Southern Lady. The Beach Trees will also be reviewed in numerous local newspapers such as The Pilot and The Herald-Sun, while the author participates in a twenty-website blog tour for even more review coverage. [image]The Beach Trees is Penguin's May pick for the "What the World is Reading" program (penguin.com/whattheworldisreading). Carefully selected to introduce readers to new voices in fiction, "What the World is Reading" will host an online chat with White in May. The book will be featured on a special Facebook page (facebook.com/whattheworldisreading), and it will also be included in a promotional sampler and brochure that goes out to all key accounts. In addition, The Beach Trees will be a July BlogHer book club selection and it will receive reviews and attention on BlogHer.com, in newsletters, and on the BlogHer social networks. Read an excerpt from The Beach Trees. Military Science Fiction Reaches New Heights—Aboard NASA'S Endeavour [image]More specifically, the newest book from bestselling author Jack Campbell will reach a height of approximately 140 miles straight up. Published this week, The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught (Ace Books) is headed to outer space this Friday aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on NASA's STS-134 mission, which launched today. US Air Force Colonel Michael Fincke will bring a copy of The Lost Fleet with him when he embarks on a fourteen-day mission. Col. Fincke, who will be serving as Mission Specialist aboard Endeavour, has already read the six previous books in Campbell's series. In an email to Campbell and Ace Books, Fincke said that he is eager to "read the next installment of Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet while on the space shuttle."    Because of strict weight limits on the shuttle, Fincke requested that the latest installment in Campbell's The Lost Fleet series be sent to him in a digital format. Ace Books emailed a copy to Col. Fincke on the book's pub date, April 26th. The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught is the newest book in Campbell's bestselling military science fiction series—and the first to be published in hardcover. Campbell, who also writes as John Hemry, has a few book signings set up in May, including stops at a few military bases near San Diego and Washington, DC. For more information, visit his website at www.johnghemry.com. Read an excerpt from The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Dreadnaught. Ranger's Apprentice: Book Ten: The Emperor Of Nihon-Ja [image]John Flanagan's international bestselling Ranger's Apprentice series comes to a close this week with the publication of the final book in the series, Ranger's Apprentice: Book Ten: The Emperor Of Nihon-Ja. The popular series, which currently has more than three million copies in print, has attracted fans across the globe with its edge-of-your-seat adventures of Will, an orphan who becomes an apprentice Ranger, and his master, Halt, as they strive to keep their beloved kingdom of Araluen safe from threats and traitors. The series is so popular that it has not only been optioned for film but also adapted as a popular literary summer camp for kids. In its thrilling conclusion which The Wall Street Journal calls "[an] exciting mix of adventure, peril, wit and romance," a kingdom teeters on the edge of chaos, victory lies in the hands of an inexperienced group of fighters, and it's anybody's guess who will make the journey home to Araluen. John Flanagan is currently on a nine-city tour visiting schools and stores in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Phoenix, Houston, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New York City. Recent and upcoming media coverage includes Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Scripps Howard News Service, Creator's Syndicate, Savannah Morning News, San Jose Mercury News, Harrisburg Patriot News, Austin American-Statesman, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Wilmington News Journal, Bay Area Magazine, Mediabistro.com, and much more. Listen to an excerpt from The Emperor Of Nihon-Ja on audio! New Next Week A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, And The Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz (The Penguin Press, 5/2) [image]In A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, And The Things That Really Matter, literary critic William Deresiewicz looks back at his youth and eloquently explains how everything he learned in life he learned from reading Jane Austen. Anchoring his recollections in Austen's six great novels—Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abby, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility—Deresiewicz goes novel by novel, lesson by lesson, to marry the things Austen has to teach us with how he learned them in his own life. For the author, these six books challenge some of our most essential beliefs about the way we live: beliefs about growing up, making mistakes, and being happy. Look for upcoming reviews in the Boston Globe, Slate, Seattle Times, and Bloomberg. Features are also coming on Huffington Post, WowWow.com, and MarieClaire.com. An op-ed will also appear in The Wall Street Journal. How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley (Riverhead Trade Paperback, 5/3) [image]The paperback of New York Times-bestselling author Sloane Crosley's How Did You Get This Number drops on May 3, and the media definitely has her number. Crosley will appear as a pop culture panelist on The Joy Behar Show on May 19th. Online interviews include Interview magazine, Vanity Fair, Blackbook, and The Economist. Following an event at New York's McNally Jackson on May 4, Crosley hits the road on a national tour that includes events in Minneapolis, Miami, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. Local broadcast media includes "The Fox Morning News" in Minneapolis, KING-TV's "New Day Northwest" in Seattle and KXAN-TV's "News at Noon" in Austin, with print interviews running in The Miami Herald, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, Brooklyn Paper, and The East Bay Express. An oldie but goodie, Sloane Crosley comments on why question marks are dangerous in this episode of The Literary Life. Growing at the Speed of Life: A Year in the Life of My First Kitchen Garden by Graham Kerr (Perigee, 3/1) [image]Former "Galloping Gourmet" Graham Kerr, author of the new Growing at the Speed of Life: A Year in the Life of My First Kitchen Garden, has been busy this spring. While on tour in March, Kerr travelled to Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco for book signings and received feature coverage in USA Today and the Los Angeles Times, a cooking segment on Rachael Ray (which you can watch here), a national radio satellite tour to over fifteen markets, and interviews on Portland's KATU "AM Northwest" and San Francisco's KGO "View From the Bay." This week Kerr will head to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books for a cooking demonstration and book signing. He will demonstrate various ways one can use yogurt cheese in their meals and talk about his spring gardening plans. Following the festival, Kerr will return to New York to tape his second appearance on Rachael Ray for an episode focused on "food legends." Growing at the Speed of Life takes readers through the first year in Kerr's kitchen garden, sharing lessons learned from his circle of local knowledge providers. From putting together a greenhouse to planting his first seeds and harvesting and sharing his first crop with others in need, Kerr provides a tour through his gardening adventures and profiles sixty readily available garden vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Read an excerpt from Growing at the Speed of Life.

California governor candidates for 2014 are already being talked about.  Which potential candidates for California governor are generating buzz?

Which Democratic, Republican, Independent and third party candidates might battle for the nomination in the 2014 California primary election?  Who will politically survive all the way to the November 2014 general election?

Things will certainly change between now and the 2014 gubernatorial campaign season, but here are some names and faces in California politics currently being thrown around in political conversations on the 2014 governor's race:


Richard Aguirre, 44
Southern California
Democratic Party
Businessman, activist, former candidate for governor.
Jerry Brown, 73
Northern California
Democratic Party
34th and 39th Governor, former attorney general.
Carly Fiorina, 56
Northern California
Republican Party
Businesswoman, former candidate for US Senate.
Kevin McCarthy, 46
Central California
Republican Party
Congressman, former California state assemblyman.
Gavin Newsom, 43
Northern California
Democratic Party
Lieutenant Governor, former San Francisco mayor.
Chelene Nightingale, 44
Southern California
Constitution Party
Liberty activist, former candidate for governor.
Steve Poizner, 54
Northern California
Republican Party
Former insurance commissioner, governor candidate.
Michael Reagan, 65
Southern California
Republican Party
Conservative media personality, Republican strategist.
Loretta Sanchez, 51
Southern California
Democratic Party
Congresswoman, author and MBA graduate.

Oprah Winfrey, 57
Southern California
Democratic Party
Los Angeles television network CEO and publisher.

Police arrested eight people Monday and Tuesday nights in thefts from stores at the Natick Collection mall. At 7:40 p.m. Monday, police and loss prevention agents at the Macy’s store observed five teenagers on surveillance cameras concealing merchandise. Natick police Lieutenant Brian Grassey said the teenagers had $1,219.21 in Macy’s merchandise and hundreds of dollars in items from four other ...