| American Sell-Outs Take Chavez Blood Money
The more I see, the more I realize that almost no one really cares about right and wrong. They care about money and supporting anyone who opposes George W. Bush." Over a coffee last week with a high-level official of our government, that was the comment made to me regarding the Hugo Chavez-Citgo-Joe Kennedy II propaganda campaign now running across our nation. In TV commercials and in full-page print advertising, former Rep. Joe Kennedy thanks "our good friends in Venezuela" for helping to heat America's poor. Other than to accept blood money, the government official I spoke with was at a loss to understand why some in the American media would run ads by a thug who exploits and ignores the poor in his nation, creates fear in the region and is, as a major newspaper just described him, an ally to terrorists, drug traffickers and mass murderers.
Novel inspired by trials of Japan's royal females
John Burnham Schwartz never writes the same type of book twice. Bicycle Days owes much to the bildungsroman template, but its freshness comes from the contemporary Tokyo setting; Reservation Road (recently turned into a film) is a family drama that devolves into taut suspense; and Claire Marvel puts Schwartz's own spin on doomed romance. Now Schwartz returns with The Commoner, markedly different from the previous three novels by virtue of its setting within Japan's cloistered, secretive monarchy. Nevertheless, surface trappings belie the undercurrent running through Schwartz's work: the transformation of melodrama into something authentic, bravura moments made more real and palatable. The Commoner clearly would not exist if not for the real-life trials and tribulations of Japan's current Empress Michiko and her daughter-in-law, Princess Masako.
Fighting a war with two mobikes, one phone and no drinking water
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calls it the most serious internal security threat the ountry faces. The toll in Naxalite violence has surged over the last two years to almost one death each day. The Sunday Express reporters travel to police stations in the heart of Naxal country in six states. To find out how and why security personnel at the frontlines of this war are little more than sitting ducks .
June 2006
I know it's true," said Carol Henderson of Wareham, who lost one daughter to a car accident a decade ago and may now lose another. "Amy has injuries that you and I could not have survived." Amy Johnson, who moved from Wareham to Bridgewater just a few weeks ago, lost control of her car in the early morning and slammed into a tree near Exit 2 on I-495, suffering massive internal injuries. She remains in a coma in the intensive care unit of Brigham and Woman's Hospital. Carol was pregnant with Amy when her 3-year-old daughter Kristin suffered critical injuries in a car accident. Kristin fought to survive for seven more years. "Amy used to tell me how she talks to Kristen every day," Carol said. "I know she's talking to her now." In just 21 years, Amy touched the lives of so many around her.
Is Your Child’s Car Seat a Death Trap?
The Consumer Product Safety Commission keeps a list of recalls online, so you can check to find out if the car seat your child uses, or the one you plan to buy, is known to be defective. Some recalls simply involve replacing a defective part, while others mean replacing the entire unit. Common car seat defects and failures include:
• Buckle failure
• Harness failure
• Shoulder straps which come loose or unclip during an accident
• Area where the seat belt attaches to the car seat breaks or bends, allowing the seat to launch
• Separation of seat from base, allowing the seat to launch
• Inadequate support allows child to slip down in car seat during accident
• Poor shell design
• Padding inadequate to provide protection from injury Installation
More than 80% of car seats are improperly installed because the instruction manuals are too complicated or unclear.
February 2006 Archives
Approximately one in seven American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and more than 2 million Americans are living with breast cancer today. I am joining the more than 200,000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year." 2006 has been a pretty crappy year for Sheryl. In January, rumors swirled that her engagement to Lance Armstrong was coming to an end. They officially split on February 3 -- two months before their wedding. At the time Sheryl was appearing on numerous magazine covers, giving interviews about her impending nuptials. A week later, Sheryl faced the public at the Grammy Awards -- looking radiant and with her head held high. No word on whether Sheryl shared the news with her ex-fiance, but I suspect that she has.
In Britain, a Campaign Against Obesity Is Snarled in Controversy
LONDON The campaign against AIDS has its red ribbons. The movement against poverty has its white wristbands. And if the advertising industry has its way, the effort to curb obesity may soon get its own instantly recognizable symbol. But then again, maybe not. The British government has made a big commitment to promoting the benefits of weight loss, the centerpiece of which is a three-year advertising campaign announced last month with a budget of £75 million ($146 million). But disagreements over the scope of the campaign particularly over whether it is proper to let companies that make high-calorie and high-fat foods participate have been clouding the effort before a single commercial (or logo) is made. Everyone agrees on the problem: Nearly two-thirds of adults and about one-third of children in Britain are overweight or obese, health officials say.
Toll road paves way to growth in Orange
The Maitland Boulevard extension, Orange County's first new major east-west route in a decade, is intended to ease traffic by creating a bypass around Apopka as well as provide links between roads such as S.R. 429, U.S. 441 and I-4. (GEORGE SKENE, ORLANDO SENTINEL / February 19, 2008) .
Recent recalls: Girls' Trek bicycles, candle charms
Trek Bicycle Corp., of Waterloo, Wis. has issued a voluntary recall of about 49,000 girls' Trek bicycles because the frames can break during use, causing the rider to lose control and suffer injuries, according to a press release from the U.S. Consumer Product Comission. .
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