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All rights reserved. webmaster@world-of-newave.com (Webmaster) Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:43:18 GMT Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:43:18 GMT Newave Lisa XML Engine v1.0 - http://www.world-of-newave.info/about.htm 60 http://www.world-of-newave.info/images/wi8831.gif World-of-Newave.info - Knowledge and Informational Database http://www.world-of-newave.info/ 88 31 {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - The first great American play of the 21st century http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/the-first-great-american-play-of-the-21st-century-20081125632.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/the-first-great-american-play-of-the-21st-century-20081125632.htm Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:04:54 GMT Sam Shepard, the American playwright, when asked why he wrote so much about family, answered: 'What else is there?' Tracy Letts likes to borrow the quote, and it is easy to see why. Letts is the author of August: Osage County, an epic tragicomedy about family that has taken America by storm. His new play is the feted youngest member of American drama's extended, dysfunctional family - a natural heir (or, perhaps, wayward stepchild) to Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee and Eugene O'Neill. Steppenwolf's production first triumphed in its Chicago hometown, and then on Broadway (where serious work is often drowned out by the sound of musicals), and went on to capture the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, five Tony awards and the nation's imagination. Rachel Weisz described seeing it as one of her 'top 10 nights in the theatre ever'. Tracey Ullman told Deanna Dunagan, the actress who plays Violet - the bitter, addicted matriarch at the centre of the family web - that she recognised her own mother in Dunagan's performance. And Patrick Stewart paid the cast the awkward compliment of leaving after the first act because he found it too close to home (he promises to return). A film adaptation - with the Weinstein company - is now planned. But it is not just celebrities that are hooked. Family as a subject speaks to everyone - especially when pain and laughter collide.This week the show opens at the National Theatre in London. And it seems incredible that Steppenwolf have not been seen in the capital since their stunning, sell-out adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath in 1989. The Chicago company first flared into life in the mid-Seventies. Its founders helped themselves - rather cheekily - to the title of Hermann Hesse's novel (even though no one had actually read Steppenwolf). But the name appealed: it sounded arresting, original, bold - and Steppenwolf was all these things. The founders were three boys barely out of school: Gary Sinise, Jeff Perry and Terry Kinney. They had energy, nerve and style. And the company, although peripatetic for years, became renowned for its risk-taking and up-front ferocity. This was where John Malkovich, John Mahoney and Joan Allen started their careers -and many other Steppenwolf stars have blown from the windy city to New York and Hollywood. Yet the company has always commanded loyalty and first-rate actors who wanted to stay on. Their return to London is an event in itself. Before meeting the cast, I rang Tracy Letts in Chicago to ask about the family tree that inspired his play. Letts is 43 and has been an actor and Steppenwolf member since 2002. He is the author of several smaller-scale pieces (including Killer Joe and Bug - defined by one critic as 'trailer park noir'). Letts told me about the suicide of his maternal grandfather - a labourer who drowned in a lake. It's a story that has haunted Letts all his life. 'His death has always been a mystery and not one I remotely solve.' Instead, his grandfather's suicide exists in the play as the question from which everything else follows. His wife, Violet, is based on Letts's grandmother who became an addict after her husband's death. (Letts himself, more than a decade ago, battled with alcohol and drug addiction.)He grew up in Oklahoma and does not regard his own family as having been unhappy. His mother, Billie, is a novelist; his father, Dennis, was a literature professor. And it is his relationship with his father that is key to understanding him and the production. Steppenwolf boldly cast Tracy's father (who had, extraordinarily enough, taken on a second career as an actor) in the role of grandfather. He played in Chicago to great acclaim before briefly transferring to Broadway. But in November 2007 he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He left the show in January, died in February. He was 73. Dennis had believed absolutely in his son's play but never lived to see its laurels. For Tracy, this was devastating. The overlap between what was happening on stage and the drama of losing his father was 'the most emotionally powerful thing of my life'. On the night of the Pulitzer ceremony, he could not feel conventionally celebratory. Instead he was overtaken by a rage he could neither subdue nor explain. 'It was complicated. As my shrink said: we're not wind-up dolls. I could not access the feelings I was supposed to feel.'Letts has a highly developed emotional intelligence. In particular - and it is what makes his play powerful - he understands the force of what is not being said. It is difficult to feel to order - expecting an emotion may make it take flight. He expected his mother to be upset by his portrait of her mother - and she was. But he could never have predicted her verdict: 'You have been very kind to her,' she said. His mother seems to have a way of finding the right thing to say. Apparently - I gathered later from a cast member - she offered her son, after his father's death, the thought that for Dennis, his involvement in the play was 'the cherry on top of the sundae'. She told Tracy: 'Your Dad could not have picked a better last chapter.'The cast of charactersI met the actors on their first day in London - jet-lagged but buoyant. I had decided to pick half a dozen key family members (the cast is 13-strong) and ask each of them to begin by talking in character, to make it possible not only to ask personal questions but to reveal exactly how dysfunctional this American family is. The poky interview room at the National came perfectly equipped - with a couch.Jeff PerryActor, teacher, co-founder of Steppenwolf. He plays Bill Fordham, a married professor in his fifties having an affair with a student half his age. Perry is delightful yet distrait, with a way of holding one hand up like a traffic policeman, hoping to halt or redirect his thoughts.'I am Bill Fordham. When challenged, I defend myself with verbal analysis. My marriage is in dire trouble. I am on the second half of the mortal merry-go-round. My wife does not understand, accept or particularly like my hard-wiring. I look forward to hitting the refresh button in my new relationship.' This makes unpleasant listening because Perry's Bill entirely lacks remorse. I banish him, with relief, in order to ask Perry about the company he co-founded in 1976. He is thrilled, he says, that Steppenwolf now has, in Letts, a writer of international stature. And he explains that Steppenwolf has always been defined by its ensemble work: 'We made a religion of communication between ourselves as actors. That has been the unchanging way in which we have measured our success and failure.'Amy MortonActor, director and Steppenwolf member since 1997. She has been in many of the company's productions, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Morton plays Bill's estranged wife. She is an angular beauty and in every way sympathetic but, in character, talks with injured defiance.'I am Barbara Fordham. I am 47. My qualities are my sense of humour. Loyalty. Passion. Yes - passion. It goes into my anger. My marriage is challenging but I am not to blame. I am not the one who left for someone younger. Bill won't talk to me. I am more than willing to talk to him. My daughter's drug problem? You'll have to talk to her father about it.'What has it been like to play Barbara? 'There are days when you'd rather peel the skin off your face than go on stage,' Morton says. After a recent rehearsal: 'I went home in an edgy, foul humour and realised: "Oh, right, it's her." She is very frustrated, angry and sad. The older you get as an actor, the less you bring it home, but if you do a role for more than a year, it's going to take its psychic toll.' She admits: 'I feel this character in my bones.'Molly Ranson Making her professional debut. She plays troubled, 14-year-old, dope-smoking Jean - Bill and Barbara's daughter. Ranson, unlike her character, is full of shining optimism. 'I have just found out Dad is sleeping with one of his students. Recently, Mum hasn't been there for me, nor has Dad. It all happened suddenly: we were happy, then my grandfather went missing. When did I start smoking pot? During 8th grade.' Jean represents family history - the addictive gene - repeating itself. Her 'inability to face reality,' Ranson suggests, is 'representative of many Americans'. She likens the play to 'watching a car accident. You feel you shouldn't be there but you can't look away.' The humour is 'real, terrifying and dark'.Deanna DunaganWon a Tony award, among others, for her performance as Violet Weston. Has been in eight Steppenwolf productions. Dunagan is poised, eloquent and diffident. In character, she is unnervingly deluded, unable to face up to being an addict. And she reminds us how often family is about front.'I am Violet. I am 67. I have to take many pills - but I don't agree that I have a problem. I have a bad back and knees. I am a survivor. I have been a good mother. I love my girls. Barbara left - she just left. In my day, families stayed together. Barbara is quite smart. Ivy, my daughter who stayed at home, could find a good husband. Karen - has gone away. Regrets? I wish I had been able to make a mark in the world. But my girls are good people and that is an achievement.'Dunagan believes that audiences want to 'find the key to how to live in a family. There will always be problems. Even if you love each other deeply. You'll be hurt. It's inevitable. Everyone comes to the theatre hungry to see another family's pain.'Rondi ReedMember of Steppenwolf since 1979. Has appeared in more than 60 company productions. She won a Tony as Mattie Fae. Reed is ebullient, warm, with a jesting energy. 'I am Mattie Fae, Violet's sister. I am 57. I am gregarious and sexy for my age. I am a goer, a doer, an organiser. I am well provided for by my husband in the upholstery business and I'm upholstered in every sense - always fighting my weight. I have a wonderful sense of humour. But my son is a trial to me. My sister is having big problems. Do I have faults? I like too many sweet things. I probably give people too many chances.' Reed laughs, exclaiming at how similar she and Mattie Fae are. That's not surprising: the part was written for her.Kimberly GuerreroPlays the Native American servant. She grew up near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where the play is set. TV appearances include The Sopranos. Guerrero has an uplifting spirit and pride in her role.'I am Johnna. Some people think Native Americans no longer exist, or that we are inarticulate. My role is to embrace the compassion and wisdom of my culture. Native Americans see death as not so far from the beauty of birth - as its photo-negative. We don't look at life as linear, we see it as a circle.' Letts has described his play as a 'political parable' - a portrait of America. It is no coincidence, as Amy Morton points out, that the play begins (and ends) with a Native American. Morton believes the play reflects the 'mess of the American story and the beauty of it'. Rondi Reed sees the play as being about addiction and a 'toxicity that has pervaded the American psyche'. As a cast of Democrats, they all felt that if John McCain had won the US presidential election, the play would have had a 'sadder reception'. But, as Deanna Dunagan asserts: 'Since Obama has been elected, everything has changed. We were all so embarrassed, depressed, fearful and disgusted with what was happening in our country. Now there is hope. It is astonishing what one day can do in the life of a nation.' And it changes the way they feel about coming to London. Rondi explains: 'It makes us come here with our heads held high, as opposed to slinking through the back door.'? August: Osage County opens on Wednesday at the National Theatre, London SE1Theatreguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Guardian.Co.Uk The first great American play of the 21st century {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - Sam Shepard, the American playwright, when asked why he wrote so much about family, answered: 'What else is there?' Tracy Letts likes to borrow the quote, and it is easy to see why. Letts is the author of August: Osage County, an epic tragicomedy about family that has taken America by storm. His new play is the feted youngest member of American drama's extended, dysfunctional family - a natural heir (or, perhaps, wayward stepchild) to Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee and Eugene O'Neill. Steppenwolf's production first triumphed in its Chicago hometown, and then on Broadway (where serious work is often drowned out by the sound of musicals), and went on to capture the 2008 Pulitzer Prize, five Tony awards and the nation's imagination. Rachel Weisz described seeing it as one of her 'top 10 nights in the theatre ever'. Tracey Ullman told Deanna Dunagan, the actress who plays Violet - the bitter, addicted matriarch at the centre of the family web - that she recognised her own mother in Dunagan's performance. And Patrick Stewart paid the cast the awkward compliment of leaving after the first act because he found it too close to home (he promises to return). A film adaptation - with the Weinstein company - is now planned. But it is not just celebrities that are hooked. Family as a subject speaks to everyone - especially when pain and laughter collide.This week the show opens at the National Theatre in London. And it seems incredible that Steppenwolf have not been seen in the capital since their stunning, sell-out adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath in 1989. The Chicago company first flared into life in the mid-Seventies. Its founders helped themselves - rather cheekily - to the title of Hermann Hesse's novel (even though no one had actually read Steppenwolf). But the name appealed: it sounded arresting, original, bold - and Steppenwolf was all these things. The founders were three boys barely out of school: Gary Sinise, Jeff Perry and Terry Kinney. They had energy, nerve and style. And the company, although peripatetic for years, became renowned for its risk-taking and up-front ferocity. This was where John Malkovich, John Mahoney and Joan Allen started their careers -and many other Steppenwolf stars have blown from the windy city to New York and Hollywood. Yet the company has always commanded loyalty and first-rate actors who wanted to stay on. Their return to London is an event in itself. Before meeting the cast, I rang Tracy Letts in Chicago to ask about the family tree that inspired his play. Letts is 43 and has been an actor and Steppenwolf member since 2002. He is the author of several smaller-scale pieces (including Killer Joe and Bug - defined by one critic as 'trailer park noir'). Letts told me about the suicide of his maternal grandfather - a labourer who drowned in a lake. It's a story that has haunted Letts all his life. 'His death has always been a mystery and not one I remotely solve.' Instead, his grandfather's suicide exists in the play as the question from which everything else follows. His wife, Violet, is based on Letts's grandmother who became an addict after her husband's death. (Letts himself, more than a decade ago, battled with alcohol and drug addiction.)He grew up in Oklahoma and does not regard his own family as having been unhappy. His mother, Billie, is a novelist; his father, Dennis, was a literature professor. And it is his relationship with his father that is key to understanding him and the production. Steppenwolf boldly cast Tracy's father (who had, extraordinarily enough, taken on a second career as an actor) in the role of grandfather. He played in Chicago to great acclaim before briefly transferring to Broadway. But in November 2007 he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He left the show in January, died in February. He was 73. Dennis had believed absolutely in his son's play but never lived to see its laurels. For Tracy, this was devastating. The overlap between what was happening on stage and the drama of losing his father was 'the most emotionally powerful thing of my life'. On the night of the Pulitzer ceremony, he could not feel conventionally celebratory. Instead he was overtaken by a rage he could neither subdue nor explain. 'It was complicated. As my shrink said: we're not wind-up dolls. I could not access the feelings I was supposed to feel.'Letts has a highly developed emotional intelligence. In particular - and it is what makes his play powerful - he understands the force of what is not being said. It is difficult to feel to order - expecting an emotion may make it take flight. He expected his mother to be upset by his portrait of her mother - and she was. But he could never have predicted her verdict: 'You have been very kind to her,' she said. His mother seems to have a way of finding the right thing to say. Apparently - I gathered later from a cast member - she offered her son, after his father's death, the thought that for Dennis, his involvement in the play was 'the cherry on top of the sundae'. She told Tracy: 'Your Dad could not have picked a better last chapter.'The cast of charactersI met the actors on their first day in London - jet-lagged but buoyant. I had decided to pick half a dozen key family members (the cast is 13-strong) and ask each of them to begin by talking in character, to make it possible not only to ask personal questions but to reveal exactly how dysfunctional this American family is. The poky interview room at the National came perfectly equipped - with a couch.Jeff PerryActor, teacher, co-founder of Steppenwolf. He plays Bill Fordham, a married professor in his fifties having an affair with a student half his age. Perry is delightful yet distrait, with a way of holding one hand up like a traffic policeman, hoping to halt or redirect his thoughts.'I am Bill Fordham. When challenged, I defend myself with verbal analysis. My marriage is in dire trouble. I am on the second half of the mortal merry-go-round. My wife does not understand, accept or particularly like my hard-wiring. I look forward to hitting the refresh button in my new relationship.' This makes unpleasant listening because Perry's Bill entirely lacks remorse. I banish him, with relief, in order to ask Perry about the company he co-founded in 1976. He is thrilled, he says, that Steppenwolf now has, in Letts, a writer of international stature. And he explains that Steppenwolf has always been defined by its ensemble work: 'We made a religion of communication between ourselves as actors. That has been the unchanging way in which we have measured our success and failure.'Amy MortonActor, director and Steppenwolf member since 1997. She has been in many of the company's productions, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Morton plays Bill's estranged wife. She is an angular beauty and in every way sympathetic but, in character, talks with injured defiance.'I am Barbara Fordham. I am 47. My qualities are my sense of humour. Loyalty. Passion. Yes - passion. It goes into my anger. My marriage is challenging but I am not to blame. I am not the one who left for someone younger. Bill won't talk to me. I am more than willing to talk to him. My daughter's drug problem? You'll have to talk to her father about it.'What has it been like to play Barbara? 'There are days when you'd rather peel the skin off your face than go on stage,' Morton says. After a recent rehearsal: 'I went home in an edgy, foul humour and realised: "Oh, right, it's her." She is very frustrated, angry and sad. The older you get as an actor, the less you bring it home, but if you do a role for more than a year, it's going to take its psychic toll.' She admits: 'I feel this character in my bones.'Molly Ranson Making her professional debut. She plays troubled, 14-year-old, dope-smoking Jean - Bill and Barbara's daughter. Ranson, unlike her character, is full of shining optimism. 'I have just found out Dad is sleeping with one of his students. Recently, Mum hasn't been there for me, nor has Dad. It all happened suddenly: we were happy, then my grandfather went missing. When did I start smoking pot? During 8th grade.' Jean represents family history - the addictive gene - repeating itself. Her 'inability to face reality,' Ranson suggests, is 'representative of many Americans'. She likens the play to 'watching a car accident. You feel you shouldn't be there but you can't look away.' The humour is 'real, terrifying and dark'.Deanna DunaganWon a Tony award, among others, for her performance as Violet Weston. Has been in eight Steppenwolf productions. Dunagan is poised, eloquent and diffident. In character, she is unnervingly deluded, unable to face up to being an addict. And she reminds us how often family is about front.'I am Violet. I am 67. I have to take many pills - but I don't agree that I have a problem. I have a bad back and knees. I am a survivor. I have been a good mother. I love my girls. Barbara left - she just left. In my day, families stayed together. Barbara is quite smart. Ivy, my daughter who stayed at home, could find a good husband. Karen - has gone away. Regrets? I wish I had been able to make a mark in the world. But my girls are good people and that is an achievement.'Dunagan believes that audiences want to 'find the key to how to live in a family. There will always be problems. Even if you love each other deeply. You'll be hurt. It's inevitable. Everyone comes to the theatre hungry to see another family's pain.'Rondi ReedMember of Steppenwolf since 1979. Has appeared in more than 60 company productions. She won a Tony as Mattie Fae. Reed is ebullient, warm, with a jesting energy. 'I am Mattie Fae, Violet's sister. I am 57. I am gregarious and sexy for my age. I am a goer, a doer, an organiser. I am well provided for by my husband in the upholstery business and I'm upholstered in every sense - always fighting my weight. I have a wonderful sense of humour. But my son is a trial to me. My sister is having big problems. Do I have faults? I like too many sweet things. I probably give people too many chances.' Reed laughs, exclaiming at how similar she and Mattie Fae are. That's not surprising: the part was written for her.Kimberly GuerreroPlays the Native American servant. She grew up near Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where the play is set. TV appearances include The Sopranos. Guerrero has an uplifting spirit and pride in her role.'I am Johnna. Some people think Native Americans no longer exist, or that we are inarticulate. My role is to embrace the compassion and wisdom of my culture. Native Americans see death as not so far from the beauty of birth - as its photo-negative. We don't look at life as linear, we see it as a circle.' Letts has described his play as a 'political parable' - a portrait of America. It is no coincidence, as Amy Morton points out, that the play begins (and ends) with a Native American. Morton believes the play reflects the 'mess of the American story and the beauty of it'. Rondi Reed sees the play as being about addiction and a 'toxicity that has pervaded the American psyche'. As a cast of Democrats, they all felt that if John McCain had won the US presidential election, the play would have had a 'sadder reception'. But, as Deanna Dunagan asserts: 'Since Obama has been elected, everything has changed. We were all so embarrassed, depressed, fearful and disgusted with what was happening in our country. Now there is hope. It is astonishing what one day can do in the life of a nation.' And it changes the way they feel about coming to London. Rondi explains: 'It makes us come here with our heads held high, as opposed to slinking through the back door.'? August: Osage County opens on Wednesday at the National Theatre, London SE1Theatreguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
The first great American play of the 21st century | Stage | The Observer {...} Playwright Tracy Letts talks about his Pulitzer Prize-winning work while the actors talk in character about their roles {...}
Published: November 23, 2008, 12:04 am - Indexed: November 23, 2008, 1:36 pm - Page Size: 89KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Canavan picks up honorary degree http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/news-and-media/canavan-picks-up-honorary-degree-20081159431.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/news-and-media/canavan-picks-up-honorary-degree-20081159431.htm Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:58:08 GMT Former MSP Dennis Canavan is among those being given honorary degrees by the University of Stirling. News.Bbc.Co.Uk Canavan picks up honorary degree {new window}   News.Bbc.Co.Uk - Former MSP Dennis Canavan is among those being given honorary degrees by the University of Stirling.
BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Canavan picks up honorary degree {...}
Published: November 21, 2008, 11:58 am - Indexed: November 21, 2008, 12:47 pm - Page Size: 44KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Scotland > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Scotland > News and Media {ISSUES > BIAS AND BALANCE} - Dennis Miller: "[W]omen on the left hate" Palin "because to me ... it appears that she has a great sex life" http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/dennis-miller-w-omen-on-the-left-hate-palin-because-20081154714.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/society/issues/business/media/bias-and-balance/dennis-miller-w-omen-on-the-left-hate-palin-because-20081154714.htm Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:54:37 GMT As noted by Gawker.com, on the November 12 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, radio host Dennis Miller stated of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R): "I think the left hate her -- mostly women on the left hate her, because to me, from outside in, it appears that she has a great sex life." He continued, "I think she has non-neurotic sex with that Todd Palin guy. I think most of the women on the Upper East Side, their husbands haven't been aroused since [Norman] Mailer signed copy of The Executioner's Song at Rizzoli's back in the early '70s." Miller also said in reference to the Palins, "[T]hat snowmobile looks like mechanized foreplay to me, and that's why people are fascinated by it." Moments later, host Bill O'Reilly asked, "You think that because she looks like a happy, wedded mom with not so much neurosis, that these people are going, 'We have to hate her'?" Miller responded, in part: "It's like Tina Fey's movie Mean Girls. Women are mean to other women. They look at her, she looks happy, a lot of them aren't, and they're cranky about her." Later in the discussion, after Miller said that President-elect Barack Obama "ought to flatten these punks at AIG [American International Group]," O'Reilly stated, "OK, and then arrest [Rep.] Barney Frank [D-MA], correct?" As the blog Think Progress noted, Miller replied, "Barney might want to be arrested." In response, O'Reilly said, "Oh, jeez. Ugh," and shuddered. He continued, "OK, Dennis Miller, everybody. I told you to hide the kids." Before going to a commercial break, O'Reilly added, "Next up, a viewer warning -- I'm sorry I didn't give you one before Miller." From the November 12 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor: O'REILLY: Now, the Sarah Palin hysteria. I mean, can you believe she's getting more ink now than the president-elect is getting? Didn't she lose? It looks like she won. MILLER: Listen, she's a great dame. People are fascinated by her because the left hate her. I think the left hate her -- mostly women on the left hate her, because to me, from outside in, it appears that she has a great sex life. All right? I think she has non-neurotic sex with that Todd Palin guy. I think most of the women on the Upper East Side, their husbands haven't been aroused since Mailer signed copy of The Executioner's Song at Rizzoli's back in the early '70s. So they look at her, and they hate her. I think that snowmobile looks like mechanized foreplay to me, and that's why people are fascinated by it. O'REILLY: So you think that -- cutting through all of the metaphors that even I don't even understand. Rizzoli's used to be a bookstore. You think that because she looks like a happy, wedded mom with -- MILLER: Yeah. O'REILLY: -- not so much neurosis, that these people are going, "We have to hate her"? It's -- what, it's schadenfreude? Is that -- how do you say that? German? MILLER: It's called schadenfreude. O'REILLY: Schadenfreude. [unintelligible] MILLER: The Germans concocted it. It's one's vague pleasure in another's discomfort. Leave it to the Germans, by the way, to concoct an intricate glossary of pain terminology. But I think people have -- I think people have schadenfreude about her. It's like Tina Fey's movie Mean Girls. Women are mean to other women. They look at her, she looks happy, a lot of them aren't, and they're cranky about her. Plus, you know, she's still viable to me. Katie Couric is not going to be the interlocutor that turns me off Sarah Palin. For God's sakes, does anybody remember Katie Couric during her first month on the job? Bill Paley and Ed Murrow were turning over in their graves so fast that they resembled the twin screws on the Thunderball boat, the Disco Volante, when they threw it into hydrofoil mode. O'REILLY: I guess that's a James Bond reference there? MILLER: I don't even -- Billy, I have no idea. Help me. Help me, for God's sake. O'REILLY: Miller, I hate to say this, but I think you may be beyond help. I think Bordello of Blood was it. Now, you've been reassessing in the last -- in the last eight days the presidential vote. And what conclusions, Miller, have you come to? MILLER: Well, two. I'm kind of happy now that it's over. Because when they showed Grant Park that night and I saw the looks on the face of some of the black elders looking up, who had been pushed aside to lunch counters and bathrooms, and I saw that catharsis, I thought, well, I intellectualized this would be good for the country in that way. I had no idea the depth of feeling. It pleases my heart. I'm happy for them. Also, the guy looks so smart to me. I didn't believe anything he said when he was running. But now I know he's so smart that when two dim, mindless magpies like [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid [D-NV] and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [D-CA] trundle down there to sell their tired Willy Loman wares, he's going to pay them lip service. The moment they split, he's going to look at [incoming White House chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel and go, "Sharp elbows, dull intellects. We're not listening to those cats. Do you think I worked this hard to get to this point that I'm going to parrot what those two idiots say?" So I like the fact that he's really smart. And you know something? He's my president now. And I am not going to do what the left did to Bush. I find it unbecoming. I hope that Barack Obama does so well that four years hence, I am salivating to vote for him. I want this all to work, because I love my country. At some point, I make Lee Greenwood look like the Rosenbergs. And I hope he does great. But I will not turn my back on George Bush. Today, 2,619 days since a domestic terror attack on this soil. Thank you to my commander in chief, and thank you to the troops for providing us the safety to have an election like that. O'REILLY: Absolutely. Now, how skeptical are you going to -- I think your sentiment is noble, by the way. And particularly in this dangerous economic time when people are really suffering, you've got to root for Obama to get the economy back on track and lessen suffering. But how skeptical are you going to be? And how -- and what is my watchdog role? See, I'm setting myself up to watch Barack Obama. You know, and I'm going to be fair about it. There's no doubt I'll be fair. But I'm going to very -- you know, watch him closer than I watched Bush because I didn't watch Bush close enough. I didn't. I admit it. I should have. So, how skeptical are you going to be about Obama? Are you going to bring a skepticism in from the beginning? MILLER: I'm always skeptical about guys who want to be president, because it seems like its own form of madness to me. But I'll tell you, if he wants to earn my goodwill and the goodwill of a lot of people, he ought to flatten these punks at AIG who keep taking -- these guys party. They make Caligula look like a shut-in. Enough is enough. We just gave them $150 billion. We've got to follow them around with hidden cameras. Take it all back, let them go away. It's economic Darwinism. If they want to spend like that, they should go under. Forget the parties, you guys. And I think that he ought to come down hard on them right now. O'REILLY: OK, and then arrest Barney Frank, correct? MILLER: Barney might want to be arrested. O'REILLY: Oh, jeez. Ugh. [shudders] OK, Dennis Miller, everybody. I told you to hide the kids. Next up, a viewer warning -- I'm sorry I didn't give you one before Miller. Mediamatters.Org Dennis Miller: "[W]omen on the left hate" Palin "because to me ... it appears that she has a great sex life" {new window}   Mediamatters.Org - As noted by Gawker.com, on the November 12 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, radio host Dennis Miller stated of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R): "I think the left hate her -- mostly women on the left hate her, because to me, from outside in, it appears that she has a great sex life." He continued, "I think she has non-neurotic sex with that Todd Palin guy. I think most of the women on the Upper East Side, their husbands haven't been aroused since [Norman] Mailer signed copy of The Executioner's Song at Rizzoli's back in the early '70s." Miller also said in reference to the Palins, "[T]hat snowmobile looks like mechanized foreplay to me, and that's why people are fascinated by it." Moments later, host Bill O'Reilly asked, "You think that because she looks like a happy, wedded mom with not so much neurosis, that these people are going, 'We have to hate her'?" Miller responded, in part: "It's like Tina Fey's movie Mean Girls. Women are mean to other women. They look at her, she looks happy, a lot of them aren't, and they're cranky about her." Later in the discussion, after Miller said that President-elect Barack Obama "ought to flatten these punks at AIG [American International Group]," O'Reilly stated, "OK, and then arrest [Rep.] Barney Frank [D-MA], correct?" As the blog Think Progress noted, Miller replied, "Barney might want to be arrested." In response, O'Reilly said, "Oh, jeez. Ugh," and shuddered. He continued, "OK, Dennis Miller, everybody. I told you to hide the kids." Before going to a commercial break, O'Reilly added, "Next up, a viewer warning -- I'm sorry I didn't give you one before Miller." From the November 12 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor: O'REILLY: Now, the Sarah Palin hysteria. I mean, can you believe she's getting more ink now than the president-elect is getting? Didn't she lose? It looks like she won. MILLER: Listen, she's a great dame. People are fascinated by her because the left hate her. I think the left hate her -- mostly women on the left hate her, because to me, from outside in, it appears that she has a great sex life. All right? I think she has non-neurotic sex with that Todd Palin guy. I think most of the women on the Upper East Side, their husbands haven't been aroused since Mailer signed copy of The Executioner's Song at Rizzoli's back in the early '70s. So they look at her, and they hate her. I think that snowmobile looks like mechanized foreplay to me, and that's why people are fascinated by it. O'REILLY: So you think that -- cutting through all of the metaphors that even I don't even understand. Rizzoli's used to be a bookstore. You think that because she looks like a happy, wedded mom with -- MILLER: Yeah. O'REILLY: -- not so much neurosis, that these people are going, "We have to hate her"? It's -- what, it's schadenfreude? Is that -- how do you say that? German? MILLER: It's called schadenfreude. O'REILLY: Schadenfreude. [unintelligible] MILLER: The Germans concocted it. It's one's vague pleasure in another's discomfort. Leave it to the Germans, by the way, to concoct an intricate glossary of pain terminology. But I think people have -- I think people have schadenfreude about her. It's like Tina Fey's movie Mean Girls. Women are mean to other women. They look at her, she looks happy, a lot of them aren't, and they're cranky about her. Plus, you know, she's still viable to me. Katie Couric is not going to be the interlocutor that turns me off Sarah Palin. For God's sakes, does anybody remember Katie Couric during her first month on the job? Bill Paley and Ed Murrow were turning over in their graves so fast that they resembled the twin screws on the Thunderball boat, the Disco Volante, when they threw it into hydrofoil mode. O'REILLY: I guess that's a James Bond reference there? MILLER: I don't even -- Billy, I have no idea. Help me. Help me, for God's sake. O'REILLY: Miller, I hate to say this, but I think you may be beyond help. I think Bordello of Blood was it. Now, you've been reassessing in the last -- in the last eight days the presidential vote. And what conclusions, Miller, have you come to? MILLER: Well, two. I'm kind of happy now that it's over. Because when they showed Grant Park that night and I saw the looks on the face of some of the black elders looking up, who had been pushed aside to lunch counters and bathrooms, and I saw that catharsis, I thought, well, I intellectualized this would be good for the country in that way. I had no idea the depth of feeling. It pleases my heart. I'm happy for them. Also, the guy looks so smart to me. I didn't believe anything he said when he was running. But now I know he's so smart that when two dim, mindless magpies like [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid [D-NV] and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [D-CA] trundle down there to sell their tired Willy Loman wares, he's going to pay them lip service. The moment they split, he's going to look at [incoming White House chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel and go, "Sharp elbows, dull intellects. We're not listening to those cats. Do you think I worked this hard to get to this point that I'm going to parrot what those two idiots say?" So I like the fact that he's really smart. And you know something? He's my president now. And I am not going to do what the left did to Bush. I find it unbecoming. I hope that Barack Obama does so well that four years hence, I am salivating to vote for him. I want this all to work, because I love my country. At some point, I make Lee Greenwood look like the Rosenbergs. And I hope he does great. But I will not turn my back on George Bush. Today, 2,619 days since a domestic terror attack on this soil. Thank you to my commander in chief, and thank you to the troops for providing us the safety to have an election like that. O'REILLY: Absolutely. Now, how skeptical are you going to -- I think your sentiment is noble, by the way. And particularly in this dangerous economic time when people are really suffering, you've got to root for Obama to get the economy back on track and lessen suffering. But how skeptical are you going to be? And how -- and what is my watchdog role? See, I'm setting myself up to watch Barack Obama. You know, and I'm going to be fair about it. There's no doubt I'll be fair. But I'm going to very -- you know, watch him closer than I watched Bush because I didn't watch Bush close enough. I didn't. I admit it. I should have. So, how skeptical are you going to be about Obama? Are you going to bring a skepticism in from the beginning? MILLER: I'm always skeptical about guys who want to be president, because it seems like its own form of madness to me. But I'll tell you, if he wants to earn my goodwill and the goodwill of a lot of people, he ought to flatten these punks at AIG who keep taking -- these guys party. They make Caligula look like a shut-in. Enough is enough. We just gave them $150 billion. We've got to follow them around with hidden cameras. Take it all back, let them go away. It's economic Darwinism. If they want to spend like that, they should go under. Forget the parties, you guys. And I think that he ought to come down hard on them right now. O'REILLY: OK, and then arrest Barney Frank, correct? MILLER: Barney might want to be arrested. O'REILLY: Oh, jeez. Ugh. [shudders] OK, Dennis Miller, everybody. I told you to hide the kids. Next up, a viewer warning -- I'm sorry I didn't give you one before Miller.
Media Matters - Dennis Miller: "[W]omen on the left hate" Palin "because to me ... it appears that she has a great sex life" {...} On The O'Reilly Factor , Dennis Miller stated of Gov. Sarah Palin: "[M]ostly women on the left hate her, because to me, from outside in, it appears that she has a great sex life." He continued, "I think she has non-neurotic sex with that Todd Palin guy. I think most of the women on the Upper East Side, their husbands haven't been aroused since Mailer signed copy of The Executioner's Song at Rizzoli's back in the early '70s." {...}
Published: November 13, 2008, 11:54 pm - Indexed: November 14, 2008, 12:50 pm - Page Size: 24KB
Category: Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance

]]> Society > Issues > Business > Media > Bias and Balance {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - 1992 hattrick hero Dennis Bailey tells QPR to attack Manchester United in Carling Cup http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/recreation-and-sports/sports/football/news-and-media/1992-hattrick-hero-dennis-bailey-tells-qpr-to-attack-20081182920.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/recreation-and-sports/sports/football/news-and-media/1992-hattrick-hero-dennis-bailey-tells-qpr-to-attack-20081182920.htm Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:17:02 GMT Man who stunned Man Utd 16 years ago has message for class of 2008. Telegraph.Co.Uk 1992 hattrick hero Dennis Bailey tells QPR to attack Manchester United in Carling Cup {new window}   Www.Telegraph.Co.Uk - Man who stunned Man Utd 16 years ago has message for class of 2008.
1992 hat-trick hero Dennis Bailey tells QPR to attack Manchester United in Carling Cup: Football - Telegraph {...} If Queens Park Rangers need last-minute inspiration before their Carling Cup tie at Old Trafford on Tuesday night they could do worse than access the YouTube footage of the side's wildly unexpected 4-1 win at Old Trafford on New Year's Day in 1992. {...}
Published: November 10, 2008, 8:17 pm - Indexed: November 11, 2008, 1:04 pm - Page Size: 45KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Recreation and Sports > Sports > Football > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > Recreation and Sports > Sports > Football > News and Media {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Seamus Heaney talks to his fellow Irish poet Dennis O'Driscoll http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/seamus-heaney-talks-to-his-fellow-irish-poet-dennis-20081116511.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/seamus-heaney-talks-to-his-fellow-irish-poet-dennis-20081116511.htm Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:02:53 GMT Seamus Heaney talks about his early writing life, the Troubles and his public persona Guardian.Co.Uk Seamus Heaney talks to his fellow Irish poet Dennis O'Driscoll {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - Seamus Heaney talks about his early writing life, the Troubles and his public persona
Seamus Heaney talks to his fellow Irish poet Dennis O'Driscoll | Books | The Guardian {...}
Published: November 8, 2008, 12:02 am - Indexed: November 8, 2008, 10:28 am - Page Size: 98KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Julian Borger: What Obama's victory means for US foreign policy http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/julian-borger-what-obama-s-victory-means-for-us-foreign-2008119687.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/julian-borger-what-obama-s-victory-means-for-us-foreign-2008119687.htm Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:40:25 GMT As election day approached, both presidential candidates were given a CIA briefing, sketching out the shape of the world the winner would inherit. At the end of an exhausting and sometimes terrifying list of global threats, Barack Obama took a deep breath, according to someone familiar with his session, and said: "Good grief, why do I want this job?"Now the job is his, and he has until January 20 to prepare himself and his staff before taking on a troubled world. Obama has of course been preparing for years. He has approached foreign policy in the same cool and strategic manner he handled the long campaign. By the end of the race, there were 300 foreign policy experts - divided up into groups by region and issue - brainstorming for him.That huge thinktank moved from campaign to transition mode weeks before election day so that it would be ready to break to the surface as soon as the votes were counted. The new president-elect is said to be anxious to avoid the mistakes of Bill Clinton and George Bush, who took months to get their policies and staff in place while the world changed around them. Some reports from the Obama camp suggest a national security team could be named by the end of the week.The broad foreign policy goals of the new White House have been repeatedly signalled over the course of the long campaign. US troops will be pulled out of Iraq in the next 16 months, while the American force in Afghanistan will be substantially reinforced, reversing what is widely seen as one of the fundamental strategic blunders of the Bush era. The US military effort is to be focused once more on al-Qaida and its allies. Obama has vowed that if necessary, American forces would, as under the Bush administration, cross the Pakistan border in pursuit of al-Qaida targets.There will be a much higher level of US engagement in the Middle East, reversing the arms-length ambivalence that characterised much of the Bush administration and returning to the micro-management attempted by Clinton. Clinton's Middle East envoy, Dennis Ross, is one of Obama's closest advisers. He accompanied the candidate to the region over the summer and is tipped for high office in the new administration, signalling the priority given to the region.The president-elect has made it clear his administration would be willing to talk directly with Syria and Iran, both pariahs in the eyes of the Bush White House. Obama's advisers see an opportunity to draw Damascus away from Iran's orbit with the promise of international acceptance, investment and the land-for-peace deal that Clinton came close to brokering, exchanging the Golan Heights for a guarantee of Israeli security.The Syrian foreign minister, Walid Mualem, came to London late last month with a message intended for Washington: Damascus is open for business and would ultimately prefer alignment with America - particularly under Obama's leadership - to a future perpetually joined at the hip with the Shia clerics in Iran.As for Iran's theocracy, Obama has said his administration would be ready for direct talks with Tehran, though probably not at summit level while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remains in office. There would be no weakening of the west's position of refusing to countenance the enrichment of uranium in Iran, but there could be talk about broader strategic issues with the aim of a "grand bargain" in the region.Underpinning these initiatives is a global philosophy sketched out by Obama's team and a group of Democratic foreign policy specialists who called themselves the Phoenix Initiative - supposedly taking wing after two Democratic defeats. When the group published its report last year, the preface was written by Susan Rice, Obama's chief foreign policy adviser.The core idea essentially turns the Bush doctrine on its head. It argues the main problems and threats facing America in the 21st century - terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate change and dependence on fossil fuels - cannot by addressed by one country acting alone or even in concert with traditional allies. As Obama said in his first major foreign policy address, in Chicago last year: "The threats we face at the dawn of the 21st century can no longer be contained by borders and boundaries."The aim would be to restore America's global leadership in a world that is no longer unipolar. It would be achieved not primarily through military force (although the Obama team are at pains to stress they are not traditional liberal doves), but through soft power, exemplary action and networking among governments, inside and outside formal international organisations, to address specific problems.An Obama White House would seek to take the initiative on the two existential issues facing the planet, nuclear proliferation and climate change. It would seek to negotiate deep cuts in the US and Russian arsenals, to give the non-proliferation treaty before it comes up for review in 2010 and before a nuclear arms race breaks out in the Middle East.To confront global warming, Obama has said he is ready to adopt a European-style cap-and-trade system of mandatory limits on emissions for the world's major polluters. That would include China and India, emerging economies that have been resistant to facing the same constraints as industrialised countries.Taken together, the policies represent a sharp break with the Bush era to suit a world in which American hegemony has arguably run its course, a break personified by the president himself. Being America's first black president, with the middle name Hussein, gives him a transformational image across the globe. That will open a lot of doors but raise expectations to impossible levels.The big question now is how many of Obama's carefully laid plans will survive the realities of office, when crises come thick and fast. For his foreign policy team, January 20 will seem like walking out of a serene library into a meteor shower."The problem is going to be everything is going to come at them from day one," said Stephen Stedman, a Stanford University professor and a director of a national strategic project known as Managing Global Insecurity."You'll have an enormous number of crises and a global agenda coming at you," Stedman said. "Are they going to be able to think strategically about where they are going to be in two or three years, or are they going to be reactive? The temptation will be to put off decisions on international institutions and deal with the crises."Getting out of Iraq will be all the more imperative because a financially weakened America can no longer afford to stay, but it will be far from easy. Robert Kaplan, an author and strategic analyst at the Centre for a New American Security in Washington, warns that the insurgents and the Iranian government will seek to ensure an American withdrawal is a humiliating one."I fear a measurable uptick in violence in Iraq if Obama wins on Tuesday," Kaplan wrote last week, arguing that US forces should ease their way out of Iraq rather than "rush for the exits"."Tough, albeit responsible, talk on Iraq the moment he is elected would buy the president-elect time. While his fervent desire to withdraw may be the correct approach, in the Hobbesian world of the Middle East, it transmits only vulnerability," Kaplan argued.In Afghanistan, security has been eroding and the Taliban is resurgent. Diplomats and soldiers in the US and Europe have been warning that pouring in more troops could be ineffective, or even counter-productive without a stronger government in Kabul to fight for. Meanwhile, continuing to cross the Pakistani border in pursuit of al-Qaida or the Taliban could fatally weaken that country's already fragile democracy and bolster extremism.In the Middle East, progress could be torpedoed before it even begins if the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, fails to negotiate an extension to his term with Hamas, and if the hawkish Binyamin Netanyahu emerges from Israel's elections as the new prime minister. As for the Syrian track, Mualem's overtures in London may well not have the backing of the formidable security apparatus. Meanwhile, Obama may have to postpone direct talks with Tehran for fear of boosting Ahmadinejad before Iran's presidential elections in June.Even Obama's ambitious plans for taking the lead on climate change before the planned Copenhagen summit at the end of this year could be blocked at home at a time of recession and belt-tightening."A Copenhagen agreement with strictures and cap-and-trade is going to be hard for this Congress to digest," said Steve Clemons, a foreign policy strategist at the New America Foundation. "They are going to have to find a way to engage in climate change that is credible but isn't going to deliver another gut-punch to the economy."The constant buffeting of unforeseen events means that political campaigns, however successful, are poor indicators of how presidents will govern. Obama steps on to the international stage holding the promise of transformation and a global realignment. He comes buoyed by goodwill but weighed down by expectations. America's predicament has worsened exponentially since he began his campaign, and has the potential to deteriorate yet further. Hopes are high, but so are the dangers.US elections 2008Barack ObamaUS foreign policyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Guardian.Co.Uk Julian Borger: What Obama's victory means for US foreign policy {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - As election day approached, both presidential candidates were given a CIA briefing, sketching out the shape of the world the winner would inherit. At the end of an exhausting and sometimes terrifying list of global threats, Barack Obama took a deep breath, according to someone familiar with his session, and said: "Good grief, why do I want this job?"Now the job is his, and he has until January 20 to prepare himself and his staff before taking on a troubled world. Obama has of course been preparing for years. He has approached foreign policy in the same cool and strategic manner he handled the long campaign. By the end of the race, there were 300 foreign policy experts - divided up into groups by region and issue - brainstorming for him.That huge thinktank moved from campaign to transition mode weeks before election day so that it would be ready to break to the surface as soon as the votes were counted. The new president-elect is said to be anxious to avoid the mistakes of Bill Clinton and George Bush, who took months to get their policies and staff in place while the world changed around them. Some reports from the Obama camp suggest a national security team could be named by the end of the week.The broad foreign policy goals of the new White House have been repeatedly signalled over the course of the long campaign. US troops will be pulled out of Iraq in the next 16 months, while the American force in Afghanistan will be substantially reinforced, reversing what is widely seen as one of the fundamental strategic blunders of the Bush era. The US military effort is to be focused once more on al-Qaida and its allies. Obama has vowed that if necessary, American forces would, as under the Bush administration, cross the Pakistan border in pursuit of al-Qaida targets.There will be a much higher level of US engagement in the Middle East, reversing the arms-length ambivalence that characterised much of the Bush administration and returning to the micro-management attempted by Clinton. Clinton's Middle East envoy, Dennis Ross, is one of Obama's closest advisers. He accompanied the candidate to the region over the summer and is tipped for high office in the new administration, signalling the priority given to the region.The president-elect has made it clear his administration would be willing to talk directly with Syria and Iran, both pariahs in the eyes of the Bush White House. Obama's advisers see an opportunity to draw Damascus away from Iran's orbit with the promise of international acceptance, investment and the land-for-peace deal that Clinton came close to brokering, exchanging the Golan Heights for a guarantee of Israeli security.The Syrian foreign minister, Walid Mualem, came to London late last month with a message intended for Washington: Damascus is open for business and would ultimately prefer alignment with America - particularly under Obama's leadership - to a future perpetually joined at the hip with the Shia clerics in Iran.As for Iran's theocracy, Obama has said his administration would be ready for direct talks with Tehran, though probably not at summit level while President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remains in office. There would be no weakening of the west's position of refusing to countenance the enrichment of uranium in Iran, but there could be talk about broader strategic issues with the aim of a "grand bargain" in the region.Underpinning these initiatives is a global philosophy sketched out by Obama's team and a group of Democratic foreign policy specialists who called themselves the Phoenix Initiative - supposedly taking wing after two Democratic defeats. When the group published its report last year, the preface was written by Susan Rice, Obama's chief foreign policy adviser.The core idea essentially turns the Bush doctrine on its head. It argues the main problems and threats facing America in the 21st century - terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate change and dependence on fossil fuels - cannot by addressed by one country acting alone or even in concert with traditional allies. As Obama said in his first major foreign policy address, in Chicago last year: "The threats we face at the dawn of the 21st century can no longer be contained by borders and boundaries."The aim would be to restore America's global leadership in a world that is no longer unipolar. It would be achieved not primarily through military force (although the Obama team are at pains to stress they are not traditional liberal doves), but through soft power, exemplary action and networking among governments, inside and outside formal international organisations, to address specific problems.An Obama White House would seek to take the initiative on the two existential issues facing the planet, nuclear proliferation and climate change. It would seek to negotiate deep cuts in the US and Russian arsenals, to give the non-proliferation treaty before it comes up for review in 2010 and before a nuclear arms race breaks out in the Middle East.To confront global warming, Obama has said he is ready to adopt a European-style cap-and-trade system of mandatory limits on emissions for the world's major polluters. That would include China and India, emerging economies that have been resistant to facing the same constraints as industrialised countries.Taken together, the policies represent a sharp break with the Bush era to suit a world in which American hegemony has arguably run its course, a break personified by the president himself. Being America's first black president, with the middle name Hussein, gives him a transformational image across the globe. That will open a lot of doors but raise expectations to impossible levels.The big question now is how many of Obama's carefully laid plans will survive the realities of office, when crises come thick and fast. For his foreign policy team, January 20 will seem like walking out of a serene library into a meteor shower."The problem is going to be everything is going to come at them from day one," said Stephen Stedman, a Stanford University professor and a director of a national strategic project known as Managing Global Insecurity."You'll have an enormous number of crises and a global agenda coming at you," Stedman said. "Are they going to be able to think strategically about where they are going to be in two or three years, or are they going to be reactive? The temptation will be to put off decisions on international institutions and deal with the crises."Getting out of Iraq will be all the more imperative because a financially weakened America can no longer afford to stay, but it will be far from easy. Robert Kaplan, an author and strategic analyst at the Centre for a New American Security in Washington, warns that the insurgents and the Iranian government will seek to ensure an American withdrawal is a humiliating one."I fear a measurable uptick in violence in Iraq if Obama wins on Tuesday," Kaplan wrote last week, arguing that US forces should ease their way out of Iraq rather than "rush for the exits"."Tough, albeit responsible, talk on Iraq the moment he is elected would buy the president-elect time. While his fervent desire to withdraw may be the correct approach, in the Hobbesian world of the Middle East, it transmits only vulnerability," Kaplan argued.In Afghanistan, security has been eroding and the Taliban is resurgent. Diplomats and soldiers in the US and Europe have been warning that pouring in more troops could be ineffective, or even counter-productive without a stronger government in Kabul to fight for. Meanwhile, continuing to cross the Pakistani border in pursuit of al-Qaida or the Taliban could fatally weaken that country's already fragile democracy and bolster extremism.In the Middle East, progress could be torpedoed before it even begins if the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, fails to negotiate an extension to his term with Hamas, and if the hawkish Binyamin Netanyahu emerges from Israel's elections as the new prime minister. As for the Syrian track, Mualem's overtures in London may well not have the backing of the formidable security apparatus. Meanwhile, Obama may have to postpone direct talks with Tehran for fear of boosting Ahmadinejad before Iran's presidential elections in June.Even Obama's ambitious plans for taking the lead on climate change before the planned Copenhagen summit at the end of this year could be blocked at home at a time of recession and belt-tightening."A Copenhagen agreement with strictures and cap-and-trade is going to be hard for this Congress to digest," said Steve Clemons, a foreign policy strategist at the New America Foundation. "They are going to have to find a way to engage in climate change that is credible but isn't going to deliver another gut-punch to the economy."The constant buffeting of unforeseen events means that political campaigns, however successful, are poor indicators of how presidents will govern. Obama steps on to the international stage holding the promise of transformation and a global realignment. He comes buoyed by goodwill but weighed down by expectations. America's predicament has worsened exponentially since he began his campaign, and has the potential to deteriorate yet further. Hopes are high, but so are the dangers.US elections 2008Barack ObamaUS foreign policyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Julian Borger: What Obama's victory means for US foreign policy | World news | guardian.co.uk {...} The president-elect faces stiff challenges in reshaping America's relationship with the rest of the world, writes Julian Borger {...}
Published: November 5, 2008, 8:40 am - Indexed: November 5, 2008, 10:04 am - Page Size: 81KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media {AVIATION > HANG GLIDING} - Scooter Tow Syllabus http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/aviation/aircraft/footlaunched/hang-gliding/scooter-tow-syllabus-2008115269.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/recreation/aviation/aircraft/footlaunched/hang-gliding/scooter-tow-syllabus-2008115269.htm Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:05:45 GMT Scooter Tow Syllabus Gregg Ludwig <> sends: Results of a Benchmarking Study to Identify and Unify Best Practices in Scooter Tow Instruction for Hang Gliding by Tracy Tillman and Lisa Colletti (Cloud 9 Sport Aviation) October 2006 Contributors: Dave Broyles (Kite Enterprises), Greg Berger (Venture Flight Hang Gliding), Pat Denevan (Mission Soaring Center) Rob Kells (Wills Wing), Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden ("Towing Aloft"), Michael Roberston (High Perspective), Matt Taber (Lookout Mountain Flight Park), Steve Wendt (Blue Sky Hang Gliding), Mark Windscheimer (Airtime Above Hang Gliding), USHPA ("Part 104 Pilot Proficiency System"), and USHPA Committees (Towing, Safety and Training) Hang 2 General Syllabus (Scooter Tow) Approx.% Progress -- Skills Start -- (USHPA Membership Application) 10% -- Setup, preflight, simulator, ground handling, free ground runs, tow ground runs. 20% -- Ground-skim, straight flight on uprights, slight correctional turns, foot landings. Hang 1 -- (Beginner Written Exam and Rating Application) 30% -- Review of preflight skills, emergency simulation, transition to base tube and somewhat higher tows, foot and wheel landings. 40% -- Progression to much higher tows, speed control, slight turns, very gentle stalls. 50% -- High tows, 30, 45, 90, 180, 360 degree turns on glide. 60% -- High tows, box and s-turn patterns on glide. 70% -- Higher tows, V speeds, and gentle stalls on glide. 80% -- High tows in straight and cross winds. 90% -- High tows, introduction to convective turbulence and soaring techniques. 100% -- Accuracy landings. Hang 2 -- (Novice Written Exam and Rating Application) Hang One Training Outline (Scooter Tow) WW Condor 330 or 225 (or other suitable glider) recommended. A large, light, slow flying training glider is recommended. Model and size used depends on conditions and height of tow. Common examples include but are not limited to: WW Condor or Falcon, Northwing EZY, Aeros Target. A. Pre-flying skills. 1. Set-up and preflight of glider, harness, and equipment. 2. Flight control and tow release simulation on base tube and uprights, hanging in glider or simulator. 3. Ground handling. 4. Free running the glider w/o harness. (proper: AOA, acceleration, wings level, flare to stop) 5. Free running with harness, pulling glider into the air with harness. 6. Pre-launch check of glider and equipment, hang check, etc. (HIERTow checklist--or other) 7. Review of verbal and visual commands. (Ready; Take up Slack; Go, Go, Go; Abort, Abort, Abort-or other) 8. Tow ground runs (slow, short, no-flight "dry run" tows, for practice of commands and good launch and flare technique) B. Low and slow ground-skim tows, upright position. . 1. Straight, low and slow ground-skim foot launch tows, upright position, with gentle deceleration for slow run-on foot landing, no release. 2. Repeat straight, low and slow ground-skim tows, upright position, with quicker deceleration for quicker flare foot landings, no release. 3. Low and slow longer ground-skim tows, with a very slight turn off-center, then correctional turn back to center, then land, no release. (optional, depending upon site and equipment used) 4. Repeat low and slow ground-skim tows with off-center maneuvers, slowly increasing amount off-center, on each side of center, then back to center, no release. (optionall) 5. Straight, low and slow ground-skim tows, upright position, with release and flare landing. 6. Straight, slightly higher than ground skim tows, upright position, with release and flare landing. 7. Straight, slightly higher than ground skim tows, upright position, with release and extra speed prior to flare landing. 8. Straight, slightly higher than ground skim tows, upright position, release, very slight turn off-center, then correctional turn back to center, then flare landing. (optional) C. Pass Hang 1 written exam. Hang Two Training Outline (Scooter Tow) WW Falcon (or other similar/suitable glider) recommended Training glider suitable for higher tows recommended A. Transition to base tube and higher tows. 1. Review of pre-flying skills (see Hang 1) and emergency simulation (chute & hook knife use). 2. Transition to base tube while on low and slow ground-skim tow (optional, using Condor) (a) Straight, low and slow ground-skim foot launch tows, upright position, momentarily moving one hand slightly lower then back up on upright, release and foot land. (b) Repeat (a), using other hand, release and foot land. (c) Repeat (a), moving one hand a bit lower on upright then back up, release and foot land. (d) Repeat (c), using other hand, release and foot land. (e) Repeat (d), moving one hand to base tube then back to upright, release and foot land. (f) Repeat (e), using other hand, release and foot land. (g) Repeat, moving both hands to base tube, then back to uprights, release and foot land. (h) Repeat, keeping hands on base tube, no release, slow deceleration to belly/wheel land. (i) Repeat (h), with slightly higher than ground skim tow, release, belly/wheel land. (j) Repeat (g), with slightly higher than ground skim tow, release and foot land. 3. Normal foot-launched ground-skim tow and landing on uprights without release, to get used to smaller glider. 4. Normal foot-launched slightly higher ground-skim tow on uprights with release to flare land. 5. Some straight tows and flights on uprights, increasing acceleration and height with each tow, with release to foot land. 6. Transition to base tube while on glide. (a) Higher tow, release, momentarily move one hand slightly lower then back up on upright while on glide, foot land. (b) Repeat (a), using other hand, foot land. (c) Repeat (a), moving one hand a bit lower on upright then back up, foot land. (d) Repeat (c), using other hand, foot land. (e) Repeat (d), moving one hand to base tube then back to upright, foot land. (f) Repeat (e), using other hand, foot land. (g) Repeat, moving both hands to base tube, then back to uprights, foot land. (h) Repeat, keeping hands on base tube, belly/wheel land. 7. Cart or keel-assist wheel launch on base tube, release, belly/wheel landing on base tube. (optional) B. High tows, slight turns, speed control, very gentle stalls. 1. Repeated straight tows on uprights, increasing acceleration and height with each tow to eventually achieve near maximum height tow, with release and straight glide to foot land. 2. High tow, release, stay on uprights, slight turn in one direction the other while on glide, foot land. 3. High tow, release, transition to base tube, slight turn and back, transition to uprights, foot land. 4. High tow, release, stay on uprights, increase speed to max glide then reduce to normal, foot land. 5. High tow, release, stay on uprights, decrease speed to min sink then increase to normal, foot land. 6. High tow, release, stay on uprights, decrease speed to very gentle stall, recover to normal speed, foot land. 7. Repeat #5, transition to base tube after release. 8. Repeat #6, transition to base tube after release. 9. Repeat #7, transition to base tube after release. C. Turns. 1. Foot launch, with sufficient altitude after tow release, on uprights, turn 30 degrees left and right, then straight flight to land. 2. Repeat, with 45 degree turns left and right after release then straight flight to land. 3. Repeat, with 90 degree turns left and right after release then straight flight to land. 4. Repeat, with 180 turn left then right after release, then straight flight to land. 5. Repeat, with 360 turn left or right after release, then straight flight to land. 6. Repeat, with 360 turn left and right after release (if altitude permits), then straight flight to land. 7. Repeat #3-6 with transition to base tube after release, then transition to uprights and land. D. Pattern tows. 1. High tow, turn crosswind for box pattern left or right, downwind, base, final, land. 2. Repeat box pattern in other direction. 3. High tow, turn crosswind, downwind, s-turns on base to lose altitude, final, land. E. V Speeds and gentle stalls. 1. High tows for practice to achieve good speed control at various cardinal airspeeds on glide (most likely on downwind leg of box pattern), normal landing. 2. Repeat, with straight flight and very gentle stalls, normal landing. 3. Repeat, with straight flight and slightly more aggressive stalls, normal landing. 4. Repeat, with straight flight and aggressive stalls, normal landing. (optional) F. Wind, gradient, mechanical turbulence. 1. Straight or pattern tows in smooth and light slightly cross winds. 2. Straight or pattern tows in smooth and somewhat stronger and more cross winds. G. Introduction to thermal turbulence and soaring. 1. Straight or pattern tows in barely convective straight-in winds. 2. Straight or pattern tows in barely convective and slightly cross winds. 3. Straight or pattern tows in mildly convective straight-in winds. (optional) 4. Straight or pattern tows in mildly convective and somewhat greater cross winds. (optional) 5. Introduction to thermal soaring techniques after release. (optional) H. Accuracy landing. 1. Three consecutive landings within 100 feet of spot. I. Pass Hang 2 written exam. Discuss Scooter Tow Syllabus at the Oz Report forum   link» OzReport.Com Scooter Tow Syllabus {new window}   OzReport.Com - Scooter Tow Syllabus Gregg Ludwig <> sends: Results of a Benchmarking Study to Identify and Unify Best Practices in Scooter Tow Instruction for Hang Gliding by Tracy Tillman and Lisa Colletti (Cloud 9 Sport Aviation) October 2006 Contributors: Dave Broyles (Kite Enterprises), Greg Berger (Venture Flight Hang Gliding), Pat Denevan (Mission Soaring Center) Rob Kells (Wills Wing), Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden ("Towing Aloft"), Michael Roberston (High Perspective), Matt Taber (Lookout Mountain Flight Park), Steve Wendt (Blue Sky Hang Gliding), Mark Windscheimer (Airtime Above Hang Gliding), USHPA ("Part 104 Pilot Proficiency System"), and USHPA Committees (Towing, Safety and Training) Hang 2 General Syllabus (Scooter Tow) Approx.% Progress -- Skills Start -- (USHPA Membership Application) 10% -- Setup, preflight, simulator, ground handling, free ground runs, tow ground runs. 20% -- Ground-skim, straight flight on uprights, slight correctional turns, foot landings. Hang 1 -- (Beginner Written Exam and Rating Application) 30% -- Review of preflight skills, emergency simulation, transition to base tube and somewhat higher tows, foot and wheel landings. 40% -- Progression to much higher tows, speed control, slight turns, very gentle stalls. 50% -- High tows, 30, 45, 90, 180, 360 degree turns on glide. 60% -- High tows, box and s-turn patterns on glide. 70% -- Higher tows, V speeds, and gentle stalls on glide. 80% -- High tows in straight and cross winds. 90% -- High tows, introduction to convective turbulence and soaring techniques. 100% -- Accuracy landings. Hang 2 -- (Novice Written Exam and Rating Application) Hang One Training Outline (Scooter Tow) WW Condor 330 or 225 (or other suitable glider) recommended. A large, light, slow flying training glider is recommended. Model and size used depends on conditions and height of tow. Common examples include but are not limited to: WW Condor or Falcon, Northwing EZY, Aeros Target. A. Pre-flying skills. 1. Set-up and preflight of glider, harness, and equipment. 2. Flight control and tow release simulation on base tube and uprights, hanging in glider or simulator. 3. Ground handling. 4. Free running the glider w/o harness. (proper: AOA, acceleration, wings level, flare to stop) 5. Free running with harness, pulling glider into the air with harness. 6. Pre-launch check of glider and equipment, hang check, etc. (HIERTow checklist--or other) 7. Review of verbal and visual commands. (Ready; Take up Slack; Go, Go, Go; Abort, Abort, Abort-or other) 8. Tow ground runs (slow, short, no-flight "dry run" tows, for practice of commands and good launch and flare technique) B. Low and slow ground-skim tows, upright position. . 1. Straight, low and slow ground-skim foot launch tows, upright position, with gentle deceleration for slow run-on foot landing, no release. 2. Repeat straight, low and slow ground-skim tows, upright position, with quicker deceleration for quicker flare foot landings, no release. 3. Low and slow longer ground-skim tows, with a very slight turn off-center, then correctional turn back to center, then land, no release. (optional, depending upon site and equipment used) 4. Repeat low and slow ground-skim tows with off-center maneuvers, slowly increasing amount off-center, on each side of center, then back to center, no release. (optionall) 5. Straight, low and slow ground-skim tows, upright position, with release and flare landing. 6. Straight, slightly higher than ground skim tows, upright position, with release and flare landing. 7. Straight, slightly higher than ground skim tows, upright position, with release and extra speed prior to flare landing. 8. Straight, slightly higher than ground skim tows, upright position, release, very slight turn off-center, then correctional turn back to center, then flare landing. (optional) C. Pass Hang 1 written exam. Hang Two Training Outline (Scooter Tow) WW Falcon (or other similar/suitable glider) recommended Training glider suitable for higher tows recommended A. Transition to base tube and higher tows. 1. Review of pre-flying skills (see Hang 1) and emergency simulation (chute & hook knife use). 2. Transition to base tube while on low and slow ground-skim tow (optional, using Condor) (a) Straight, low and slow ground-skim foot launch tows, upright position, momentarily moving one hand slightly lower then back up on upright, release and foot land. (b) Repeat (a), using other hand, release and foot land. (c) Repeat (a), moving one hand a bit lower on upright then back up, release and foot land. (d) Repeat (c), using other hand, release and foot land. (e) Repeat (d), moving one hand to base tube then back to upright, release and foot land. (f) Repeat (e), using other hand, release and foot land. (g) Repeat, moving both hands to base tube, then back to uprights, release and foot land. (h) Repeat, keeping hands on base tube, no release, slow deceleration to belly/wheel land. (i) Repeat (h), with slightly higher than ground skim tow, release, belly/wheel land. (j) Repeat (g), with slightly higher than ground skim tow, release and foot land. 3. Normal foot-launched ground-skim tow and landing on uprights without release, to get used to smaller glider. 4. Normal foot-launched slightly higher ground-skim tow on uprights with release to flare land. 5. Some straight tows and flights on uprights, increasing acceleration and height with each tow, with release to foot land. 6. Transition to base tube while on glide. (a) Higher tow, release, momentarily move one hand slightly lower then back up on upright while on glide, foot land. (b) Repeat (a), using other hand, foot land. (c) Repeat (a), moving one hand a bit lower on upright then back up, foot land. (d) Repeat (c), using other hand, foot land. (e) Repeat (d), moving one hand to base tube then back to upright, foot land. (f) Repeat (e), using other hand, foot land. (g) Repeat, moving both hands to base tube, then back to uprights, foot land. (h) Repeat, keeping hands on base tube, belly/wheel land. 7. Cart or keel-assist wheel launch on base tube, release, belly/wheel landing on base tube. (optional) B. High tows, slight turns, speed control, very gentle stalls. 1. Repeated straight tows on uprights, increasing acceleration and height with each tow to eventually achieve near maximum height tow, with release and straight glide to foot land. 2. High tow, release, stay on uprights, slight turn in one direction the other while on glide, foot land. 3. High tow, release, transition to base tube, slight turn and back, transition to uprights, foot land. 4. High tow, release, stay on uprights, increase speed to max glide then reduce to normal, foot land. 5. High tow, release, stay on uprights, decrease speed to min sink then increase to normal, foot land. 6. High tow, release, stay on uprights, decrease speed to very gentle stall, recover to normal speed, foot land. 7. Repeat #5, transition to base tube after release. 8. Repeat #6, transition to base tube after release. 9. Repeat #7, transition to base tube after release. C. Turns. 1. Foot launch, with sufficient altitude after tow release, on uprights, turn 30 degrees left and right, then straight flight to land. 2. Repeat, with 45 degree turns left and right after release then straight flight to land. 3. Repeat, with 90 degree turns left and right after release then straight flight to land. 4. Repeat, with 180 turn left then right after release, then straight flight to land. 5. Repeat, with 360 turn left or right after release, then straight flight to land. 6. Repeat, with 360 turn left and right after release (if altitude permits), then straight flight to land. 7. Repeat #3-6 with transition to base tube after release, then transition to uprights and land. D. Pattern tows. 1. High tow, turn crosswind for box pattern left or right, downwind, base, final, land. 2. Repeat box pattern in other direction. 3. High tow, turn crosswind, downwind, s-turns on base to lose altitude, final, land. E. V Speeds and gentle stalls. 1. High tows for practice to achieve good speed control at various cardinal airspeeds on glide (most likely on downwind leg of box pattern), normal landing. 2. Repeat, with straight flight and very gentle stalls, normal landing. 3. Repeat, with straight flight and slightly more aggressive stalls, normal landing. 4. Repeat, with straight flight and aggressive stalls, normal landing. (optional) F. Wind, gradient, mechanical turbulence. 1. Straight or pattern tows in smooth and light slightly cross winds. 2. Straight or pattern tows in smooth and somewhat stronger and more cross winds. G. Introduction to thermal turbulence and soaring. 1. Straight or pattern tows in barely convective straight-in winds. 2. Straight or pattern tows in barely convective and slightly cross winds. 3. Straight or pattern tows in mildly convective straight-in winds. (optional) 4. Straight or pattern tows in mildly convective and somewhat greater cross winds. (optional) 5. Introduction to thermal soaring techniques after release. (optional) H. Accuracy landing. 1. Three consecutive landings within 100 feet of spot. I. Pass Hang 2 written exam. Discuss Scooter Tow Syllabus at the Oz Report forum   link»
The Oz Report hang gliding news - Blog {...} The Oz Report is a near-daily world wide hang gliding news ezine with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Topics include: hang gliding, paragliding, aerotowing, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins, hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world by Davis Straub, soaring, flying, cross country, photos, pics, gliders, hang gliding forums, hanggliding, videos, photos, flying, hang gliders. Information about Dealers, Instructors, Sites Weather, Fly-Ins, State Records, Site Records, XC Competition, Repeater Frequencies, Maps, GPS Locations, Free Classifieds, Mosquito Harness, Powered hang gliders, learn to fly, free flight lessons freeflight, instruction, extreme sports. {...}
Published: November 4, 2008, 4:05 pm - Indexed: November 5, 2008, 9:43 am - Page Size: 45KB

]]> Recreation > Aviation > Aircraft > Footlaunched > Hang Gliding {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Formula one: This is first of many says Lewis Hamilton as he becomes youngest champion http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/formula-one-this-is-first-of-many-says-lewis-hamilton-2008118594.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/formula-one-this-is-first-of-many-says-lewis-hamilton-2008118594.htm Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:12:23 GMT In a setting where his idol Ayrton Senna was once worshipped, Lewis Hamilton yesterday achieved the ambition that has gripped him since he was a six-year-old boy playing with a radio-controlled car. At the end of two years in which he has inspired a rare combination of admiration and resentment, Hamilton brought his two-year grand prix career to the first of what may be many climaxes.There are many ways to win the world championship, and the one selected by Hamilton was certainly among the most dramatic. For much of yesterday's race his McLaren-Mercedes had been sitting comfortably in fifth position behind the Ferrari of his greatest rival, Felipe Massa, another driver, Sebastian Vettel, whose Toro Rosso car had a Ferrari engine, his rival's team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, and Massa's most ardent supporter - Fernando Alonso. But as long as the situation remained unchanged and he kept his hold on the fifth place which would be enough to guarantee him the title, he did not need to mount what would have been a series of risky challenges.It was the insertion of Timo Glock's Toyota into an unexpected fourth place, the German driver benefiting from a decision to stay out on dry tyres while the rest were diving into the pits and changing to wets for the closing laps, which provided Hamilton - suddenly relegated to sixth - with a final challenge. As Glock slid around the rainswept track on increasingly unsuitable rubber, Hamilton found a way past with only a few hundred yards to go."Before it started to rain I was quite comfortable, and I was just concentrating on having a clean race," he said. "Then it started to drizzle and I didn't want to take any risks - but Sebastian got past me and I was told that I had to get back in front of him. I couldn't believe it. Then at the very last corner I managed to get in front of Timo. It was just amazing. I was shouting, 'Do I have it? Do I have it?' on the radio. It was only when I took the chequered flag and got to turn one that the team told me I was world champion."This was the most dramatic race of my whole life. It's pretty much impossible to put into words. It's been such a long journey, but I've always had the support of my family, the team, our partners and the fans. We did a fantastic job throughout the whole year and, with all the sacrifices we made, I'm so thrilled to be able to win this for everyone."It's been a fairytale story. Ron Dennis gave me my opportunity years ago. He had the foresight to bring me in, to groom me to get to this position. I've grabbed it with both hands and I've paid him back in full, so I'm happy with that. I hope this is the first of many, but I don't know if my heart can take that final lap in many more seasons. It is absolutely fantastic, an amazing achievement, but one of the most troubled days. It was such a hard race, but now I'm ecstatic and very emotional."Perhaps there was no greater tribute than the one paid by Alonso, who arrived in the McLaren garage to congratulate the man who had just taken his title as the youngest champion in formula one history. The two have been viewed as bitter enemies since they clashed while both were in the McLaren team last season. "Well done," the holder of the 2005 and 2006 titles said, putting his arm around the shoulders of the newly crowned champion.The vanquished Massa was equally gracious in defeat. "We need to congratulate Lewis," he said after winning the race - his sixth of the season, to Hamilton's five - but missing the title by a single point. "He did a great championship. I know how to win and I know how to lose - it's part of life, part of our experience."Massa described the seconds immediately after he took the chequered flag, when he depended on his race engineer, Rob Smedley, to tell him whether or not he had won the title. "When I crossed the line, Rob was telling me, 'Calm down, calm down, I need to check Hamilton'. Then I was going into turn one and it was taking for ever. It was, 'Wait a second, he's fighting with Glock.' Then I got to turn three and it was 'OK, he's passed Glock'."Dennis, McLaren's chairman, revealed how close the call in the closing stages had been: "We just said to Lewis, 'OK, this is it. Just be careful. You will catch him.' It was heart-stopping stuff."Sir Stirling Moss, the best driver never to win the title, was effusive in his praise. "It was staggering," he said. "I thought the whole race was terrific and Lewis won the world title in a tremendous finish. He's a racer. He gets on with it. He's good in the wet, good in the dry."It's very difficult comparing drivers from my era, when it was really dangerous, to now, so it's not like for like. But if you're talking about a man's ability to control a car, I think he's up there [with the best] now."As he celebrated with his team, Hamilton said: "I'd like to thank McLaren for giving me such a wonderful car and my family for being here to support me. We came, we saw and we did what we had to do."ITV's dramatic last lapJames Allen We're expecting Massa any time now. He comes through to claim his sixth victory of the season. He has done everything he needed to do and we wait now to find out who will be the world champion of 2008. Can Hamilton do anything? Can he run it up the inside of Vettel? Only a few corners to go now and desperation starts to creep into Lewis Hamilton. Martin Brundle Raikkonen's third and ... (shouting) is that Glock, is that Glock? It is! That's Glock!JA Oh my goodness me. Hamilton's back in position again. A hundred thousand local hearts sink in the grandstand. It's handed the place back to Hamilton. He comes through. And you're right, I'm sure, that he's going to claim fifth place which is all he needs to do to become ...MB Yes! JA ... the 2008 formula one world champion. Lewis Hamilton, and you will ... well, the Ferrari boys are celebrating, they think they have won. They're wrong. They absolutely haven't. Hamilton finished fifth. And Lewis, the father realised he celebrated too early, and Nicole Scherzinger, the girlfriend of Lewis Hamilton, hugs Aki Hintsa, his head doctor. You will never see a more dramatic conclusion to any motor race, let alone a grand prix, and the result of it all is that, in the most harum scarum way possible - he doesn't make it easy for himself, does he? - Lewis Hamilton is the world champion.MB Unbelievable.Formula oneLewis HamiltonMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds Guardian.Co.Uk Formula one: This is first of many says Lewis Hamilton as he becomes youngest champion {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - In a setting where his idol Ayrton Senna was once worshipped, Lewis Hamilton yesterday achieved the ambition that has gripped him since he was a six-year-old boy playing with a radio-controlled car. At the end of two years in which he has inspired a rare combination of admiration and resentment, Hamilton brought his two-year grand prix career to the first of what may be many climaxes.There are many ways to win the world championship, and the one selected by Hamilton was certainly among the most dramatic. For much of yesterday's race his McLaren-Mercedes had been sitting comfortably in fifth position behind the Ferrari of his greatest rival, Felipe Massa, another driver, Sebastian Vettel, whose Toro Rosso car had a Ferrari engine, his rival's team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, and Massa's most ardent supporter - Fernando Alonso. But as long as the situation remained unchanged and he kept his hold on the fifth place which would be enough to guarantee him the title, he did not need to mount what would have been a series of risky challenges.It was the insertion of Timo Glock's Toyota into an unexpected fourth place, the German driver benefiting from a decision to stay out on dry tyres while the rest were diving into the pits and changing to wets for the closing laps, which provided Hamilton - suddenly relegated to sixth - with a final challenge. As Glock slid around the rainswept track on increasingly unsuitable rubber, Hamilton found a way past with only a few hundred yards to go."Before it started to rain I was quite comfortable, and I was just concentrating on having a clean race," he said. "Then it started to drizzle and I didn't want to take any risks - but Sebastian got past me and I was told that I had to get back in front of him. I couldn't believe it. Then at the very last corner I managed to get in front of Timo. It was just amazing. I was shouting, 'Do I have it? Do I have it?' on the radio. It was only when I took the chequered flag and got to turn one that the team told me I was world champion."This was the most dramatic race of my whole life. It's pretty much impossible to put into words. It's been such a long journey, but I've always had the support of my family, the team, our partners and the fans. We did a fantastic job throughout the whole year and, with all the sacrifices we made, I'm so thrilled to be able to win this for everyone."It's been a fairytale story. Ron Dennis gave me my opportunity years ago. He had the foresight to bring me in, to groom me to get to this position. I've grabbed it with both hands and I've paid him back in full, so I'm happy with that. I hope this is the first of many, but I don't know if my heart can take that final lap in many more seasons. It is absolutely fantastic, an amazing achievement, but one of the most troubled days. It was such a hard race, but now I'm ecstatic and very emotional."Perhaps there was no greater tribute than the one paid by Alonso, who arrived in the McLaren garage to congratulate the man who had just taken his title as the youngest champion in formula one history. The two have been viewed as bitter enemies since they clashed while both were in the McLaren team last season. "Well done," the holder of the 2005 and 2006 titles said, putting his arm around the shoulders of the newly crowned champion.The vanquished Massa was equally gracious in defeat. "We need to congratulate Lewis," he said after winning the race - his sixth of the season, to Hamilton's five - but missing the title by a single point. "He did a great championship. I know how to win and I know how to lose - it's part of life, part of our experience."Massa described the seconds immediately after he took the chequered flag, when he depended on his race engineer, Rob Smedley, to tell him whether or not he had won the title. "When I crossed the line, Rob was telling me, 'Calm down, calm down, I need to check Hamilton'. Then I was going into turn one and it was taking for ever. It was, 'Wait a second, he's fighting with Glock.' Then I got to turn three and it was 'OK, he's passed Glock'."Dennis, McLaren's chairman, revealed how close the call in the closing stages had been: "We just said to Lewis, 'OK, this is it. Just be careful. You will catch him.' It was heart-stopping stuff."Sir Stirling Moss, the best driver never to win the title, was effusive in his praise. "It was staggering," he said. "I thought the whole race was terrific and Lewis won the world title in a tremendous finish. He's a racer. He gets on with it. He's good in the wet, good in the dry."It's very difficult comparing drivers from my era, when it was really dangerous, to now, so it's not like for like. But if you're talking about a man's ability to control a car, I think he's up there [with the best] now."As he celebrated with his team, Hamilton said: "I'd like to thank McLaren for giving me such a wonderful car and my family for being here to support me. We came, we saw and we did what we had to do."ITV's dramatic last lapJames Allen We're expecting Massa any time now. He comes through to claim his sixth victory of the season. He has done everything he needed to do and we wait now to find out who will be the world champion of 2008. Can Hamilton do anything? Can he run it up the inside of Vettel? Only a few corners to go now and desperation starts to creep into Lewis Hamilton. Martin Brundle Raikkonen's third and ... (shouting) is that Glock, is that Glock? It is! That's Glock!JA Oh my goodness me. Hamilton's back in position again. A hundred thousand local hearts sink in the grandstand. It's handed the place back to Hamilton. He comes through. And you're right, I'm sure, that he's going to claim fifth place which is all he needs to do to become ...MB Yes! JA ... the 2008 formula one world champion. Lewis Hamilton, and you will ... well, the Ferrari boys are celebrating, they think they have won. They're wrong. They absolutely haven't. Hamilton finished fifth. And Lewis, the father realised he celebrated too early, and Nicole Scherzinger, the girlfriend of Lewis Hamilton, hugs Aki Hintsa, his head doctor. You will never see a more dramatic conclusion to any motor race, let alone a grand prix, and the result of it all is that, in the most harum scarum way possible - he doesn't make it easy for himself, does he? - Lewis Hamilton is the world champion.MB Unbelievable.Formula oneLewis HamiltonMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Formula one: This is first of many says Lewis Hamilton as he becomes youngest champion | Sport | The Guardian {...} Lewis Hamilton expressed his disbelief at becoming world champion in only his second year {...}
Published: November 3, 2008, 12:12 am - Indexed: November 3, 2008, 11:29 am - Page Size: 93KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media {EUROPE > NEWS AND MEDIA} - Cleveland's Kucinich connection http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/cleveland-s-kucinich-connection-2008117182.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/europe/united-kingdom/news-and-media/cleveland-s-kucinich-connection-2008117182.htm Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:02:38 GMT One-time presidential candidate Congressman Dennis Kucinich gives the Observer's Paul Harris a tour of his Ohio district, a key battleground in this swing state Guardian.Co.Uk Cleveland's Kucinich connection {new window}   Www.Guardian.Co.Uk - One-time presidential candidate Congressman Dennis Kucinich gives the Observer's Paul Harris a tour of his Ohio district, a key battleground in this swing state
Cleveland's Kucinich connection | World news | guardian.co.uk {...}
Published: November 2, 2008, 12:02 am - Indexed: November 2, 2008, 10:46 am - Page Size: 59KB
Category: Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media

]]> Regional > Europe > United Kingdom > News and Media {NORTH AMERICA > RENTALS} - 2ba Bright and spacious house in a prime Daly City location! (daly city) $2775 4bd http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/2ba-bright-and-spacious-house-in-a-prime-daly-city-2008113811.htm http://articles.world-of-newave.info/regional/north-america/united-states/california/metro-areas/san-francisco-bay-area/business-and-economy/real-estate/rentals/2ba-bright-and-spacious-house-in-a-prime-daly-city-2008113811.htm Sat, 01 Nov 2008 07:32:03 GMT Lilia | vadyms@yahoo.com | 415-420-9081 381 Dennis Dr., Daly City, CA Bright and spacious house in a prime Daly City location! Excellent condition! Like a Model. 4BR/2BA Single Family House $2,775/month Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Sq Footage 1,450 Parking 2 dedicated Pet Policy Cats Deposit $1,000 DESCRIPTION -Building completely remodeled in 2007 -Immaculate 4 bedroom 2 full bath in excellent new condition -Cherry kitchen with microwave, dishwasher, garbage disposal unit, refrigerator and stove -Designer’s paint, crown moldings, brand new all, wall to wall hardwood floors -Comfortable living room & tiled bathrooms -Many large closets with mirror sliding doors -Washer & dryer inside the garage -2 car garage, 2 car parking driveway & plenty of street parking Location: This building is located across the street from the Elementary school and shopping plaza and a block away from 35 Highway. Schools, shopping, Skyline College, Bart, SF, SSF are all within minutes from the residence. The house is conveniently close to shopping, dining, movie theaters, bars, freeways, gyms and various religious and cultural institutions. see additional photos below RENTAL FEATURES Central heat Fireplace Walk-in closet Hardwood floor Tile floor Living room Dining room Breakfast nook Dishwasher Refrigerator Stove/Oven Microwave Granite countertop Washer Dryer Laundry area - garage Jacuzzi/Whirlpool Cable-ready High-speed internet LEASE TERMS - Showing instruction: M-F after 5 PM and Sat-Sun anytime - Yearly Lease Contract - Security Deposit of $1000 - 1st Month Rent: $2,775 (Prorated first month rent if starting day not on the 1st of the month) - Last Month Rent: $2,775 - Credit Check required. If possible, bring your own copy of credit report for each applicant and co-signer. Other wise, $20 charge for Credit Check fee per person will apply. ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Renter contact info: Lilia vadyms@yahoo.com 415-420-9081 Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Oct 14, 2008, 10:25am PDT Sfbay.Craigslist.Org 2ba Bright and spacious house in a prime Daly City location! (daly city) $2775 4bd {new window}   Sfbay.Craigslist.Org - Lilia | vadyms@yahoo.com | 415-420-9081 381 Dennis Dr., Daly City, CA Bright and spacious house in a prime Daly City location! Excellent condition! Like a Model. 4BR/2BA Single Family House $2,775/month Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 2 full, 0 partial Sq Footage 1,450 Parking 2 dedicated Pet Policy Cats Deposit $1,000 DESCRIPTION -Building completely remodeled in 2007 -Immaculate 4 bedroom 2 full bath in excellent new condition -Cherry kitchen with microwave, dishwasher, garbage disposal unit, refrigerator and stove -Designer’s paint, crown moldings, brand new all, wall to wall hardwood floors -Comfortable living room & tiled bathrooms -Many large closets with mirror sliding doors -Washer & dryer inside the garage -2 car garage, 2 car parking driveway & plenty of street parking Location: This building is located across the street from the Elementary school and shopping plaza and a block away from 35 Highway. Schools, shopping, Skyline College, Bart, SF, SSF are all within minutes from the residence. The house is conveniently close to shopping, dining, movie theaters, bars, freeways, gyms and various religious and cultural institutions. see additional photos below RENTAL FEATURES Central heat Fireplace Walk-in closet Hardwood floor Tile floor Living room Dining room Breakfast nook Dishwasher Refrigerator Stove/Oven Microwave Granite countertop Washer Dryer Laundry area - garage Jacuzzi/Whirlpool Cable-ready High-speed internet LEASE TERMS - Showing instruction: M-F after 5 PM and Sat-Sun anytime - Yearly Lease Contract - Security Deposit of $1000 - 1st Month Rent: $2,775 (Prorated first month rent if starting day not on the 1st of the month) - Last Month Rent: $2,775 - Credit Check required. If possible, bring your own copy of credit report for each applicant and co-signer. Other wise, $20 charge for Credit Check fee per person will apply. ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Renter contact info: Lilia vadyms@yahoo.com 415-420-9081 Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Oct 14, 2008, 10:25am PDT
2ba Bright and spacious house in a prime Daly City location! {...}
Published: November 1, 2008, 7:32 am - Indexed: November 1, 2008, 9:48 am - Page Size: 17KB
Category: Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals

]]> Regional > North America > United States > California > Metro Areas > San Francisco Bay Area > Business and Economy > Real Estate > Rentals