• Press refresh or hit auto-update for the latest • Email paolo.bandini@guardian.co.uk with your thoughts • Click here for today’s order of play • Check out the latest scores here • You can even follow Paolo on Twitter, if that’s your thing 2.21pm: Rezai has just taken the second set against Williams, levelling things up at 6-3, 6-3. But I know you’re not interested in that – what you want to know is how Britain’s own Daniel Cox is getting on over on Court 14. I’m happy to report that after holding serve, Cox is now just 6-2, 6-4, 5-4 down – and has Stakhovsky right where he wants him. 2.14pm: Andy Roddick is doing his thing on Court 1, fizzing down serves at three times the speed of sound to leave Andreas Beck swishing his racket at thin air. Roddick presently leads 6-4, 4-3. Meantime, Alan McWhinney puts me on the spot. “Who would your preference be for best-looking male tennis player of all time,” he demands. Bjorn Borg, clearly. How can you argue with all that hair? 2pm: Time for an email. “Why are there so many empty seats on centre and No 1 courts? (admittedly there are not so many empty seats to see Serena Williams, but Murray’s match last night was half-empty, as were several singles yesterday),” demands someone claiming to be called DJ Sven. “This is the first week singles, when it is virtually impossible to get on to the show courts without queuing for days. You can only assume that these non-occupants must be there on some corporate jolly and are away in some tent stuffing themselves with smoked salmon and not letting the tennis get in the way of their massively important corporate networking. It is a total scandal (not to mention a good way of completely undermining the atmosphere and the value of the championships) that these fat cats are taking seats away from real fans who are camping on the street to get into the ground. Grrrrr!” Well Wimbledon doesn’t give out Corporate seats in the same way as, say the Olympics, Sven, but there will certainly be plenty of debenture holders who have regular access and therefore feel less anxious about being there all the time. Some, indeed, will use the opportunity to invite business associates here and may be more concerned with the talk over lunch than the tennis itself. But it’s also true that some who spend all that money on tickets for the show courts do so because they want to see one match in particular. When that match isn’t on, they might prefer to watch a match on an outside court than the one that happens to be on Centre. 1.55pm: And now some actual news from Twitter – Jamie Murray has just informed the world that he has found himself a partner for the mixed doubles. I have a mixed partner! I’ll be playing this year with Jarmila Gajdosova! 1.52pm: A most perplexing missive from the official Wimbledon Twitter account. Vote now for the best-looking male player in history of #Wimbledon http://bit.ly/kUQXSk Federer currently leading Nadal. Do U agree? Federer, the best-looking of all-time? Really ? 1.49pm: Yeah, that little run is now over. Williams holds serve to take the set. Over on court 14, Britain’s Daniel Cox is going down in entirely predictable flames against Stakhovsky, trailing 6-2, 5-4. 1.43pm: We return to Centre Court to find Rezai clinging on desperately in the first set – 5-2 down and serving to stay in the set. She gets there, too, watching Williams clump a backhand long at 40-30. Meaning that so far Rezai has won three out of three games when I’ve been watching, and nought out of five when I haven’t. Just saying. 1.40pm: Now for something completely different. Tennis, like it used to be. 1.36pm: Keothavong gets into the spirit of things with a huge “Com’ ON!” as she brings up match point at 40-30, but Broady hangs on in there, bludgeoning a two-handed backhand across from right to left to leave her opponent stranded. No matter – Keothavong quickly brings up another, and seals the match with as Broady’s attempt to parry her serve sails an inch long. It was never really in doubt in the end: Keothavong served better and returned better. But it goes without saying that she may find things rather trickier against the eighth seed Kvitova in the second round. 1.28pm: Serena Williams has broken back to tie the first set at 2-2 against Rezai, but I can’t tell you any more than that because I’ve flicked back to the all-British affair on Court 12. Broady ends a lengthy deuce to hold serve with a deft backhand dropshot, but Keothavong will now have the opportunity now to serve for the match. 1.22pm: That said, it is a shame they couldn’t have got Ms Ross to pitch in with some kind of opening ceremony … 1.20pm: Rezai shows what I know by breaking Williams’s opening service game. Diana Ross has been spotted watching on Centre Court. With rain forecast for this afternoon, let’s just say it’s a more promising start than Cliff Richard. 1.17pm: The first British winner of the day could be confirmed shortly, too, as Keothavong has broken Broady again in the second set and leads 6-2, 6-4. That Glatch win, meanwhile, means Daniel Cox will be up shortly on Court 14 for his match against Sergiy Stakhovksy. 1.15pm: The first two results of the day are in. Petra Kvitova has beaten Alexa Glatch 6-2, 6-2; while Tsvetana Pironkova overcame Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-1. 1.06pm: A lot of people have tipped this match between Rezai and Williams as a potential upset – a comment that surely stems at least in part from memories of the Frenchwoman’s win over Venus Williams in last year’s Madrid Open final. Certainly Rezai has the raw power to trouble anybody, but in truth that is not a quality Serena Williams traditionally has that much trouble with. Of course there is uncertainty over the American given the extent to which the various surgeries to her foot and lung have disrupted her year, but Rezai too has had her share of difficulties off the court – most notably a very public falling out with her father. Earlier this month, she was reported to have contacted the police in France, accusing him of ‘harassment, intentional violence and death threats’, as well as ‘swindling tens of thousands of euros’ . 1.03pm: “I know of at least one underdog who absolutely no one is fond of ,” notes Sam Brydges. Fair. 1.01pm: Unlike her sister yesterday, Serena Williams is out on time to get things started on Centre Court. Also unlike her sister, she has opted for a sensible cardigan. 12.57pm: With the cricket Test series against Sri Lanka finished, my colleague Matt Scott spotted some familiar faces making their way through the gates. He writes: England’s victorious cricketers have headed to Wimbledon this week fter their success in the Sri Lanka Test series. (Actually, it was more of a two-part mini-series than a proper examination of Test mettle, but history records it as a win so who are we to judge?) Everyone from James Anderson to Jonathan Trott, with Nasser Hussain and Mike Atherton thrown in, are present. And at 6ft 7in it was impossible to miss Chris Tremlett on the way to his seat. So I confronted him to ask if this was his opportunity to interrogate the royals about the piecemeal distribution of gongs in the recent Queen’s Birthday Honours to the England cricket team, with Alistair Cook MBE and Andrew Strauss OBE the only players recognised from among the Ashes winners. “No, no I won’t be doing that,” said the seamer who has taken 45 Test wickets at 25.20. “But I did notice they all went to the batters,” he added, before remembering he was talking to a journalist. “…Although they did deserve it. 12.51pm: Keothavong takes the first set as Broady clumps a forehand into the net. Does this now make her the underdog? We’re supposed to love them right? Just behind the umpire, a nice lady in a twinset and pearls breaks down at the sheer confusion of it all. 12.44pm: For the record Niland is actually the first Irishman to play at Wimbledon since 1980 – not 1984, as our very own Simon Cambers explains. The American-born and raised Matt Doyle became an Irish citizen in 1985, but his last appearance at Wimbledon came the year before, when he was still a United States player. So instead Niland will be following in the footsteps of Sean Sorensen, who lost to Rod Laver in the first round in 1977 and played for a second time in 1980. 12.42pm: Middle Britain aren’t the only ones with their flags out today, as deeman1782 notes below the line. “Come on Conor Niland, the 1st Irishman to play in Wimbledon since 1984,” he hurrahs. Niland, ranked 184th in the world, is here very much on merit having battled through three rounds of qualifying in Roehampton this week, but his opponent Adrian Mannarino will be the strong favourite when they trot out on Court 17 later today (they are third up on the court). The pair have only played once – Niland losing in three sets at a Futures tournament back in 2006 – but the 22-year-old Mannarino is playing the best tennis of his career, and threatening to break into the top 50. 12.35pm: Scratch that last comment – Broady just lost her own serve to love. Plus she screeched at one point. Terribly un-British. Has she got some foreign parentage this can be blamed on, muses the lady in the floral hat to the plump man next to her, as he chomps into another strawberry sandwich. Keothavong leads 3-2. Elsewhere on the show courts, Radek Stepanek has broken Fernando Verdasco and leads 3-1. Jelena Jankovic, meanwhile, is level at 3-3 with Maria Jose Martinez. Which probably makes a nice change for her from being asked questions about how Jamie Murray used to flirt with her several years ago. 12.31pm: IIt was awful and it cost me £100000000000,” anounces Oliver Lewis in response to my strawberry sandwich review request. “Hand it over!” Sadly Oliver, your ruse has been blown. I have it on good information that the snack in question is available for just a single English pound. Which probably doesn’t say much for the quality of the strawberries. 12.24pm: Conflict is a-brewing on Court 12, as literally dozens of polite middle-aged men and women struggle to determine which out of Broady and Keothavong they should clap more loudly for. Keothavong would seem the natural choice – Broady, after all, is the bad girl of British tennis, one who famously had her LTA funding cut in 2007 after being photographed *gasp* eating pizza and *faint* posing in a flirty manner. But on the other hand, at 21, Broady’s career is the one with greater upside than Keothavong, whose career has been on a downhill curve since breaking into the top 50 in 2009. Plus she’s got a mean serve and meaty groundstrokes, and most importantly … is winning 2-1 in the first set. 12.17pm: The most troubling piece of news to cross my desk so far today: apparently Tesco are flogging Wimbledon-themed strawberries and cream sandwiches . If anyone is prepared to sample said monstrosity, I will happily reimburse the cost of purchase in return for a review and/or pictures. 12.11pm: And they’re off. Broady biffs down a series of big serves to hold her first service game to 15. An awkward camera angle then makes it briefly appear as though the ball boy is giving her a pat on the bum for encouragement. I’m at least 87% sure that isn’t what happened. 12.06pm: Keothavong and Broady are out promptly to knock up on Court 12. Our man Owen Gibson tweets: Combining two of middle England’s favourite things: Queues at court 12 for the guarantee of a British winner between Keothavang and Broady. 12pm: For those who missed yesterday’s action, or simply have very short memories, here’s a quick refresher: • Andy Murray romped past Daniel Gimeno-Traver and into the second round, but not before fulfilling his contractual obligation to blow a set needlessly and get Middle Britain unnecessarily anxious . • Boris Becker made controversial remarks about Murray’s mother . • Rafael Nadal won. Obviously . • Britain’s Katie O’Brien lost to a formerly retired 40-year-old , then drank some Pimms . • Venus Williams wore a playsuit . Up in the Royal Box, so did Rear Admiral Kilgour . 11.45am: Morning folks. The wind is blowing and the sun fighting a losing battle to be seen behind the grey clouds hovering ominously over SW19, but with a quarter of an hour to go before play starts on the outside courts the good news is that there is not yet any sign of rain. Good thing too – after a restless night camped outside the gates, one or two fans are taking the opportunity to get some shut-eye on the outer courts . Best to get it in now, as we have an eventful day coming up, including: • All three of Serena Williams , Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (in that order) in action on centre court – as well as Andy Roddick, Robin Soderling and the women’s No1 Caroline Wozniacki on court 1. • An improbable first-round rematch between the most gifted undead tennis players you’re ever likely to see . Last year the decaying corpses of John Isner and Nicolas Mahut went at it for an incredible 183 games in a match that lasted 11 hours and five minutes and had to be played across three days. Today they are fourth up on the recently revamped Court 3 – assuming the weather holds. • Most importantly of all, today we will see A British Winner . In fact, we could even see more than one – a total of eight British players are in action today – but with Naomi Broady taking on Anne Keothavong in today’s first match on Court 12, the prospect of a total failure has at least been eliminated. Wimbledon 2011 Wimbledon Serena Williams Roger Federer Tennis Paolo Bandini guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …In a desperate attempt to avoid being deported from Britain, a Jamaican man slashed his throat on board a plane that was about to take off. The illegal immigrant, who had smuggled a small razor on board, was treated for what authorities describe as “superficial injuries” before being returned to…
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Yesterday, we sent up smoke signals to RuPaul, alerting her to the crazy revelation that, of all people to look good in drag, Weird Al tops the list. But if you want to see the real deal, you can check out the video debut of Drag Race winner Raja, whose song, “Diamond Crowned Queen,” is not very good, but who cares because LOOK AT RAJA IN ALL THOSE COSTUMES!!!!!!1!!!!1! No one ever said Raja was a… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : VH1′s Today In Music Discovery Date : 18/06/2011 21:27 Number of articles : 5
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Two guards suspended for offensive comments posted on page belonging to man under investigation for alleged manslaughter A guard under investigation for the alleged manslaughter of Angolan detainee Jimmy Mubenga has used his Facebook page to post a mocking photograph of two other men, assumed to be other detainees, on an aircraft. Terence Hughes, from Portsmouth, who was arrested over Mubenga’s death last year and remains on bail, placed the image of two south Asian men on the social networking site last month. The Guardian can reveal Hughes has permitted a number of friends to post a string of racist and offensive comments below the image. Some of the posters are other guards accredited by the Home Office to escort detainees. The comments include offensive remarks about the men’s appearances, suggestions they should be on the “London to Bradford Express” and a joke that the men should have been in handcuffs shouting “kill me now”. Two serving guards have been suspended as a result of the Guardian’s investigation into the Facebook postings. Jonathan Sedgwick, acting chief executive of UK Border Agency, expressed his “deep concern” and said the Home Office had requested an immediate investigation. Sedgwick said: “None of the staff involved will work for the UK Border Agency while these claims are investigated. The prisons and probation ombudsman will begin an investigation into these allegations, at our request.” Mubenga, 46, a father of five, died on a British Airways aircraft preparing to depart from Heathrow airport for Angola in October. Passengers on BA flight 77 later said guards forcibly restrained Mubenga, who had been complaining he could not breath. One of the witnesses said Mubenga, who was in handcuffs, could be heard pleading for help and screaming: “They are going to kill me.” Hughes and the other two guards on the flight were arrested days later and suspended by their-then employer, the private security contractor G4S. Detectives from the Metropolitan police’s homicide unit are still investigating Mubenga’s death and considering whether to charge the guards with manslaughter. Police are liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service and may alternatively bring a corporate manslaughter charge against G4S, which recently lost its contract with the Home Office to deport foreign nationals. European employment regulations resulted in Hughes and other G4S staff being transferred to rival security firm Reliance when it won the contract for removals. Although their employer has changed, all three guards investigated over Mubenga’s death remain suspended. Two other serving guards employed by Reliance were suspended on Monday after it emerged they were among a list of Facebook friends of Hughes who left offensive comments beneath the photograph. “We are conducting a comprehensive investigation into these allegations and, should these be proven, we will take further steps which may result in the dismissal of those concerned or involved,” the company said. It was not known who the men pictured in the Facebook photograph are, or even whether they were detainees. Sources with detailed knowledge of immigration removals say guards sometimes take “trophy” photographs of detainees in their custody but the image may also have been sourced from the internet. Hughes posted the image on 8 May, along with the comment: ‘come on then….. whats up with this pic!’. His Facebook friends appear to have assumed the photograph to show two detainees, one of whom had mistakenly placed his aircraft seatbelt across his shoulder. The first comment was by a Facebook friend who gave his name as Matt McGrath and joked that one of the men had “Botox on his lips”. Another Facebook friend, Darren Parker, stated that he, too, had escorted a “depo” who had placed his seatbelt on incorrectly. Contacted this week, Parker denied his comment was offensive and expressed doubt over whether the picture was of detainees, adding: “It’s a funny picture regardless who they are”. The comments thread contains a number of references to handcuffs, seating arrangements and codes for notorious flights used to deport foreign nationals, an indication that some of those posting work in immigration removals. Another Facebook friend, Darren Barrow, wrote: “He hasn’t got two hairy arsed escorts either side of him. No cuffs and not shouting “Kill me now, I’m not a hanimal” lol [laugh out loud].” Contacted this week, he also suggested the image was sourced from the internet but gave no explanation for his Facebook posting. Another Facebook friend to post a comment beneath the photograph, Hardy Kohar, wrote: “Such a dumb fuck this bloke, first time on a plane & No Engrish lol.” Facebook has a user-friendly facility for deleting any messages that are offensive, but Hughes, who had Facebook privacy settings that allowed members of the public to see his page, made no attempt to remove the remarks. He has also made a number of other offensive postings on his Facebook page in recent months, including an apparent joke in January about a “smelly Arab”. Jimmy Mubenga Immigration and asylum Race issues Facebook Internet Social networking Paul Lewis Matthew Taylor guardian.co.uk
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TalkSport presenter accepts £20,000 from News of the World publisher, following Sienna Miller’s settlement last month TalkSport presenter Andy Gray has accepted £20,000 from News of the World publisher News Group to settle his phone-hacking claim against the newspaper. The newspaper group reached a similar agreement last month with actor Sienna Miller, who dropped her action and received £100,000 in damages. Gray was one of five phone-hacking test cases that were due to be go to court in January next year. Gray’s legal costs will also be met. News International said in a statement: “News Group Newspapers announces today that it has reached an agreement with Andy Gray to pay him £20,000 in damages plus undisclosed costs. “This concludes the action Andy Gray was taking against NGN over voicemail interception in relation to the News of the World.” News International announced last week that a former high court judge, Sir Charles Gray, had been appointed to administer it’s phone-hacking compensation scheme, which it is setting up to encourage victims to settle instead of pursing their civil claims through the courts. It is offering to pay them 10% more than the amount the courts are likely to award in damages, plus legal costs, once the scheme is set up later this year. The company has set aside up to £20m to pay off claimants it believes have a reasonable chance of winning their court cases. Gray’s was to be one of fives cases due to be heard in January 2012 along with those of Labour MP and former minister Chris Bryant, interior designer Kelly Hoppen, actor Jude Law and football agent Sky Andrew. One of the five reserve cases chosen by Justice Vos in May is now likely to be heard as part of next year’s trial in place of Gray’s case. They are being brought by Nicola Phillips, a publicist who used to work for Max Clifford, former MP George Galloway, former England footballer Paul Gascoigne, Mary-Ellen Field, who was employed as a PR adviser to Elle MacPherson, and comedian Steve Coogan. •
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This post originally appeared on The Good Men Project Vicki Larson and I have been having a fairly heated conversation about what ugly has to do, or not do, with a man being marrying material. Her Huffington Post column got huge attention for claiming that women should choose ugly husbands, lest they be subject to the Weiner/Tiger/Arnold syndrome–appealing and powerful men who crash and burn. I am not sure we will ever agree completely, but in my direct conversations with Vicki I get the sense that we actually agree, perhaps more than we disagree. Vicki and I thought it might be informative to engage in a spirited question and answer about her original piece and my sense of what manhood really is all about. Tom: Vicki, everywhere I look, there are articles that attempt to summarize manhood (ironically most often written by women). Don’t you think making sweeping stereotype-driven judgments about men is the same thing as making those judgments about women, or blacks or gays? Vicki: You’re surprised? Women love analyzing men! Sweeping stereotypes are horrible — I hate being seen as a high-maintenance gold-digger living off my ex’s hard-earned money just because I’m a divorced blonde. Intelligent people understand that the world doesn’t work in absolutes — “never” and “always.” What saddens me reading the comments here and elsewhere is that we still focus on how “bad” the other sex is. The studies I cite are old, they’ve been written about many times before, but because of social media, many people knee-jerk react and spread it faster, farther and wider than before. So much for thoughtful commentary. Tom: I heard an interesting interview with John Hamm, who plays Don Draper on “Mad Men,” in which he talked about how difficult it is for him to be objectified. He was serious about it and appeared to be an honest and sweet man despite his good looks. Should we be feeling sorry for him? Vicki: We all want to feel attractive, not objectified. Still, Hamm chose a career that feeds off of good looks and he’s being paid well and has many opportunities because of it. But it’s great he’s talking about it because women don’t know how men feel about being lust objects. Most women, however, do; even women who aren’t “beautiful” are drooled over because they might have great breasts or a butt. We need to be empathetic to how the other sex experiences things; Louanne Brizendine’s books on male and female brains are great. Tom: Do you really believe the studies you cite that men with higher testosterone, presumably the most macho guys around, are not to be trusted? Vicki: I didn’t write that. Studies indicate men with higher testosterone levels have a tendency to lie and cheat more than men with lower levels. They’re also incredibly exciting. That doesn’t mean all of them will lie and cheat, and any woman who decides to marry a guy or not based on that alone is foolish. Of course, people get married for lots of foolish reasons. Tom: In the course of my work with “The Good Men Project,” I’ve spoken to thousands of men about what it means to be good–from inmates to celebrities–and one of the things I have come to is that goodness is a self-defined concept. For one man it might be taking care of his autistic child and for another it’s risking his life to take pictures of the truth of the war in Iraq. How do you define “good” as it relates to manhood? Vicki: Not to diss the name of your project, which as the mom of two young men and a woman who loves men I’m a fan of, but good is a meaningless word. Mildred Baena called Arnold Schwarzenegger a good man. Good to her, perhaps, but not to his family. And, you aren’t good because you’re taking care of your autistic child; that’s what you signed up for when you became a parent. Good isn’t a male or female thing. So I’d rather define what it is to be human — kind; loving; compassionate; empathetic; self-aware; honest; respects him/herself and others; generous of spirit; realizes he/she is part of a much bigger picture; takes responsibility for his/her actions, and has a moral compass. That’s so incredibly sexy it’s beyond “good.” Bonus points if it comes with a great face and bod. Tom: In picking a spouse, we grapple with different levels of attraction. There’s the animalistic, “Wow that person is hot,” kind. The, “I am just in awe of that person.” And finally, “I can’t imagine walking this planet without that person in my life,” kind. When you advised women to go ugly what were you really saying about attraction? Vicki: I was tongue-in-cheek about going ugly! I am not telling women — or men — to settle for anyone less than the person who rocks their world. But we need to reexamine what attractive means. Anthony Weiner was once named a Cosmo eligible bachelor. Yet clearly from the comments here, few found him handsome and many called him ugly. I don’t think he’s ugly but he’s not hot enough to send me nude pics of himself! So, what makes him an eligible bachelor if it’s not his looks? Many commentors said he only attracted models and women because of his power and status. Well, if that’s what we consider attractive, if that’s what Cosmo’s selling to women as good hubby material, no wonder men call us gold-diggers. Plus, since those guys are the high testosterone guys, we’re right back to the beginning. I’d hope he was an eligible bachelor because of the whole package; he’s a smart (until he proved himself incredibly dumb), fit, passionate, funny man with a (once) promising future. If you’re just going for the pretty and other things that don’t really matter in a fulfilling relationship — and I include power, status and money among those — you’re not looking at the right things. When considering someone “attractive,” we should include character, too. Tom: In a world filled with porn and superficial images of female beauty what do you tell your sons, 17 and 20, about what to look for in a woman? Vicki: You think I can tell my sons anything? Girls are an off-limits topic. I have been delightfully pleased at the girls they consider attractive, real girls with real bodies, no makeup, sweet and smart. I hope I’ve modeled for them what to look for by my priorities — family and friends over material things and status — and how I respect my body; I’d never inject poison or plastic into or overload it with crappy food. Tom: Do you think that we are guilty of spending too much time on celebrity men behaving badly or it is important to nail these guys in order to make sure women see what is not acceptable? Vicki: We spend too much time on celebrities, period, and increasingly it’s becoming “news.” We don’t want to just nail the guys; we seem to enjoy any celebrity falling. There have been plenty of women who fall, but women tend to self-destruct. It seems more high-profile men often behave badly with women, and that, unfortunately, reflects poorly for men in general for some women. It’s those stereotypes again. But I sure hope we aren’t looking to celebrities for guidance. Who cares what they do? Politicians, however, must be held accountable. Tom: Do you really think marriage works better when the wife is hotter than the husband? Vicki: It’s obvious it doesn’t since mine ended in divorce! Okay, I’m joking. I think guys would love to have a hot wife. But there’s no one formula that leads to a happy marriage. A marriage works best when the couple is committed to each other, similar in the ways that matter, and forgiving and accepting in the ways in which they differ. Having a hot husband or wife does not create that. Tom: Do you think Weiner’s wife Huma Abedin will, as you suggest, dump Weiner while there is still time so she can use her beauty to snag another man–only this time “go ugly”? Vicki: I did not suggest Abedin dump Weiner, and I was, again, tongue-in-cheek about splitting before the baby will have memories of the divorce. It’s an option. But she’s about to be a mom, and deciding to divorce when you have kids is tough as it should be given how divorce impacts kids. Ask any 40-something woman what it’s like to find love and you’ll hear that it’s harder than when she was in her 20s or 30s, even if she’s beautiful, smart and accomplished. Tom: We talk a lot about defining moments as men. It could be the loss of a child or a job, the slow erosion of addiction, or a divorce. But that moment when you look in the mirror and have no idea who is looking back. When for the first time you have to get radically honest with yourself about something excruciatingly hard. And that goodness often comes from devastating failure rather than success. Do you think it’s possible Weiner will end up a better man? Vicki: I’d love to believe that we could get that self-awareness, have that epiphany, without hitting bottom. But hitting bottom and being “radically honest” don’t automatically give us that epiphany — we need ways to think and act differently, and we need support. Will Weiner become a better man? I hope so, for his child’s sake. And if he’s lucky, Abedin will be right there by his side. ♦◊♦ Vicki Larson is the lifestyles editor at a San Francisco Bay Area newspaper and the author of the hugely popular blog post “Hot or Not? Why Women Shouldn’t Pick Attractive Husbands” Tom Matlack is the founder The Good Men Project and author of the rebuttal to Larson’s piece, “Why Men Don’t Need to Be Ugly to Be Good” ♦◊♦
Continue reading …While the agenda of the Republican party has of course shifted since Barack Obama took office, little attention has been paid to the philosophical legacy left by Obama's predecessor. But with the next round of GOP presidential contenders outlining their initial policy stances and larger political outlooks, some commentators are noting that the party has all but abandoned the “compassionate conservatism” of its last president. Politico's Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns put it bluntly : From Capitol Hill to the statehouses to the presidential primary, Republicans are turning their back on almost every important accomplishment of the Bush administration. Bush’s attempt to reposition the GOP to the center-right has been rejected in favor of an unmodified brand of conservatism that would rather leave people alone than lift them up with any “armies of compassion.” Many of Bush’s distinctive policy ideas have fallen by the wayside, replaced by a nearly single-minded focus on reducing the size of government. National Review's Rich Lowry framed the departure from Bush's brand of conservatism in the context of Texas Governor Rick Perry's likely entrance into the presidential race: There might be no more powerful symbol of the death of compassionate conservatism in the Republican party than Bush’s successor and former running mate in Texas stomping all over it with cowboy boots emblazoned with the words “Freedom” and “Liberty.” Bush rose from Texas to the national stage in 1999 talking of his federal education agenda, the courage of single mothers, the power of drug and alcohol recovery programs, and the need for government to forge partnerships with faith organizations. Perry is emerging from Texas talking of the 10th Amendment, cutting government, defending freedom — and defending freedom some more. Do you agree with these assessments? Has the GOP abandoned “compassionate conservatism” wholesale? If so, is that a good thing or a bad thing?
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Today’s Google Doodle First day of SUMMER google doodle Google da la bienvenida al verano. Doodle de Takashi Murakami – Alvarito Pinto tagnaouti says: ” @google : Celebrating the summer/winter equinox w/ kawaii doodles by artist Takashi Murakami ( @takashipom ) http://t.co/y5P7Xzl ”
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Winter Solstice 2011 – Sydney Part III Preperations for Stone Circle marking Winter Solstice Down-under IMAGINE THE WORLD YOU WANT.MP4 joyanne says: http://ow.ly/i/dfGs happy winter solstice from Fish Hoek beach:-)
Continue reading …Six states are ablaze in a searing summer that’s breaking records for wildfires. More than 1.2 million acres have already burned and some 10,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as flames devour land in Arizona, New Mexico, California and Colorado, as well as Georgia and…
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