50 years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. But the unsung hero of the Soviet Union’s triumph was a brilliant scientist who survived Stalin’s purges It remains the one untarnished triumph of Soviet science. On 12 April 1961, a peasant farmer’s son with a winsome smile crammed himself into a capsule eight feet in diameter and was blasted into space on top of a rocket 20 storeys high. One hundred and eight minutes later, after making a single orbit of our world, the young pilot parachuted back to Earth. In doing so, Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to journey into space. The flight of Vostok 1 – whose 50th anniversary will be celebrated next month – was a defining moment of the 20th century and opened up the prospect of interplanetary travel for our species. It also made Gagarin an international star while his mission was hailed as clear proof of the superiority of communist technology. The 27-year-old cosmonaut became a figurehead for the Soviet Union and toured the world. He lunched with the Queen; was kissed by Gina Lollobrigida; and holidayed with the privileged in Crimea. Gagarin also received more than a million letters from fans across the world, an astonishing outpouring of global admiration – for he was not obvious star material. He was short and slightly built. Yet Gagarin possessed a smile “that lit up the darkness of the cold war”, as one writer put it, and had a natural grace that made him the best ambassador that the USSR ever had. Even his flaws seem oddly endearing by modern standards, his worst moment occurring when he gashed his head after leaping from a window to avoid his wife who had discovered a girl in his hotel room. To many Russians, Gagarin occupies the same emotional territory as John
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Click here to view this media While discussing whether Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker is actually going to be willing to make a deal with the fourteen Democrats who fled the state or not and the rights of the public workers in Wisconsin to collective bargaining on Morning Joe, MSNBC’s resident racist and union hater Pat Buchanan lets everyone know why Republicans really hate unions. They organize to help get Democrats elected. And in Buchanan’s world, if you’re being paid a government salary from the taxpayers and you do that, it’s really, really evil and nefarious. Of course we never hear Pat complaining about corporate lobbyists influencing politicians — because that’s just freedom of speech don’t you know. I’d like for someone to ask Pat if it’s okay for corporations like private military contractors who are getting no bid contracts from their buddies in Washington paid for by our tax dollars to pay lobbyists or meet with politicians themselves to get a share of our tax dollars. I wonder if Pat is going to complain if the Koch brothers end up getting to buy the public utilities in Wisconsin for some ridiculously low price that rips off the tax payers there. Anyone think we’re going to hear him start carping about that? Nope. Pat only cares if the taxpayers aren’t happy that those evil union thugs are using money to… gasp… earn a living and collectively bargain for fair wages and decent working conditions. And worse yet… pull out the smelling salts… to support politicians who might have their best interests at heart. People who work for the government that belong to unions are not spending taxpayer money to support their unions. They’re paying part of their salaries. That money doesn’t belong to the taxpayers any more than a private sector union member’s salary belongs to the company they work for after they’re paid. And they’ve got a right to expect to earn a living wage just like anyone else in America. But the Buchanan’s of the world want to paint that as somehow being evil and misusing taxpayer dollars. I’ve been at my job and in a union for over 25 years now and I’ve got a lot of conservative co-workers like anyone else out there obviously. I tell you this latest overreach by Walker and the teabaggers, the Republican Party and their cohorts in the media like Buchanan here is turning off people like I’ve never seen before. I’ve seen first hand conservative co-workers of mine looking at this stuff and just being completely disgusted and waking up for the first time to the fact that the Republican Party just hates working people and wants to destroy unions. I really think these Republican governors and their strategy to go full bore and try to give unions a fatal blow may end up being one of the biggest political blunders I’ve seen in my lifetime if the reaction from the people I work with is any indication. So you go Pat. You’re turning off Republican union members around the country and anyone that relates to or sides with them with your union bashing, just like your buddies in office.
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Dior designer’s indiscretion may have hit the big names, but the minnows see a silver lining It was the most spectacular and scandalous Paris fashion week in years, and many of the big names – not least John Galliano – were left counting the cost. However, for many designers less well-known outside the rarefied world of fashion, sensational headlines brought a potentially profitable silver lining. One such was Haider Ackermann, an independent designer who has been described by some fashionistas as “the new Yves Saint Laurent” and is being tipped for the top job at Dior. “It was a very bizarre fashion week, but a very good one for us,” said Katou Brandsma, who represents Ackermann. “Everyone was congratulating us. We had buyers from shops, like Barneys in New York, we’ve been waiting for 10 years to turn up to our shows. Our designs stood out because everyone else – apart from McQueen – was so boring.” Among the other designers to reap the rewards of the unusually scrutinised fashion week was the Italian-Japanese designer Nicola Formichetti, who counts Lady Gaga among her fans and was widely congratulated for her debut collection for Thierry Mugler. Following unconfirmed reports that she had been chosen to design Kate Middleton’s wedding dress, British creator Sarah Burton’s collection for the label of the late Alexander McQueen also drew plaudits. Some observers had feared that the aftermath of Galliano’s dramatic firing from Dior – for allegedly making antisemitic comments in a drunken rantin a Paris bar – would result in a fashion week dominated by scandal rather than sartorial fireworks. Their worries were not soothed by the hullabaloo greeting Kate Moss’s appearance on the catwalk smoking a cigarette. One writer at the event, who declined to be named, said his editor demanded: “Give us a good story about fashion week, but don’t bother about the clothes.” For the unluckiest on the French capital’s fashion circuit, the controversy did indeed spell disaster: Brussels-born designer Anthony Vaccarello’s show was scheduled for the first day of the week – the same day, it transpired, that Galliano was fired. Vaccarello, remarked the New York Times , had a “fine presentation whose fate it was to be forgotten instantly”. Others, however, remain convinced that a good dose of publicity never did any harm. Dana Thomas, a Paris-based fashion writer and author of Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Lustre , said the fall-out from l’affaire Galliano and the subsequent rumours of musical chairs at the big-name fashion houses had produced a “win-win situation”. “The intrigue, bar-room brawls and court proceedings brought a new dynamic and will have created renewed interest in fashion,” she said. “The scandals gave the whole business a shot of adrenaline, including for the business side. It wasn’t bad news for the French fashion industry at all.” Neither, she added, was good fortune reserved for the designers: writers were also rejoicing at having something new to report on. “It allowed fashion writers to get back to what they used to do, being proper journalists writing about fashion news rather than giving a critique of clothes as though they were talking about movies and art,” Thomas said. “It had become so boring writing about clothes, which can be pretty and interesting but not the most intellectual pursuit ever known. I mean, at the end of the day a pencil skirt is just a pencil skirt.” For the success stories of the week, celebrations have been tempered by an awareness of how high the stakes are. Ever since Galliano bowed out, Paris has been awash with speculation over who might replace him. Ackermann, for one, was under enormous pressure, said Brandsma, his representative. The Colombian-born Frenchman’s star rose sharply last year when Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld picked him as his favoured successor. “I have a contract for life, so it all depends on who I would hand it to. At the moment, I’d say Haider Ackermann,” he told Numéro magazine. When his phone started ringing non-stop on 1 March, the designer dealt with it in his own way. “When everything went mad, he locked himself in his showroom and turned off his BlackBerry,” said Brandsma. “I believe it’s still off now.” Paris fashion week John Galliano Kate Moss Fashion Kim Willsher guardian.co.uk
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Four-day weekend to celebrate marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton taken as chance to escape for early summer sun When David Cameron gave the nation an extra day off in honour of the wedding of a prince, he may not have reckoned on the impact. Far from pinning up some bunting or jostling for elbow room around the biggest flatscreen in the village on 29 April, many British people plan to leave the country and abandon the spectacle to the tourists. Bookings for foreign breaks have shot up, while online holiday companies are reporting that the number of people searching for April getaways is double last year’s. Travel agents are reporting from 30% to 56% rises in interest in their holidays, while Hotels.com says that the number of people searching for holidays for the week ending 29 April has increased by 212% compared with the same time in 2010. Thomas Cook has put an extra 100,000 sunshine breaks on sale to meet demand, a third more than usual, while Ryanair has reported a 65% increase in bookings. “It’s a bonanza for the foreign travel industry, which I’m sure the prime minister wasn’t expecting,” said Lonely Planet’s Tom Hall, who has been inundated with readers looking for advice on the best destinations. “And it’s an absolutely lovely time to be in the Caribbean.” Hall added: “There is a huge degree of interest making the most of the extra time that’s being offered. As pretty much anyone who works will back up, an opportunity like that is not to be missed. And, of course, hoteliers in this country are facing an influx of tourists coming into London for the wedding, so it’s a good time to leave town.” The extra day off on Friday, 29 April, means that millions of workers will enjoy two successive four-day weekends in quick succession: 22-25 April, taking in bank holidays on Good Friday and Easter Monday, and 29 April–2 May, taking in the royal wedding and the May Day bank holiday, with only a three-day working week in between. “Holidaymakers now only need to take five days’ annual leave to benefit from a 14-night holiday,” said Richard Calvert, managing director of Thomas Cook holidays, welcoming it as “great news for savvy travellers”. So far, the most popular destinations are places with plenty of early summer sunshine, such as Turkey, Egypt and the Canaries. European republics are also popular, especially with independent travellers. The travel firm Skyscanner said that Germany was the top destination for escapes over the 29 April weekend. For those keen to avoid the wedding but not able to leave these shores, an alternative event has been set up by a Welsh cultural group: the Escape The Wedding Camp at a campsite near Machynlleth. Balchder Cymru (Pride of Wales), a group set up to promote Welsh consciousness, is considering staging a march through Machynlleth on the day to celebrate the area’s links with their preferred Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndwr, who was crowned in the town in 1404. “We are giving people an opportunity to escape the razzledazzle and media hype that will take place when the wedding takes place. Not everyone will be celebrating,” said a spokesman for the group. On Oxford Street yesterday, a shop owner who didn’t want to be named admitted that there was little interest in Kate/Wills memorabilia. “Postcards are doing OK, but it’s a lot of Brits writing jokey, bitchy messages.” Tourists were buying union-jack-emblazoned products for their kitsch appeal. Paula Hilton, 26, from Lancaster, in London with her mother Elizabeth, 56, for the weekend, was buying her son a model of a London taxi. “I wouldn’t come near London on the day,” she said. “I’ll have a look at the dress in the paper or whatever, but I’m not invited so I’m not watching!” Many Londoners, meanwhile, are hoping to cash in on outsiders’ enthusiasm. The city’s hotels are racking up prices to take advantage of a possible 500,000 foreign visitors, while the websites Gumtree and London Rent My House have huge numbers of people offering to rent out their homes – while they, presumably, seize the opportunity to take a holiday. The writer Anthony Holden is one of those who have opted to join the anti-monarchist exodus: “I am certainly planning to flee the country, due to my republicanism, general hatred of the news coverage and the fact that because of Easter weekend it’s like the dead week between Christmas and New Year. I shall go somewhere to the sun and work on my new book,” he said. The campaign group Republic is hosting one of several “anti-royal wedding” street parties. Its spokesman, Graham Smith, said he’d expect a few hundred people at the London event. “We expect the majority in the middle who are largely apathetic to just go on holiday to ignore it that way, and I hope they have a good time. At least 20% of the population are opposed to the monarchy, and many more simply don’t care about it.” Polls and complaints to the BBC about coverage before the event showed an unexcited nation, he said, adding: “The public holiday blows a hole in the idea that the wedding will be an economic boost for Britain. The CBI has calculated an extra day off would cost the economy
Continue reading …Retired Gen. Wesley Clark takes a long look at the pros and cons of having the US intervene in Libya and thinks the answer is clear: Stay out of it, America. Even a no-fly is too dangerous, he argues in the Washington Post . It probably wouldn’t be enough to force…
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BetTornado Intro Paul Nicholls: Betfair Cheltenham Preview Night – Neptune Novices Hurdle Betfair Cheltenham Preview – RSA Chase The World of Betfair | Sports-24.Net Betfair is a company that has appeared in the summer of the year 2000. Since then it has quickly risen to the top, nowadays being the best online betting company you can find. More than a million people constantly place their bets … What a joke! « Bet Angel – Betfair trading and betting blog Just two days before Cheltenham we find ourselves facing another Betfair outage. Not just that, but this is the second day in a row that the site has been offline. This is the worst period for reliability I can remember on Betfair . … Trading on Betfair – Swing trade using Bet Angel : Trading on Betfair – Swing trade using Bet Angel. Saturday, March 12th, 2011 at 4:57 am. Swing trading is the anti-thesis of scalping on betting exchanges. When you swing trade you are looking to catch much broader movements in the … Win tickets to see Manchester United v Marseille – courtesy of … Sportsmail has teamed up with Betfair , the home of In-Play betting, to offer you and a friend the chance to watch Manchester United v Marseille at Old Trafford. Read more… waynebaileyracing.blogspot.com: Betfair down / Skint The Betfair site seems to be up and down (again) today so I don’t want to risk trading in case it crashes while I’m exposed. It’s getting quite annoying at this stage. You can expect outages now and again, but it seems to be getting … Perki_ALP says: I hope Betfair loads up properly soon!
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Kelly Describes Deadly NY Bus Crash Crash!! NYC Bronx Tour Bus Crash Kills 13 People,critically injures 6 NYC!! Bronx Tour Bus Crash Kills 13 People 13 Dead as Bus Overturns on Bronx Highway – NYTimes.com A tour bus with 32 people aboard turned over on the New England Thruway near exit 14. NYFD: 13 dead in Bronx tour bus accident | The Daily Caller … NEW YORK (AP) — Officials say 13 people have died in a tour bus accident in the Bronx . A New York Fire Department spokesman said a tour bus overturned on the. 13 Dead as Bus Overturns on Bronx Highway – NYTimes.com A tour bus with at least 30 people aboard turned over on the New England Thruway near exit 14. NYFD Official: 13 dead in Bronx tour bus accident | The Daily … NEW YORK (AP) — NYFD Official: 13 dead in Bronx tour bus accident. 13 dead in Bronx tour bus crash after flipping on busy highway … The bus was carrying 31 passengers from a Connecticut casino along the New England Thruway in the Bronx when at around 5.30am the driver lost control. Read more on this… angelcabrerai says: The singer from the Bronx to be replaced and Kylie Minogue The singer and actress Jennifer Lopez has just sig… (cont) http://deck.ly/~bGl7m
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Reuben Turnovers Corned Beef and Cabbage on Potato Bread! Irish Recipes – St Paddys Day – Brown Scones #6 Corned Beef and Cabbage Corned Beef and Cabbage Pizza: Feast of St. Patrick (17 March) is fast approaching. I’m not the biggest fan of what could be considered traditional Irish food, so this is not really a time of year that I expect impatiently. corned beef and cabbage Quick and easy heart healthy quick and easy heart healthy beef and cabbage recipe beef recipe cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day … Do not forget your green be… Corned Beef And Cabbage Just in time for St. Patrickâ ™s Day, hereâ ™s a super easy and super delicious slow-cooker recipe for corned beef. To kick up the flavo… daddynews2011 – corned beef and cabbage Recipe corned beef and cabbage Recipe kick up the flavor notch, I added beer instead of water, Dijon mustard, and a little brown sugar to the corned beef. It cooked about all day in the Crockpot. The meat will fall apart when cooked and will … Corned Beef And Cabbage | News When It Matters the Most The corned beef and cabbage at Grasshopper Also. Sona Thirteen 13 South St the parade route. Open from 9 am today, 2:00 Sunday, this Irish-American rest… ExploreElmhurst says: In honor of St Patricks Day we are have Corned Beef and Cabbage today The Standard Restaurant and Bar!
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KEMiKALZ – DOWN SYMDROME PT2 MGO House of Horrors: Meryl vs. Johnny pt.1 MGO Servers Temporarily Closed 12/3/2011 mgo As you can see it is different from the late Chairman Mao, and bodies, especially to stay in one spot, but it does not spin. You also do not take damage, w… » Manuka Honey Cured My Stomach Ulcer: A Patient Tells Her Story A … Luba tells how it affected her and how what she calls “magic honey” (actually MGO ™ 400+ Manuka Honey from New Zealand) cured her stomach ulcer: “Three months ago I started to have a problem with my stomach. A couple of hours after … Shockwave Lounge: Metal Gear Online Servers Temporarily Shutdown … Ken-ichiro Imaizumi today confirmed Konami have shutdown the MGO servers (Worldwide), and they are yet to determine when they will resume usual service. Ken1555 To conserve power we are temporarily stopping the MGO servers. … Konami sulkee MGO -palvelimet maanjäristyksen johdosta – Uutiset … Konami sulkee Metal Gear Online -palvelimet tilapäisesti säästääkseen energiaa. MGO -palvelimet ovat pois käytöstä kunnes toisin ilmoitetaan.Japani on yksi… [ MGO ] Oh lord, the lag, please make it stop | UU CAP Survival … 19 Responses to “[ MGO ] Oh lord, the lag, please make it stop | UU CAP Survival”. Devilkryer on March 12th, 2011 at 2:08 pm. konami have just disowned us EU players. Reply. yoit on March 12th, 2011 at 2:45 pm. Second round = lol … asianrealtor says: Stocks in a New Downtrend (ADX) – HGU, HR.UN, L, MGO , MGX: H&R Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:HR.UN) percenta… http://bit.ly/fr6WDp
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Body Language Websites Body Language : The Complete Business Guide Body Language Secrets: A Guide Daily Tip- Goo .gl Chrome Extension If you are like me then you know on websites like Twitter posting a url can be a nightmare because of the many characters It uses. Well recently Google launched… How do I get a Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls as my Ringtone? | EntVibe Question by Professor Cuddles III: How do I get a Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls as my Ringtone? I recently got my first cell phone, and I want to have that song. Skin Rash: Booty Goo 2.5oz Tube Booty Goo 2.5oz Tube List Price: $2.95 Includes Vitamin E and Aloe Repels Wetness List Price: $2.95 Your Price: $2.95- Booty Goo is a smooth, soothing ointment for treatment and prevention of diaper rash. Why it is effective: Formulated … phineas and ferb gitchi gitchi goo piano music sheet – Dosyatube.com phineas and ferb gitchi gitchi goo piano music sheet. Crazy Over Goo – Free Download Games Download Crazy Over Goo game, free download games. A good skill game with a jumping ball 50 gimmicky levels. Another good game by BanovG. The graphics are prettty good, even if theyre pixilated. hombizonline says: The COMPLETE & ONLY Solution To FIX The PS3 Yellow/Red/Green Light & Red Screen TODAY! http:// goo .gl/0k9Iu
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