It’s Jimmy Carter Appreciation Week; yesterday I liked his sweaters, and today his speed limits. Every time oil hits a Benji per barrel, I recycle our post about why the 55 MPH speed limit was such a good idea. They just reduced the limits in Spain , what about in America?… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …When Tree-Planting Goes Bad: Twisted, Misplaced Trees of Death in Columbia (Slideshow)
March 1, 2011 No Comment
Photo: Bogota Environmental Office. Between 1999 and 2004, there was one death a year due to the falling of trees or branches in Columbia’s capital city, Bogota. Though general wisdom says trees are good, this city proves that with poor planning, wrong species in the wrong places, and bad policies around the management of urban green spaces, trees can be annoying or even a death sentence.
Continue reading …2 011 ‘Dancing With the Stars’ cast: Kirstie Alley, Wendy Williams, Sugar Ray Leonard and more The 2011 “Dancing With the Stars” cast has been announced, with hot names for “DWTS” Season 12 including TV host Wendy Williams, Playboy bunny Kendra Wilkinson, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and pro wrestler Chris Jericho. Oh! Don’t forget Kirstie Alley — ’cause we have a thing for her, and because it’s always fun to see if someone loses weight while competing in the show. With Williams, Wilkinson and Leonard/Jericho covering the “controversial,” “hottie” and “athlete” categories held last season by Bristol Palin, Audrina Patridge and Rick Fox/Kurt Warner, “DWTS” was left to fill the Season 11 roles of “name from Gen Xers’ childhoods” (Ralph Macchio is the new Florence Henderson?) and “someone who came from Disney” (“Wizards of Waverly Place” alum Chelsea Kane is the new Kyle Massey). ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) 2011 ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Cast Is Filled With Not-So-Dumb Jocks The 2011 Dancing With the Stars cast has been announced, and it seems like a good handful of the B- or C-list stars are famous for either being pro athletes (wrestler Chris Jericho, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, pro football player Hines Ward) or for playing one (Karate Kid Ralph Macchio) or being married to one (Kendra Wilkinson). Now, this is what I’m talkin’ about! It’s supposed to be an amateur dance competition, so I’ve never understood why they’ve brought people like Romeo, Joey McIntyre, Drew Lachey, Lance Bass, Mel B, Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger, and even Jennifer Grey on the show. People who have made a career out of … dancing!!! That’s not fair! The show is supposed to be about amateurs learning the ropes of hardcore dance. Sure, Mel B never learned the Two-Step for Spice Girls numbers. But given her experience, she obviously has more dance ability than the average person. ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) ‘Dancing With the Stars’ 2011: Who Is ‘Psycho’ Mike Catherwood? One of the biggest question marks in this season’s slightly-less-star-powered-than-usual ‘Dancing With the Stars’ cast is ‘Psycho’ Mike Catherwood. What do we know about the guy besides the fact that he looks a lot like Kelly Ripa’s husband Mark Consuelos? Catherwood is a Los Angeles–based radio DJ who got his start as a sidekick on the Kevin & Bean morning show on L.A. rock radio station KROQ and currently co-hosts the nationally syndicated ‘Loveline’ with everyone’s favorite TV personality / addiction specialist, Dr. Drew Pinsky. ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) Dancing with the Stars 2011: Chelsea Kane (Staub) VIDEO Disney-ABC Television Group manages all of the Wal Diseny Company’s entertainment and news television properties and this includes ABC TV Network as well as the Disney Channels. So it should come as no surprise that a young Disney actor is part of the season 12 “Dancing with the Stars” cast. Last year it was Kyle Massey. This year it is Chelsea Kane (Staub). ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) Dancing With The Stars 2011 Cast Announced: Season 12 Participants Confirmed Off the sidelines and back on the floor — the 12th season cast of “Dancing With The Stars” has been announced. ABC, which announced the cast during Monday night’s episode of “The Bachelor,” avoided any political drama — unlike last season’s casting of Bristol Palin, or the rumored approach to Delaware Republican Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell — but that doesn’t mean the cast was devoid of big names — it’s one of the brightest groups yet. ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) ‘Dancing With the Stars’ 2011: Season 12 Cast Announced The ‘Dancing With the Stars’ 2011 spring cast, announced Monday night during ‘The Bachelor,’ includes a talk show host, model, football star, ’80s acting faves and Disney Channel starlet. So, all in all, it was a typical line-up for the popular ABC reality show. The rumors we reported earlier came true: ‘Cheers’ star Kirstie Alley and former Hugh Hefner girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson were both on the official roster. And while Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell didn’t end up joining ‘DWTS’ (and neither did Joy Behar, despite our wish list), pro wrestler Chris Jericho and talk show host Wendy Williams will be among the celebrities shaking their hips. ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) New ‘Dancing’ Cast — WWE Star, Rapper, Playmate So far, we’ve confirmed 6 of the 11 celebrities who will appear on the show as well as their partners — check it out: — Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke — Lil’ Romeo & Chelsie Hightower — Kendra Wilkinson & Louis van Amstel — Kirstie Alley & Maksim Chmerkovskiy — Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani — Disney star Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) 2011 “Dancing With The Stars”: Season 12 Contestants Announced Every year “Dancing With The Stars” manages to draw in some intriguing celebrities and it looks like they’ve done it once again. As usual the cast consists of an odd mix of reality stars, sports figures, and TV/movie actors. The season 12 “Dancing With The Stars” cast once again doesn’t disappoint with a variety of celebrities from all facets of show business who the nation will love to tune in and se. ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) Dancing with the Stars 2011 cast revealed Kirstie Alley and Petra Nemcova join the reality competition. Lindsey Herzik “Dancing with the Stars” revealed its 2011 season lineup. The celebrities include professional dieter, Kristie Alley, supermodel Petra Nemcova, talk-show host Wendy Williams, the original karate kid Ralph Macchio, Disney star Chelsea Kane, hip-hop singer Romeo, “Loveline” co-host Mike Catherwood, Hugh Hefner’s former girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson, Pittsburg Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and WWE wrestler Chris Jericho reports E! Online . ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) ‘Dancing with the Stars’ 2011 cast revealed for Season 12 The new “Dancing with the Stars” 2011 cast for Season 12 was announced on Monday night during “The Bachelor.” TMZ.com was busy on the beat all day Monday, speculating who would be on this season. Overall, their sources did well, guessing most of this year’s would be challengers. ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) Dancing With The Stars 2011: Chris Jericho Dancing With The Stars 2011 cast profile for Chris Jericho. Chris Jericho is the first athlete named as a cast member for Season 12 of Dancing with the Stars. The full cast will be revealed later tonight, but we have a few leaks and among them Chris Jericho whose partner is Cheryl Burke is the only guy that is an athlete. Chances are he will be joined by at least one more athlete, likely a pro from one of the major sports. ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) Chris Jericho Officially Confirmed To Join New Dancing With The Stars 2011 Former WWE wrestler Chris Jericho has officially been confirmed to join the new cast of Dancing With The Stars. ( Read 2011 Dancing With The Stars Cast more… ) Related Searches : 2011 dancing with the stars contestants, 2011 dancing with the stars, dancing with the stars, chris jericho, dancing with the stars 2011 Courtesy : The Envelope , The Stir , TV Squad , Examiner , The Huffington Post , TMZ , Paparazzi Journal , College News , M Live , Robot Celeb & Inside Pulse
Continue reading …Bank of America Website Down 2011 – BOFA Down Are you experiencing the same problem as mine? Bank of America website has been down. Does anyone know what is going on with BOFA online banking system? When I checked for Bank of America down reports online, others were even unable to access the site since yesterday (2/28). ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) Bank of America’s (NYSE:BAC) Website Woes Continue, Online Banking Down Nationwide… had reported over on my Business Insider column earlier today that Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) customers across the U.S. were having difficulty logging into their online banking system. I, too, was unable to even get the homepage to fully load! ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) Bank of America Web site down; bank denies attack Bank of America is experiencing service issues with its online banking system. Bank customers had reported that the bank’s Web site was slow or not working at all Monday, with reports that the site was completely down Tuesday. Although the bank restored service for a brief time Tuesday, the site was down again in the afternoon. A spokeswoman for the bank told the Wall Street Journal that the site was slow because of routine upgrades made over the weekend, and not because of an attack of any kind. ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) The Jones Group Inc. to Present at Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2011 Consumer Conference on March 9, 2011 NEW YORK, March 1, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — The Jones Group Inc. (NYSE: JNY) is scheduled to present at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2011 Consumer Conference on March 9, 2011 at 8:25 am eastern time. The presentation will be webcast and made available through the Company’s website at www.jonesgroupinc.com . ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) Bank of America website suffers outage … again NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Bank of America’s online banking system went on the fritz for some users Tuesday, the second such incident this year. Customers attempting to access the bank’s online services were experiencing “intermittent service disruptions,” according to Tara Burke, a spokeswoman for the bank. ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) Are You Having Trouble With Bank Of America Today? By Laura Northrup Have you been unable to log in to your Bank of America online account? You’re certainly not alone. The bank told Crain’s that “some customers may experience slowness” and many customers aren’t able to access the bank’s Web site at all. Reader Allison reports, “Online access has been awful for over 24 hours. Lines inside branches are 30-40 minutes long!” ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) Bank of America Online Banking Temporarily Unavailable By Missy Yates Bank of America’s online banking website went down on Tuesday. The company says it has been having “intermittent service disruptions” all day due to a routine update that took place over the weekend. So, no worries. There is no virus or attack and no one is stealing your banking and/or credit card info. Bank of America says no customer information has been compromised in any way. ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) The Jones Group Inc. to Present at Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2011 Consumer Conference on March 9, 2011 About The Jones Group Inc. The Jones Group Inc. ( www.jonesgroupinc.com ) is a leading global designer, marketer and wholesaler of over 35 brands with best-in-class product expertise across five divisions: apparel, footwear, jeanswear, jewelry and handbags. The Jones Group has a reputation for innovation, excellence in product quality and value, operational execution and talent. The Company also markets directly to consumers through branded specialty retail and outlet stores and through its e-commerce sites. ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) Zale Scheduled to Speak at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Consumer Conference Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2011 Consumer Conference DALLAS–( BUSINESS WIRE )–Zale Corporation (NYSE: ZLC) announced today that Theo Killion, Chief Executive Officer, and Matt Appel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, are scheduled to speak at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2011 Consumer Conference in New York City on March 10, 2011, at approximately 2:20 p.m., Eastern Time. A live audio webcast of the presentation, as well as a replay, will be available on the Company’s Web site at www.zalecorp.com via the Investor Relations homepage. For additional information, contact Investor Relations at 972-580-4391. ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) New Arizona Attorney General Still Pursuing Bank of America Lawsuits It looks as though the new Republican Attorney General of Arizona , Tom Horne who started his job on January 3, won’t be giving Bank of America (BofA) any relief from the mortgage lawsuit that was filed while his predecessor, Terry Goddard served his last days in office. Horne told the press yesterday that he still has plans to pursue BofA in the lawsuit filed by Goddard on December 17. ( Read Bank of America Website Down 2011 more… ) Related Searches : bank of america website down, bank of america, bank of america online banking, bank of america login, bank of america careers Courtesy : Daily Postal , Outlaw , The Washington Post , The Sacramento Bee , CNN Money , The Consumerist , Long Island Press , PR News Wire , Business Wire & Loan Safe
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Residents of a flood-prone Ohio city brightened as the waters crested Tuesday, a day after wicked storms lashed the eastern half of the nation with heavy rain and tornadoes, killing at least four people. (March 1)
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Authorities say Christina Aguilera’s boyfriend has been released from jail, hours after he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and the singer was taken to a West Hollywood jail until she sobered up. (March 1)
Continue reading …The Republicans’ Real Agenda: Busting Unions and Enacting ‘Right to Work’ Laws
March 1, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media As Ed Schultz noted tonight, the GOP governors appearing on the Sunday bobblehead shows all had their talking points ready and were on the same page with their defense of Wisconsin governor Scott Walker — Wisconsin is broke, Democratic Senators are cowards and public employees have it way too good. But as Ed noted, one Republican governor in Maine let the cat out of the bag with what their real agenda is: enacting so-called ‘Right to Work’ laws and busting unions. LePage: ‘We’re going after right-to-work’ : Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Saturday he would push forcefully ahead with right-to-work legislation in his state, even if it means a Wisconsin-style fight with unions. In an interview at the National Governors Association, the Republican praised Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and couched his own proposal in the language of liberty loved by tea partiers. “He’s got a big challenge, and quite frankly, once they start reading our budget they’re going to leave Wisconsin and come to Maine because we’re going after right to work,” LePage told POLITICO. “I believe that the Declaration of Independence says ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’” he said. “Whenever someone forces me to do something against my will, they’re infringing upon my freedoms and my liberties. And that’s what I think we’re doing in Maine when we have fair share, which means that you are required to belong to a union, you’re required to pay dues but you don’t want to participate. I find that to be against everything the United States of America stands for.” LePage said he’s “never inspired by a fight,” but that Wisconsin is unquestionably an impetus behind a renewed GOP push to demand concessions from public-sector employees and to go after union power. LePage said people who want to join unions have that right, but stressed that no one should be forced into the decision. “I believe if an individual wants to join organized labor and work under a union contract, they should have the legal right to do so,” he said. “At the same token, a person who does not want to work under organized labor and wants to work should have the ability to do so without the threat of having to join and having to pay dues to organized labor.” “It’s that simple,” he said. “It’s all about freedom and liberty.” “Freedom and liberty” huh? I don’t think so, Governor LePage. As Ed pointed out, Maine workers cannot be forced to join a union already : LePage’s comment that Maine workers are forced to join a union has sparked debate. Private sector workers cannot be forced to join a union under the freedom of association clause in the First Amendment, a finding backed by several court decisions. State laws differ on public employees. According to Marc Ayotte, the executive director of the Maine Labor Relations Board, Maine law follows the guidelines of the association clause in prohibiting public workers from being forced to join a union. However, most collective bargaining agreements in the public sector require workers opting out of the union to pay a “service fee” to unions. Ayotte said the fee is less than full union dues. It’s required because Maine law currently obligates public employee unions to represent nonunion workers during grievances and other matters. The service fee obligation for public employees is at the heart of the legislation sponsored by Rep. Tom Winsor, R-Norway. Winsor said last week that his right-to-work bill would eliminate the service fee requirement, as well as the provision requiring unions to represent nonunion employees. The article by the Sun Journal also had a statement from someone from The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation claiming that those workers do not actually have that freedom because they’re forced to pay a fee if they opt out of the joining the union. You’ve got to love the names these organizations give themselves. Right to Work is nothing more than the right to bust a union financially. Unions are still forced to represent workers that opt out of union membership, so they force those workers to pay a fine in states like Maine. If they really weren’t just about breaking the unions, they would change the laws so the unions are no longer forced to represent anyone who opts out of joining. Let them come in and bargain for their own wages, not have any recourse other than hiring their own attorney if they get fired or hurt on the job and if a company decides to pay them less than their union counterparts, so be it. You’re on your own. Given those choices most workers would not opt out of joining a union. Right to work advocates want to allow “free riders” who enjoy the benefits of union membership, without having to pay for them. Then when enough people opt out, the union goes bust and voila’, no more union. Mission accomplished. We’re going to be fighting this battle across all fifty states for years to come. We’d better get out there and make people aware of what’s going on before we all find ourselves in the same position Wisconsin and now Maine are already in. Republicans and Right to Work advocates have been itching for this fight for years and it looks like they’re finally ready to bring it. We’d better be ready to bring it right back. As Ed noted in the end of the clip where he showed Karl Rove, this is also about decimating the core of what’s left of the Democratic base. If we don’t want what’s left of the middle class decimated, we need to be following Wisconsin’s model and getting out there on the streets and making our voices heard in whatever way we can.
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Voodoo founder Rahul Sood has never shied from controversy — he famously cut a cake with a MacBook Air during his tenure at HP — and today he’s expressing his love for Apple hardware from his pulpit as a Microsoft exec . “Every executive in the PC industry should use an Apple notebook,” Sood tweeted today, implying that they were of higher quality than those that come with Windows by default. That certainly sounds a bit like a shot at Microsoft, but according to ConceivablyTech he may actually be pointing at his former employer HP, as a series of private status updates point to HP’s unwillingness to compete at the high end of the laptop marketplace. “We could have done it – just need a few years of patience, and investment in our tooling/process,” the message reportedly reads, “We really could have done it. …especially with webOS, what a combination that would have been.” We’re actually pretty happy with our Envy 14 — lack of Radiance Display aside — but we can’t help wondering if it coulda been a contender with Voodoo DNA on board. Microsoft’s Rahul Sood says every PC industry exec should use a MacBook originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …HP derides BlackBerry PlayBook OS as a ‘fast imitation’ of webOS, RIM says it’s just good UI design
March 1, 2011 No Comment
It’s not rare to hear talk of other operating systems employing webOS -like elements — we’ve been asking to see its elegant notification system in iOS for years — but RIM’s BlackBerry Playbook borrows so heavily from the UI concepts of the software built by Palm and now owned by HP that it could easily be confused for a webOS tablet. It handles multiple concurrent applications using a card view and allows you to shut down unwanted apps by swiping them off the screen, a multitasking implementation that exhibits “uncanny similarities” in HP’s eyes to its own TouchPad tablet. Still, the Hewlett Packard team insist that they’re focused on their own products and will “keep innovating, we’ll keep honing and those guys hopefully will continue to see the value in it and keep following us by about a year.” Ouch. RIM’s response, as espoused by Jeff McDowell, has been to say that “when you’re trying to optimize user experience that juggles multitasking, multiple apps open at once and on a small screen, you’re going to get people landing on similar kinds of designs.” This essentially sidesteps the issue by throwing a subtle compliment HP’s way, but it brings up an interesting question — shouldn’t companies aim to make the best software possible, in spite of it potentially looking like a ripoff of someone else’s work? HP derides BlackBerry PlayBook OS as a ‘fast imitation’ of webOS, RIM says it’s just good UI design originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Phillip and Nancy Garrido have confessed to kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard and holding her for 18 years, Nancy’s defense attorney says. The confession was made in an effort to reduce Nancy’s sentence, the Los Angeles Times reports: Authorities have offered her a plea deal of nearly 242 years to life,…
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