Dark Age: Life thrown out of gear in ‘powerless’ Raj
Much like other states in North India, life in the desert state too was thrown out of gear due to the power failure following a breakdown in the Northern Grid in the wee hours of Monday.
By evening, power was restored in most parts of the state. However, a few rural areas still remained in darkness till late evening.
The production came to a standstill as the supply from the Northern Grid collapsed, following which the entire state was plunged into darkness at 2.35 am, except the areas covered under the Jhalore-Sirohi line.
By early morning, the supply was restored in the western region by drawing power from the Western Grid. The production at the six power generating units in Kota, four at Suratgarh and one at Chhabra was restored later in the day.
The power failure affected the routine of the common man who had to brave long queues at the railway station, airport and bus counters, besides the hot and humid conditions.
The water supply was also disrupted at most places, including hospitals where patients and staff had a harrowing time.
At the Jaipur railway station, long queues were seen outside the ticket counters as the computer systems worked slow due to power failure, said a railway official. However, power supply was not snapped at the platforms.
Passengers had a trying time at bus depots where ticket counters were almost 'non-operational' as computers did not work.
The power failure also exposed the poor back-up at government hospitals in the city. Kanwatia Hospital was plunged into darkness for an hour before a generator was pressed into service.
To meet the demand, the state government also purchased 600MW wind power. Attempts were made to ensure that remaining power generating units in the state, which were closed either for maintenance or technical faults, could become operational by late Monday.
As the Northern region suffered one of the worst power failures ever, indiscipline of a few states that were frequently overdrawing power from the Northern Grid, was seen as one of the reasons for the crisis.
On Monday, Rajasthan along with states like Haryana and Uttar Pradesh continued to overdraw power from the grid. While the state's share is 4837 MW, on Monday evening it was drawing 5162 MW power from the grid.
"There was a fault in the 400 KV power line on the Agra-Gwalior line and overdrawing of power should not be considered the reason for the grid failure. All power generating units in the state, except for two which are closed for annual maintenance, have been restored or would be soon,'' said C S Chandeliya, director, Power Trading.
2012年7月31日星期二
2012年7月30日星期一
Planet of the Apes: Will the Mars mission find evidence of life, past or present?
Planet of the Apes: Will the Mars mission find evidence of life, past or present?
If we found life on another planet, the discovery would go a long way toward answering the deepest open questions in biology: How did life originate, how widespread is life in the universe, and are there alternative recipes for life?
There's no obvious sign of life on any of our neighbors in the solar system. But desolate, frozen Mars keeps calling scientists back. In the Martian landscape, geologists see dry riverbeds and floodplains that hint at a warmer past that just might have allowed life to originate.
All life on Earth appears to be related, using DNA and RNA molecules to pass down assembly instructions and other information. We share stretches of this genetic code with bacteria, yeast, and amoebas.
But if life originated independently on Mars, it might use a completely different way of storing and transmitting information. And so, if the Mars Science Laboratory lands safely next week, instruments will begin to analyze the soil, air, and rocks for life, past or present.
The warm period was early in the history of the solar system - it looks to have begun freezing up by 3 billion years ago. The Martian atmosphere today is too thin to hold in much heat, but perhaps greenhouse gases once blanketed the planet and were later lost.
Experts say the nice period happened early - around 4 billion years ago. By 3 billion years ago Mars was already starting to dry up. But that somewhat balmier time corresponds to when life was getting started on our planet. According to chemical analyses in ancient rocks, life had already taken hold here 3.8 billion years back - not too long after the planet cooled off enough to have a solid surface.
The Mars Science Laboratory will release an SUV-sized rover called Curiosity into a crater where water might have once pooled. Andrew Knoll, a professor of Earth and planetary science at Harvard University, says he's excited about some of the novel science the rover is equipped to do.
Some of its instruments will look for signs of methane and other organic compounds in the atmosphere. Others will seek them in the soil. Finding them wouldn't necessarily mean that Mars once had living matter, but the Curiosity rover could turn up new clues in the search for life there. The fact that life started so early on Earth gives scientists hope that it might have sprung up elsewhere in the universe. Life has also been found in some seemingly hostile environments - in Antarctic ice, boiling hot springs, and buried a mile underground living on geothermal energy and minerals.
One of the big challenges is being able to recognize signs of past life and not overreact to false alarms. In 1996, NASA made the explosive announcement that a team of researchers had found signs of fossil bacteria in a meteorite that fell to Earth from Mars. Organic compounds called polycyclic hydrocarbons resembled similar compounds made in living things here.
Soon after the announcement, though, biologists pointed out that the shapes NASA thought were bacteria and the compounds could be explained by processes that involved no life. And so it all hangs in doubt.
One of those skeptical voices was paleontologist John Grotzinger, then at MIT and now at Caltech. NASA apparently doesn't hold a grudge against naysayers, since he's now chief scientist on the coming mission.
There is little doubt, at least, that this rock, called ALH84001, and others like it did come from Mars. Tiny bubbles of trapped gas match the composition of samples studied by the Viking mission back in the 1970s.
The discovery that the rock and others originated on Mars opens up the possibility that life crossed the divide between the two planets. It's slightly more likely that life would go from Mars to Earth, since Mars cooled off sooner and Earth is larger and therefore a bigger target.
Whatever Curiosity turns up, Mars does have a story to tell. The Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997 found evidence of massive past floods, during which water threw rocks and even boulders around the landing site. Still, scientists aren't sure how much water flowed over Mars, how warm it got, or what kind of an atmosphere it had.
And nobody is quite sure what changed to make Mars the dry, frozen wasteland it is today. "We don't know what happened but we know it was something big," said Grotzinger. "Even if life never evolved on Mars, we would want to know what happened."
If we found life on another planet, the discovery would go a long way toward answering the deepest open questions in biology: How did life originate, how widespread is life in the universe, and are there alternative recipes for life?
There's no obvious sign of life on any of our neighbors in the solar system. But desolate, frozen Mars keeps calling scientists back. In the Martian landscape, geologists see dry riverbeds and floodplains that hint at a warmer past that just might have allowed life to originate.
All life on Earth appears to be related, using DNA and RNA molecules to pass down assembly instructions and other information. We share stretches of this genetic code with bacteria, yeast, and amoebas.
But if life originated independently on Mars, it might use a completely different way of storing and transmitting information. And so, if the Mars Science Laboratory lands safely next week, instruments will begin to analyze the soil, air, and rocks for life, past or present.
The warm period was early in the history of the solar system - it looks to have begun freezing up by 3 billion years ago. The Martian atmosphere today is too thin to hold in much heat, but perhaps greenhouse gases once blanketed the planet and were later lost.
Experts say the nice period happened early - around 4 billion years ago. By 3 billion years ago Mars was already starting to dry up. But that somewhat balmier time corresponds to when life was getting started on our planet. According to chemical analyses in ancient rocks, life had already taken hold here 3.8 billion years back - not too long after the planet cooled off enough to have a solid surface.
The Mars Science Laboratory will release an SUV-sized rover called Curiosity into a crater where water might have once pooled. Andrew Knoll, a professor of Earth and planetary science at Harvard University, says he's excited about some of the novel science the rover is equipped to do.
Some of its instruments will look for signs of methane and other organic compounds in the atmosphere. Others will seek them in the soil. Finding them wouldn't necessarily mean that Mars once had living matter, but the Curiosity rover could turn up new clues in the search for life there. The fact that life started so early on Earth gives scientists hope that it might have sprung up elsewhere in the universe. Life has also been found in some seemingly hostile environments - in Antarctic ice, boiling hot springs, and buried a mile underground living on geothermal energy and minerals.
One of the big challenges is being able to recognize signs of past life and not overreact to false alarms. In 1996, NASA made the explosive announcement that a team of researchers had found signs of fossil bacteria in a meteorite that fell to Earth from Mars. Organic compounds called polycyclic hydrocarbons resembled similar compounds made in living things here.
Soon after the announcement, though, biologists pointed out that the shapes NASA thought were bacteria and the compounds could be explained by processes that involved no life. And so it all hangs in doubt.
One of those skeptical voices was paleontologist John Grotzinger, then at MIT and now at Caltech. NASA apparently doesn't hold a grudge against naysayers, since he's now chief scientist on the coming mission.
There is little doubt, at least, that this rock, called ALH84001, and others like it did come from Mars. Tiny bubbles of trapped gas match the composition of samples studied by the Viking mission back in the 1970s.
The discovery that the rock and others originated on Mars opens up the possibility that life crossed the divide between the two planets. It's slightly more likely that life would go from Mars to Earth, since Mars cooled off sooner and Earth is larger and therefore a bigger target.
Whatever Curiosity turns up, Mars does have a story to tell. The Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997 found evidence of massive past floods, during which water threw rocks and even boulders around the landing site. Still, scientists aren't sure how much water flowed over Mars, how warm it got, or what kind of an atmosphere it had.
And nobody is quite sure what changed to make Mars the dry, frozen wasteland it is today. "We don't know what happened but we know it was something big," said Grotzinger. "Even if life never evolved on Mars, we would want to know what happened."
2012年7月27日星期五
Smirking killer Kiaran Stapleton told he faces life in prison for murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve
Smirking killer Kiaran Stapleton told he faces life in prison for murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve
A man who shot dead an Indian student at point-blank range in a random and motiveless attack was warned he faces the rest of his life in jail after being found guilty of murder.
Kiaran Stapleton, 21, who boasted his nickname was "Psycho", blasted Anuj Bidve, 23, in the head last year in the early hours in Salford, Greater Manchester, as the talented post-graduate student made his way with friends to the Boxing Day sales.
Stapleton had not taken drink or drugs and his victim was entirely unknown to him. There was no racial dimension to the killing and the only possible factor that might have provoked him was a remark made earlier in the evening by an acquaintance that his ex-girlfriend was sleeping with another man. When asked how he selected his victim Stapleton said it was because he had "the biggest head".
The jury at Manchester Crown Court rejected Stapleton's claim of diminished responsibility after he earlier admitted manslaughter in a crime that sent shockwaves of horror through Britain and India.
Mr Bidve's devastated parents, Subhash and Yogini, who travelled from their home in Pune to attend the month-long trial, paid tribute to their son as "the kindest and most genuine person on this earth". But they said: "Stapleton, in the blink of an eye, and the time it took a bullet to leave the gun he was holding, turned Anuj's hopes and dreams into our living and continuous nightmare."
Detective Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle, who led the investigation, said: "There was absolutely nothing remarkable about Stapleton's history and nothing that would ever have suggested he could commit such a cold-blooded, random killing."
Stapleton, who continually smirked during proceedings, smiled as he was taken away.
Mr Justice King will pass sentence today but warned he would only be released if he was considered to no longer pose a danger to the public. "That may not ever happen," he added.
Stapleton could have been seeking status within his community although he was not known as part of a gang.
He appeared to revel in the notoriety of his new role as killer – immediately searching the internet for details of the crime and even checking into a hotel overlooking the shooting scene and photographing himself observing the investigation unfold.
He surrounded himself with friends who watched him have a teardrop tattoo on his face – a symbol for murder – just hours after the shooting. In one outburst he said of the prospect of a long sentence: "To be honest I'm not bothered. I love prison, I watch Coronation Street, I have got a fat canteen. Lock me up for 65 years. Does this face look bothered? I've even got a new rug and bedding coming for my cell."
Victim and killer were of strikingly different characters. Whereas Mr Bidve was brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, his assailant was the "complete opposite", the Bidve family said. Anuj was a widely-admired son of an middle-class family who studied hard and whose parents borrowed money to send him to Britain to complete his education.
At Lancaster University, which has established an annual exchange scholarship in his name, he studied postgraduate electronics and planned to return to Pune and use his skills to build a successful career.
Stapleton by contrast grew up in a family of nine on the tough Ordsall estate in Salford and was distantly related to some of Greater Manchester's most notorious criminals. But, despite scarcely attending school from the age of 11, he held down a factory job and stayed loyal to his partner and child until his mood swings led to the end of the relationship.
Yet while police were astonished that he had committed such a serious crime, he had a history of low level criminality including violence and carried out a road rage attack shortly before he killed Mr Bidve.
Much of the evidence focused on Stapleton's mental condition. Both sides agreed he had an anti-social personality disorder and psychopathic traits which meant he was unable to feel remorse and demonstrated extreme callousness– although this fell short of being a psychopath.
He was arrested after his friend Ryan Holden told police he had witnessed the shooting.
A man who shot dead an Indian student at point-blank range in a random and motiveless attack was warned he faces the rest of his life in jail after being found guilty of murder.
Kiaran Stapleton, 21, who boasted his nickname was "Psycho", blasted Anuj Bidve, 23, in the head last year in the early hours in Salford, Greater Manchester, as the talented post-graduate student made his way with friends to the Boxing Day sales.
Stapleton had not taken drink or drugs and his victim was entirely unknown to him. There was no racial dimension to the killing and the only possible factor that might have provoked him was a remark made earlier in the evening by an acquaintance that his ex-girlfriend was sleeping with another man. When asked how he selected his victim Stapleton said it was because he had "the biggest head".
The jury at Manchester Crown Court rejected Stapleton's claim of diminished responsibility after he earlier admitted manslaughter in a crime that sent shockwaves of horror through Britain and India.
Mr Bidve's devastated parents, Subhash and Yogini, who travelled from their home in Pune to attend the month-long trial, paid tribute to their son as "the kindest and most genuine person on this earth". But they said: "Stapleton, in the blink of an eye, and the time it took a bullet to leave the gun he was holding, turned Anuj's hopes and dreams into our living and continuous nightmare."
Detective Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle, who led the investigation, said: "There was absolutely nothing remarkable about Stapleton's history and nothing that would ever have suggested he could commit such a cold-blooded, random killing."
Stapleton, who continually smirked during proceedings, smiled as he was taken away.
Mr Justice King will pass sentence today but warned he would only be released if he was considered to no longer pose a danger to the public. "That may not ever happen," he added.
Stapleton could have been seeking status within his community although he was not known as part of a gang.
He appeared to revel in the notoriety of his new role as killer – immediately searching the internet for details of the crime and even checking into a hotel overlooking the shooting scene and photographing himself observing the investigation unfold.
He surrounded himself with friends who watched him have a teardrop tattoo on his face – a symbol for murder – just hours after the shooting. In one outburst he said of the prospect of a long sentence: "To be honest I'm not bothered. I love prison, I watch Coronation Street, I have got a fat canteen. Lock me up for 65 years. Does this face look bothered? I've even got a new rug and bedding coming for my cell."
Victim and killer were of strikingly different characters. Whereas Mr Bidve was brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, his assailant was the "complete opposite", the Bidve family said. Anuj was a widely-admired son of an middle-class family who studied hard and whose parents borrowed money to send him to Britain to complete his education.
At Lancaster University, which has established an annual exchange scholarship in his name, he studied postgraduate electronics and planned to return to Pune and use his skills to build a successful career.
Stapleton by contrast grew up in a family of nine on the tough Ordsall estate in Salford and was distantly related to some of Greater Manchester's most notorious criminals. But, despite scarcely attending school from the age of 11, he held down a factory job and stayed loyal to his partner and child until his mood swings led to the end of the relationship.
Yet while police were astonished that he had committed such a serious crime, he had a history of low level criminality including violence and carried out a road rage attack shortly before he killed Mr Bidve.
Much of the evidence focused on Stapleton's mental condition. Both sides agreed he had an anti-social personality disorder and psychopathic traits which meant he was unable to feel remorse and demonstrated extreme callousness– although this fell short of being a psychopath.
He was arrested after his friend Ryan Holden told police he had witnessed the shooting.
2012年7月26日星期四
Ray Rice closer to his goal of being Raven for life
Ray Rice closer to his goal of being Raven for life
The drive from Baltimore to his hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y., typically takes three hours, but on this night, Ray Rice felt like he was in his car for all of 45 minutes.
As he headed north on I-95, there were phone calls to return, plans to make and so many life-altering thoughts to ponder. Above all, there was the realization that the five-year, $40 million contract that he just signed would set him and his family up for life and get him closer to one of his professional goals: spending his entire career as a Baltimore Raven.
“The first person I went to see was my mom. She knows what we’ve all been through in our life,” said Rice who acknowledged that the first big purchase he made after his new deal, which included $24 million in guaranteed money, was a home for his mother, Janet. “As long as I know where I’m going to be for the next five years, as long as I take care of my business, I feel good.
“Hopefully, I want to retire a Raven. That’s what it boils down to. You get your second contract, you think about long term. That would be nine years of my life that I’ve been in Baltimore so needless to say, Baltimore has become home for me. My license says Baltimore. I’m no longer a New Yorker. I just visit there now.”
In his first public comments since getting his new deal July 16 just minutes before the deadline to sign designated franchise players, Rice talked about his motivation to defy the shrinking shelf-life of an NFL running back and the importance of the Ravens putting the AFC championship loss to the New England Patriots behind them, and expressed confidence that quarterback Joe Flacco will be next to get a lucrative contract extension.
Flacco, who was taken in the first round of the 2008 draft with Rice being selected by the Ravens in the second round, enters the final season of his rookie deal.
“One thing I know about Joe — and me and Joe came in together — is he’s going to be a Raven for a long time. He’s already said that,” said Rice, 25. “Just putting all that aside, Joe Flacco played a heck of a season last year, Joe Flacco has been a great quarterback for us. I know at the end of the day, it’s going to get taken care of … Quite frankly, they can take care of him now or they can take care of him later, and they do have the option of the franchise tag which gives them more time. When you bridge the gap, he’s going to get taken care of. It just might not happen when he wants it do but I’m sure it’s going to get done.”
A deal with Flacco would secure the Ravens’ top two offensive building blocks going forward. Rice, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, led the NFL last season with 2,068 yards from scrimmage, was second in the league with 1,364 rushing yards and set a franchise record with 15 touchdowns.
“Anybody who knows Ray knows that he is just one of those special kids that comes to work and does the right things, and for this organization to go ahead and do that in the early stages of his career, I think that's awesome,” said Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, one of Rice’s closest friends on the team. “Me and Ray talked about it, not to get frustrated, not to worry about other people signing deals or any of that. Just do what you need to do and focus what you need to focus on. And have fun in the game. That contract side of it getting done is a big relief for Ray, though.”
If Rice hadn’t gotten a new deal by July 16, he would have been in line to play the season under the $7.7 million franchise tag. But that wasn’t what worried him most as the deadline drew near, and he fought to keep his emotions out of the negotiations.
“I already knew that I put myself in a position. Even with $7.7, I was never denying the franchise tag. You take $7.7 wherever you want to cut it, still, my family is going to be fine,” Rice said. “When I signed, it was more like relief. ‘OK, that’s over with, the business side is done.’ Playing under the franchise tag, for me mentally, would have said, ‘I wouldn’t have known if I would be a Raven next year.’ That’s where it scares you. It doesn’t scare you in terms of financial stability because you are going to get that. But it scares you in terms of where am I going to be next year. That feeling, I don’t have to worry about.”
Now, Rice can focus on helping the Ravens avenge last year’s AFC championship loss to the New England Patriots and taking the final step to the Super Bowl. Rice, who has been to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, says that will be on everybody’s minds when the Ravens have their first full-team practice of training camp Thursday.
“When you look at the Ravens, we’ve been close every year. I think it’s time for us to get over that hump and we have the pieces to do it,” Rice said. “You look at our schedule, we have our work cut out for us, we really do. One thing I know about our team is when there’s a challenge, we accept it. We go ahead and we accept the challenge … I don’t want to say Super Bowl or bust because that’s like the motto every year. But I would love to feel that confetti drop as big Ray [Lewis] would say.”
The drive from Baltimore to his hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y., typically takes three hours, but on this night, Ray Rice felt like he was in his car for all of 45 minutes.
As he headed north on I-95, there were phone calls to return, plans to make and so many life-altering thoughts to ponder. Above all, there was the realization that the five-year, $40 million contract that he just signed would set him and his family up for life and get him closer to one of his professional goals: spending his entire career as a Baltimore Raven.
“The first person I went to see was my mom. She knows what we’ve all been through in our life,” said Rice who acknowledged that the first big purchase he made after his new deal, which included $24 million in guaranteed money, was a home for his mother, Janet. “As long as I know where I’m going to be for the next five years, as long as I take care of my business, I feel good.
“Hopefully, I want to retire a Raven. That’s what it boils down to. You get your second contract, you think about long term. That would be nine years of my life that I’ve been in Baltimore so needless to say, Baltimore has become home for me. My license says Baltimore. I’m no longer a New Yorker. I just visit there now.”
In his first public comments since getting his new deal July 16 just minutes before the deadline to sign designated franchise players, Rice talked about his motivation to defy the shrinking shelf-life of an NFL running back and the importance of the Ravens putting the AFC championship loss to the New England Patriots behind them, and expressed confidence that quarterback Joe Flacco will be next to get a lucrative contract extension.
Flacco, who was taken in the first round of the 2008 draft with Rice being selected by the Ravens in the second round, enters the final season of his rookie deal.
“One thing I know about Joe — and me and Joe came in together — is he’s going to be a Raven for a long time. He’s already said that,” said Rice, 25. “Just putting all that aside, Joe Flacco played a heck of a season last year, Joe Flacco has been a great quarterback for us. I know at the end of the day, it’s going to get taken care of … Quite frankly, they can take care of him now or they can take care of him later, and they do have the option of the franchise tag which gives them more time. When you bridge the gap, he’s going to get taken care of. It just might not happen when he wants it do but I’m sure it’s going to get done.”
A deal with Flacco would secure the Ravens’ top two offensive building blocks going forward. Rice, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, led the NFL last season with 2,068 yards from scrimmage, was second in the league with 1,364 rushing yards and set a franchise record with 15 touchdowns.
“Anybody who knows Ray knows that he is just one of those special kids that comes to work and does the right things, and for this organization to go ahead and do that in the early stages of his career, I think that's awesome,” said Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, one of Rice’s closest friends on the team. “Me and Ray talked about it, not to get frustrated, not to worry about other people signing deals or any of that. Just do what you need to do and focus what you need to focus on. And have fun in the game. That contract side of it getting done is a big relief for Ray, though.”
If Rice hadn’t gotten a new deal by July 16, he would have been in line to play the season under the $7.7 million franchise tag. But that wasn’t what worried him most as the deadline drew near, and he fought to keep his emotions out of the negotiations.
“I already knew that I put myself in a position. Even with $7.7, I was never denying the franchise tag. You take $7.7 wherever you want to cut it, still, my family is going to be fine,” Rice said. “When I signed, it was more like relief. ‘OK, that’s over with, the business side is done.’ Playing under the franchise tag, for me mentally, would have said, ‘I wouldn’t have known if I would be a Raven next year.’ That’s where it scares you. It doesn’t scare you in terms of financial stability because you are going to get that. But it scares you in terms of where am I going to be next year. That feeling, I don’t have to worry about.”
Now, Rice can focus on helping the Ravens avenge last year’s AFC championship loss to the New England Patriots and taking the final step to the Super Bowl. Rice, who has been to the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, says that will be on everybody’s minds when the Ravens have their first full-team practice of training camp Thursday.
“When you look at the Ravens, we’ve been close every year. I think it’s time for us to get over that hump and we have the pieces to do it,” Rice said. “You look at our schedule, we have our work cut out for us, we really do. One thing I know about our team is when there’s a challenge, we accept it. We go ahead and we accept the challenge … I don’t want to say Super Bowl or bust because that’s like the motto every year. But I would love to feel that confetti drop as big Ray [Lewis] would say.”
2012年7月25日星期三
Chicagoland Life sentence for Hudson murderer
Chicagoland Life sentence for Hudson murderer
For the first time since his arrest almost four years ago, William Balfour spoke out briefly in court as he was about to be sentenced Tuesday for the murders of three of singer Jennifer Hudson's family members, offering condolences for the youngest victim.
"My deepest sympathies go to Julian King," he said of Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, the boy with the big smile who looked up to Balfour, his stepfather. "I loved him. I still love him," Balfour said as he looked across the packed courtroom toward his own family, not at the Chicago superstar or her relatives seated across the aisle.
For a moment, the courtroom froze. Balfour's sister, Sensuous, burst into tears and ran out a side door. Across the aisle, Jennifer Hudson and her sister, Julia, Balfour's ex-wife, sat side by side, clutching tissues and dabbing at their eyes.
It was an odd moment in a court hearing that had little suspense. Under Illinois law, Judge Charles Burns had no choice but to impose a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole because Balfour had been convicted of more than one murder.
Many in the courtroom were anticipating either testimony or written statements from Jennifer Hudson and her sister about the horrific impact the crimes have had on their lives. But with the sentence predetermined, the sisters chose to keep their grief private.
The same security detail that had protected the Oscar-winning star and her family throughout the trial whisked them in and out of the courthouse Tuesday through the basement. After the hearing, none of the lawyers involved in the case addressed the throng of news media waiting in the lobby of the Leighton Criminal Court Building. Soon after word got out that Jennifer Hudson was gone, the bank of microphones came down and TV crews left.
Even though the outcome was foregone, the judge grew emotional as he imposed the sentence, lashing out at Balfour as he called his claims that he loved Julian "an insult to all of us."
"Your heart is an arctic night, and your soul is as barren as dark space," Burns said to Balfour in a shaky voice.
In the end, the judge imposed a consecutive life sentence for each of the murders as well as 120 years for Balfour's additional convictions for home invasion, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated kidnapping.
Burns said he was certain Balfour killed Julian because he was in the way and could have been a witness against him. Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, already had been slain in the family's Englewood neighborhood house, prosecutors said.
Julian "shared his life with you. For sure he looked up to you," Burns said. "There is no doubt in my mind he looked up to you as you were putting bullets into his head. I just hope his terror was short-lived."
A Cook County jury convicted Balfour in May of the triple murder. Prosecutors alleged that Balfour was upset over his crumbling marriage to Julia Hudson and jealous that she was seeing another man.
In court Tuesday, Julian's father, Gregory King, sat hunched over on the witness stand and appeared to fight back tears as he recalled the desperate three-day search for the missing boy that ended when his body was found inside Jason Hudson's stolen SUV on the West Side. Like the other two victims, he had been shot to death.
"Instantly it was like a chunk of my heart was ripped out," he said. "I felt hopeless. I was filled with rage for William Balfour, the man who murdered my son."
King also spoke achingly of missing the little things about his son — picking him up from school and going on field trips with him.
"I even miss his bugging me aboutSpongeBob SquarePants,a cartoon character he was kind of afraid of," King said.
During the two-hour hearing, prosecutors called several victims from Balfour's past crimes, painting a picture of a man who joined a gang at 15, sold crack cocaine and engaged in other wrongdoing.
Charles Gardner, 48, testified that he caught Balfour stealing his SUV in November 1998 and jumped onto the luggage rack, touching off a wild police chase through several South Side neighborhoods and along the Dan Ryan Expressway at speeds nearing 100 mph as Balfour tried to shake him off the roof.
Jennifer Hudson glanced at her sister as Gardner testified, at one point putting her hand to her temple and shaking her head with a smile of disbelief.
Balfour was captured and eventually pleaded guilty to attempted murder and vehicular hijacking. He spent seven years in prison and was still on parole at the time of the triple murder in October 2008.
Balfour intends to file an appeal. In one issue he raised in seeking a new trial — denied Tuesday by the judge — the defense argued that Jennifer Hudson should not have been allowed to testify at trial because she had no direct knowledge of the murders and her celebrity unfairly influenced the jury.
For the first time since his arrest almost four years ago, William Balfour spoke out briefly in court as he was about to be sentenced Tuesday for the murders of three of singer Jennifer Hudson's family members, offering condolences for the youngest victim.
"My deepest sympathies go to Julian King," he said of Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, the boy with the big smile who looked up to Balfour, his stepfather. "I loved him. I still love him," Balfour said as he looked across the packed courtroom toward his own family, not at the Chicago superstar or her relatives seated across the aisle.
For a moment, the courtroom froze. Balfour's sister, Sensuous, burst into tears and ran out a side door. Across the aisle, Jennifer Hudson and her sister, Julia, Balfour's ex-wife, sat side by side, clutching tissues and dabbing at their eyes.
It was an odd moment in a court hearing that had little suspense. Under Illinois law, Judge Charles Burns had no choice but to impose a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole because Balfour had been convicted of more than one murder.
Many in the courtroom were anticipating either testimony or written statements from Jennifer Hudson and her sister about the horrific impact the crimes have had on their lives. But with the sentence predetermined, the sisters chose to keep their grief private.
The same security detail that had protected the Oscar-winning star and her family throughout the trial whisked them in and out of the courthouse Tuesday through the basement. After the hearing, none of the lawyers involved in the case addressed the throng of news media waiting in the lobby of the Leighton Criminal Court Building. Soon after word got out that Jennifer Hudson was gone, the bank of microphones came down and TV crews left.
Even though the outcome was foregone, the judge grew emotional as he imposed the sentence, lashing out at Balfour as he called his claims that he loved Julian "an insult to all of us."
"Your heart is an arctic night, and your soul is as barren as dark space," Burns said to Balfour in a shaky voice.
In the end, the judge imposed a consecutive life sentence for each of the murders as well as 120 years for Balfour's additional convictions for home invasion, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated kidnapping.
Burns said he was certain Balfour killed Julian because he was in the way and could have been a witness against him. Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason Hudson, 29, already had been slain in the family's Englewood neighborhood house, prosecutors said.
Julian "shared his life with you. For sure he looked up to you," Burns said. "There is no doubt in my mind he looked up to you as you were putting bullets into his head. I just hope his terror was short-lived."
A Cook County jury convicted Balfour in May of the triple murder. Prosecutors alleged that Balfour was upset over his crumbling marriage to Julia Hudson and jealous that she was seeing another man.
In court Tuesday, Julian's father, Gregory King, sat hunched over on the witness stand and appeared to fight back tears as he recalled the desperate three-day search for the missing boy that ended when his body was found inside Jason Hudson's stolen SUV on the West Side. Like the other two victims, he had been shot to death.
"Instantly it was like a chunk of my heart was ripped out," he said. "I felt hopeless. I was filled with rage for William Balfour, the man who murdered my son."
King also spoke achingly of missing the little things about his son — picking him up from school and going on field trips with him.
"I even miss his bugging me aboutSpongeBob SquarePants,a cartoon character he was kind of afraid of," King said.
During the two-hour hearing, prosecutors called several victims from Balfour's past crimes, painting a picture of a man who joined a gang at 15, sold crack cocaine and engaged in other wrongdoing.
Charles Gardner, 48, testified that he caught Balfour stealing his SUV in November 1998 and jumped onto the luggage rack, touching off a wild police chase through several South Side neighborhoods and along the Dan Ryan Expressway at speeds nearing 100 mph as Balfour tried to shake him off the roof.
Jennifer Hudson glanced at her sister as Gardner testified, at one point putting her hand to her temple and shaking her head with a smile of disbelief.
Balfour was captured and eventually pleaded guilty to attempted murder and vehicular hijacking. He spent seven years in prison and was still on parole at the time of the triple murder in October 2008.
Balfour intends to file an appeal. In one issue he raised in seeking a new trial — denied Tuesday by the judge — the defense argued that Jennifer Hudson should not have been allowed to testify at trial because she had no direct knowledge of the murders and her celebrity unfairly influenced the jury.
2012年7月24日星期二
Pokemon scrap changed my life says British judoka
Pokemon scrap changed my life says British judoka
Dartford, England: Ashley McKenzie grins broadly as he tells how a fight over a Pokemon card turned him from a problematic youngster in trouble with the law to one of Britain’s best hopes for a judo medal at the London Olympics.
Thrown out of school, his life was changed when he was 11 by a tussle on a street near his home in west London which broke out when another boy tried to make off with his prized Pokemon charizard card.
“This charizard was the best card. It was my life back then,” he recalled at the British judo team’s training base in Dartford to the east of London.
“I’ve gone to grab his shirt and next thing I knew I was over his shoulder. I was a scrapper back in the day so I knew this wasn’t right.
“I went for him again and as I’ve gone for him he’s thrown me again. I was thinking ‘No way, what’s going on? How’s he throwing me? He’s hurting me’.”
Baffled, he went home and looked on the internet where he discovered he had been overcome by a judo move. Keen to learn more, he went along to a local club and found his erstwhile attacker there, along with his Pokemon card.
“We spoke, we’re friends, I started judo. Obviously I got my Pokemon card back,” he added with a laugh.
McKenzie, now a charming 23-year-old, is very open about his past troubles, and proud of how he turned his life around.
He was regularly excluded from school and spent time in a young offenders institution.
But, having got into judo, his talent was spotted and success in junior competitions followed.
“I started winning more and more, and I thought my mum’s happy and my brother and my dad’s happy for me winning these and when I’m in school I’m always in trouble,” he said.
“It was like a balance where I was doing something positive. So I kind of focused all my energy on judo. From there my life kind of shot up.”
It was not all plain sailing as his penchant for trouble has seen him earn a number of bans from the sport. But the medals kept coming and he knuckled down when he realised he could get to the Olympics.
MEDAL DREAM
“It sunk in my head, I could actually do this. This actually could be my dream, my dream could come true to be someone in the world,” he said.
He is desperate to win a medal in London in front of his friends and family but knows it will not be easy, especially with Uzbekistan’s Rishod Sobirov a huge favourite in his under-60kg category.
“I’ve come from so low to so high in my life. I’ve done what I had to do and this is the end spot,” he said.
“I’ve completed the one big barrier that’s getting out of all the trouble, trying to go to the Games. Now the next step is let’s try and get a medal.”
If he doesn’t succeed this time, then he’s even more determined to prove himself at the Olympics in Brazil in 2016.
“At Rio I’ll be looking for gold, and that is it. I want a medal, I want to get a gold so bad it’s unbelievable.”
Dartford, England: Ashley McKenzie grins broadly as he tells how a fight over a Pokemon card turned him from a problematic youngster in trouble with the law to one of Britain’s best hopes for a judo medal at the London Olympics.
Thrown out of school, his life was changed when he was 11 by a tussle on a street near his home in west London which broke out when another boy tried to make off with his prized Pokemon charizard card.
“This charizard was the best card. It was my life back then,” he recalled at the British judo team’s training base in Dartford to the east of London.
“I’ve gone to grab his shirt and next thing I knew I was over his shoulder. I was a scrapper back in the day so I knew this wasn’t right.
“I went for him again and as I’ve gone for him he’s thrown me again. I was thinking ‘No way, what’s going on? How’s he throwing me? He’s hurting me’.”
Baffled, he went home and looked on the internet where he discovered he had been overcome by a judo move. Keen to learn more, he went along to a local club and found his erstwhile attacker there, along with his Pokemon card.
“We spoke, we’re friends, I started judo. Obviously I got my Pokemon card back,” he added with a laugh.
McKenzie, now a charming 23-year-old, is very open about his past troubles, and proud of how he turned his life around.
He was regularly excluded from school and spent time in a young offenders institution.
But, having got into judo, his talent was spotted and success in junior competitions followed.
“I started winning more and more, and I thought my mum’s happy and my brother and my dad’s happy for me winning these and when I’m in school I’m always in trouble,” he said.
“It was like a balance where I was doing something positive. So I kind of focused all my energy on judo. From there my life kind of shot up.”
It was not all plain sailing as his penchant for trouble has seen him earn a number of bans from the sport. But the medals kept coming and he knuckled down when he realised he could get to the Olympics.
MEDAL DREAM
“It sunk in my head, I could actually do this. This actually could be my dream, my dream could come true to be someone in the world,” he said.
He is desperate to win a medal in London in front of his friends and family but knows it will not be easy, especially with Uzbekistan’s Rishod Sobirov a huge favourite in his under-60kg category.
“I’ve come from so low to so high in my life. I’ve done what I had to do and this is the end spot,” he said.
“I’ve completed the one big barrier that’s getting out of all the trouble, trying to go to the Games. Now the next step is let’s try and get a medal.”
If he doesn’t succeed this time, then he’s even more determined to prove himself at the Olympics in Brazil in 2016.
“At Rio I’ll be looking for gold, and that is it. I want a medal, I want to get a gold so bad it’s unbelievable.”
2012年7月23日星期一
Tour winner Bradley Wiggins reveals sad life of his Australian alcoholic father
Tour winner Bradley Wiggins reveals sad life of his Australian alcoholic father
The first was in the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games when, after a long estrangement, Wiggins travelled to Muswellbrook to visit his dad.
It was a disastrous experience, dominated by alcohol abuse, false promises and shattering reality.
Officially ordained as Tour de France champion, Wiggins still bristles at the mention of his former cyclist father, who died in suspicious circumstances in 2008.
He admitted to having trawled through a lifetime of experiences and reflections during the Stage 19 time-trial, which delivered cycling immortality.
"The last 10km I was thinking about things to spur me on to go even harder," Wiggins said.
"I was just thinking back to my childhood, my father leaving us when I was a kid, growing up with my mum in a flat and then my grandfather brought me up, he was my father, my role model. He died when I was on the Tour two years ago."
Wiggins addressed Gary's wasted life in his autobiography, In Pursuit Of Glory.
"Most of his days would consist of buying a couple of crates of VBs ... and steadily drinking himself into a stupor," Wiggins recalled of his traumatic visit to the Hunter Valley.
Remembering the day his father accompanied him to a competition, Wiggins said: "By the end of my race he was surrounded by a pile of tinnies, hammered and ... telling me what I had done wrong and how he would have won."
Wiggins never saw his father again.
On the 2008 Australia Day weekend, Wiggins received a call to say his father had been bashed and would not recover.
He did not fly to Australia for the funeral.
"I was almost glad he was gone," Bradley later wrote. "Or at least relieved there would be no more suffering."
With victory in the world's most famous bike race, Wiggins' status as the sport's greatest all-rounder is secure.
He has won three Olympic gold medals, seven world track titles and, now, outright success in the Tour de France.
Those responsible for his father's death have never been brought to account.
A witness described a party at a house in Aberdeen in New South Wales in 2008. Late in the evening, two men dragged Gary Wiggins out to the street.
The next day, Gary Wiggins was found almost dead outside the local cemetery.
His sister Glenda Hughes reportedly said he had been "beaten to a pulp". He was only 55 when he died.
As a track cyclist, Gary was talented and wayward. Off the bike, he was just as unpredictable.
Asked what his father would say about his Tour de France success, Wiggins said: "I don't know. It depends if he was sober.
"I think he would have been very proud."
The first was in the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games when, after a long estrangement, Wiggins travelled to Muswellbrook to visit his dad.
It was a disastrous experience, dominated by alcohol abuse, false promises and shattering reality.
Officially ordained as Tour de France champion, Wiggins still bristles at the mention of his former cyclist father, who died in suspicious circumstances in 2008.
He admitted to having trawled through a lifetime of experiences and reflections during the Stage 19 time-trial, which delivered cycling immortality.
"The last 10km I was thinking about things to spur me on to go even harder," Wiggins said.
"I was just thinking back to my childhood, my father leaving us when I was a kid, growing up with my mum in a flat and then my grandfather brought me up, he was my father, my role model. He died when I was on the Tour two years ago."
Wiggins addressed Gary's wasted life in his autobiography, In Pursuit Of Glory.
"Most of his days would consist of buying a couple of crates of VBs ... and steadily drinking himself into a stupor," Wiggins recalled of his traumatic visit to the Hunter Valley.
Remembering the day his father accompanied him to a competition, Wiggins said: "By the end of my race he was surrounded by a pile of tinnies, hammered and ... telling me what I had done wrong and how he would have won."
Wiggins never saw his father again.
On the 2008 Australia Day weekend, Wiggins received a call to say his father had been bashed and would not recover.
He did not fly to Australia for the funeral.
"I was almost glad he was gone," Bradley later wrote. "Or at least relieved there would be no more suffering."
With victory in the world's most famous bike race, Wiggins' status as the sport's greatest all-rounder is secure.
He has won three Olympic gold medals, seven world track titles and, now, outright success in the Tour de France.
Those responsible for his father's death have never been brought to account.
A witness described a party at a house in Aberdeen in New South Wales in 2008. Late in the evening, two men dragged Gary Wiggins out to the street.
The next day, Gary Wiggins was found almost dead outside the local cemetery.
His sister Glenda Hughes reportedly said he had been "beaten to a pulp". He was only 55 when he died.
As a track cyclist, Gary was talented and wayward. Off the bike, he was just as unpredictable.
Asked what his father would say about his Tour de France success, Wiggins said: "I don't know. It depends if he was sober.
"I think he would have been very proud."
2012年7月20日星期五
Ben Ali gets life sentence
Ben Ali gets life sentence
Hedi Ayari of the Tunis military court said Ben Ali was judged with around 40 of his former officials, including General Ali Seriati, ex-head of presidential security, who was given a 20-year prison term.
Former interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem was sentenced to 15 years, while the case against Ahmed Friaa, another former interior minister, was dismissed.
In total, 21 of those charged were acquitted, and Ben Ali was the only defendant to receive a life sentence, a court official said.
The other sentences ran between five and 20 years. Families of the victims reacted angrily, saying the sentences for Seriati and Kacem were too lenient and criticising the dismissal of the case against Friaa.
“All those convicted should have got life in prison,” came shouts from a handful of relatives who made it to the sentencing hearing, which was only announced earlier in the day.
“Our children are not insects so that some of those convicted should only be condemned to five years in prison,” said Saida Sifi, whose 19-year-old son was one of those killed.
“We will have revenge. We won’t stand silent with our arms crossed.” After the hearing, Lamia Farhani, president of the Association of the Families of Martyrs, rushed at the sister of one of the defendants, an officer whose innocence she had proclaimed.
“There is no law; there is no justice,” Farhani shouted. The defendants were accused in connection with the 43 deaths and the wounding of 97 other people.
In all, more than 300 people died in the popular uprising that forced Ben Ali into exile in Saudi Arabia in January 2011.
The ousted president had already been sentenced to more than 66 years in prison in three separate trials, including for embezzlement, illegal possession of weapons and narcotics, housing fraud and abuse of power.
The event that sent waves rippling throughout the Arab world occurred in December 2010 when Mohamed Bouazizi, a young Tunisian who could find no other job than selling fruit, set fire to himself in frustration after harassment by the authorities.
His death the following month set off revolts throughout the small North African country, which were soon picked up in Egypt and elsewhere.
Since Ben Ali’s departure, Tunisia has adopted a new democratic constitution and held elections, which brought the Islamist Ennahda party to power in December 2011.
Hedi Ayari of the Tunis military court said Ben Ali was judged with around 40 of his former officials, including General Ali Seriati, ex-head of presidential security, who was given a 20-year prison term.
Former interior minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem was sentenced to 15 years, while the case against Ahmed Friaa, another former interior minister, was dismissed.
In total, 21 of those charged were acquitted, and Ben Ali was the only defendant to receive a life sentence, a court official said.
The other sentences ran between five and 20 years. Families of the victims reacted angrily, saying the sentences for Seriati and Kacem were too lenient and criticising the dismissal of the case against Friaa.
“All those convicted should have got life in prison,” came shouts from a handful of relatives who made it to the sentencing hearing, which was only announced earlier in the day.
“Our children are not insects so that some of those convicted should only be condemned to five years in prison,” said Saida Sifi, whose 19-year-old son was one of those killed.
“We will have revenge. We won’t stand silent with our arms crossed.” After the hearing, Lamia Farhani, president of the Association of the Families of Martyrs, rushed at the sister of one of the defendants, an officer whose innocence she had proclaimed.
“There is no law; there is no justice,” Farhani shouted. The defendants were accused in connection with the 43 deaths and the wounding of 97 other people.
In all, more than 300 people died in the popular uprising that forced Ben Ali into exile in Saudi Arabia in January 2011.
The ousted president had already been sentenced to more than 66 years in prison in three separate trials, including for embezzlement, illegal possession of weapons and narcotics, housing fraud and abuse of power.
The event that sent waves rippling throughout the Arab world occurred in December 2010 when Mohamed Bouazizi, a young Tunisian who could find no other job than selling fruit, set fire to himself in frustration after harassment by the authorities.
His death the following month set off revolts throughout the small North African country, which were soon picked up in Egypt and elsewhere.
Since Ben Ali’s departure, Tunisia has adopted a new democratic constitution and held elections, which brought the Islamist Ennahda party to power in December 2011.
2012年7月19日星期四
Marissa Mayer’s life-changing moment — oh and she’s going to be CEO at Yahoo too
As you have probably heard, Google executive Marissa Mayer just took on a huge responsibility. I think it is fair to say that this will be life-changing, the kind of thing that will be the defining moment of her life.
That’s right. She’s going to have a baby.
Oh, and she’s also taking over as CEO of Yahoo.
It’s funny how the news has been reported. The New York Times devoted lots of coverage and space to Mayer’s move from Yahoo’s arch-rival Google and added in the eighth paragraph that, “In a bit of personal news” she’s pregnant.
On the other hand, there are already stories wondering if she knows what she’s doing taking over Yahoo with a baby on the way.
Of course she does. It is old news to learn that the CEO of a major corporation is a woman. The new frontier is a pregnant woman. Can she do it?
I don’t see why not. Mayer is already off to a better start than her predecessor, Scott Thompson, who only lasted four months after it was shown that he lied about his academic credentials.
And frankly, working women with babies is almost blase’. Mayer may be the most high-profile, but there are already thousands of high-powered women who have done this before. Being the CEO isn’t about working longer hours, or reading more spread sheets. It’s about making good decisions. Mayer, who gets rave reviews from her work at Google shows every potential for doing that.
She’s got a lot of problems. Yahoo can’t seem to figure out what it is. The leadership has been chaotic, and it has lost its buzz to Google. This is no sure thing. Mayer may be able to turn this around or she may not.
But I bet when she looks back on her life in 40 years the thing she will remember will be the birth of her child. That’s called perspective.
That’s right. She’s going to have a baby.
Oh, and she’s also taking over as CEO of Yahoo.
It’s funny how the news has been reported. The New York Times devoted lots of coverage and space to Mayer’s move from Yahoo’s arch-rival Google and added in the eighth paragraph that, “In a bit of personal news” she’s pregnant.
On the other hand, there are already stories wondering if she knows what she’s doing taking over Yahoo with a baby on the way.
Of course she does. It is old news to learn that the CEO of a major corporation is a woman. The new frontier is a pregnant woman. Can she do it?
I don’t see why not. Mayer is already off to a better start than her predecessor, Scott Thompson, who only lasted four months after it was shown that he lied about his academic credentials.
And frankly, working women with babies is almost blase’. Mayer may be the most high-profile, but there are already thousands of high-powered women who have done this before. Being the CEO isn’t about working longer hours, or reading more spread sheets. It’s about making good decisions. Mayer, who gets rave reviews from her work at Google shows every potential for doing that.
She’s got a lot of problems. Yahoo can’t seem to figure out what it is. The leadership has been chaotic, and it has lost its buzz to Google. This is no sure thing. Mayer may be able to turn this around or she may not.
But I bet when she looks back on her life in 40 years the thing she will remember will be the birth of her child. That’s called perspective.
2012年7月18日星期三
What Bristol Palin’s ‘Life’s a Tripp’ Needs to Bring to TV
What Bristol Palin’s ‘Life’s a Tripp’ Needs to Bring to TV
On ‘Briston Palin: Life’s a Tripp,’ the new Lifetime reality series, the eldest daughter of former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin moves to Los Angeles with her toddler son Tripp and her younger sister Willow. They live in a Beverly Hills mansion and Bristol volunteers for a L.A. based charity.
The show’s website claims that viewers will have access to Bristol’s “everyday life as a single mother living under intense media scrutiny.” But the show seems to be more about her and her sister complaining about each other and life in L.A. As for Tripp, he is mostly watched by Willow because as Bristol says in the first episode, she doesn’t want to employ “some random baby-sitter.” For the most part, the storyline is typical of this type of reality TV, meaning that it’s a combination of everyday activities—buying groceries, shopping for clothes—combined with more structured set-ups including one where Bristol gets a driving tour of skid row as part of her volunteer work. In one scene repeatedly teased throughout the first episode as well as in a YouTube clip of the show, she confronts a man in a club who calls her mother a whore. It’s the closest the episode and probably the series, will get to showing how being famous impacts her life.
I’m sure it wasn’t easy being pushed onto the world stage as a pregnant teenager or breaking up with your child’s father after claiming your love for him on magazine covers and then watching as he shares private information about your family with the media—all things that Bristol went through before her current age of 21. As her television confrontation with the stranger in the club shows, it’s certainly not easy being the daughter of a divisive public figure. But all of these things are now part of her identity. They are what allows her to have a reality show in the first place. So why not allow the audience to share in the experience of how these events have shaped who you are?
In a perfect TV world, this is what most reality shows featuring “a day in the life of” story lines should be doing—offering viewers a unique perspective on lives that are different from their own. Instead, many have become image building exercises where cast members launch their latest product or plot their next career move. Is it wishful thinking to hope that this type of reality TV can be saved? I don’t think Bristol will be the one to do it which is a shame because she has the chance to offer a unique perspective on what, has so far been, an eventful life. She may be complicit in her public persona or a victim of it or both, but her thoughts and feelings about it would make for a far more interesting show.
On ‘Briston Palin: Life’s a Tripp,’ the new Lifetime reality series, the eldest daughter of former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin moves to Los Angeles with her toddler son Tripp and her younger sister Willow. They live in a Beverly Hills mansion and Bristol volunteers for a L.A. based charity.
The show’s website claims that viewers will have access to Bristol’s “everyday life as a single mother living under intense media scrutiny.” But the show seems to be more about her and her sister complaining about each other and life in L.A. As for Tripp, he is mostly watched by Willow because as Bristol says in the first episode, she doesn’t want to employ “some random baby-sitter.” For the most part, the storyline is typical of this type of reality TV, meaning that it’s a combination of everyday activities—buying groceries, shopping for clothes—combined with more structured set-ups including one where Bristol gets a driving tour of skid row as part of her volunteer work. In one scene repeatedly teased throughout the first episode as well as in a YouTube clip of the show, she confronts a man in a club who calls her mother a whore. It’s the closest the episode and probably the series, will get to showing how being famous impacts her life.
I’m sure it wasn’t easy being pushed onto the world stage as a pregnant teenager or breaking up with your child’s father after claiming your love for him on magazine covers and then watching as he shares private information about your family with the media—all things that Bristol went through before her current age of 21. As her television confrontation with the stranger in the club shows, it’s certainly not easy being the daughter of a divisive public figure. But all of these things are now part of her identity. They are what allows her to have a reality show in the first place. So why not allow the audience to share in the experience of how these events have shaped who you are?
In a perfect TV world, this is what most reality shows featuring “a day in the life of” story lines should be doing—offering viewers a unique perspective on lives that are different from their own. Instead, many have become image building exercises where cast members launch their latest product or plot their next career move. Is it wishful thinking to hope that this type of reality TV can be saved? I don’t think Bristol will be the one to do it which is a shame because she has the chance to offer a unique perspective on what, has so far been, an eventful life. She may be complicit in her public persona or a victim of it or both, but her thoughts and feelings about it would make for a far more interesting show.
Rihanna Designing Fashion Collection For UK Brand
For every person who has ever wished for Rihanna’s one of a kind flair—they can almost buy it. RiRi has long been known as the only girl in the world who can rock things the way she does, and she is now offering up a piece of that ubiquitous look to the retail world. River Island Style Insider has just announced her exclusive collection for the Spring of 2012.
Rihanna added a statement to their release, “I’ve been wanting to design my own collection for some time. River Island is the perfect partner for me to collaborate with and working with a British, family run business also really appealed to me. I find London really inspiring and River Island loves to have fun with clothes. I’m looking forward to working with them and creating something really special.”
“Special” sounds like it will be an understatement. Rihanna has reinvented herself repeatedly throughout her increasingly successful career, and just like her music she has been come edgier, harder and ALWAYS distinct. With two fragrances and her first film role in a blockbuster behind her, and now her first full blown retail collection and new album in the works, it seems Ri has no limits when it comes to creative outlets, OR working her butt off.
Are you excited to see Rihanna’s clothing line?
Rihanna added a statement to their release, “I’ve been wanting to design my own collection for some time. River Island is the perfect partner for me to collaborate with and working with a British, family run business also really appealed to me. I find London really inspiring and River Island loves to have fun with clothes. I’m looking forward to working with them and creating something really special.”
“Special” sounds like it will be an understatement. Rihanna has reinvented herself repeatedly throughout her increasingly successful career, and just like her music she has been come edgier, harder and ALWAYS distinct. With two fragrances and her first film role in a blockbuster behind her, and now her first full blown retail collection and new album in the works, it seems Ri has no limits when it comes to creative outlets, OR working her butt off.
Are you excited to see Rihanna’s clothing line?
2012年7月17日星期二
A Life-Changing Experience: 'Camp Pride' for LGBT Youth Activism Kicks Off This Week, July 17-22, 2012
This week in Nashville, Tenn., 70 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally students from colleges and universities across the nation come together for Campus Pride's annual social-justice leadership academy, aptly called Camp Pride.
The only camp of its kind, the summer leadership academy was started in 2007 by Campus Pride, the leading educational organization for LGBT and ally college students and campus groups, and it has quickly become the premier national training ground for LGBT and ally youth activism. The camp, which also includes an "LGBT Professional Academy" for LGBT faculty and advisors, is hosted this year on the campus of Vanderbilt University from July 17 to 22, 2012.
"Campus Pride and the camp experience changed my life forever," said Mark Travis Rivera, Camp Pride 2011 graduate from William Patterson University in Wayne, N.J. "I met other students from every region in the country, honed my leadership and activism, formed friendships for a lifetime, and developed a broad commitment to social justice, equality, and civic values to help others. Without a doubt, this week at Camp Pride will be life-changing for the new campers."
Marriage-equality advocate Zach Wahls will be among the many nationally recognized leaders and speakers scheduled to speak at Camp Pride this year. Wahls will also receive an honorary Campus Pride Voice & Action National Leadership Award. Also featured at camp will be Kara Laricks, winner of NBC's Fashion Star, an out lesbian, and a student leader during her college years. Laricks' profession as a schoolteacher and her talent and eye for design will serve as inspiration for the LGBT and ally student leaders at Camp Pride. Other speakers and entertainers scheduled to appear at the summer program include Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality; Kit Yan, an Asian, transgender spoken-word artist; Justin Utley, a nationally acclaimed singer/songwriter; and LGBT researcher Sue Rankin, Associate Professor of College Student Affairs and Higher Education and research associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University.
The 2012 Camp Pride has also garnered the generous support of national corporations, community organizations, and celebrities. Sponsors this year include PepsiCo, Food Lion, Alliance for Full Acceptance, Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund, OUTmedia, Vanderbilt University, Wolfe Video, It Gets Better Project, Matthew Shepard Foundation, Davis Brand Capital, Human Rights Campaign, Born This Way Foundation, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Consortium of Higher Education Resource Professionals, Charlotte Pocket Rocket Guide, and Tyvola Design.
Alison Doerfler, executive director of the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, said their support of Campus Pride and the camp "ensures students learn the skills they need to create positive change on their campuses." This year at camp the StandUp Foundation will partner with Campus Pride to create a new initiative called the Campus Pride StandUp Team. This team of individuals will work actively throughout the year with Campus Pride and the foundation to prevent bullying and harassment within college campus communities.
The only camp of its kind, the summer leadership academy was started in 2007 by Campus Pride, the leading educational organization for LGBT and ally college students and campus groups, and it has quickly become the premier national training ground for LGBT and ally youth activism. The camp, which also includes an "LGBT Professional Academy" for LGBT faculty and advisors, is hosted this year on the campus of Vanderbilt University from July 17 to 22, 2012.
"Campus Pride and the camp experience changed my life forever," said Mark Travis Rivera, Camp Pride 2011 graduate from William Patterson University in Wayne, N.J. "I met other students from every region in the country, honed my leadership and activism, formed friendships for a lifetime, and developed a broad commitment to social justice, equality, and civic values to help others. Without a doubt, this week at Camp Pride will be life-changing for the new campers."
Marriage-equality advocate Zach Wahls will be among the many nationally recognized leaders and speakers scheduled to speak at Camp Pride this year. Wahls will also receive an honorary Campus Pride Voice & Action National Leadership Award. Also featured at camp will be Kara Laricks, winner of NBC's Fashion Star, an out lesbian, and a student leader during her college years. Laricks' profession as a schoolteacher and her talent and eye for design will serve as inspiration for the LGBT and ally student leaders at Camp Pride. Other speakers and entertainers scheduled to appear at the summer program include Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality; Kit Yan, an Asian, transgender spoken-word artist; Justin Utley, a nationally acclaimed singer/songwriter; and LGBT researcher Sue Rankin, Associate Professor of College Student Affairs and Higher Education and research associate at the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University.
The 2012 Camp Pride has also garnered the generous support of national corporations, community organizations, and celebrities. Sponsors this year include PepsiCo, Food Lion, Alliance for Full Acceptance, Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund, OUTmedia, Vanderbilt University, Wolfe Video, It Gets Better Project, Matthew Shepard Foundation, Davis Brand Capital, Human Rights Campaign, Born This Way Foundation, National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Consortium of Higher Education Resource Professionals, Charlotte Pocket Rocket Guide, and Tyvola Design.
Alison Doerfler, executive director of the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, said their support of Campus Pride and the camp "ensures students learn the skills they need to create positive change on their campuses." This year at camp the StandUp Foundation will partner with Campus Pride to create a new initiative called the Campus Pride StandUp Team. This team of individuals will work actively throughout the year with Campus Pride and the foundation to prevent bullying and harassment within college campus communities.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)