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Wendy Wasserstein, Chronicler of Women's Identity Crises, Dies - New York TimesWendy Wasserstein, who spoke for a generation of smart, driven but sometimes unsatisfied women in a series of popular plays that included the long-running Pulitzer Prize winner "The Heidi Chronicles," died today after a bout with lymphoma, Lincoln Center Theater announced. She was 55.
A "bout" with lymphoma? Nice to see that even death can't dent that smarmy NYT whimsy.
The photograph hit the world on Nov. 10, 2004: a close-cropped shot of a U.S. Marine in Iraq, his face smeared with blood and dirt, a cigarette dangling from his lips, smoke curling across weary eyes.
It was an instant icon, with Dan Rather calling it "the best war photograph in recent years." About 100 newspapers ran the photo, dubbing the anonymous warrior the "Marlboro Man."
The man in the photograph is James Blake Miller, now 21, and he is an icon, although in ways Rather probably never imagined.
He's quieter now -- easier to anger. He turns to fight at the sound of a backfire, can't look at fireworks without thinking of fire raining down on a city. He has trouble sleeping, and when he does, his fingers twitch on invisible triggers.
The diagnosis: post-traumatic stress disorder.
His life in Kentucky, before and after the clicking shutter, says as much about hundreds of thousands of new American war veterans as his famous photograph said about that one bad day in Fallujah -- a photo Miller cannot see as an icon.
"I don't see a whole lot," he said. "I see a day I won't care to remember, but that I'll never forget."
[more at link]
LONDON (Reuters) - Too busy to get to your shift at McDonald's restaurant? Don't worry -- send someone else in your family to go along for you.
The world's largest restaurant chain said Thursday it had begun trialing a new scheme in Britain whereby two people from the same family who worked at the same branch could cover each other's shifts without giving any prior notice.
"By giving our employees the freedom to manage their shift commitments, we will increase their motivation and enjoyment of work," said David Fairhurst, the chain's vice president (people).
McDonald's said the first users of the new "Family Contract," which it believes to be unique in Britain, were two sets of twins.
McDonald's said it would look to extend the scheme if it proved to be popular and successful.
"It may be just the beginning," Fairhurst said in a statement. "In the future we may even look to extend it beyond the family to include friends and extended family members such as cousins."
Microsoft ads aim to erase 'huge' image
Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software maker, will spend $120 million a year on an advertising campaign to fight its image as "a huge American company."
The campaign, using television, print and the Internet, highlights Microsoft's education and economic development projects in 32 countries, including France and Taiwan, according to group advertising manager Mike Lucero. Actor William Macy of the movie "Fargo" narrates the ads.
"We are often perceived as a huge American company," Lucero said Friday in an interview.
Lancaster Eagle-Gazette - Lancaster, OH
POLICE BEAT
# Between 5 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday, someone entered a building belonging to Royal Pad Products, 403 S. Ewing St., Lancaster.
Stolen items included a circular saw valued at $50; a drill valued at $10; an emergency car kit valued at $20; miscellaneous hand tools valued at $100; a large socket set valued at $50; and a hand saw valued at $10, according to a Lancaster police report.
# Between 2:15 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. Sunday, someone entered a home in the 7100 block of Alspach Road, Carroll.
Stolen items included an air compressor, drill, jigsaw and two combination sets that included drills, saws and lights, according to a Fairfield County Sheriff's Office report.
The loss is estimated at $1,109.
# Between 9 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Sunday someone entered a 1989 GMC van parked in the 500 block of Amanda-Northern Road.
Stolen items included three nailers valued at $900 and a stapler valued at $300, according to a Fairfield County Sheriff's Office report.
# Between 7 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Sunday, someone entered a two homes under construction on Hocking Trail Avenue, Canal Winchester.
Stolen items included four jacks, braces, spud bar, ladder, copper fittings and trowels, according to a Fairfield County Sheriff's Office report.
The total loss was estimated at $5,490.
# Between 1 p.m. Sunday and 8:30 a.m. Monday, someone broke into a home and barn in the 10600 block of Marcy Road, Canal Winchester.
Stolen items included a gas generator valued at $4,000 and a tractor valued at $25,000, according to a Fairfield County Sheriff's Office report.
"Maybe you take orders from stuffed animals, but I don't."
Odd dream last night. I was working in an office, and my boss was Dick Cheney. We got along rather well, but I kept thinking "I hope he doesn't get mad at me and keel over."
The bestest thing I got for Christmas was The Complete New Yorker
Unfortunately, I don't happen to own a computer with a DVD drive. Seriously. And it will be at least a couple of months before I'm able to buy a DVD drive for this old clunker.
But then I will get absolutely no work done.
Inky (above), the smallest and sweetest (and possibly the smartest) of the litter, has been very sick with an upper respiratory bug she caught from Phoebe (which Phoebe caught at the vet). She was so sick she refused fresh real turkey. We spent two days feeding Inky water from a syringe, dosing her with antibiotics, and being very worried, but she seems much better today.
Inky is my little pal.
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Taiwan breeds green-glowing pigs
Scientists in Taiwan say they have bred three pigs that glow in the dark.
They claim that while other researchers have bred partly fluorescent pigs, theirs are the only pigs in the world which are green through and through.
[more at link]
Comments on posts have been put in moderated mode because I am being hit by some annoying spam. I will do my best to approve real comments as soon as they arrive.
Hey, that's a good look for you, bog man.
LONDON (Reuters) - The preserved remains of two prehistoric men discovered in an Irish bog have revealed a couple of surprises --- one used hair gel and the other stood 6 foot 6 inches high, the tallest Iron Age body discovered.
"He would have been a giant...the other man was quite short, about 5 foot 2 inches," said Ned Kelly, head of antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland.
"The shorter man appeared to attempt to give himself greater stature by a rather curious headdress which was a bit like a Mohican-style with the hair gel, which was a resin imported from France," Kelly told BBC radio.
Bacterial conditions found in the peat bogs preserved the remains so that even fingerprints were clearly visible.
The fashion-conscious gel wearer has been named Clonycavan Man and Kelly said the fact he was able to buy imported cosmetics suggests he was a wealthy member of Irish society about 2,300 years ago. The other was dubbed Oldcroghan Man.
Kelly said both men had been murdered.
"Oldcroghan Man was stabbed through the chest. He saw that attack coming because there is a defensive injury on his arm."
He was then decapitated and his body cut in half while Clonycaven Man had his head split open with an axe before he was disemboweled.
The Observer | World | Dinosaur fish pushed to the brink by deep-sea trawlers
It is not every day that you come face to face with a dinosaur dating back 400 million years, but for the fishermen in Kigombe on Tanzania's northern coast it has become almost routine.
In the middle of Kigombe, a village of simple huts on this breathtaking edge of the Indian Ocean, a young fisherman stood proudly before a large green plastic container. Ceremoniously he reached inside and hauled out a monster of a fish, slapping its 60kg (132lb) of flesh on a table, where three children gawped at its almost human-like 'feet'. This is a living fossil, a fish with limbs, a creature once believed extinct: a coelacanth.
Now it seems that man may have discovered the fish just to eradicate it, as ever deeper trawling throws up serious fears for the already dwindling populations of the fish, which lives at depths of between 100 and 300 metres (328ft to 984ft).
The boom of thunder and crackle of lightning generally mean one thing: a storm is coming. Curiously, though, the biggest storms of all, hurricanes, are notoriously lacking in lightning. Hurricanes blow, they rain, they flood, but seldom do they crackle.
Surprise: During the record-setting hurricane season of 2005 three of the most powerful storms--Rita, Katrina, and Emily--did have lightning, lots of it. And researchers would like to know why.
Posted at the usual place. Includes the solution to your Valentine's Day shopping conundrum, plus a touching story of publishing incompetence.
