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Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on June 20, 2010 at 4:36am

(Saturday, June 19, 2010) : In Photos: Swedish Royal Wedding

The future Queen of Sweden and her Commoner Fiancé wed Saturday in Stockholm in a lavish wedding that attracted royalty dignitaries from around the world.

The ceremony for Crown Princess Victoria, 32, and her former personal trainer Daniel Westling, 36, is the first royal wedding in Europe since 2008, according to The Associated Press. The Royal Court told the AP that 950 guests were set to attend the event, which is reported to cost $2.6 million.

Some royals from Norway and Denmark arrived by yacht, reported the AP. Also present for the weekend’s festivities were Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito, Jordan's King Abdullah and Queen Sofia of Spain, Britain's Prince Edward and Sophie and golfer Tiger Woods' mother-in-law, Barbro Holmberg.

The wedding of Victoria, the oldest of three siblings and first in line to the Swedish throne, and Westling took place exactly 34 years after the marriage of her parents, Queen Silvia and King Carl XVI Gustaf, according to Agence France-Presse.

Major international news organizations, including AP, AFP and Reuters, decided not to cover the event because of a dispute over local restrictions on the release of live television images. They did, however, provide details prior to the wedding. And luckily for those dying for a peek, Getty Images provided photo coverage of the day's private and public proceedings (see below).

FATHER AND THE BRIDE: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden is led into the church by her father the king Carl Gustaf of Sweden prior to the wedding ceremony between Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling at Stockholm Cathedral. (Photo by Torsten Laursen/Getty Images)

MEETING AT THE ALTAR: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, are seen during their wedding ceremony. (Photo by Torsten Laursen/Getty Images)

CATCHING THE TRAIN: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, are seen during their wedding ceremony. (Photo by Torsten Laursen/Getty Images)

NEWLY WED: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, are seen during their wedding ceremony. (Photo by Torsten Laursen/Getty Images)

ROYAL PAGEANTRY: People wait for Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, to pass after their wedding ceremony. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

PUBLIC PRIDE: People wait for Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

WEDDING CARRIAGE: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, wave to gathered spectators after their wedding ceremony. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

GREETING THE WORLD: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, are seen after their wedding ceremony. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

A ROYAL KISS: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, meet the general public as they appear on the Lejonbacken Terrace after their wedding ceremony. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

ALL SMILES: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland, and her husband Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland, meet King Carl Gustaf and the general public as they appear on the Lejonbacken Terrace after their wedding ceremony. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on June 20, 2010 at 6:30pm

Father's Day Turns 100. How Did Father's Day Start Anyway?


Father's Day was started 100 years ago in an effort to improve the image of Dads everywhere.

By Nicholas K. Geranios, AP / June 20, 2010

Spokane, Wash.


Father's Day was started a century ago because inventor Sonora Smart Dodd was upset by widespread mocking of fathers in popular culture as lazy, sleazy and drunk.


This June 20 marks the 100th anniversary of Father's Day, and while today's fathers have come a long way, some would say they could once again use an image boost thanks to the much-mocked antics of the likes of Tiger Woods and Jon Gosselin.

While it is easy to take shots at dads who mess up, it's important to focus on the important role of men, said Michael Gurian, an author who specializes in the struggles of men in the modern world.

"Making fun of guys to get them to perform and prove themselves, that's always going to exist," Gurian said. "But we have to equally celebrate them and empower them."

For Sonora Dodd, the last straw was a church sermon in 1908, when her priest rambled on about the newly created Mother's Day and the importance of mothers.

"I liked everything you said about motherhood," Sonora Dodd recalled telling the priest in a 1972 interview. "However, don't you think fathers deserve a place in the sun too?"

Her father, William Smart, survived the Civil War and then moved West to seek his fortune. His wife died in the winter of 1898, while giving birth of their sixth child.

But Smart, with the help of Sonora, the eldest child and only girl, held the family together. Sonora became convinced of the importance of fathers, at a time when they were not considered that relevant to the family.

While William Smart's sacrifice might have been somewhat unique in its time, these days 15 percent of single parents are men, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In addition, there were 158,000 stay-at-home dads in 2009 who raised the kids while their wives worked, the Census Bureau said.

And 71 percent of 6-year-olds ate breakfast and dinner with their fathers every day in 2006, the agency said. Fathers are also good about reading to their children, praising them at least three times a day and taking them on outings, various reports compiled by the Census Bureau said.

At the other extreme, Gurian said 90 percent of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. Also, 71 percent of high school dropouts and 63 percent of young people who commit suicide are from fatherless homes.

"Without fathers you would have no civilization," Gurian said.

He acknowledged that men tend to take more risks, fool around more (see Edwards, John) and suffer more crippling addictions (see Sheen, Charlie) than women. They also seem slower to mature these days, often living at home into their 20s.

"Father's Day is hopefully a time when the culture says 'this is our moment to look at who our men and boys are," he said. "If we don't protect fathering, we are going to really be messed up."

Sonora Dodd certainly did her part. She pushed for the first Father's Day celebration, which was held in June 1910, in Spokane. Fathers in church were given red roses, and people whose fathers were deceased wore white roses.

Some also credit the invention of the holiday to Grace Golden Clayton of Fairmount, W.Va., who is said to have suggested to the pastor of her church in 1908 that he hold a service in honor of fathers.

But it was Dodd who campaigned nationally for the holiday.

Mother's Day was quickly accepted as a national holiday, with Congress in 1914 designating the second Sunday in May. Father's Day had a much longer road, perhaps reflecting the societal split involving mothers and fathers. It was not until 1966 that President Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers and set the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. In 1972, President Nixon signed the law that made it permanent, to the delight of necktie and golf club makers everywhere.

Sonora Dodd died in 1978 at age 96 and is buried in Spokane.

"She was a businesswoman and knew how to get things done," said Barbara Hillerman, Sonora Dodd's only grandchild.

Hillerman, 75, a college professor in Vienna, Austria, will be making her first trip to Spokane in decades for anniversary festivities. Her father was Sonora Dodd's only child, John Bruce Dodd, Jr.

She did not know her grandmother well, in part because her family moved back and forth across the country as her father rose in the Forest Service.

"My relationship to her was as grandchild and grandmother," Hillerman said in a telephone interview from Vienna. "One of my failures is we didn't talk about Father's Day."

But "I sent my grandmother a Father's Day card every year," Hillerman said.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on June 21, 2010 at 1:10am

21 Things Hiring Managers Wish You Knew

by Alison Green
Saturday, June 19, 2010
provided by U.S. News and World Report

01-We actually want you to be honest.

I see too many job applicants who approach the interview as if their only goal is to win a job offer, losing sight of the fact that this can land them in the wrong job. Think of it like dating. This means being honest about your strengths and weaknesses and giving the hiring manager a glimpse of the real you, so he or she can make an informed decision about how well you'd do in the job.

02-We pay attention to the small stuff.

Frequently, I see candidates act as if only “official” contacts—like interviews and formal writing samples—count during the hiring process. They'll send flawless cover letters and then check up on their applications with sloppily written E-mails with spelling errors. Or they'll be charming and polite to me but rude to an assistant. I pay attention to how quickly a candidate responds to requests for writing samples and references, and even how fast he or she returns phone calls.

03-We want you to ask questions.

I encounter many candidates who don't have many—or even any—questions when I ask what I can answer for them. Your interviewer wants to know that you're interested in the details of the job, the department, your prospective supervisor's management style, and the culture of the organization. Otherwise, you risk signaling that you're either not that interested or just haven't thought very much about it.

04-We'd like a thank-you note right away.

E-mail is fine for this and has the advantage of arriving faster, but handwritten notes are still appreciated (and are increasingly unusual so will stand out). And if there are multiple interviews, send a thank-you note each time.

05-We're hoping for some enthusiasm.

Commonly, job seekers are too worried about looking desperate. It doesn't look desperate to express your interest in the job or check in to ask about the hiring timeline. However, enthusiasm does cross the line if you are calling more than once a week, calling earlier than the date they said they'd get back to you, sounding like you're eager to take any job as opposed to this one in particular, or appearing as if this is the only option you have.

06-We need to know your real weaknesses.

Claiming that your biggest weakness is perfectionism and you work too hard is disingenuous. It looks like you're avoiding the question. Candidates who can't or won't come up with a realistic assessment of areas where they could improve make me think they're lacking in insight and self-awareness—or, at a minimum, just making it impossible to have a real discussion of their potential fitness for the job. I want to know about your weaknesses not because I'm trying to trip you up, but because I genuinely care about making sure you're a good fit for the job.

07-You should address being overqualified in your cover letter.

If you don't acknowledge it, we're afraid that you'll be bored, that you don't understand the position, that the salary will be too low for you. We need to hear things like: “At this stage in my career, having a job I enjoy is more important to me than salary. I have no problem earning less than I have in the past.” Or, “I want to move into this field, and I know that I need to start at a lower level in order to do that.” Or, “I wouldn't take a job I'm not excited about.”

08-Your resume objective usually hurts you.

Your resume gets tossed when it lists an objective totally unrelated to the position I have open. Really, just get rid of the objective altogether. It rarely helps, often hurts, and always takes up valuable real estate that could be better used to showcase your accomplishments. If you want to talk about your career objective and how this position fits it, use the cover letter for that.

09-The phone interview is not a casual chat.

While the interviewer wants to get a sense of your personality, a phone interview is still an interview, not an informal phone call with a friend. Don't sound stiff, but don't use the same tone you'd use to talk about your date last night. I've phone-interviewed candidates who I'm pretty sure were lounging on the couch, watching the game with the sound down, and snacking while we talked.

10-You shouldn't count on our job offer.

Whatever you do, don't let up on your job search, no matter how confident you are that an offer is coming. Things change; other candidates come along; plans for the position evolve or even get canceled. Until you have a firm offer in hand, you have to proceed as if you don't, since ultimately you can control only your side of the process—so keep setting up those other interviews.

11-We may check references beyond your list.

Simply not listing that person as a reference isn't enough; Reference-checkers can call anyone you've worked for or who might know you, even if they aren't on the list you provide. In fact, smart reference-checkers will make a point of calling people not on your list, because presumably you've only listed the people most likely to present you in the best light.

12-We don't like being stalked.

When you're searching for a job, enthusiasm is a good thing. But some job applicants cross the line from enthusiastic and proactive to obnoxiously aggressive—and, in doing so, kill their chances at a job offer. You have crossed the line if you are doing any of the following: Checking on the status of your application daily; calling and hanging up when you get voice mail, over and over; cold-calling numerous employees in the same company.

13-Some of us actually care about candidates.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from job seekers who write to me at Ask a Manager is about companies that don't respond to job applicants: no rejection, nothing. Personally, I think it's inexcusable—throughout the hiring process, but particularly after a company has engaged with an applicant in some way, like a phone interview or an in-person interview. It's callous and dismissive and lacks any appreciation for the fact that the candidate is anxiously waiting to hear an answer—any answer—and keeps waiting and waiting, long after a decision has been made.

14-You can gain an edge with your cover letter.

Individualize. Yes, it takes a lot longer than sending out the same form letter over and over, but a well-written cover letter that's obviously individualized to a specific opening is going to open doors when your resume alone might not have. These account for such a tiny fraction of applications that you'll stand out and immediately go to the top of my pile. And I'll give you an extra look, even if your resume isn't stellar.

15-You can be too early to the interview.

Many interviewers are annoyed when candidates show up more than five or ten minutes early, since they may feel obligated to interrupt what they're doing and go out to greet the person, and some (like me) feel vaguely guilty leaving someone sitting in their reception area that long. Aim to walk in five minutes early, but no more than that.

16-You can leave the subjective descriptions off the resume.

Your resume is for experience and accomplishments only. It's not the place for subjective traits, like “great leadership skills” or “creative innovator.” I ignore anything subjective that an applicant writes about herself, because so many people's self-assessments are wildly inaccurate and I don't yet know enough about the candidate to have any idea if hers is reliable or not.

17-Your resume should answer one key question.

The vast majority of resumes I see read like a series of job descriptions, listing duties and responsibilities at each position the job applicant has held. But resumes that stand out do something very different. For each position, they answer the question: What did you accomplish in this job that someone else wouldn't have?

18-New grads need work experience.

I receive all too many resumes from recent grads who have literally no work experience: nothing, not internships, not temp jobs, nothing at all. Find a way to get actual work experience before you leave school. Do internships every semester you are able, so that you have experience on your resume. Paid, unpaid, whatever it takes. If a part-time job of a few hours a week is all you have time for outside of your classes, that's fine. Do that. No one will hire you? Find work experience as a volunteer—that counts too.

19-We think a lot about your personality.

You might not get hired because your working style would clash with the people you'd be working with. Often, one personality type will simply fit better into a department than another will, and that's the kind of thing that's very difficult (if not impossible) for a candidate to know. Remember, it's not just a question of whether you have the skills to do the job, it's also a question of fit for this particular position, with this particular boss, in this particular culture, in this particular company.

20-We want you to talk in interviews, but be concise.

There's always at least one otherwise-qualified candidate in any hiring round who kills their chances by being too long-winded. You might think, “Well, some people are long-winded, but it doesn't mean he wouldn't do a good job.” The problem is that, at a minimum, it signals that you're not good at picking up on conversational cues, and raises doubts about your ability to organize your thoughts and convey needed information quickly.

21-Be honest in interviews, but don't spill about a bad boss.

You're far better off explaining that you're looking for new challenges, excited about this particular opportunity, taking the time to find something right, and so forth. I'm not crazy about advising someone to be anything less than forthright, and I don't normally recommend it, but in this area, the potential for giving an employer an bad impression is just too great to do it safely.

Copyrighted, U.S.News & World Report, L.P. All rights reserved.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on June 22, 2010 at 11:21pm

Khloe Kardashian's Extravagant Victory Gift to Husband Lamar Odom

Photo of Lamar Odom and his Wife Khloe Kardashian-Odom in his "NEW ROLLS ROYCE: Phantom"




Photo of a 2010 "ROLLS ROYCE: Phantom"




Helping his team win the NBA championship title should be a gift in and of itself for Los Angeles Laker Lamar Odom, but his wife must have thought the big win needed more celebration than a ticker tape parade.

E! News reports that Khloe Kardashian, Lamar's wife of nearly nine months, bought him a Rolls-Royce.

The car is said to retail at $443,000, and Kardashian's mother, Kris Jenner, calling it "fabulous," told E! News a few details about the gift.

"It's a brand-new 2010 Rolls-Royce," Jenner said. "Drop-top coupe, white on white."

Jenner was most likely describing the 2010 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe, which Car and Driver magazine calls "pretty much everything you'd expect from a convertible that costs half a million dollars."

The review of the Rolls, written by satirist and pundit, P.J. O'Rourke, also referred to the car as "faster than the stink of how rich you'd have to get to buy one."

Some of the Phantom's features are classic: a teak wood deck ("the same kind of wood used in a really nice yacht," Car and Driver notes); a Rolls-Royce logo that remains upright on the wheel-heads even when they're in motion. But some are downright futuristic, like doors that close with the push of a button. It even has a mechanism to keep its iconic hood ornament safe: If someone messes with it, it drops into the car, and there's even a button on the dashboard that the owner can push to make the ornament disappear into the hood.

And for those who were speculating that Khloe bought the fancy ride with her hubby's money, Mrs. Odom has some choice words:

"People r so pathetic," Kardashian Tweeted after news of the purchase spread through the chatter-sphere. "Y would I give some1 a gift w/ their money? That's lame. I actually make my own money. Shocking I know. Stop hating!"

The couple seems to be wasting no time breaking in the new car: Khloe and Lamar were spotted rolling up to a fancy Father's Day dinner for Bruce Jenner at BOA in West Hollywood for Father's Day. Perhaps they're getting in as much joy-riding time as possible before traveling south -- the couple are reportedly going to Mexico soon for a much-deserved (at least for Lamar) vacation.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on June 23, 2010 at 4:13am

Photos of the Home of the Week | In West L.A. (The four-bedroom, 3 1/2-bathroom house at 3044 Greenfield Ave. is listed at $1,895,000).




Rebuilt
(Ralf Seeburger)

The Westside home, formerly a single-level tract house, was transformed into a two-story with a focus on energy efficiency, natural light and recycled and experimental materials.





Eco-conscious
(Vladan Elakovic)

Chemicals, paint, carpet, tiles and air conditioning were shunned during the extensive remodel.




Kitchen
(Vladan Elakovic)

The cabinets and chair backs are clad with recycled tires.




Blue staircase
(Vladan Elakovic)

The stairs are made of flat steel supports covered in rubber dip, a material used to make tool handles.




Master bathroom
(Vladan Elakovic)

The double-headed shower is completely open, the water pouring directly onto a heated concrete floor covered in wood slats.




Roof
(Ralf Seeburger)

Glass double doors open to a covered roof terrace for taking in city views or outdoor sleeping.





Geometric
(Vladan Elakovic)

Concrete outer walls are made in part with recycled material.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on July 1, 2010 at 4:48am

Employee Embezzles $1.6 Million From Boss, Police Say



Detectives say Holly Martin-Campbell worked as a bookkeeper for a cement company near Gardena.

Embezzlement suspect Holly Martin-Campbell of Inglewood. (DMV photo)






LOS ANGELES -- An Inglewood woman is accused of embezzling $1.6 million dollars from her boss to fund a lavish lifestyle.


Detectives say Holly Daunielle Martin-Campbell, 37, stole the money while working as an administrative secretary at Blue Daisy Cement Products near Gardena.


Campbell used the money to buy a home in a gated community next to Hollywood Park, purchase a $22,000 Ducati motorcycle for her husband, and a BMW sport utility vehicle for herself, eat at expensive restaurants and attend sporting events and concerts, according to L.A. County Sheriff's detective Christopher Derry.


Martin-Campbell was arrested Tuesday on felony charges of grand theft and forgery. She is set to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.


Her boss says he had no idea she had served a 16-month prison sentence in the late 1990s for credit card fraud when he hired her in 2002.


Martin-Campbell was in charge of accounts receivable. Her job was to process the incoming checks from customers, Detective Derry said.


An investigation found that she began depositing checks into her own bank account in 2004. The checks, which were for a few thousand dollars up to $21,000, were made out to Blue Daisy, but Bank of America still accepted the checks, Derry said.


She would then delete the transactions.


The scam was uncovered in late 2008 when a Blue Daisy accountant realized the company's profits did not match the amount of product they were selling. The company's owner began scrutinizing the business transactions and found that Martin-Campbell had been depositing the checks into her own account.


Martin-Campbell is being held on $1.5 million dollars bail. She served a 16-month prison sentence in the late 1990s for credit card fraud.


Martin-Campbell faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.


Martin-Campbell's parents have paid $300,000 toward restitution but still owes $1.3 million to Blue Daisy.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on July 1, 2010 at 5:19am

Obama film co-director Damien Dematra (L) poses with Ilham Anas, (R), the Indonesian look alike of US President Barack Obama at the Jakarta cinema house for the debut screening of "Obama Anak Menteng" or "Obama the Menteng Kid", a film about Obama's childhood days in Indonesia.






AJAKARTA (AFP) – A film about US President Barack Obama's childhood days in Indonesia made its debut in Jakarta on Wednesday, promising a very different perspective on the man in the White House.


"Obama Anak Menteng" or "Obama the Menteng Kid", is set in the upscale Jakarta neighbourhood of Menteng, where Obama lived from 1967 to 1971 with his mother and Indonesian stepfather.


Co-director Damien Dematra said it showed the US president in a light that Americans might find strange.


"Viewers, especially Westerners, will see a different world. They'll see Obama eating chicken satay, not hamburgers. They'll see his neighbours and friends wearing chequered sarongs and Muslim caps," he told AFP.


Even so, producers skirted controversy surrounding the extent that Islam influenced Obama's early years in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.


A scene showing Obama, who is a Christian, praying like a Muslim was dropped as it was deemed "too political", Dematra said.


"He was just imitating other kids when they were praying but it didn't mean he wanted to be Muslim. That scene wasn't even shot because I didn't want people to take it out of context and use it against him," he said.


Based on his interviews with Obama's surviving neighbours and friends in the Indonesian capital, Dematra claims the film is "60 percent fact and 40 percent fiction".


Midwife Fitriah Sari, who was in the audience at the film's debut, said Obama was portrayed favourably.


"He showed that sometimes saying sorry is actually more effective than using the fist in solving conflict," Sari said.


Another who saw the film, Asmul Khairi, said: "This film was interesting.


"Obama is shown to be able to get along with anyone, regardless of race, religion or skin colour. He showed cultural or physical differences are no barrier to forging meaningful friendships."


The film features a cast of little-known Indonesian actors and was filmed in just over a month in the West Java city of Bandung -- which retains some of the sleepy charm of 1960s Menteng.


Its budget was a million dollars, Dematra said.


Twelve-year-old American Hasan Faruq Ali plays Obama, or Barry as the president was known to his schoolmates.


Like Obama, Ali -- who had no prior acting experience -- is the son of a mixed-race couple and moved from the United States to Indonesia as a toddler.


He speaks Indonesian and English, just as Obama switched between his mother-tongue with his parents and Indonesian with his friends.


Clips available on the Internet show "little Barry" learning to box with his stepfather after getting into a shoolyard fight, but ultimately learning to resolve conflicts through means other than violence.


"You're from the West, but black. You've got weird hair and a big nose," a neighbourhood boy replies when Obama introduces himself as Barry.


"We have to stick together to achieve our goals and resolve our problems and fights," Barry later tells his friends.


Dematra said: "When Obama first arrived, local kids rejected him as he didn't look like them. There was a scene where Obama was bullied and he had to fight. He fought and he won and then they accepted him".


Dematra said he did not want the film to be political, but to give viewers a sense of how Indonesia's cultural diversity -- mostly Muslim but with significant Hindu, Christian and other minorities -- might have influenced "this pluralist and inspiring figure".


The 100-minute film, produced by local company Multivision Plus Pictures, was due to debut earlier in June to coincide with a visit by Obama to his old hometown.


But the trip, like another scheduled for March, was postponed due to pressing issues in the United States. Obama is now expected in November.


"I was disappointed about the delays. If Obama sees the film, I'm sure he'll have a couple of minutes of reflection about his past. It will be a sweet memory for him," Dematra said.


The makers are hoping to release the film internationally in September.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on July 15, 2010 at 3:30am

Triple-Digit Heat Wave Sends Many To Pools, Beaches, Seeking Relief From The Late-Breaking Sunshine


Coco Gruber and her daughter Katelyn Gruber, 4, of San Fernando, cool off at the San Fernando Regional Pool Facilty wednesday as temperatures headed into the triple digits. The forecast is for even hotter temeratures at the end of the week.









When the sun finally dredged itself out of the fog this week, Los Angeles rejoiced in its belated glow.



But when the mercury shot into triple-digit temps Wednesday, it proclaimed the true start of summer.



"The color's back," said surfer Bob Klewitz, 60, of Woodland Hills, an Arleta High School teacher surveying the sunrise break on Wednesday at Surfrider Beach. "It's classic Malibu. The waves glisten. They shimmer. It's indescribable.



"I would say summer is declared official."



Sun-worshippers grumbled when May Gray morphed into June Gloom, which sulked into mid-July. But after weeks of a moist marine layer that refused to budge, the rays shone through without a hint of the blues.



The above-normal heat - as much as 10 degrees in some areas - is expected to peak Friday and last through Sunday. Temperatures could soar to 105 degrees in the San Fernando Valley and 109 in the Antelope Valley.



Four Valley communities reached the triple-digit mark Wednesday, with Woodland Hills leading the pack at 103, Chatsworth and Van Nuys, coming in at 101, and Northridge hitting 100.



Forecasters said the moist early summer veered into a fiery July with little time for residents to peel off their layers.



"Ouch!," said Bill Patzert, climatologist for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Ca ada-Flintridge. "This is called whiplash - from drizzle to sizzle in three or four days.



"Summer has not only begun,but it's begun with a vengeance."



Sunshine credits go to a high-pressure system from the Sonoran Desert, which cleared away the long-standing low- pressure blues, weather forecasters say.



But the Arizona blast may bring some monsoonal humidity that may make many Angelenos miserable.



"L.A. will be another swamp," said Bill Hoffer, a weather specialist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard. "Go to the beach, go to the malls, go to the bars, I guess. Drink Gatorade.



"Get some relief."



Early Wednesday, many took to the beach as the sun rose over the Santa Monica Mountains, sending waves of orange under the Malibu Pier.



Joanna Pardo and Austin Barrett, two wilderness rangers on break from federal jobs near Yosemite, had slept in their car in order to catch the moment.



"This is special," said Barrett, 21, of Dallas, Texas. "The sun ... it's starting to feel itself."



Walkers waded the waterline. Early sunbathers opened summer novels upon the sand.



And as clam-diggers scooped their limit in pools of an emerging tide, the surfers basked in the dawn of summer.



Jonathan Mariande, before waxing his 7-foot-4 Yater board, applied some of the first sunscreen of the season.



"At the right time of day, (Malibu is) paradise," said Mariande, 27, of Studio City.



"It's a beach day," said Nina Stutzman, 40, of San Clemente, cradling a Dan Brown novel while watching her 14-year-old son surf. "I'm so happy the sun's out, finally."



"Fabulous!," added Vera Soares, 45, of Malibu, strolling in sunshine.



Some, however, said the September-like temperatures follow an especially dry spring and could make for a trying fire season, which began with spot fires this week in Los Angeles and Camarillo.



"We have a La Ni a building, and it looks like a long dry summer," Patzert said. "If the Santa Anas arrive this fall before the rains, it's not only going to be scorching.



"It's going to be incendiary."

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on July 15, 2010 at 4:05am

Fears Grow As Millions Lose U.S. Jobless Benefits

Alonzo Allen stands outside the apartment where he lives with his dog and sole companion, Ginger in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 7, 2010. Allen, 55, a former aid agency worker in Cincinnati whose benefits will run out in September, spends two days a week volunteering at the food bank in Over-the-Rhine and the other three looking for work. He said he worries about the one-bedroom apartment he rents and how he will feed his dog Ginger, who is the "only family I have."



CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Deborah Coleman lost her unemployment benefits in April, and now fears for millions of others if the Senate does not extend aid for the jobless.

"It's too late for me now," she said, fighting back tears at the Freestore Foodbank in the low-income Over-the-Rhine district near downtown Cincinnati. "But it will be terrible for the people who'll lose their benefits if Congress does nothing."

For nearly two years, Coleman says she has filed an average of 30 job applications a day, but remains jobless.

"People keep telling me there are jobs out there, but I haven't been able to find them."

Coleman, 58, a former manager at a telecommunications firm, said the only jobs she found were over the Ohio state line in Kentucky, but she cannot reach them because her car has been repossessed and there is no bus service to those areas.

After her $300 a week benefits ran out, Freestore Foodbank brokered emergency 90-day support in June for rent. Once that runs out, her future is uncertain.

"I've lost everything and I don't know what will happen to me," she said.

The recession -- the worst U.S. downturn since the 1930s -- has left some 8 million people like Coleman out of work.

Unemployment has remained stubbornly high at around 9.5 percent. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in June 6.8 million people or 45.5 percent of the total are long-term unemployed, or jobless for 27 weeks or more.

Before the recession began in late 2007, the unemployed received benefits, usually a few hundred dollars a week, for 26 weeks or around six months after losing their jobs.

Under the federal/state programs, which are administered by state governments and partly funded by taxes on business, only full-time workers are eligible for benefits. Within federal guidelines, benefits and eligibility vary from state to state.

As the downturn left more Americans out of work for longer periods, Congress voted to provide funding to extend benefits to as long as 99 weeks in some areas.

Some critics say this adds to the country's large fiscal deficit, and may even discourage job-seeking.


FOOD BANKS FEAR STRAIN

An attempt to pass another extension has become bogged down in partisan political bickering in the Senate. Relief agencies fear that failure to extend benefits will strain their resources and may worsen the U.S. housing crisis.

"This will put a great deal of stress and strain on our organization, which has already been working hard," said Vicki Escarra, chief executive of Feeding America, which has a network of more than 200 food banks. In the year ended June 30, Feeding America distributed 3 billion pounds (1.36 billion kg) of food, a 50 percent increase over the past two years.

The benefits debate has pitted the majority of Democrats against most Republicans and some conservative Democrats.

When the House of Representatives passed a $34 billion benefit extension on July 1, 11 fiscally conservative Democrats voted against it. The Senate may take up the issue again in mid-July, but Republicans like Senator Tom Coburn have argued any extension must be paid for with cuts elsewhere.

"Even then he (Coburn) is not sure if that's a good idea," said John Hart, a spokesman for the Oklahoma senator. "The longer the unemployed have benefits, the less incentive there is to find a job."

Most economists argue that cutting benefits could slow recovery, describing benefits as direct economic stimulus because almost every penny of it gets spent. In a June 28 client note, Goldman Sachs said if all additional U.S. stimulus spending expires, it could slow the economy up to 1.5 percentage points from the fourth quarter 2010 to the second quarter of 2011.

The note added that extending unemployment benefits and a $400 tax credit would "substantially mitigate" that impact.


3 MILLION CUT OFF IN TWO MONTHS

During the Senate impasse, from the week ended June 5 to the week ended July 10, more than 2.1 million Americans lost their benefits. Another million will join them by July 31.

In Ohio alone, where unemployment stood at 10.7 percent in May, more than 83,000 people lost their benefits in June.

Sister Barbara Busch, executive director of non-profit housing group Working in Neighborhoods in Cincinnati, 65 percent of the people who come seeking help with their mortgages are unemployed or underemployed.

"I fear once the benefits run out, I suspect we'll see a new wave of foreclosures," she said. "I just hope I'm wrong."

Ohio is a bellwether U.S. state in elections. The state's Democratic attorney general Richard Cordray said blocking extending jobless benefits was politically motivated ahead of the midterm elections in November.

"If people lose their benefits they will blame the congressional majority and the administration," he said. "As unappetizing as it is, that would appear to be the strategy."

Senator Coburn's spokesman Hart said suggestions the Republicans were playing partisan politics were "ludicrous."

"The Democrats say that because they want to avoid making the hard decisions," he said.

Alonzo Allen, 55, a former aid agency worker in Cincinnati whose benefits will run out in September, spends two days a week volunteering at the food bank in Over-the-Rhine and the other three looking for work. He said he worries about the one-bedroom apartment he rents and how he will feed his dog Ginger, who is the "only family I have."

"If the benefits stop, I'll be out on the street and I'll lose all my furniture," he said. "That's going to be tough."


(Editing by Eric Walsh)

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 4, 2010 at 3:26pm

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S BIRTHDAY IS TODAY (AUGUST 4, 2010)!!!!!!!!!!






Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama may be celebrating his 49th birthday (today) Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 without his wife and daughters, but CNN has learned there will be a hush-hush party at the White House on Sunday with close family and friends to make it up to him.


Two top White House aides confirmed the belated birthday bash on the condition of anonymity because the details are a state secret around the corridors of the West Wing.


"There will be some stuff Sunday," a top adviser to the president said vaguely without giving away any of the details.


The president is celebrating his birthday without his immediate family because first lady Michelle Obama just arrived in Spain for a planned mini-vacation with the couple's youngest daughter, Sasha, while eldest daughter, Malia, is away at summer camp.


But contrary to some news reports, the president will not be celebrating his birthday alone on Wednesday. After delivering a speech in Washington to the AFL-CIO about the economic recovery and having lunch at the White House with a group of Democratic senators, the president is heading to Chicago in the late afternoon. Aides say he is expected to have a quiet dinner with some close friends back home.


On Thursday, the president will tour a Ford plant in Chicago to highlight the auto industry's rebound, followed by some Democratic fundraising, including a bash honoring his birthday one day late.


The plans are still being put together for Sunday's birthday party, which appears likely to be a hot invite for the lucky few White House aides who get on the list.

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 5, 2010 at 1:28am

Rapper T.I. and Singer Tiny Get Married (July 31, 2010)

Superstar ATL rapper T.I. and his longtime leading lady Tameka "Tiny" Cottle got married in Miami, Florida. They first sealed the deal in a Miami courthouse on July 30, 2010 according to a wedding license provided by TMZ. Then on Saturday, July 31 they tied the knot in a lavish private ceremony in front of close family and friends on Star island off the coast of Miami in a major celebrity mansion ( rumored to be Lebron James estate).


Tiny was ready to walk the aisle in her beautiful Valentino wedding gown, while the "Da King of the South" TI was rocking PRADA. Her bridesmaids were: Kandi of Real Housewives of Atlanta and former Xscape group mate, R&B singer Monica, and her reality show mate Toya Carter (former ex wife of Lil Wayne). The colors were platinum and black. There were a lot of A-LIST celebs who attended their wedding.



Some the stars who were on the guestlist for the wedding were:

Atlantic Records Executives

Lebron James

Diddy

Jay Z & Beyonce

Judy Greenwald (Atlantic Records)

Kevin Lyles

DJ Toomp

Ryan Cameron

Trey Songz

Kandi Burruss

Chelsea Lately

Young Jeezy

Attorney Dwight Howard

Antonia Carter

Jason Geter

Keri Hilson

Tyra Banks

Chris Brown

Monique

DJ Khalid

DJ Greg Street

Jamie Foster Brown



According to US Magazine, "They plan on returning to their hometown of Atlanta for a reception Saturday afternoon before jetting off to Las Vegas to celebrate with friends into the wee hours." They will plan to return to Atlanta early next week, so you can expect the party to keep going.


Tiny told Vibe earlier this year, "We living, we're happy, we're in love. I mean, it's no doubt in my mind that he doesn't love every piece of me and vice versa, so we're just doing what's comfortable and what works for us. Tiny and T.I.: Not for the world," Tiny told Vibe magazine. "When we get ready to make a move, we will make it. We just can't do it for everybody."


I guess Tiny did get her wish with an intimate private ceremony and the fairytale wedding she dreamed of. They truly celebrated their nuptials in style and I wish this hip-hop couple much continued success and blessings! I love them together!

Permalink Reply by Phoebe Macon on August 5, 2010 at 1:44am

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats Marry (July 31, 2010)

(

CNN) -- R&B power couple Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz have tied the knot, Keys' representatives confirmed to CNN on Sunday.



The two were married Saturday at a private residence overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.



Keys, 29, a 12-time Grammy-award winning singer, wore a Grecian-inspired, one-shoulder Vera Wang gown. Her groom, a DJ/producer/rapper, wore a tuxedo designed by Tom Ford that featured a white jacket and pale pink shirt.



The couple are expecting a child together.



Swizz Beatz and Keys have been friends for several years and worked together on one song for her current album, "The Element of Freedom."

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