When I read yesterday’s account of the debate over what to do about rising gasoline prices, I really was astounded by the pandering–though I sometimes wonder why one would be astounded in this era where getting elected is far more important than taking a principled position. On this issue, the scorecard is clear: Sens. Clinton and McCain failed miserably and Sen. Obama took the right stand.
Let’s start with the obvious: people are feeling a lot of economic pain, though I would argue that that pain has been there for a very long time, years before the collective political wisdom declared the country in a “recession”. They have nowhere to turn to get easy cash now that their housing-value ATM’s are gone, hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs or on the verge of losing their jobs, health care is still a disaster, pensions are evaporating, the cost of food is going up and…the list is long and unpleasant.
And, then, there are fuel costs. I’ve been working a bit with the truckers who, as you may have read, are organizing, in a truly grassroots campaign, protests against the rising fuel costs. They have a broader view of the problem, focusing on the obscene profits being made by the oil companies. You can understand their plight and, at the same time, not succumb to meaningless and, ultimately harmful proposals–and, certainly, you would hope for such leadership from people who are competing for the highest office in the land.
So, come Sens. Clinton and McCain to this issue and what do they propose?
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lined up with Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, in endorsing a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for the summer travel season.
Sen. Obama was correct when he said:
Mr. Obama derided the McCain-Clinton idea of a federal tax holiday as a “short-term, quick-fix” proposal that would do more harm than good, and said the money, which is earmarked for the federal highway trust fund, is badly needed to maintain the nation’s roads and bridges.
This is pandering at its worse. First, though I’m all for Sen. Clinton‘s proposal to levy a windfall profits tax on the oil companies, there is zero reason to suspend the gas tax. Eliminating the gas tax for the summer might save consumers $40-$50, on average. That is a ridiculous sum–and reminds me of the pain the whole nation suffered (massive unnecessary deficits and a widening of the gap between rich and poor) from the great share of the Bush tax cuts enjoyed by most people (an average of $300). It makes people think you are doing something when, in fact, all you are doing is scoring some political points and actually making the problem worse.
Second, the gas tax actually is an important thing that funds the fixing of roads, bridges and the rest of the infrastructure that makes the economy function. You need not travel more than a few miles in any city to understand how badly those funds are needed. Once you start suspending the gas tax for one reason, it becomes a target for any politician looking to score a few points against “government spending”.
Third, and maybe the most important point, the predicament so many Americans find themselves in when they go to the pump to fill up their cars is a legacy of our political and economic system and our long history of refusing to face up to reality: that we guzzle cheap gas relative to the rest of the world, drive idiotic cars, encourage suburban sprawl that is an oil company executive’s wet dream and exist in a political system that rewards oil and coal while killing alternative energy.
I am no Tom Friedman fan and find his views on globalization to be predictable coming from a real elitist (as opposed to someone who is unfairly painted as an elitist for political reasons). I say this mostly to underscore how right he is in today’s column:
It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country.
And…
The McCain-Clinton proposal is a reminder to me that the biggest energy crisis we have in our country today is the energy to be serious — the energy to do big things in a sustained, focused and intelligent way. We are in the midst of a national political brownout.
There is an opportunity here for a teachable moment. Sen. Obama will win the nomination (it’s just a matter of time, as much as a lot of people are wringing their hands over the lead-up to the eventuality of the day so count me as one who is bored by the media-induced drama). He could set the tone for a future Administration by simply stating, as I think he has tried in the past:
In the heat of this battle, I could troll for a few more votes by offering people a promise that has no meaning, but I won’t. It may cost me votes in the upcoming primaries but what is more important is the future of the country and the planet. Telling you that I could save you a few bucks in your bill at the gasoline pump might make you feel good–but we won’t solve the crisis that forces you to pay more at the pump by getting rid of a tiny amount we all pay to make sure that we have the basic services our society needs–roads, bridges etc…The economic pain you feel today is a result of a system that is controlled by [list of foes here]. If you elect me president, we are going to take on [list the obvious foes here] and make sure that your economic future is not controlled by [list Exxon etc. here]. It will also mean we will have to make some significant changes in the way we think about creating energy and using it. But, taking the power way from [Exxon etc.] will mean that we, the people, can determine that the price we pay at the pump does not come at the expense of our families and our planet.
Source:
Penélope Cruz Sánchez (pronounced born April 28, 1974), better known as Penélope Cruz, is a Golden Globe- and Academy Award-nominated Spanish actress. Originally a dancer, she soon moved into Spanish television,[1] and since then she has appeared in a string of films in Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese languages.
Biography
Early life
Cruz was born in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser, and Eduardo Cruz, a retailer and auto mechanic.[2] Her younger sister is Spanish dancer Mónica Cruz.[3] As a toddler, she was already a compulsive performer, re-enacting TV commercials for her family’s amusement, but she decided to focus her energies on dance. After studying classical ballet for nine years at Spain’s National Conservatory, she continued her training under a series of prominent dancers. At 15, however, she followed another calling after she outdid more than 300 other girls at a talent agency audition. She received three years of Spanish Ballet training with Ángela Garrido. She also had jazz dance training with Raúl Caballero and she studied at Cristina Rota (mother of Juan Diego Botto) school in Madrid. She speaks Spanish, English, French, and Italian fluently.
Career
Cruz first achieved fame when she appeared in the Lucio Villalba-directed video clip La fuerza del destino for the Spanish synthpop group Mecano. She later started a relationship with Nacho Cano, a member of the group.[4] She was a TV presenter for the teen-oriented program La Quinta Marcha.[3] She also had early exposure in Série Rose, a French erotic TV serial[5] in which she played the role of a blind prostitute in one episode and in another she played the role of a young noble woman pretending to be a young nobleman in a comedy of errors. She also directed Nacho Cano’s video of “El waltz de los locos”, in 1994.
Cruz’s first major films were Jamón, jamón and Belle Époque, a film which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film. In 1997, she starred as Sofía Pangia, alongside Eduardo Noriega in Abre los ojos, directed by Alejandro Amenábar, and in 2000 she appeared with Matt Damon in All the Pretty Horses. In 1999, she appeared in Pedro Almodóvar’s Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother), which won an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film.
In late 2001, she appeared in the film Vanilla Sky, the Hollywood remake of Abre los ojos. Cruz co-starred with her best friend, Salma Hayek in the 2006 film, Bandidas.[6] In 2006, Cruz received highly favourable reviews for her performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s Volver. She won a Best Actress ensemble award at the Cannes Film Festival and has been nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA Award. She is the first Spanish Actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.[7]
In May, 2007, it was announced that Penelope and her sister Mónica would be designing a 25-piece collection for the Barcelona-based fashion chain, Mango.[8] On 7 July 2007, Cruz presented at Live Earth. In late 2007, she starred in the Jaume de Laiguana-directed video for her brother’s first single, named “Cosas que contar”, along with her friend Mía Maestro and her sister Mónica.
Personal life
Cruz has a younger brother, Eduardo, a singer, and a younger sister, Mónica, who closely resembles her: a similarity exploited for some Spanish TV ads. In the 2000s, Mónica left her dancing career and achieved note on her own in the youth-oriented TV series Un Paso Adelante.
Cruz claims to be a vegetarian since 2000, though this fact is disputed.[9] She speaks four languages: Spanish, Italian, French and English. Cruz has also donated a considerable amount of money and time to charity. In 1997 she volunteered in Uganda for two months.
After appearing in the 2001 film Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise, they had a three-year relationship which ended in January 2004. After filming Sahara in February 2005, she began dating actor Matthew McConaughey. In May 2006, they released a joint statement to People, saying that they “have decided to take time off as a couple.” Later that year they announced that they were “no longer intimate and separating was the best thing to do at this time”.[10]
Apart from being a close personal friend of the actress, Salma Hayek, Cruz is also a good friend of Colombian singer Shakira.
In April 2007 Cruz, who was single at the time, stated that she would like to have children one day and she feels the need to adopt. “Of course I want to have kids,” Cruz, 32, tells the Spanish edition of Marie Claire in its April issue. “I want to have my own kids, but also adopt. For a while I’ve had the feeling that my life won’t be complete if I don’t adopt”.[11].
Source:wikipedia
By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK – The for-sale listings on the online hub Craigslist come with plaintive notices, like the one from the teenager in Georgia who said her mother lost her job and pleaded, “Please buy anything you can to help out.”
Or the seller in Milwaukee who wrote in one post of needing to pay bills — and put a diamond engagement ring up for bids to do it.
Struggling with mounting debt and rising prices, faced with the toughest economic times since the early 1990s, Americans are selling prized possessions online and at flea markets at alarming rates.
To meet higher gas, food and prescription drug bills, they are selling off grandmother’s dishes and their own belongings. Some of the household purging has been extremely painful — families forced to part with heirlooms.
“This is not about downsizing. It’s about needing gas money,” said Nancy Baughman, founder of eBizAuctions, an online auction service she runs out of her garage in Raleigh, N.C. One former affluent customer is now unemployed and had to unload Hermes leather jackets and Versace jeans and silk shirts.
At Craigslist, which has become a kind of online flea market for the world, the number of for-sale listings has soared 70 percent since last July. In March, the number of listings more than doubled to almost 15 million from the year-ago period.
Craigslist CEO Jeff Buckmaster acknowledged the increasing popularity of selling all sort of items on the Web, but said the rate of growth is “moving above the usual trend line.” He said he was amazed at the desperate tone in some ads.
In Daleville, Ala., Ellona Bateman-Lee has turned to eBay and flea markets to empty her three-bedroom mobile home of DVDs, VCRs, stereos and televisions.
She said she needs the cash to help pay for soaring food and utility bills and mounting health care expenses since her husband, Bob, suffered an electric shock on the job as a dump truck driver in 2006 and is now disabled.
Among her most painful sales: her grandmother’s teakettle. She sold it for $6 on eBay.
“My grandmother raised me, so it hurt,” she said. “We’ve had bouts here and there, but we always got by. This time it’s different.”
Economists say it is difficult to compare the selling trend with other tough times because the Internet, only in wide use since the mid-1990s, has made it much easier to unload goods than, say, at pawn shops.
But clearly, cash-strapped people are selling their belongings at bargain prices, with a flood of listings for secondhand cars, clothing and furniture hitting the market in recent months, particularly since January.
Earlier this decade, people tapped their inflated home equity and credit cards to fuel a buying binge. Now, slumping home values and a credit crisis have sapped sources of cash.
Meanwhile, soaring gas and food prices haven’t kept pace with meager wage growth. Gas prices have already hit $4 per gallon in some places, and that could become more widespread this summer. The weakening job market is another big worry.
Christine Hadley, a 53-year-old registered nurse from Reading, Pa., says she used to be “a clotheshorse,” splurging on pricey Dooney & Bourke handbags. But her live-in boyfriend left last year, and she has had trouble finding a job.
Piles of unpaid bills forced her to sell more than 80 items, including the handbags, which went for more than $1,000 on a site called AuctionPal.com. Now, except for some artwork and threadbare furniture, her house is looking sparse.
“I need the money for essentials — to pay my bills and to eat,” Hadley said.
At AuctionPal.com, which helps novices sell things online, for-sale listings rose 66 percent from February to March, much faster than the 25 percent to 30 percent average monthly pace since the company was formed in September, CEO Maureen Ellenberger said. She said she was surprised to see that most of her clients desperately needed to sell items to raise cash.
For LiveDeal.com, a classifieds and business directory site, for-sale listings for January through March rose 10 percent from the previous year.
“We can definitely detect economic stress on the part of the consumer,” said John Raven, the site’s chief operating officer.
On Craigslist, Buckmaster said, three of the four fastest-growing for-sale categories are tied to gas — recreational vehicles like campers and trailers, cars and trucks, and boats.
Raven noted more and more listings for furniture, particularly in areas around Miami and Las Vegas and other regions hardest hit by the housing crisis.
Baughman, who runs eBizAuctions, said that over the past four months she’s been working with mostly desperate sellers instead of mainly casual ones. Most are middle-class customers who can’t pay their bills and now want to be paid up front for the items instead of waiting until they are sold, she said.
The trend may be hurting secondhand stores too. Donations to the Salvation Army were down 20 percent in the January-to-March period. George Hood, the charity’s national community relations and development secretary, said that was probably partly because people were selling their belongings instead.
And secondhand buyers want better deals now as well, driving prices down. Secondhand merchandise online is going for 25 to 35 percent below what it commanded a year ago, estimated Brian Riley, senior analyst at research firm The TowerGroup.
“It won’t hit the saturation point until the (economy) hits the bottom and right now, we don’t know when that is,” he said.
In Alabama, Bateman-Lee said that she only received $30 for her TV and $45 for her DVD player at a local flea market. She doesn’t have too much left to sell, but she’s going back to “sort through more things.”
Her $30 water bill is due this week.
Source:news.yahoo
When I posted a recent column on The 20 Worst Foods in America, a list of the most calorie-laden fare being pushed by chain restaurants, I think I shocked a lot of people. “Holy cow!” wrote one Yahoo commenter. “If only I knew. I can’t believe restaurants can stuff that many calories into one meal!”
Well, they can. But calories — whether from fat, sugar, or a combination of bad-for-you foodstuffs — aren’t the only danger lurking in today’s restaurant menus. There’s another issue you need to be aware of: Salt.
Salty food may seem like the least of your worries, especially if you’re among the 40 percent of people who mindlessly shake salt on every dish. An extra dash here, a few sprinkles there — what’s the big deal?
A lot, when you consider some of the shocking stats and shady food industry practices we’ve uncovered. A mere teaspoon of salt contains all 2,300 milligrams (mg) of your recommended daily allotment, yet daily salt consumption is on the rise in the United States — from 2,300 mg in the 1970s to more than 3,300 mg today.
And according to Monell Chemical Senses Center researchers, 77 percent of that sodium intake comes from processed-food purveyors and restaurants. Their motivation: Pile on the salt so we don’t miss natural flavors and fresh ingredients.
Why is that a problem? With ever-expanding portion sizes, supersalty foods are displacing fresh fruits and vegetables, which are rich in potassium. And a 1:2 ratio of dietary salt to potassium is critical for your health. Studies show that a high-sodium, low-potassium diet is linked to a host of maladies, including high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis, and exercise-induced asthma.
To protect your heart, your bones, your muscles, and your tastebuds, we scoured takeout menus and supermarket shelves to expose the 20 saltiest foods in America. No need to take the information with a grain of salt. These dishes provide plenty.
Saltiest Kids Food
Cosi Kid’s Pepperoni Pizza
2,731 mg sodium
911 calories
43 g fat
112 g carbohydrates
We’ve seen some fuzzy math in the past few months concerning this Cosi catastrophe, with the sodium count changing literally overnight from 6,405 mg sodium to the current number. We’ve tried to sort this out with the Cosi people, but have gotten little hope clarifying the sudden shift. One thing is clear, though: Even if we give them the benefit of the doubt, a pizza with 2,731 milligrams of sodium and 911 calories is the last thing you should be serving your kid.
Saltiest “Healthy” Food
Chili’s Guiltless Grill Chicken Platter
2,780 mg sodium
590 calories
85 g carbohydrates
Beware the bait and switch. Many restaurants and packaged-food producers advertise their dishes as being low in calories and fat, only to jack up the sugar and salt content. Case in point: This platter actually has more sodium than Chili’s 1,890-calorie Country Fried Steak with sides, toast, and gravy. Stick with the Guiltless Salmon, the best choice on Chili’s sometimes-healthy special menu.
Saltiest Frozen Dinner
Swanson Hungry-Man XXL Roasted Carved Turkey
4,480 mg sodium
1,360 calories
70 g fat
Yes, the nutrition data on the back suggests that the package contains two servings, but the label proudly proclaims the 1 1/2 pounds inside, and besides, how many people are going to share their frozen dinner?
Saltiest Sandwich
Quiznos Turkey Bacon Guacamole Large Sub with Cheese and Reduced-Fat Ranch Dressing
4,670 mg sodium
1,120 calories
49 g fat
116 g carbohydrates
First, skip the large sandwich. At Quiznos, few come in under 1,000 calories and 3,000 mg sodium. Next, abandon mozzarella for Swiss, which has a tenth of the sodium. Finally, choose one of the low-calorie subs at Quiznos — the Tuscan Turkey, or better yet, the Honey Bourbon Chicken.
Saltiest Salad
Romano’s Macaroni Grill Chicken Florentine
5,460 mg sodium
840 calories
53 g fat
Salads are often the biggest blood-pressure boosters on the menu, since the innocent leaves play perfect host to a flurry of briny toppings and dangerous dressings. Here, salt-laden olives, capers, and Parmesan collide with Macaroni Grill’s massive portions and its cooks’ affinity for the saltshaker. The only reasonable insalata on the menu is the Mozzarella alla Caprese: It has 450 calories and 760 mg sodium.
Saltiest Appetizer
Papa John’s Cheesesticks with Buffalo Sauce
6,700 mg sodium
2,605 calories
113 g fat
296 g carbohydrates
If you were to split this appetizer with two friends, you’d still be close to downing your daily sodium allowance before you even reach for the pizza. Each stick packs the same amount of sodium as a small slice of cheese pizza, and that’s without dipping. Your best bet? Cheese pizza. Thin crust.
The Saltiest Dish in America
Romano’s Macaroni Grill Chicken Portobello
7,300 mg sodium
1,020 calories
66 g fat
With three items on our top 20 list, plus a slew of dishonorable mentions, Macaroni Grill earns its title as America’s saltiest chain restaurant. But what makes this the saltiest dish in America? One word: demi-glace, a fancy French name for the viscous salt slick that blankets this disastrous dish. You would have to eat 32 cups of potassium-rich broccoli to compensate for this sodium avalanche.
For a complete list of the 20 Saltiest Foods in America, and details on how to disarm the restaurant industry’s weapons of mass construction, check out these rankings and nutrition secrets.
Source:health.yahoo
While we may never know what it looks like inside a black hole, astronomers recently obtained one of the closest views yet. The sighting allowed scientists to confirm theories about how these giant cosmic sinkholes spew out jets of particles travelling at nearly the speed of light.
Ever since the first observations of these powerful jets, which are among the brightest objects seen in the universe, astronomers have wondered what causes the particles to accelerate to such great speeds. A leading hypothesis suggested the black hole’s gigantic mass distorts space and time around it, twisting magnetic field lines into a coil that propels material outward.
Now researchers have observed a jet during a period of extreme outburst and found evidence that streams of particles wind a corkscrew path away from the black hole, as the leading hypothesis predicts.
“We got an unprecedented view of the inner portion of one of these jets and gained information that’s very important to understanding how these tremendous particle accelerators work,” said Boston University astronomer Alan Marscher, who led the research team. The results of the study are detailed in the April 24 issue of the journal Nature.
The team studied a galaxy called BL Lacertae (BL Lac), about 950 million light years from Earth, with a central black hole containing 200 million times the mass of our Sun. Since this supermassive black hole‘s jets are pointing nearly straight at us, it is called a blazar (a quasar is often thought to be the same as a blazar, except its jets are pointed away from us).
The new observations, taken by the National Science Foundation’s Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) radio telescope, along with NASA’s Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and a number of optical telescopes, show material moving outward along a spiral channel, as the scientists expected.
These data support the suggestion that twisted magnetic field lines are creating the jet plumes. Material in the center of the galaxy, such as nearby stars and gas, gets pulled in by the black hole‘s overwhelming gravity and forms a disk orbiting around the core (the material’s inertia keeps it spiraling in a disk rather than falling straight into the black hole). The distorted magnetic field lines seem to pull charged particles off the disk and cause them to gush outward at nearly the speed of light.
“We knew that material was falling in to these regions, and we knew that there were outbursts coming out,” said University of Michigan astronomer Hugh Aller, who worked on the new study. “What’s really been a mystery was that we could see there were these really high-energy particles, but we didn’t know how they were created, how they were accelerated. It turns out that the model matches the data. We can actually see the particles gaining velocity as they are accelerated along this magnetic field.”
The astronomers also observed evidence of another phenomenon predicted by the leading hypothesis — that a flare would be produced when material spewing out in the jets hit a shock wave beyond the core of the black hole.
Visit SPACE.com and explore our huge collection of Space Pictures, Space Videos, Space Image of the Day, Hot Topics, Top 10s, Multimedia, Trivia, Voting and Amazing Images. Follow the latest developments in the search for life in our universe in our SETI: Search for Life section. Join the community, sign up for our free daily email newsletter, listen to our Podcasts, check out our RSS feeds and other Reader Favorites today!
Source:news.yahoo
from RealSimple.com
Pomegranate
The hundreds of ruby-colored seeds inside pomegranates were once thought to symbolize fertility, and given the fruit’s proven powers as a strong antioxidant, it has given birth to a huge number of products, including designer juice and high-end skin-care creams.
The pomegranate’s power comes from ellagic acid, a type of polyphenol, which is an antioxidant found in red wine and green tea. Antioxidants seek out and neutralize cell-damaging free radicals that come from the environment (pollution, UV rays) and from the body’s natural aging process. Ellagic acid has been shown in some studies to neutralize free radicals more effectively than the other polyphenols found in green tea and red wine. It’s also more stable in skin-care products than some other antioxidants, like vitamin C, which can lose potency when exposed to light and air.
Murad Energizing Pomegranate Moisturizer SPF 15, $30, murad.com
Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Therapy SPF 15, $16, murad.com
Archipelago Pomegranate Creme for the Hands, $26, 800-399-4994 for stores
Grapefruit
Until the 19th century, grapefruit was grown purely as an ornamental fruit. Rarely eaten, it was known only for its looks – an interesting harbinger of its modern-day promise to improve ours.
A 2005 study by the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation, in Chicago, showed that the scent of grapefruit on women made them seem an average of six years younger to men. Grapefruit’s main use in skin care, however, is as a citric acid. Like any alpha hydroxy acid, citric acid loosens the bonds between skin cells, allowing dead ones to fall away, revealing smoother, more radiant skin.
Find It In:
Fresh Pink Grapefruit Petite Soap, $12, fresh.com
Boots No 7 Radiance Revealed Exfoliator, $10, Target
Mushroom
No wonder the Super Mario Brothers got a jolt of evil-fighting power whenever they ate a mushroom. Mushrooms have long been used in Asian cultures as remedies for everything from low energy to cancer.
The extract of several Japanese mushrooms has been shown to reduce inflammation, which can affect collagen in the skin and contribute to changes associated with aging, such as the appearance of fine lines. Reducing that inflammation keeps skin cells vital and functioning and also suppresses irritation so that other active ingredients, like antioxidants, can do their jobs.
Shiitake mushrooms have multifaceted benefits for the skin. They contain antioxidants that block proteins known to cause cell breakdown; they provide chemical exfoliation; and they also contain kojic acid, which has a lightening effect on age spots and discoloration, making skin appear brighter over time.
Find It In:
Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Plantidote Mega-Mushroom Face Serum, $65, origins.com
Aveeno Positively Ageless Daily Moisturizer SPF 30, $20 at drugstores
Pumpkin
Despite its prevalence in favorite sweets, such as pies and muffins, pumpkin is quite acidic. And the enzymes in pumpkin act like salicylic acids, chemical exfoliants that encourage skin cells to turn over more rapidly.
Pumpkin is also a carotenoid, a derivative of vitamin A, which is indicated by its orange color, and that makes it an antioxidant in addition to having exfoliating properties.
Pumpkin seeds are a good source of zinc and have been used as a natural remedy for acne. Studies show that zinc has an effect similar to that of the common antibiotic tetracycline.
Find It In:
Jaqua Pumpkin Papaya Purée Enzyme Face Masque, $16, jaquabeauty.com
Joico Skin Luxe White Pumpkin Renewing Body Cleanser, $12, 800-805-6426
Bamboo
Bamboo is one hardy plant. Not only is it one of the fastest-growing plants on earth (some species grow more than three feet a day) but its strength and sustainability have also made it a favorite of architects looking for environmentally friendly building materials.
Although the Chinese have used bamboo for centuries (the hardened secretion from the stalks has been taken internally to treat asthma), its popularity is only now growing in the United States. Bamboo pulp is being woven into fabric that retains antibacterial qualities even after it is washed. And in skin care, finely milled bamboo powder is used as an exfoliant in cleansers and scrubs. The smooth bamboo particles are less harsh than the scraggly, uneven grains made from salt and nuts, making it safer and less irritating to sensitive skin.
Imagine that; a Chevy achieving a top speed of 205 mph or 330 km/h! It goes without saying that this isn’t one of your “ordinary” Vettes but it’s the top-off-the-range 2009 ZR1. Interestingly, GM’s development team managed to video tape the new Corvette ZR1 topping out in early April at the test track in Papenburg, Germany.
Additionally, along with the release of the video showing GM also announced the official dyno numbers: the ZR1’s supercharged 6.2-liter V8 is rated at 638 Hp which is 18 Hp more than GM estimated when they first unveiled the supercar at the Detroit Show in January. As for grunt, GM said that the ZR1’s V8 delivers 604 lb.-ft. or 819 Nm of torque available at 3,400 rpm. –Video after the jump
Read
The red Iveco Stralis Active Space Super3 you see pictured above will be used to transport the Ferrari F430 road cars and race-prepared 360 Challenge cars that participate in Ferrari GB’s exclusive owners programme, “Ferrari Fiorano”.
Powered by a monstrous 12,9 liter diesel engine delivering up to 500 hp between 1,525 and 1,900 rpm and a maximum 2,300 Nm of torque between 1,000 and 1,525 rpm, the Italian made truck will transfer the high-value fleet of 430s and 360s to racing circuits across the UK and Europe.
Read
This June, Porsche is celebrating its first own branded car’s 60th birthday, the legendary “356” which was completed in road trim on June 8, 1948. To honor this anniversary, Car’s June 2008 issue will feature Porsche’s key cars from the past six decades.
The guys at the Brit magazine videotaped the photoshoot of the Porsche 959, Carrera GT, 911 Turbo, GT2 and the Carrera RS 2.7 models in an empty warehouse with road test editor Chris Chilton giving us a small introduction on each car. –Video after the jump
Link: Car
By BARRY WILNER, AP Football Writer
NEW YORK - Things were going so normally, so predictably at Saturday’s NFL draft. All six players the league invited to the festivities hit the stage in the first half-dozen selections. Yawn. Then came the wake-up call: trade after trade after trade, affecting 14 of the 31 first-round picks. At one point, five of seven selections had been bartered. A little while later, it was another five of six.
Jake Long just sat back and smiled — right from the outset.
The Michigan tackle already had signed with the Miami Dolphins as the top overall choice. He inked a five-year contract worth $57.75 million, $30 million of it guaranteed.
“I was a little more relaxed just knowing where I was going and just being here to make it official,” Long said. “That solidified it all. It was just breathtaking to walk out there and shake the commissioner’s hand and hold up that jersey. It was a dream come true.”
Chris Long of Virginia, Matt Ryan of Boston College, Darren McFadden of Arkansas, Glenn Dorsey of national champion LSU and Vernon Gholston of Ohio State didn’t have to wait long to walk under the floodlights, either. It was the first time since the NFL began inviting multiple prospects in 1993 and they all went at the very beginning of the proceedings.
So unlike last year, when Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn had to wait hours to be chosen.
“It’s great to see the green room empty,” said defensive end Long, who went second to St. Louis.
“It’s a blessing to be here, they only ask six guys to come,” DE/LB Gholston added. “Funny how it worked out, teams made good selections.”
After St. Louis took the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Howie Long, Ryan, who could solve the quarterback problems in Atlanta, went to the Falcons.
Following a long-standing tradition, Oakland went for the gamebreaker in running back McFadden, prompting the fans to boo loudly. Many wanted the two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up to fall to the New York Jets at No. 6.
All-American defensive tackle Dorsey was taken fifth overall by the Chiefs. Dorsey patted his heart as he held up a No. 1 Chiefs red jersey that was so small he, frankly, could never fit into it.
“There was a lot of emotion,” he said. “I told myself I was not going to cry, but you get the tears start coming and you can’t control that.”
The Jets wound up with Gholston of Ohio State, who must now learn to play in the 3-4 alignment the team prefers.
“I’m looking forward to going up against Jake Long twice a year,” he said of what will be a revival of their Big Ten rivalry.
At the seventh overall spot, the bartering began, and never really stopped. Eight of the next 15 picks were involved in trades.
New Orleans moved up to No. 7 to get defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis of Southern California, who was recruited to the school by the Saints’ new defensive line coach, Ed Orgeron. New Orleans gave up the No. 10 overall spot to New England, and its third-round slot, and got a fifth-rounder along with the chance to take Ellis.
Then Jacksonville moved up from 26th overall to eighth, where it grabbed Florida DE Derrick Harvey. The Jaguars gave the Ravens four picks to get to that spot.
Everything moved at a good pace after the NFL cut the first round from 15 minutes per pick to 10. The first round took 3 hours, 30 minutes, a significant improvement over the five-hour marathons of previous years.
The Dolphins used only a few seconds to hand in their card. The Rams and Falcons didn’t take much longer, but the Raiders used almost their entire time, as did Kansas City.
Jake Long became the first top overall pick from Michigan since Tom Harmon in 1941. He was accompanied by several family members onstage as he donned a Dolphins hat.
Then came another Long, who proudly held up a Rams jersey and pointed to the fans in the upper deck of the hall. Chris Long is the second straight defensive lineman selected in the opening round by St. Louis, following Nebraska’s Adam Carriker last year.
“I knew I was in the running, but all the guys here were great players and they could have chosen anyone,” Chris Long said. “It came down to needs.”
Ryan has an open course to starting in Atlanta, with Michael Vick in jail on dogfighting charges, and only journeymen Chris Redman and Joey Harrington to compete with.
“I have to go down and gain the respect of my teammates, do everything I can do to get on the field next year,” Ryan said.
Asked about replacing Vick in Atlanta and whether he expected to play or watch as a rookie, Ryan added: “I’ll go down there to do all I can to be successful, try to not be distracted, try to win. … There’s not a right or wrong way to do it. I want to get there and learn the offense so I have a chance to play.”
McFadden joins a crowded backfield in Oakland, where Justin Fargas recently signed a new contract and Dominic Rhodes and LaMont Jordan are on the roster.
“The time I talked to the Raiders coaching staff, they tell me they’re missing a playmaker from their offense,” McFadden said. “I feel I can add to that with my big-play ability.”
Dorsey will be a building block for the Chiefs, who are revamping their roster this offseason. Gholston could do the same for the Jets, who have lacked a true pass-rushing threat since trading away John Abraham.
Cincinnati took USC linebacker Keith Rivers ninth, then the Patriots selected another linebacker, Jerod Mayo of Tennessee. Buffalo went for Troy CB Leodis McKelvin and Denver took Boise State tackle Ryan Clady.
Carolina, looking for a complement to DeAngelo Williams, selected Oregon running back Jonathan Stewart, then dealt with Philadelphia to get Pitt tackle Jeff Otah in the 19th position. The Panthers gave up next year’s first-rounder in that trade.
Chicago took Vanderbilt tackle Chris Williams for its spotty offensive line. Chris Long’s teammate, guard/tackle Branden Albert, went 15th to Kansas City after the Chiefs traded up with Detroit. Two slots later, tackle Gosder Cherilus of Boston College went to the Lions, prompting some in the audience to chant “FIRE MILLEN” in reference to Lions president Matt Millen.
The first player from the former Division I-AA went 16th when Arizona selected CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie of Tennessee State. At No. 18, another small college guy was taken when Baltimore traded up to get quarterback Joe Flacco of Delaware with a pick Houston had owned.
After cornerback Aqib Talib, who reportedly tested positive for marijuana while at Kansas, was taken by Tampa Bay, the Falcons moved up to 21st overall. They chose Southern California tackle Sam Baker, son of Arena Football League commissioner David Baker, to help protect Ryan.
Dallas, which came into Saturday with two first-round picks, used No. 22 for McFadden’s backfield mate at Arkansas, Felix Jones, who also can return kicks. That began a run on runners, with Illinois’ Rashard Mendenhall going to Pittsburgh and speedy Chris Johnson of East Carolina taken by Tennessee at 24.
The Cowboys then traded up three spots with Seattle to get cornerback Mike Jenkins of South Florida, regarded by some as the best defensive back in the draft.
In all, 14 of the 31 first-round selections — New England forfeited its own spot because of the Spygate scandal, but had a pick acquired last year from San Francisco — were involved in trades. The Jets finished off the swapping by moving into Green Bay’s No. 30 slot for Purdue tight end Dustin Keller, bringing a chorus of boos.
The Super Bowl champion Giants took Kenny Phillips of Miami with the final pick of the opening round. Phillips was the only safety selected in the round.
For the first time since 1990 and only the second time since 1967, there were no wide receivers taken in the first round.
Several renowned college players went in the second round, which began with Miami taking Clemson DE Phillip Merling. Houston’s Donnie Avery was next, the first wideout chosen, by St. Louis.
On consecutive picks toward the end of Round 2, Baltimore grabbed Rutgers star running back Ray Rice, Green Bay selected Louisville QB Brian Brohm, and Miami got Michigan QB Chad Henne.
Source:news.yahoo
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