New Haven-based defense contractor Hupp Aerospace/Defense announced it had been awarded two multi-million dollar contracts a little over a week apart from the U.S. Department of Defense. The first contract, a $7.2 million, two-year agreement for Hupp to provide maintenance kits for the U.S. Army's AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, was announced the day before Thanksgiving.
The second contract, …
A Swiss daredevil crossed the English Channel strapped to a homemade jet-propelled wing Friday, parachuting into a field near the white cliffs of Dover after a 10-minute solo flight.
Yves Rossy leapt from a plane at around 8,200 feet (2,500 meters), fired up his jets and made the 22-mile (35-kilometer ) trip from Calais in France. Rossy passed over a thin strip of land in front of South Foreland lighthouse, looped over onlookers and opened his parachute, his wings still strapped to his back.
"It was perfect. Blue sky, sunny, no clouds, perfect conditions," he said. "We prepared everything and it was great."
The trip across the …
Families in Winscombe, Sandford, Churchill and other NorthSomerset villages will get a chance to take part in a national roadsafety initiative at the end of this month.
More than eight out of 10 child safety seats across the UK areincorrectly fitted but Road Safety GB's Good Egg campaign is hopingto change that.
It aims to make sure that babies and children are properlyrestrained while travelling in the car, by showing parents andcarers the correct way to fit in-car child safety seats.
In 2008 more than 5,000 children under 12 were injured as carpassengers on British roads. Using a correctly fitted child safetyseat is critical because the …
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Craig Leipold patiently worked to build an NHL franchise and turned the Nashville Predators into one of the league's best teams. If they win a Stanley Cup, it won't be with him.
Leipold confirmed Thursday he has signed a letter of intent to sell the franchise to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie for $220 million after losing $70 million in 10 years of ownership.
"I'm tired of losing money," Leipold said. "I found someone willing to step up and invest in this team and make it happen."
The terms of the sale, which must be approved by the NHL's Board of Governors, call for the deal to be completed by June 30.
Leipold has owned the team …
Prospects for Michael Mukasey's confirmation as attorney general are dimming after he again refused to equate waterboarding with torture and more Democrats on a crucial committee announced they would vote against him.
First-year Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse announced from the Senate floor that he would oppose Mukasey's confirmation. The retired federal judge's refusal to say that waterboarding is "unconditionally wrong" would leave open the possibility that U.S. agencies could cross a moral and legal line and use it on detainees, Whitehouse said. Waterboarding is an interrogation technique that can make a subject feel as if he is drowning.
…
No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland reached her first final in 10 months with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova at the Mercury Insurance Open on Saturday night.
Radwanska, ranked 10th in the world, used Hantuchova's double fault in the seventh game for the only break of the first set. She then used her counterpunching game to capture the second set, which included a 20-minute seventh game in which Hantuchova saved seven match points.
"I was feeling good here and everything is working," Radwanska said. "I've played some good matches against some good players. Now, just one more."
This is Radwanska's first trip …
A battle for riches and glory. Fiery debate. Tense negotiations.
That's up next in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
Television service in Pennsylvania could be shaken up dramatically by legislation that's likely to be brought up for consideration in the next session.
Verizon Communications Inc., traditionally a telephone company, is becoming a cable provider. As it enters the cable-TV market, the company is trying to dismantle a decades-old system that forces providers to negotiate separate access deals with each of the Commonwealth's 2,567 municipalities.
Legislation to do just that was introduced over the summer but recently withdrawn. There is little …
Garrison Keillor, host of public radio's "A Prairie Home Companion," has dropped a restraining order he obtained against a fan after she agreed not to contact him again.
Keillor had accused Andrea Campbell, 43, of Hawkinsville, Georgia, of stalking him by making unwanted visits and sending him bizarre gifts, including a petrified alligator's foot, dead beetles and poems.
A hearing on Campbell's appeal of the restraining order was canceled. It had been set for Monday.
"The parties mutually agreed to dismiss based on Ms. Campbell's commitment not to have further contact with Mr. …
Small Agencies Big Pitch
The hot-shops are back. And, unlike in the nineties, there'splenty of restless talent going around--and plenty of business forthe taking, too.
By Shamni Pande
They're small, thinking big. They're young, but not exactlynovices. They're lean, though not necessarily mean. In other words,they're everything that their Goliath-like peers in the advertisingindustry--the big agencies--are not. And, yes, unlike many of thebig boys, these independent hot-shops find it easier to be creativeand result-oriented at the same time. Look around, they're all overthe place: Players who started three years ago, why even those thatare just six months into …
Abstract
The response of pea (Pisum sativum L.) cv. Climax seeds imbibed with 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) and sodium chloride (NaCl) prior to sowing was evaluated. Soaking of seeds in two different concentrations of EBL (5 and 10 �M) for 4 hours, caused an increase in germination, embryo axis length and most of the aspects of shoot and root growth at seedling stage, maturity stage (90 DAS) along with seed yield at the time of harvest. Both the EBL treatments (5 and 10 �M) improved the above mentioned attributes but maximum improvement was observed in response to EBL concentration of 10 �M with respect to the control. At seedling stage, EBL (10 �M) significantly enhanced the fresh and …
A U.S. official says that North Korea could hand in a long-awaited accounting of its nuclear past as early as Thursday.
That is the earliest date expected for a document that has become the symbolic linchpin for the North's nuclear disarmament deal with the United States and other countries.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the diplomatic …
But based on a necropsy performed Tuesday there doesn't seem to be any doubt the cougar was a wild animal, not a kept exotic pet that somehow got loose.
Donna Alexander, the administrator of Cook County animal control, said the animal was missing all the hallmarks of a kept animal -- his incisors, or gripping teeth, were intact, as were his claws. And there was no microchip inserted in the animal or reports from sanctioned sanctuaries of a missing cougar.
One possible lead came from the …
Volatile Kansas City outfielder Jose Guillen got into a heated clubhouse exchange with pitching coach Bob McClure, knocking over chairs before several Royals separated them prior to Saturday night's 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
Guillen and McClure argued face-to-face, but no punches were thrown. Guillen, who unleashed a profanity-filled tirade against his teammates in May, went 0-for-4 and struck out twice.
Guillen declined to comment on the incident.
"It's been handled in-house and honestly," Royals manager Trey Hillman said after the game. "It's a non-issue. It's not a big deal. It's not going to characterize anybody."
It was the third locker room altercation in the majors in the last 10 days _ none of them pitted player vs. player. Pitcher Shawn Chacon threw down Houston general manager Ed Wade and Boston slugger Manny Ramirez reportedly shoved a team official.
Guillen was sitting at a table by his locker when he toppled over a chair and made a comment in Spanish. After a teammate attempted to calm him down, Guillen appeared to get more agitated, tossed over another chair and said, "Coaches don't need to be all up in our ... business."
McClure, who was sitting at his locker, turned around and said, "Jose, if you're talking about me, then you need to shut ... up."
Guillen then knocked over another chair, yelled at McClure and confronted the coach.
Guillen told McClure he wasn't talking about him and wasn't being disrespectful toward the coach. Guillen added he didn't appreciate McClure telling him to be quiet.
After signing a three-year, $36 million contract as a free agent in the offseason, Guillen is hitting .274 with a team-leading 13 home runs and 64 RBIs.
McClure would not acknowledge the incident occurred. He said Guillen "should be on the All-Star team" that will be announced Sunday.
In late May, after the Royals lost their 10th straight game, Guillen criticized his teammates and added, "Too many babies in here."
Guillen was suspended by the Angels for the last two weeks of the 2004 regular season and postseason for inappropriate conduct after expressing his displeasure with manager Mike Scioscia. After the year, Guillen was traded to the Washington Nationals.
Chacon was suspended and later released by the Astros after he grabbed Wade by the neck and threw him to the ground, a dispute that began in the dining room at Houston.
A week ago, Ramirez reportedly shoved the Red Sox traveling secretary to the ground inside the visitor's clubhouse in Houston over an argument about tickets. Ramirez later apologized.
WASHINGTON - Intelligence analysts predicted, in secret papers circulated within the government before the Iraq invasion, that al-Qaida would see U.S. military action as an opportunity to increase its operations and that Iran would try to shape a post-Saddam Iraq.
The top analysts in government also said that establishing a stable democracy in Iraq would be a "long, difficult and probably turbulent process."
Democrats said the newly declassified documents, part of a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation released Friday, make clear that the Bush administration was warned about the very challenges it now faces as it tries to stabilize Iraq.
"Sadly, the administration's refusal to heed these dire warnings - and worse, to plan for them - has led to tragic consequences for which our nation is paying a terrible price," said Senate Intelligence Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.
Some Republicans rejected the committee's work as flawed. The panel's top Republican, Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, said the report's conclusions selectively highlight the intelligence agencies' findings that seem to be important now, distorting the picture of what was presented to policy-makers.
He said the committee's work on the Iraq intelligence "has become too embroiled in politics and partisanship to produce an accurate and meaningful report."
Publication of the 229-page document was approved by a vote of 10-5, with two Republicans - Sens. Olympia Snowe of Maine and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska - voting with Democrats to release it.
Asked about the report at his Thursday news conference, in advance of its release, President Bush stood by his decision to topple the Iraqi regime. He said he firmly believes the world is better off without Saddam Hussein in power.
"Going into Iraq, we were warned about a lot of things, some of which happened, some of which didn't happen," he said. "Obviously, as I made a decision ... I weighed the risks and rewards of any decision."
The investigation reviewed assessments from a number of agencies but focused on two January 2003 papers from the National Intelligence Council: "Regional Consequences of Regime Change in Iraq" and "Principal Challenges in Post-Saddam Iraq."
Those papers drew from expertise within a number spy agencies and were distributed to scores of White House, national security, diplomatic and congressional officials - most of whom were listed in 81 pages of the Senate report.
Among other conclusions, the analysts found:
- Establishing a stable democracy in Iraq would be a long, steep and probably turbulent challenge. They said that contributions could be made by 4 million Iraqi exiles and Iraq's impoverished, underemployed middle class. But they noted that opposition parties would need sustained economic, political and military support.
- Al-Qaida would see the invasion as a chance to accelerate its attacks, and the lines between al-Qaida and other terrorist groups "could become blurred." In a weak spot in the analysis, one paper said that the risk of terror attacks would spike after the invasion and slow over the next three to five years. However, the State Department recently found that attacks last year alone rose sharply.
- Groups in Iraq's deeply divided society would become violent, unless stopped by the occupying force. "Score settling would occur throughout Iraq between those associated with Saddam's regime and those who have suffered most under it," one report stated.
- Iraq's neighbors would jockey for influence and Iranian leaders would try to shape the post-Saddam era to demonstrate Tehran's importance in the region. The less Tehran felt threatened by U.S. actions, the analysts said, "the better the chance that they could cooperate in the postwar period."
- Postwar Iraq would face significant economic challenges, having few resources beyond oil. Analysts predicted that Iraq's large petroleum resources would make economic reconstruction easier, but they didn't anticipate that continued fighting and sabotage would drag down oil production.
- Military action to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction would not cause other governments in the region to give up such programs.
As numerous investigations have found, the intelligence agencies of the United States and its allies were wrong about Iraq's supposed weapons programs.
The report is the latest chapter in the Intelligence Committee's ongoing investigation into the prewar Iraq intelligence. Because committee members couldn't agree on clear conclusions about the postwar predictions, they saved their analyses for appendices attached to the report.
"The most chilling and prescient warning from the intelligence community prior to the war was that the American invasion would bring about instability in Iraq that would be exploited by Iran and al-Qaida," wrote four Democratic senators - Rockefeller, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Evan Bayh of Indiana and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Meanwhile, four Republican senators - Bond, John Warner of Virginia, Orrin Hatch of Utah and Richard Burr of North Carolina - wrote that the report exaggerates the importance of the pre-invasion assessments. They said the reports weren't based on intelligence information, but instead were speculation from experts in and out of government.
"They were no more authoritative than the many other educated opinions that were available in the same time frame," the Republicans wrote.
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On the Net:
Senate Intelligence Committee: http://intelligence.senate.gov/index.html
Big business, with its belching smokestacks, land-strippingmethods and "what, me worry?" attitude toward the Earth, was oncereputed to be the environment's biggest enemy.
Lately, however, corporation after corporation has embracedenvironmentalism with all the ardor of a glad-handing politician at aFourth of July church picnic.
Procter & Gamble uses recycled plastic for containers of Spic &Span. Kodak is recycling its disposable cameras. 3M is recycling itstoxic waste. Besides cleaning up their act, companies are cleaningup their image, touting themselves in earnest ads as ecologicallysensitive.
While part of the concern is calculated to win customers, it isalso sincere and deeply felt among some companies. Some of thedewy-eyed environmentalists of the '60s and early '70s have madetheir way into boardrooms as white-collar adults.
"Some see the environment as a great marketing opportunity, somesee it as a great business investment and some companies are trulyconcerned and are offering new products and services that really makea contribution to protection of the environment," said GordonDavidson, executive director of the Coalition for EnvironmentallyResponsible Economies, a Boston-based public interest group. "Notvery many people in business think the environment is an issue thatis going to go away."
Is the new push to be nicer to nature making a difference?
"It's too early to tell," said Sharon Newsome, vice presidentfor resources conservation for the National Wildlife Federation."Most of the efforts have started in earnest just a few years ago.The chemical companies, for example, have all come out withenvironmental pledges, but I think they haven't had enoughexperiences with those programs to know if they are going to meet thegoals they have set for themselves."
One reason for corporations' recent turnaround: the public'sgrowing intolerance of pollution and polluters as problems begin tomount - among them, global warming, the Exxon Valdez oil spill andhypodermic needles washing ashore on the East Coast.
Polls indicate most Americans rank pollution as a serious threatto their health and that of the environment and believe big businessshould be responsible for the cleanup.
Consumers also are making their feelings known where companiesare most apt to listen: in the supermarket. Recent polls showcustomers will pay more for recycled products.
Rather than face being stamped as polluters and sufferingdeclining sales, some companies are changing practices.Environmentalists point to DuPont as a good example. The company haspledged to reduce its pollution by 90 percent by the turn of thecentury.
Some efforts, however, have backfired as cynical ploys tocapture consumers. Mobil touted a new Hefty garbage bag asbiodegradable until environmentalists practically ridiculed it offthe shelves, saying the bags won't break down when buried inlandfills. And McDonald's incorrectly labeled some paper containersas made of recycled paper. Embarrassed McDonald's officials havevowed to remove the label.
There's another reason for the changing attitudes in boardrooms.Environmentalists have risen to power and can labor for changes fromwithin. Marilyn Laurie, AT&T's senior vice president for publicrelations, wrote brochures for the first Earth Day in 1970.
Laurie says environmentalism "became institutionalized. Whatbegan as a fringe movement is now a global concern, discussed asfreely in Congress, town halls and corporate board rooms as at aColorado folk festival."
Lower-level employees are also generating change, said Newsome. Members of the Corporate Conservation Council, a group of businessesand conservationists, say their employees are "more active andaggressive on how companies are doing business and its effect on theenvironment," she said.
Environmentalists themselves also have changed the tenor of thenature/big business debate. While some groups still tag big businessas the enemy, others are rewarding companies for environmentallyenlightened approaches, in hopes other firms will follow suit.
For instance, the Council on Economic Priorities, a nonprofitpublic interest group, last month presented "Corporate Conscience"awards to companies with good environmental records, including AT&Tand Kellogg's. AT&T plans to ban all ozone-depletingchlorofluorocarbons in its products. Kellogg's has been recyclingpaper since 1906.
Still, some environmentalists fear companies will revert to oldways when environmentalism wanes. They point to several corporationsjust barely following EPA regulations, if not violating them.
And big business fought to curtail the proposed U.S. Clean AirAct and has showen a less-than-overwhelming response to the ValdezPrinciples, a 10-point plan companies can follow to protect theenvironment. "Our attitude is that there is no permanent enemy and nopermanent friend," said Newsome.
Rolls-royce will take the opportunity to unveil its Trent 900, thelargest aero engine the company has ever built, at Airbus' launch ofits A380 tomorrow.
The Trent 900 is the leading engine for the Filton airplanemanufacturer's development programme and will power the double-decker aircraft's maiden flight in the Spring.
It will also launch the four-engined, 555-seat A380 intocommercial service with Singapore Airlines (SIA) in Spring 2006.
In addition to SIA, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas andVirgin Atlantic have also selected Trent-powered A380s for a total of80 firm and option aircraft, giving the Trent 900 a 50 per cent shareof the market.
Mike Terrett, president of Civil Aerospace, Rolls-Royce, said:"We're celebrating a major milestone for the Trent 900, and thesmooth entry into service for the A380 remains our main focus."
With a fan diameter of 116 inches, the Trent 900 is physically thelargest engine ever built by Rolls-Royce.
It is also the world's cleanest large turbofan engine, measured byemissions per pound of thrust.
Airbus will unveil the A380 at a ceremony in Toulouse.
Thousands of people in Britain have been sickened by the biggest outbreak of a winter vomiting virus in five years.
Doctors estimate that hundreds of thousands of people may be affected by norovirus in the coming days. Dozens of hospital wards across the country have already been closed to try to stop the virus' spread.
"General practitioners are seeing a huge number of cases of patients with the norovirus," said Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Norovirus is the most common stomach bug in the United Kingdom, and its incidence typically spikes during the winter.
"The norovirus season has started uncharacteristically early compared to other years," said the Health Protection Agency in a statement. Most cases go unreported, and the agency estimates that for every case, there are 1,500 others.
The virus is highly contagious, and is easily transmitted between people via contact with contaminated surfaces, or sharing contaminated food or water.
Symptoms include nausea, projectile vomiting, diarrhea, fever and muscle pain. Most people recover within two days without treatment, though the virus can be more serious in the very young or the elderly.
People struck by the virus are advised to stay at home, drink plenty of liquids, and to wash their hands regularly to prevent infecting others.
The Health Protection Agency estimates that there are between 600,000 and 1 million cases of norovirus in the U.K. every year. Numbers of cases vary every year, and the agency said that this year's figures are not yet exceptional.
Purse in hand and eyeglasses on, 80-year-old Ruth Spivak stood behind a velvet rope just steps away from the bright lights, musical chiming and big jackpots.
Las Vegas-style slot machines have come to Florida, and Spivak was one of hundreds who showed up Monday to feed dollar bills or casino debit cards into the 800 new machines at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
"I want to try the machines and win money, like I do in Las Vegas," said Spivak, who said she goes to the gambling capital about twice a year and hoped to win a "couple hundred dollars" Monday. She woke up at 7:30 a.m. and came down to this Fort Lauderdale suburb from Delray Beach to get into position.
The machines debuted because of an agreement between Gov. Charlie Crist and Seminole Tribe of Florida's leaders that went into effect just weeks ago. Sought by the tribe for years, the deal allows expanded gambling for Vegas-style games such as slots, blackjack and baccarat at its seven Florida casinos.
Vegas-style players compete against the house rather than each other, a feature of the bingo-style already available at Seminole casinos.
Crist's agreement was challenged by House Speaker Marco Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt, who said lawmakers must approve any agreement he negotiates. The Florida Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments about whether the compact is valid on Wednesday.
"We believe that without appropriate legislative review and approval, the compact authorizing the Seminoles to expand gambling is invalid," Rubio said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
State leaders have said they did not expect the tribe to begin operating the slots so quickly.
"When the compact went into the Federal Register it became law that we're allowed to offer (Vegas-style) devices," said Jim Allen, CEO of Seminole Gaming. "Obviously, we placed our orders immediately."
Allen said two Nevada-based slots manufacturers, International Gaming Technology and Bally Technologies Inc., delivered the machines "in weeks, when it usually takes months."
As part of the compact, Florida has already received a $50 million payment from the tribe and is guaranteed $100 million in the first year. The state's share is set to increase to up to $150 million by the third year of the agreement, and after that will be based on revenues. Many expect the state's share to quickly add up to billions of dollars.
The tribe plans to install up to 15,000 slot machines around the state, though it will take some time to get them installed at its other six facilities.
The number of swine flu-related deaths outside Mexico has inched up to five with the U.S. reporting its third fatality and Costa Rica its first, both involving men who also had underlying illnesses.
The number of confirmed cases of the infection in the U.S. has risen to 2,532 in 44 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Sunday.
Washington state health officials said the victim there was a man in his 30s who had underlying heart conditions and viral pneumonia when he died Thursday from what appeared to be complications from swine flu. The state Department of Health said in a statement Saturday that swine flu was considered a factor in his death.
"We're working with local and federal partners to track this outbreak," said Washington State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky.
The man was not further identified. He began showing symptoms on April 30, and was treated with anti-viral medication. Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Snohomish Health District medical director, said medical officials hadn't been able to isolate any "risk factors" for the man to identify where he might have been exposed.
The death of a 53-year-old man in Costa Rica on Saturday was the first involving swine flu outside North America. He also suffered from diabetes and chronic lung disease, the Health Ministry said.
Most of the victims in Mexico, the center of the outbreak where 48 people with swine flu have died, have been adults aged 20 to 49, and many had no reported complicating factors.
Previously, U.S. authorities reported swine flu deaths of a toddler with a heart defect and a woman with rheumatoid arthritis, and Canadian officials said the woman who died there also had other health problems but gave no details.
Mexico, which raised its count of confirmed cases to 1,626 based on tests of earlier patients, has been gradually lifting a nationwide shutdown of schools, businesses, churches and soccer stadiums.
But an upswing in suspected _ though not confirmed _ cases in parts of Mexico prompted authorities in at least six of the country's 31 states to delay plans to let primary school students return to class Monday after a two-week break.
"It has been very stable ... except for those states," Health Department spokesman Carlos Olmos said, referring to states in central and southern Mexico.
Mexican health authorities released a breakdown of the first 45 of the country's 48 flu deaths that showed that 84 percent of the victims were between the ages of 20 and 54. Only 2.2 percent were immune-depressed, and none had a history of respiratory disease.
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Marshall reported from Seattle; Jimenez reported from San Jose, Costa Rica.
DAILY MAIL STAFF
County employees frustrated with the tactics of Sheriff DaveTucker in the battle for parking spaces at the Kanawha CountyCourthouse struck back today, with one employee who was refused aspace choosing to block in a sheriff's cruiser.
Peggy Pope, chief deputy in the assessor's office, has beenparking in the same spot for the past month while construction at thecourthouse continues.
When Pope arrived this morning, she found a deputy's cruiserblocking the space and a deputy guarding the spot. After a similarconfrontation between county employees and deputies Wednesday, Popesaid she had "had enough."
She parked her Mitsubishi SUV in front of the cruiser and blockedit in.
"There was never an assigned spot there," Pope said. "That parkingspot is exactly where I've been parking, and I'm disappointed withthe sheriff's actions."
Sgt. R.D. Clarkson, who was guarding the parking lot this morning,told department officials he had asked workers on the constructionproject to clear a space close to the building, but that Pope hadrefused the space and insisted on parking in her regular spot.
Assessor Phyllis Gatson stood in the parking lot to overseedeputies' actions.
"It's pretty ridiculous, and I feel stupid even standing here,"Gatson said. "But if they're going to do this, I want to see how farthey'll take it."
Gatson said Sheriff Dave Tucker has made an issue of countyparking for weeks. County officials were told to give up severalspots during the renovation of the building, but Tucker has notcomplied, Gatson said.
"I didn't create this problem, we're just fighting back," Gatsonsaid. "I'm not going to let (Tucker) run over me, even if he'ssheriff of West Virginia."
Many have speculated on a possible showdown between Tucker andGatson in the 2004 Democratic primary for assessor. Tucker has servedthe legal limit of two terms and has said he has considered a run forassessor. Gatson already has announced her intention to try and keepher post.
Chief Deputy Phil Morris said that for the sheriff's department,parking problems have nothing to do with politics.
"We're not going to let this turn into a political football andwant to meet with Assessor Gatson to work this out," Morris said.
Gatson's employee, Ginny Moles, said the parking lot tacticsseemed more like a power grab by Tucker.
"It's like everybody else can be displaced - us, the countycommission, the clerks - but not the sheriff," Moles said.
Hours after Pope first blocked the cruiser in, the standoffremained unresolved as all employees abandoned the lot and thecruiser remained without an easy exit.
Sheriff Dave Tucker stopped by the lot when Gatson and heremployees left, but said he had better things to do than worry aboutparking disputes.
"I don't have time to worry about trivial things like this,"Tucker said. "I've got a job to do."
Sgt. Jess Bailes, spokesman for the sheriff, said the deputiesfirst were placed on the parking lot to ensure cruisers, which oftenhave to make quick exits, had parking spaces.
"I think what we have here is a misunderstanding," Bailes said."Expectations about the parking lot were not made clear. There needsto be a clear plan, as to whose spots are whose. And with all thepeople involved, the whole thing can be resolved."
Bailes and deputies met with Gatson and her employees later todecide whose spaces were whose.
The spot in question this morning officially was assigned to Popeby County Manager Dan Blue.
Commissioner Kent Carper said, "If there had been adult conductwhen we set up initial meetings and everybody had worked together, wewouldn't be having this problem.
"If they really wanted us to mediate and take care of the parkingproblem, all it takes is a phone call."
The county commission is in charge of the parking lot and handingout spaces to the elected officials. The issue was expected to be onthe agenda at tonight's commission meeting.
Writer Kris Wise can be reached at 348-1244 or by e-mail atkriswise@dailymail.com.
Police say sheriff's deputies were turned away from singer Wayne Newton's sprawling Las Vegas home while trying to collect a $500,000 court judgment.
Las Vegas police said Thursday that guards at Newton's house refused to accept documents, and moving vans and Clark County sheriff's civil division deputies left after less than 45 minutes.
Police say the case now returns to Clark County District Court, where a judge last June ruled that Newton owed his former pilot more than $400,000 in back pay.
A lawyer for pilot Monty Ward told the Las Vegas Sun the amount due topped $501,388 last month and is growing at more than $125 per day.
Ward's lawyer, John Muije and Newton representatives did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.
Hundreds of refugees fleeing fighting in Chad have crossed into neighboring Nigeria, where they are wandering in search of a site to set up their camp, the Red Cross said Wednesday.
About 1,000 civilians fleeing days of battles between rebels and government troops in Chad's capital have already arrived in Nigeria's northern Borno state, where they are seeking a place to settle, said a Nigerian Red Cross spokeswoman, Okon Umoh.
Nigeria shares a short land border with Chad and a longer frontier with Cameroon, a thin slice of which separates Nigeria from most of Chad. The United Nations says some 20,000 refugees have fled into Cameroon.
Umoh said it was unclear if the refugees in Nigeria had traveled across Cameroon or had entered directly from Chad. She said the Red Cross was hoping to offer medical services to the refugees.
All necessary proactive measures should be taken to ensure that "no certification system [...] has the effect of superseding or usurping the policy-making and/or regulatory functions of any level of government in matters relating to forest management or international trade."
This is one of the key recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Government Operations in its unanimous report Forest management practices in Canada as an international trade issue, tabled on June 27, 2000, in the House of Commons.
The report, completed after hearings of some 70 witnesses held over one year, prompts Canadian governments, at the federal, provincial and territorial levels, to take stringent measures to ensure forest certification is carried out in a manner that serves the promotion of Canadian forest products exports.
Other key findings/recommendations of the report include:
- "The Committee acknowledges that market access problems resulting from boycott campaigns of Canadian forest products are not going to be resolved by forest certification alone. In recognizing that it may be a partial solution, the Committee recommends that, should it seek a role in certification, the federal government, along with the provinces and territories, encourage the recognition of a diversity of forest certification systems."
- "The Committee recommends that the federal government, in cooperation with the provinces and territories, monitor the openness, transparency, accountability and equity of certification systems to ensure that different forest types are treated in a similar fashion within Canada and around the world."
- "The Committee believes that the time is right to encourage formal talks leading toward mutual recognition of forest certification systems. [...] Such discussions could be held as part of, or in parallel to, the current talks around the development of an international forest convention."
- "The Committee recommends that the federal government, in partnership with the provinces and territories, rigorously monitor potential infringements of international trade rules as set out by the World Trade Organization and other international trade agreements."
Making reference to the forest certification alliance between the World Bank and the WorldWide Fund for Nature, the Committee recommends that "the government should also encourage international organizations of which it is a member to adhere to standards that do not support any activities that may in turn encourage the setting up of non-tariff trade barriers."
In its conclusions, the report deplores that "a great deal of information, some credible, some misleading, is circulating about Canada's forests. Depending on who is using it or analyzing it, this information can enable certain groups to discredit Canada in its forest products export markets."
The Committee recommends that the federal government, in cooperation with the provinces and territories, encourage the gathering and dissemination of accurate and up-to-date information on the state of Canadian forests and forestry practices.
For Mr. Volpe, the Committee's chair, "the best ways to respond to these campaigns are to gather information that is as accurate and as credible as possible and, most importantly, to implement the best available forest practices."
More coverage on this report, and reactions to it, are forthcoming in Forest Certification Watch #10. Key hearings by the Committee, including by The Home Depot, JD Irving Ltd., FSC and CSA were already reported on in previous issues.
Dear Internet Citizens: Facebook is not private. I don't care how many privacy-setting loops you jump through. The more "friends" you have, the more public your page. Facebook is not a lockbox for your most private feelings and random musings. Especially if you're a public figure.
Jeremy Walters, an lowan Republican running for Congress, learned this the hard way when anti-gay posts he made on his Facebook wall were exposed. Not only do his posts show that he has serious issues regarding gays, also evident is a desperate cry for help in the punctuation and grammar department.
At 9:33 p.m. Aug. 12 Walters wrote, "Homosexual 1GAY' is not of God!!!! In the Bible it reads; Leviticus 20:13 - King James Bible If a man also He with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
OK, so he gives a little shout out to Leviticus on a Thursday night. So what?
Well, at 9:45 p.m., having thought things over for a good 12 minutes, Walters posted, "The Holy Bible say if your 1GAY' homosexual they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. This tells me alot so should we kill them NO. They Need to ask God to forgive them of their sins and mean it turn away from it. They also need to know that when it says that their blood shall be upon them that tells me it is AIDS. Thats how I feel."
First of all, Walters needs to decide: is it "homosexual 1GAY'" or "1GAY' homosexual?" He uses them interchangeably, as if they're even close to the same thing.
Secondly, holy bat-shit crazy AIDS blood, Batman. So AIDS is God's punishment for being homosexual "GAYS" and/or "GAY" homosexuals (but not, apparently, homo "GAY" sexuals. Yet). And although "this tells (him) alot" (though apparently it doesn't tell him that "a lot" is two words, not one), he's not planning a gay killing spree (at least that's how I interpret "so should we kill them NO"). He's just waiting for AIDS to do the job for him.
Gay rights groups and the Iowa GOP quickly denounced Walters.
"Mr. Walters' comments are inappropriate and in no way represent the beliefs of the Republican Party of Iowa," Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn told the Iowa Independent.
I think my favorite thing about Walters' post is how he ends with, "Thats how I feel," as if it's simply a response to one of his friends posting, "Hey, Jeremy. How are you?" on his wall.
Actually, according to Walters' apology, that's pretty much what happened.
"I am not against people having a gay lifestyle, and the statements made on Facebook have been taken the wrong way," Walters told The Iowa Independent. "The statement regarding gay homosexuality was not meant to be offensive and I deeply appologize. As far as the quote from the Bible; I was replying to someone elses post. It should have been posted as a comment on their page, not my Facebook wall."
As far as apologies go, it's a little weak ("I'm just bad at Facebook!"). It does, however, strengthen the appearance that the man running for Congress in Iowa on the GOP ticket is not only a heart-on-his-sleeve bigot, but that he is also functionally illiterate. I'm honestly not sure which one is sadder.
[Sidebar]
"The statement regarding gay homosexuality was not meant to be offensive and I deeply appologize. As far as the quote from the Bible; I was replying to someone elses post* It should have been posted as a comment on their page, not my Facebook wall*"
Ashimmering, sunny Sunday afternoon in Chicago. It's August,1968. I walk north along Lake Michigan to Lincoln Park. The wateris bright blue, and a brisk breeze makes it choppy. The small boatsalong the shore bob up and down. Already, there are more than athousand protesters in the park. Most have hair down to theirshoulders. They wear weird getups. They are preparing fordemonstrations at the Democratic National Convention.
This convention is a personal tribute to Chicago Mayor RichardJ. Daley, known as King Richard. Daley is the most powerful ofbig-city political bosses. He is also a ruthless politician and anenemy of the English language. Defending the eagerness of his copsto swing their nightsticks, Daley says: "The police are not here tocreate disorder. They are here to preserve disorder."
Holding the convention in Daley's town is pure payback. Daleywon the presidency for John F. Kennedy and the Democrats in 1960. OnElection Night, thousands of Kennedy ballots appeared at asuspiciously late hour in Chicago. There were just enough, it turnedout, to beat Richard Nixon in Illinois and put Kennedy in the WhiteHouse.
For weeks, Chicago's four daily newspapers trumpeted storiesabout the Yippies, their leaders Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, andtheir plans to disrupt the convention. Hoping to stop the VietnamWar, they and other peace-movement groups have descended on Chicagofrom all over the country. The peace movement has already forcedPresident Lyndon Johnson to announce he won't seek re-election.
Now the Yippies vow to take over Lincoln Park for theconvention's duration. They promise to let the lions, tigers andelephants out of their cages in the Lincoln Park Zoo. They will putLSD in the city's water supply and turn on the entire populace.Daley reacts: He puts his 12,000-member police force on 12-hourshifts. He is reinforced by 5,000 Illinois National Guardsmen andanother 6,000 U.S. Army troops. One columnist writes that the mayorhas an army bigger than George Washington's.
I drank a few beers the night before with police Sgt. BillMaloney, who fought in World War II. "I'd like to go to the parkmyself and give a couple of them a crack," Maloney said. He isn'tkidding. Most Chicago cops have fought in either World War II orKorea. To them, the Yippies are college punks. Draft dodgers.
I walk into the park. There is the sound of bongo drums, lotsof them. There is the smell of marijuana. Hundreds of kids are onthe softball fields. Their arms are locked. They are practicing aJapanese student technique designed to frustrate riot police. First,they all step together to the right. Next, they step to the left.At each step, they shout, "Wa-shoi! Wa-shoi!" The televisioncameramen love it. Blue-helmeted cops sit on their motorcycles andwatch. They smile and chew gum. One cop says softly: "Have your funnow. After dark, you'll belong to us."
Abbie Hoffman wears a pith helmet. Rubin is nearby. Abbie isthe one holding the bullhorn. "Welcome to Che Guevara Park," Abbiesays in his grating Eastern accent. He was born in 1936 and went toBrandeis University and then to grad school at Cal Berkeley. Rubinwas born in Cincinnati in 1938. He also took graduate work at CalBerkeley and once even ran for mayor of that city. "What you areseeing," Abbie says to the crowd, "is Japanese martial dancing.We'll use this to break the police lines and storm the convention."
The trouble starts around midnight when the police ordereveryone out of the park. A bearded guy throws rocks at the cops andcurses them. Everyone joins in to help him. The police charge.They begin whacking everyone. It wasn't until the Conspiracy Seventrial in federal court, more than a year later, that the guy whothrew the rocks told his story under oath. He was actually anundercover Chicago cop. Once the battle started, the cops didn'tstop with the demonstrators. They went after the photographers andreporters, too.
The city was up for grabs. Each night, cops would charge in andbegin pummeling people. But most of it happened inside the parkwhere it was dark. So nobody got the full picture. Then the policecharged into demonstrators in front of the Conrad Hilton Hotel atMichigan and Balbo. They pushed them up against the big glasswindows of the hotel's Haymarket Lounge. The windows shattered.Trying to escape, the demonstrators ran through the broken windowsand into the lobby bar. The cops chased them. In the confusion, thecops even started beating up the patrons at the bar.
It was later called a police riot. All through it the crowdkept chanting: "The whole world's watching!"
Tom Foran, then the U.S. attorney for northern Illinois, triedto explain: "The cops were just fed up. All week, these kids hadbeen spitting at them and throwing bags of human excrement in theirfaces. What happened at the Hilton was like a wonderful moment ofrelease for these overworked police officers."
Mayor Daley was pilloried. Sen. Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticutpointed to Daley on the convention floor and spoke of "the gestapo inthe streets of Chicago." The cameras were on Daley. Red-faced, hewaved his fist at Ribicoff, cursing him. Daley's friends later saidthe mayor shouted "Faker."
It is an oversimplification to view the 1968 convention as abattle between the forces of Daley against Hoffman and Rubin. Butthat's how it sticks in my mind.
There was only one time they came face to face. Daley wascalled as a witness in the Conspiracy Seven trial. The mayor camethrough a rear door of the courtroom and was seated in the witnessstand as Hoffman and Rubin came back into the courtroom after arecess.
Hoffman and Rubin broke into broad smiles. Daley stared at themwith a glum expression. Finally, Hoffman put up his hands like theold-time heavyweight champ, John L. Sullivan. "Why don't you and Ijust go outside and settle this thing between ourselves?" Hoffmansaid.
All three are dead now. Daley was still mayor and 74 when hesuffered a heart attack in his doctor's office on North MichiganAvenue in 1976. Hoffman went underground for a time to avoid drugcharges. He died at 52 in 1989 in what a coroner ruled a suicide.Rubin became a wealthy businessman who made $60,000 a month selling ahealth product called "Wow." In 1994, at age 56, he died of a heartattack, two weeks after he was hit by a car in Los Angeles.
Tom Fitzpatrick, a former Chicago Sun-Times columnist, won aPulitzer Prize in 1970 for his reporting on the Weathermen rampage ofOctober, 1969.
Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry was seriously injured after falling out of the back of a truck during a domestic dispute with his fiance, according to police on Wednesday.
Henry was found on a road in Charlotte "apparently suffering life-threatening injuries," Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said in a statement. Henry's condition at Carolinas Medical Center was not immediately known.
Police said Henry jumped into the bed of the truck as his fiance, who was not identified, was driving away. The domestic dispute continued, police said, and Henry eventually fell out of the truck.
Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan said he had little information other than Henry was badly hurt.
"We are aware he was in an accident and that his injuries are very serious," Brennan told The Associated Press. "We are obviously staying in touch with the situation and are ready to offer whatever assistance we can."
Henry was sidelined for the season after suffering a broken left forearm in the Nov. 8 game against Baltimore.
Henry is in the final year of his contract with the Bengals, who let him go after his fifth arrest following the 2007 season. Owner Mike Brown then brought him back a few months later, signing him to a two-year deal, and Henry had stayed out of trouble since his return.
A deep threat, he was fourth among Bengals receivers this season with 12 catches for 236 yards and two touchdowns at the time of his injury.
Jesse James Hollywood faces death or life in prison as the penalty phase begins in his trial for the kidnapping and murder of a 15-year-old boy in a dispute over drug money owed by his half-brother.
The proceedings are scheduled to start Monday in Superior Court in the killing that inspired the movie "Alpha Dog."
The 29-year-old Hollywood was convicted last week for the 2000 murder of Nicholas Markowitz.
Prosecutors say Hollywood snatched the boy from a San Fernando Valley street in the escalating dispute.
Hollywood says he took the boy but denies ordering his death. Four other men also were convicted.
NEW YORK - Tupperware has many purposes: forming Jell-O rings, spin-drying salads, storing spaghetti, microwaving oatmeal. But Tupperware as an evening bag? It may look a bit like a sandwich box, but the lace-patterned accessory is among the winners of a contest that challenged Tupperware sellers and users to get creative with the iconic plastic containers.
The winners, announced Wednesday, include a kaleidoscope, a model race car and an intricate illuminated sculpture. Their creators range from an Indian graphic artist to a French Tupperware saleswoman.
Tupperware, which turned 60 this year, is a fixture in kitchens and American popular culture. Its signature sales parties are often invoked as shorthand for 1950s suburbia, though they are still held in droves around the world.
The now-familiar containers were held up as artwork in their early days, when housewares insiders hailed their tight-sealing tops and then-unusual material. House Beautiful magazine declared them "fine art for 39 cents."
Now, Tupperware pieces are enshrined in several major museums. A water pitcher is on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art, said Christian Larsen, a curatorial assistant.
But Tupperware Brands Corp. doesn't want to be viewed as a clear-plastic relic of a more domestic era. The company, based in Orlando, Fla., has spent recent years updating products and tweaking its trademark parties.
The design contest is another effort to "get Tupperware seen in a very different kind of a light," said CEO Rick Goings.
"The same functionality and quality goes forward," he said. "But how do you, at the same time, have fun with design and color?"
The competition, which debuted this year, aims to show how. Hundreds of entries were judged by a panel of home-design and materials experts. The winners received $5,000 and trips to New York.
For Evelyn Tabaniag, a regional sales director for Tupperware in and around Manila, Philippines, the contest was a chance "to showcase the other side of me."
Tabaniag makes fashion accessories as a hobby. She crafted several purses out of sandwich storage containers, using beaded bracelets for handles. She lined the translucent blue boxes with lace to soften the look.
Stella Filippou modeled a Formula One race car entirely out of Tupperware items. The wheels alone involved jelly molds, potato mashers and flexible baking forms.
As a Tupperware demonstrator in Volos, Greece, "I live in a car," Filippou, explained through an interpreter. But her model takes some creative license - she actually drives a Ford van.
Kriss Ulve, a Tupperware demonstrator from Ploemeur, France, saw a fish's eye in a water-pitcher top. From there, she painstakingly pieced together a striking sculpture. Bowl covers form the fish's scales, while salad utensils make spiny fins. Carved-up canisters stand in for waves.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Joshi, a graphic designer who runs an advertising agency in Mumbai, India, was nesting storage bowls and canisters to create a 2-foot-long Tupperware kaleidoscope.
Joshi, whose wife is a demonstrator, said the product's variety inspired his winning entry: "To me, the kaleidoscope is the only object on this planet which can give you unlimited design possibility, and it's similar with the Tupperware ideology."
---
On the Net:
http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/home%emph
-off(%)
Tupperware Takes on a New Role: ArtNEW YORK - Tupperware has many purposes: forming Jell-O rings, spin-drying salads, storing spaghetti, microwaving oatmeal. But Tupperware as an evening bag? It may look a bit like a sandwich box, but the lace-patterned accessory is among the winners of a contest that challenged Tupperware sellers and users to get creative with the iconic plastic containers.
The winners, announced Wednesday, include a kaleidoscope, a model race car and an intricate illuminated sculpture. Their creators range from an Indian graphic artist to a French Tupperware saleswoman.
Tupperware, which turned 60 this year, is a fixture in kitchens and American popular culture. Its signature sales parties are often invoked as shorthand for 1950s suburbia, though they are still held in droves around the world.
The now-familiar containers were held up as artwork in their early days, when housewares insiders hailed their tight-sealing tops and then-unusual material. House Beautiful magazine declared them "fine art for 39 cents."
Now, Tupperware pieces are enshrined in several major museums. A water pitcher is on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art, said Christian Larsen, a curatorial assistant.
But Tupperware Brands Corp. doesn't want to be viewed as a clear-plastic relic of a more domestic era. The company, based in Orlando, Fla., has spent recent years updating products and tweaking its trademark parties.
The design contest is another effort to "get Tupperware seen in a very different kind of a light," said CEO Rick Goings.
"The same functionality and quality goes forward," he said. "But how do you, at the same time, have fun with design and color?"
The competition, which debuted this year, aims to show how. Hundreds of entries were judged by a panel of home-design and materials experts. The winners received $5,000 and trips to New York.
For Evelyn Tabaniag, a regional sales director for Tupperware in and around Manila, Philippines, the contest was a chance "to showcase the other side of me."
Tabaniag makes fashion accessories as a hobby. She crafted several purses out of sandwich storage containers, using beaded bracelets for handles. She lined the translucent blue boxes with lace to soften the look.
Stella Filippou modeled a Formula One race car entirely out of Tupperware items. The wheels alone involved jelly molds, potato mashers and flexible baking forms.
As a Tupperware demonstrator in Volos, Greece, "I live in a car," Filippou, explained through an interpreter. But her model takes some creative license - she actually drives a Ford van.
Kriss Ulve, a Tupperware demonstrator from Ploemeur, France, saw a fish's eye in a water-pitcher top. From there, she painstakingly pieced together a striking sculpture. Bowl covers form the fish's scales, while salad utensils make spiny fins. Carved-up canisters stand in for waves.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Joshi, a graphic designer who runs an advertising agency in Mumbai, India, was nesting storage bowls and canisters to create a 2-foot-long Tupperware kaleidoscope.
Joshi, whose wife is a demonstrator, said the product's variety inspired his winning entry: "To me, the kaleidoscope is the only object on this planet which can give you unlimited design possibility, and it's similar with the Tupperware ideology."
---
On the Net:
http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/home%emph
-off(%)
Tupperware Takes on a New Role: ArtNEW YORK - Tupperware has many purposes: forming Jell-O rings, spin-drying salads, storing spaghetti, microwaving oatmeal. But Tupperware as an evening bag? It may look a bit like a sandwich box, but the lace-patterned accessory is among the winners of a contest that challenged Tupperware sellers and users to get creative with the iconic plastic containers.
The winners, announced Wednesday, include a kaleidoscope, a model race car and an intricate illuminated sculpture. Their creators range from an Indian graphic artist to a French Tupperware saleswoman.
Tupperware, which turned 60 this year, is a fixture in kitchens and American popular culture. Its signature sales parties are often invoked as shorthand for 1950s suburbia, though they are still held in droves around the world.
The now-familiar containers were held up as artwork in their early days, when housewares insiders hailed their tight-sealing tops and then-unusual material. House Beautiful magazine declared them "fine art for 39 cents."
Now, Tupperware pieces are enshrined in several major museums. A water pitcher is on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art, said Christian Larsen, a curatorial assistant.
But Tupperware Brands Corp. doesn't want to be viewed as a clear-plastic relic of a more domestic era. The company, based in Orlando, Fla., has spent recent years updating products and tweaking its trademark parties.
The design contest is another effort to "get Tupperware seen in a very different kind of a light," said CEO Rick Goings.
"The same functionality and quality goes forward," he said. "But how do you, at the same time, have fun with design and color?"
The competition, which debuted this year, aims to show how. Hundreds of entries were judged by a panel of home-design and materials experts. The winners received $5,000 and trips to New York.
For Evelyn Tabaniag, a regional sales director for Tupperware in and around Manila, Philippines, the contest was a chance "to showcase the other side of me."
Tabaniag makes fashion accessories as a hobby. She crafted several purses out of sandwich storage containers, using beaded bracelets for handles. She lined the translucent blue boxes with lace to soften the look.
Stella Filippou modeled a Formula One race car entirely out of Tupperware items. The wheels alone involved jelly molds, potato mashers and flexible baking forms.
As a Tupperware demonstrator in Volos, Greece, "I live in a car," Filippou, explained through an interpreter. But her model takes some creative license - she actually drives a Ford van.
Kriss Ulve, a Tupperware demonstrator from Ploemeur, France, saw a fish's eye in a water-pitcher top. From there, she painstakingly pieced together a striking sculpture. Bowl covers form the fish's scales, while salad utensils make spiny fins. Carved-up canisters stand in for waves.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Joshi, a graphic designer who runs an advertising agency in Mumbai, India, was nesting storage bowls and canisters to create a 2-foot-long Tupperware kaleidoscope.
Joshi, whose wife is a demonstrator, said the product's variety inspired his winning entry: "To me, the kaleidoscope is the only object on this planet which can give you unlimited design possibility, and it's similar with the Tupperware ideology."
---
On the Net:
http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/home%emph
-off(%)
Tupperware Takes on a New Role: ArtNEW YORK - Tupperware has many purposes: forming Jell-O rings, spin-drying salads, storing spaghetti, microwaving oatmeal. But Tupperware as an evening bag? It may look a bit like a sandwich box, but the lace-patterned accessory is among the winners of a contest that challenged Tupperware sellers and users to get creative with the iconic plastic containers.
The winners, announced Wednesday, include a kaleidoscope, a model race car and an intricate illuminated sculpture. Their creators range from an Indian graphic artist to a French Tupperware saleswoman.
Tupperware, which turned 60 this year, is a fixture in kitchens and American popular culture. Its signature sales parties are often invoked as shorthand for 1950s suburbia, though they are still held in droves around the world.
The now-familiar containers were held up as artwork in their early days, when housewares insiders hailed their tight-sealing tops and then-unusual material. House Beautiful magazine declared them "fine art for 39 cents."
Now, Tupperware pieces are enshrined in several major museums. A water pitcher is on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art, said Christian Larsen, a curatorial assistant.
But Tupperware Brands Corp. doesn't want to be viewed as a clear-plastic relic of a more domestic era. The company, based in Orlando, Fla., has spent recent years updating products and tweaking its trademark parties.
The design contest is another effort to "get Tupperware seen in a very different kind of a light," said CEO Rick Goings.
"The same functionality and quality goes forward," he said. "But how do you, at the same time, have fun with design and color?"
The competition, which debuted this year, aims to show how. Hundreds of entries were judged by a panel of home-design and materials experts. The winners received $5,000 and trips to New York.
For Evelyn Tabaniag, a regional sales director for Tupperware in and around Manila, Philippines, the contest was a chance "to showcase the other side of me."
Tabaniag makes fashion accessories as a hobby. She crafted several purses out of sandwich storage containers, using beaded bracelets for handles. She lined the translucent blue boxes with lace to soften the look.
Stella Filippou modeled a Formula One race car entirely out of Tupperware items. The wheels alone involved jelly molds, potato mashers and flexible baking forms.
As a Tupperware demonstrator in Volos, Greece, "I live in a car," Filippou, explained through an interpreter. But her model takes some creative license - she actually drives a Ford van.
Kriss Ulve, a Tupperware demonstrator from Ploemeur, France, saw a fish's eye in a water-pitcher top. From there, she painstakingly pieced together a striking sculpture. Bowl covers form the fish's scales, while salad utensils make spiny fins. Carved-up canisters stand in for waves.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Joshi, a graphic designer who runs an advertising agency in Mumbai, India, was nesting storage bowls and canisters to create a 2-foot-long Tupperware kaleidoscope.
Joshi, whose wife is a demonstrator, said the product's variety inspired his winning entry: "To me, the kaleidoscope is the only object on this planet which can give you unlimited design possibility, and it's similar with the Tupperware ideology."
---
On the Net:
http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/home%emph
-off(%)
Tupperware Takes on a New Role: ArtNEW YORK - Tupperware has many purposes: forming Jell-O rings, spin-drying salads, storing spaghetti, microwaving oatmeal. But Tupperware as an evening bag? It may look a bit like a sandwich box, but the lace-patterned accessory is among the winners of a contest that challenged Tupperware sellers and users to get creative with the iconic plastic containers.
The winners, announced Wednesday, include a kaleidoscope, a model race car and an intricate illuminated sculpture. Their creators range from an Indian graphic artist to a French Tupperware saleswoman.
Tupperware, which turned 60 this year, is a fixture in kitchens and American popular culture. Its signature sales parties are often invoked as shorthand for 1950s suburbia, though they are still held in droves around the world.
The now-familiar containers were held up as artwork in their early days, when housewares insiders hailed their tight-sealing tops and then-unusual material. House Beautiful magazine declared them "fine art for 39 cents."
Now, Tupperware pieces are enshrined in several major museums. A water pitcher is on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art, said Christian Larsen, a curatorial assistant.
But Tupperware Brands Corp. doesn't want to be viewed as a clear-plastic relic of a more domestic era. The company, based in Orlando, Fla., has spent recent years updating products and tweaking its trademark parties.
The design contest is another effort to "get Tupperware seen in a very different kind of a light," said CEO Rick Goings.
"The same functionality and quality goes forward," he said. "But how do you, at the same time, have fun with design and color?"
The competition, which debuted this year, aims to show how. Hundreds of entries were judged by a panel of home-design and materials experts. The winners received $5,000 and trips to New York.
For Evelyn Tabaniag, a regional sales director for Tupperware in and around Manila, Philippines, the contest was a chance "to showcase the other side of me."
Tabaniag makes fashion accessories as a hobby. She crafted several purses out of sandwich storage containers, using beaded bracelets for handles. She lined the translucent blue boxes with lace to soften the look.
Stella Filippou modeled a Formula One race car entirely out of Tupperware items. The wheels alone involved jelly molds, potato mashers and flexible baking forms.
As a Tupperware demonstrator in Volos, Greece, "I live in a car," Filippou, explained through an interpreter. But her model takes some creative license - she actually drives a Ford van.
Kriss Ulve, a Tupperware demonstrator from Ploemeur, France, saw a fish's eye in a water-pitcher top. From there, she painstakingly pieced together a striking sculpture. Bowl covers form the fish's scales, while salad utensils make spiny fins. Carved-up canisters stand in for waves.
Meanwhile, Rajeev Joshi, a graphic designer who runs an advertising agency in Mumbai, India, was nesting storage bowls and canisters to create a 2-foot-long Tupperware kaleidoscope.
Joshi, whose wife is a demonstrator, said the product's variety inspired his winning entry: "To me, the kaleidoscope is the only object on this planet which can give you unlimited design possibility, and it's similar with the Tupperware ideology."
---
On the Net:
http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/home%emph
-off(%)
Byline: Rocky Mountain News
Billy Ray Cyrus had become a country-music punch line, despite (perhaps because of) the massive success of his 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart. But along with daughter Miley Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus 14 years ago), he's back on top.
They play father and daughter on Disney's Hannah Montana, the most popular series the channel has ever produced. Miley plays a teenager with a big secret: She leads a second life as the pop star Hannah Montana.
Home at Last, his latest album, was recently released to strong sales and critical acclaim, as was his daughter's Hannah Montana, Vol. 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. As the ABC news show 2 0/20 pointed out, it marks the first time a father and daughter have had albums (both on Disney) in the top 20 since Frank and Nancy Sinatra.
Miley's touring as herself and her television alter ego, and it's one of the planet's hottest tickets. Because ticket brokers using sophisticated software managed to get a huge proportion of the tickets, they're being resold to parents at near-criminal prices. A recent survey found that you could get third- row tickets for $936 each and nosebleeds for $126 at StubHub.com.
"It's gonna be a good show," Miley recently told Ellen Degeneres. "But I don't think it's worth what it's going for."
Disaster lurks, though. The meltdowns of former Disney stars Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are proof that having a pedigree including the famous mouse is no guarantee of happiness. Can Miley avoid that trap?
"Miley's got a great head on her shoulders. For the most part, Miley's going to make some good choices," her father told 2 0/20 recently.
"And I'm going to make some bad ones," Miley chimed in before adding that she won't be a train wreck, because "it's about having values and having pride in yourself."
Maybe so, Miley, but remember to learn from the good (and not-so-good) examples of previous Disney girls.
The good
Annette Funicello
Back story: The original Mouseketeer became one of the most popular ever. That led to a recording career and the beach- themed movies (Beach Blanket Bingo, How To Stuff a Wild Bikini) that defined the early '60s and latched on to the surfing craze along with acts like the Beach Boys.
Upside: Funicello, who revealed in the early '90s that she suffers from multiple sclerosis, opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation in 1993. Wish her a happy birthday: She turns 65 today.
Hilary Duff
Back story: The worst thing you can say about Duff? She's the least- talented star to pop out of the Disney empire. Her singing career is possible only through technology - and it hasn't stopped her from selling millions. Her acting is one-note (the shrill girl she played on Lizzie McGuire is the same shrill girl she played in Cheaper By the Dozen).
Upside: She's stayed clothed, sober, arrest-free and out of trouble despite fierce paparazzi attention during a romance with Good Charlotte vocalist Joel Madden. The title cut of Dignity, her latest album, took other starlets to task for bad behavior.
The bad
Britney Spears
Back story: Remember the scandal when this former Mouseketeer was first photographed with a cigarette? That was two babies, two marriages, two divorces, two rehabs, two car accidents, two crotch-flashings, one umbrella clubbing, one wobbly MTV performance and a head-shave ago.
Downside: What started as a bubbly pop singer has turned into a poster child for too much money and too little class. Spears blames the paparazzi for her problems - then takes her children to the hottest restaurants at 11 p.m. and struts her stuff. When the courts determine that Kevin Federline is the stable parent, you've blown it.
Lindsay Lohan
Back story: The most talented actress to come out of the Disney stable, Lohan helped make The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday enjoyable even for the adults who took their kids to see them. In a turn as a troubled teen in Georgia Rules, the actress even held her own with Oscar-winner Jane Fonda.
Downside: With a vacuous mother/manager living vicariously through (and partying with) her daughter, a jailbird father and sycophantic friends, it's no wonder rehab and rap sheets are on the menu. She's come out of her latest stint saying all the right things, so we'll see whether redemption's on the menu.
The prodigal daughter: Christina Aguilera
Downside: The former Mickey Mouse Club member first skewed to Frederick's of Hollywood fashions and suggestive albums such as Stripped, with the single Dirrty ("I need that, uh, to get me off/Sweat until my clothes come off").
Upside: Blessed with a real voice, real talent and a real manager (Irving Azoff), she never went all the way to the dark side, though kissing Madonna at the MTV awards pushed close. Her recent smash album Back to Basics showcased more mainstream pop, her stage costumes (while still adult) have swung to a classic look and she's about to have a baby.
INFOBOX
Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana
* When and where: 7 p.m. Thursday, Pepsi Center
* Tickets: sold out
* Information: 303-830-8497, ticketmaster.com
CAPTION(S):
Photo (3)
Miley Cyrus has "a great head on her shoulders," says her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. BRYAN BEDDER / GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Disney's little princesses. Can 'Hannah Montana' star remain the good girl like Hilary and Annette? GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Annette Funicello, Hilary Duff, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears & LindsayLohan
The bad and the beautiful Lindsay and Britney show Miley Cyrus exactly what not to do.(Spotlight)Byline: Rocky Mountain News
Billy Ray Cyrus had become a country-music punch line, despite (perhaps because of) the massive success of his 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart. But along with daughter Miley Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus 14 years ago), he's back on top.
They play father and daughter on Disney's Hannah Montana, the most popular series the channel has ever produced. Miley plays a teenager with a big secret: She leads a second life as the pop star Hannah Montana.
Home at Last, his latest album, was recently released to strong sales and critical acclaim, as was his daughter's Hannah Montana, Vol. 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. As the ABC news show 2 0/20 pointed out, it marks the first time a father and daughter have had albums (both on Disney) in the top 20 since Frank and Nancy Sinatra.
Miley's touring as herself and her television alter ego, and it's one of the planet's hottest tickets. Because ticket brokers using sophisticated software managed to get a huge proportion of the tickets, they're being resold to parents at near-criminal prices. A recent survey found that you could get third- row tickets for $936 each and nosebleeds for $126 at StubHub.com.
"It's gonna be a good show," Miley recently told Ellen Degeneres. "But I don't think it's worth what it's going for."
Disaster lurks, though. The meltdowns of former Disney stars Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are proof that having a pedigree including the famous mouse is no guarantee of happiness. Can Miley avoid that trap?
"Miley's got a great head on her shoulders. For the most part, Miley's going to make some good choices," her father told 2 0/20 recently.
"And I'm going to make some bad ones," Miley chimed in before adding that she won't be a train wreck, because "it's about having values and having pride in yourself."
Maybe so, Miley, but remember to learn from the good (and not-so-good) examples of previous Disney girls.
The good
Annette Funicello
Back story: The original Mouseketeer became one of the most popular ever. That led to a recording career and the beach- themed movies (Beach Blanket Bingo, How To Stuff a Wild Bikini) that defined the early '60s and latched on to the surfing craze along with acts like the Beach Boys.
Upside: Funicello, who revealed in the early '90s that she suffers from multiple sclerosis, opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation in 1993. Wish her a happy birthday: She turns 65 today.
Hilary Duff
Back story: The worst thing you can say about Duff? She's the least- talented star to pop out of the Disney empire. Her singing career is possible only through technology - and it hasn't stopped her from selling millions. Her acting is one-note (the shrill girl she played on Lizzie McGuire is the same shrill girl she played in Cheaper By the Dozen).
Upside: She's stayed clothed, sober, arrest-free and out of trouble despite fierce paparazzi attention during a romance with Good Charlotte vocalist Joel Madden. The title cut of Dignity, her latest album, took other starlets to task for bad behavior.
The bad
Britney Spears
Back story: Remember the scandal when this former Mouseketeer was first photographed with a cigarette? That was two babies, two marriages, two divorces, two rehabs, two car accidents, two crotch-flashings, one umbrella clubbing, one wobbly MTV performance and a head-shave ago.
Downside: What started as a bubbly pop singer has turned into a poster child for too much money and too little class. Spears blames the paparazzi for her problems - then takes her children to the hottest restaurants at 11 p.m. and struts her stuff. When the courts determine that Kevin Federline is the stable parent, you've blown it.
Lindsay Lohan
Back story: The most talented actress to come out of the Disney stable, Lohan helped make The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday enjoyable even for the adults who took their kids to see them. In a turn as a troubled teen in Georgia Rules, the actress even held her own with Oscar-winner Jane Fonda.
Downside: With a vacuous mother/manager living vicariously through (and partying with) her daughter, a jailbird father and sycophantic friends, it's no wonder rehab and rap sheets are on the menu. She's come out of her latest stint saying all the right things, so we'll see whether redemption's on the menu.
The prodigal daughter: Christina Aguilera
Downside: The former Mickey Mouse Club member first skewed to Frederick's of Hollywood fashions and suggestive albums such as Stripped, with the single Dirrty ("I need that, uh, to get me off/Sweat until my clothes come off").
Upside: Blessed with a real voice, real talent and a real manager (Irving Azoff), she never went all the way to the dark side, though kissing Madonna at the MTV awards pushed close. Her recent smash album Back to Basics showcased more mainstream pop, her stage costumes (while still adult) have swung to a classic look and she's about to have a baby.
INFOBOX
Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana
* When and where: 7 p.m. Thursday, Pepsi Center
* Tickets: sold out
* Information: 303-830-8497, ticketmaster.com
CAPTION(S):
Photo (3)
Miley Cyrus has "a great head on her shoulders," says her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. BRYAN BEDDER / GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Disney's little princesses. Can 'Hannah Montana' star remain the good girl like Hilary and Annette? GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Annette Funicello, Hilary Duff, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears & LindsayLohan
The bad and the beautiful Lindsay and Britney show Miley Cyrus exactly what not to do.(Spotlight)Byline: Rocky Mountain News
Billy Ray Cyrus had become a country-music punch line, despite (perhaps because of) the massive success of his 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart. But along with daughter Miley Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus 14 years ago), he's back on top.
They play father and daughter on Disney's Hannah Montana, the most popular series the channel has ever produced. Miley plays a teenager with a big secret: She leads a second life as the pop star Hannah Montana.
Home at Last, his latest album, was recently released to strong sales and critical acclaim, as was his daughter's Hannah Montana, Vol. 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. As the ABC news show 2 0/20 pointed out, it marks the first time a father and daughter have had albums (both on Disney) in the top 20 since Frank and Nancy Sinatra.
Miley's touring as herself and her television alter ego, and it's one of the planet's hottest tickets. Because ticket brokers using sophisticated software managed to get a huge proportion of the tickets, they're being resold to parents at near-criminal prices. A recent survey found that you could get third- row tickets for $936 each and nosebleeds for $126 at StubHub.com.
"It's gonna be a good show," Miley recently told Ellen Degeneres. "But I don't think it's worth what it's going for."
Disaster lurks, though. The meltdowns of former Disney stars Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are proof that having a pedigree including the famous mouse is no guarantee of happiness. Can Miley avoid that trap?
"Miley's got a great head on her shoulders. For the most part, Miley's going to make some good choices," her father told 2 0/20 recently.
"And I'm going to make some bad ones," Miley chimed in before adding that she won't be a train wreck, because "it's about having values and having pride in yourself."
Maybe so, Miley, but remember to learn from the good (and not-so-good) examples of previous Disney girls.
The good
Annette Funicello
Back story: The original Mouseketeer became one of the most popular ever. That led to a recording career and the beach- themed movies (Beach Blanket Bingo, How To Stuff a Wild Bikini) that defined the early '60s and latched on to the surfing craze along with acts like the Beach Boys.
Upside: Funicello, who revealed in the early '90s that she suffers from multiple sclerosis, opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation in 1993. Wish her a happy birthday: She turns 65 today.
Hilary Duff
Back story: The worst thing you can say about Duff? She's the least- talented star to pop out of the Disney empire. Her singing career is possible only through technology - and it hasn't stopped her from selling millions. Her acting is one-note (the shrill girl she played on Lizzie McGuire is the same shrill girl she played in Cheaper By the Dozen).
Upside: She's stayed clothed, sober, arrest-free and out of trouble despite fierce paparazzi attention during a romance with Good Charlotte vocalist Joel Madden. The title cut of Dignity, her latest album, took other starlets to task for bad behavior.
The bad
Britney Spears
Back story: Remember the scandal when this former Mouseketeer was first photographed with a cigarette? That was two babies, two marriages, two divorces, two rehabs, two car accidents, two crotch-flashings, one umbrella clubbing, one wobbly MTV performance and a head-shave ago.
Downside: What started as a bubbly pop singer has turned into a poster child for too much money and too little class. Spears blames the paparazzi for her problems - then takes her children to the hottest restaurants at 11 p.m. and struts her stuff. When the courts determine that Kevin Federline is the stable parent, you've blown it.
Lindsay Lohan
Back story: The most talented actress to come out of the Disney stable, Lohan helped make The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday enjoyable even for the adults who took their kids to see them. In a turn as a troubled teen in Georgia Rules, the actress even held her own with Oscar-winner Jane Fonda.
Downside: With a vacuous mother/manager living vicariously through (and partying with) her daughter, a jailbird father and sycophantic friends, it's no wonder rehab and rap sheets are on the menu. She's come out of her latest stint saying all the right things, so we'll see whether redemption's on the menu.
The prodigal daughter: Christina Aguilera
Downside: The former Mickey Mouse Club member first skewed to Frederick's of Hollywood fashions and suggestive albums such as Stripped, with the single Dirrty ("I need that, uh, to get me off/Sweat until my clothes come off").
Upside: Blessed with a real voice, real talent and a real manager (Irving Azoff), she never went all the way to the dark side, though kissing Madonna at the MTV awards pushed close. Her recent smash album Back to Basics showcased more mainstream pop, her stage costumes (while still adult) have swung to a classic look and she's about to have a baby.
INFOBOX
Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana
* When and where: 7 p.m. Thursday, Pepsi Center
* Tickets: sold out
* Information: 303-830-8497, ticketmaster.com
CAPTION(S):
Photo (3)
Miley Cyrus has "a great head on her shoulders," says her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. BRYAN BEDDER / GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Disney's little princesses. Can 'Hannah Montana' star remain the good girl like Hilary and Annette? GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Annette Funicello, Hilary Duff, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears & LindsayLohan
The bad and the beautiful Lindsay and Britney show Miley Cyrus exactly what not to do.(Spotlight)Byline: Rocky Mountain News
Billy Ray Cyrus had become a country-music punch line, despite (perhaps because of) the massive success of his 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart. But along with daughter Miley Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus 14 years ago), he's back on top.
They play father and daughter on Disney's Hannah Montana, the most popular series the channel has ever produced. Miley plays a teenager with a big secret: She leads a second life as the pop star Hannah Montana.
Home at Last, his latest album, was recently released to strong sales and critical acclaim, as was his daughter's Hannah Montana, Vol. 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. As the ABC news show 2 0/20 pointed out, it marks the first time a father and daughter have had albums (both on Disney) in the top 20 since Frank and Nancy Sinatra.
Miley's touring as herself and her television alter ego, and it's one of the planet's hottest tickets. Because ticket brokers using sophisticated software managed to get a huge proportion of the tickets, they're being resold to parents at near-criminal prices. A recent survey found that you could get third- row tickets for $936 each and nosebleeds for $126 at StubHub.com.
"It's gonna be a good show," Miley recently told Ellen Degeneres. "But I don't think it's worth what it's going for."
Disaster lurks, though. The meltdowns of former Disney stars Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are proof that having a pedigree including the famous mouse is no guarantee of happiness. Can Miley avoid that trap?
"Miley's got a great head on her shoulders. For the most part, Miley's going to make some good choices," her father told 2 0/20 recently.
"And I'm going to make some bad ones," Miley chimed in before adding that she won't be a train wreck, because "it's about having values and having pride in yourself."
Maybe so, Miley, but remember to learn from the good (and not-so-good) examples of previous Disney girls.
The good
Annette Funicello
Back story: The original Mouseketeer became one of the most popular ever. That led to a recording career and the beach- themed movies (Beach Blanket Bingo, How To Stuff a Wild Bikini) that defined the early '60s and latched on to the surfing craze along with acts like the Beach Boys.
Upside: Funicello, who revealed in the early '90s that she suffers from multiple sclerosis, opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation in 1993. Wish her a happy birthday: She turns 65 today.
Hilary Duff
Back story: The worst thing you can say about Duff? She's the least- talented star to pop out of the Disney empire. Her singing career is possible only through technology - and it hasn't stopped her from selling millions. Her acting is one-note (the shrill girl she played on Lizzie McGuire is the same shrill girl she played in Cheaper By the Dozen).
Upside: She's stayed clothed, sober, arrest-free and out of trouble despite fierce paparazzi attention during a romance with Good Charlotte vocalist Joel Madden. The title cut of Dignity, her latest album, took other starlets to task for bad behavior.
The bad
Britney Spears
Back story: Remember the scandal when this former Mouseketeer was first photographed with a cigarette? That was two babies, two marriages, two divorces, two rehabs, two car accidents, two crotch-flashings, one umbrella clubbing, one wobbly MTV performance and a head-shave ago.
Downside: What started as a bubbly pop singer has turned into a poster child for too much money and too little class. Spears blames the paparazzi for her problems - then takes her children to the hottest restaurants at 11 p.m. and struts her stuff. When the courts determine that Kevin Federline is the stable parent, you've blown it.
Lindsay Lohan
Back story: The most talented actress to come out of the Disney stable, Lohan helped make The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday enjoyable even for the adults who took their kids to see them. In a turn as a troubled teen in Georgia Rules, the actress even held her own with Oscar-winner Jane Fonda.
Downside: With a vacuous mother/manager living vicariously through (and partying with) her daughter, a jailbird father and sycophantic friends, it's no wonder rehab and rap sheets are on the menu. She's come out of her latest stint saying all the right things, so we'll see whether redemption's on the menu.
The prodigal daughter: Christina Aguilera
Downside: The former Mickey Mouse Club member first skewed to Frederick's of Hollywood fashions and suggestive albums such as Stripped, with the single Dirrty ("I need that, uh, to get me off/Sweat until my clothes come off").
Upside: Blessed with a real voice, real talent and a real manager (Irving Azoff), she never went all the way to the dark side, though kissing Madonna at the MTV awards pushed close. Her recent smash album Back to Basics showcased more mainstream pop, her stage costumes (while still adult) have swung to a classic look and she's about to have a baby.
INFOBOX
Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana
* When and where: 7 p.m. Thursday, Pepsi Center
* Tickets: sold out
* Information: 303-830-8497, ticketmaster.com
CAPTION(S):
Photo (3)
Miley Cyrus has "a great head on her shoulders," says her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. BRYAN BEDDER / GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Disney's little princesses. Can 'Hannah Montana' star remain the good girl like Hilary and Annette? GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Annette Funicello, Hilary Duff, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears & LindsayLohan
The bad and the beautiful Lindsay and Britney show Miley Cyrus exactly what not to do.(Spotlight)Byline: Rocky Mountain News
Billy Ray Cyrus had become a country-music punch line, despite (perhaps because of) the massive success of his 1992 hit Achy Breaky Heart. But along with daughter Miley Cyrus (born Destiny Hope Cyrus 14 years ago), he's back on top.
They play father and daughter on Disney's Hannah Montana, the most popular series the channel has ever produced. Miley plays a teenager with a big secret: She leads a second life as the pop star Hannah Montana.
Home at Last, his latest album, was recently released to strong sales and critical acclaim, as was his daughter's Hannah Montana, Vol. 2: Meet Miley Cyrus. As the ABC news show 2 0/20 pointed out, it marks the first time a father and daughter have had albums (both on Disney) in the top 20 since Frank and Nancy Sinatra.
Miley's touring as herself and her television alter ego, and it's one of the planet's hottest tickets. Because ticket brokers using sophisticated software managed to get a huge proportion of the tickets, they're being resold to parents at near-criminal prices. A recent survey found that you could get third- row tickets for $936 each and nosebleeds for $126 at StubHub.com.
"It's gonna be a good show," Miley recently told Ellen Degeneres. "But I don't think it's worth what it's going for."
Disaster lurks, though. The meltdowns of former Disney stars Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are proof that having a pedigree including the famous mouse is no guarantee of happiness. Can Miley avoid that trap?
"Miley's got a great head on her shoulders. For the most part, Miley's going to make some good choices," her father told 2 0/20 recently.
"And I'm going to make some bad ones," Miley chimed in before adding that she won't be a train wreck, because "it's about having values and having pride in yourself."
Maybe so, Miley, but remember to learn from the good (and not-so-good) examples of previous Disney girls.
The good
Annette Funicello
Back story: The original Mouseketeer became one of the most popular ever. That led to a recording career and the beach- themed movies (Beach Blanket Bingo, How To Stuff a Wild Bikini) that defined the early '60s and latched on to the surfing craze along with acts like the Beach Boys.
Upside: Funicello, who revealed in the early '90s that she suffers from multiple sclerosis, opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation in 1993. Wish her a happy birthday: She turns 65 today.
Hilary Duff
Back story: The worst thing you can say about Duff? She's the least- talented star to pop out of the Disney empire. Her singing career is possible only through technology - and it hasn't stopped her from selling millions. Her acting is one-note (the shrill girl she played on Lizzie McGuire is the same shrill girl she played in Cheaper By the Dozen).
Upside: She's stayed clothed, sober, arrest-free and out of trouble despite fierce paparazzi attention during a romance with Good Charlotte vocalist Joel Madden. The title cut of Dignity, her latest album, took other starlets to task for bad behavior.
The bad
Britney Spears
Back story: Remember the scandal when this former Mouseketeer was first photographed with a cigarette? That was two babies, two marriages, two divorces, two rehabs, two car accidents, two crotch-flashings, one umbrella clubbing, one wobbly MTV performance and a head-shave ago.
Downside: What started as a bubbly pop singer has turned into a poster child for too much money and too little class. Spears blames the paparazzi for her problems - then takes her children to the hottest restaurants at 11 p.m. and struts her stuff. When the courts determine that Kevin Federline is the stable parent, you've blown it.
Lindsay Lohan
Back story: The most talented actress to come out of the Disney stable, Lohan helped make The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday enjoyable even for the adults who took their kids to see them. In a turn as a troubled teen in Georgia Rules, the actress even held her own with Oscar-winner Jane Fonda.
Downside: With a vacuous mother/manager living vicariously through (and partying with) her daughter, a jailbird father and sycophantic friends, it's no wonder rehab and rap sheets are on the menu. She's come out of her latest stint saying all the right things, so we'll see whether redemption's on the menu.
The prodigal daughter: Christina Aguilera
Downside: The former Mickey Mouse Club member first skewed to Frederick's of Hollywood fashions and suggestive albums such as Stripped, with the single Dirrty ("I need that, uh, to get me off/Sweat until my clothes come off").
Upside: Blessed with a real voice, real talent and a real manager (Irving Azoff), she never went all the way to the dark side, though kissing Madonna at the MTV awards pushed close. Her recent smash album Back to Basics showcased more mainstream pop, her stage costumes (while still adult) have swung to a classic look and she's about to have a baby.
INFOBOX
Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana
* When and where: 7 p.m. Thursday, Pepsi Center
* Tickets: sold out
* Information: 303-830-8497, ticketmaster.com
CAPTION(S):
Photo (3)
Miley Cyrus has "a great head on her shoulders," says her father, Billy Ray Cyrus. BRYAN BEDDER / GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Disney's little princesses. Can 'Hannah Montana' star remain the good girl like Hilary and Annette? GETTY IMAGES
CAPTION: Annette Funicello, Hilary Duff, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears & LindsayLohan
