Showing posts with label HotNews. Show all posts

Sunday, September 18, 2011

At 51

WASHINGTON — Several years after she was deemed cancer-free, Kara Kennedy accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of her father, just weeks before Sen. Edward Kennedy died battling a brain tumor.

However, her own lung cancer treatment – surgery and grueling chemotherapy and radiation – left her physically weakened, her brother Patrick Kennedy said. She died Friday at age 51 after her daily workout at a Washington health club.

"Her heart gave out," said Patrick Kennedy, a former congressman from Rhode Island.

"She's with dad."

In a telephone interview from her home in Boston on Saturday, Joan Bennett Kennedy said she and her daughter were "best friends" who liked to take long swims together and walks on the beach. She said her daughter had fully recovered from cancer and didn't have any lingering health issues.

"She was very healthy. That's why this is such a shock," Joan Kennedy said.

Kennedy was a member of the Sport & Health fitness center, though spokeswoman Nancy Terry declined to release further details about the incident, citing member privacy.

Her ex-husband, Michael Allen, said Kara Kennedy frequently visited the club and went swimming every day if she could. He said details about her death would be released by The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. He said funeral arrangements are being made.

"Insofar as I'm concerned her legacy is one of courage and grit and determination in the face of her own illness and in the face of many family tragedies and limitless, absolutely limitless, devotion to our children," he said.

Kara Kennedy was born in 1960 to Edward and Joan Kennedy, just as her father was on the campaign trail for his brother John F. Kennedy during the presidential primaries.

The late senator wrote of his oldest child in his 2009 memoir, "True Compass," that "I had never seen a more beautiful baby, nor been happier in my life."

Later, she appeared with her father during his unsuccessful 1980 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, and she and her brother Edward Kennedy Jr. helped run the senator's 1988 re-election campaign.

Her lung cancer diagnosis came in 2002, and the prognosis was grim. But the family refused to accept that, the senator wrote. She had an operation in 2003 that doctors said was successful, and Edward Kennedy accompanied his daughter to chemotherapy treatments.

"Kara responded to my exhortations to have faith in herself," he wrote. "Today, nearly seven years later as I write this, Kara is a healthy, vibrant, active mother of two who is flourishing."

Her children, Grace and Max, are now teenagers.

Kara Kennedy's two brothers have dealt with health issues of their own: Edward Kennedy Jr. lost a leg to bone cancer as a child, and Patrick Kennedy had surgery in 1988 to remove a non-cancerous tumor that was pressing against his spine.

"Her magnificent strength in her successful battle with lung cancer was a quiet inspiration to all of us and provided her family and fellow patients with hope," the Edward M. Kennedy Institute said in a news release.

Five months before her death, Kara Kennedy wrote of her father and the institute named in his honor in an article published in The Boston Globe Magazine. She described Christmas 1984, when her father insisted on spending the night helping relief workers feed hungry people in the Ethiopian desert. And of how each summer, Ted Kennedy loaded the family into a Winnebago for road trips to hike through historic battlefields and buildings.

"What mattered to my father was not the scale of an accomplishment, but that we did our share to make the world better," she wrote. "That we learned we were part of something larger than ourselves."

In August 2009 Kara Kennedy accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, on behalf of her father during a White House ceremony. She smiled when President Barack Obama put his arm around her in a comforting way, and teared up when a statement was read about her father's accomplishments. When her father died later that month she read a psalm at his funeral mass in Boston; it spoke of bringing peace and justice and helping the poor.

Kara Kennedy, a graduate of Tufts University, also worked as a filmmaker and in television. She helped produce several videos for Very Special Arts, an organization founded by her aunt Jean Kennedy Smith. She also served as a board member for the Edward M. Kennedy Institute; director emerita and national trustee of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation; and as a national advisory board member for the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Terry Lierman, the co-founder of NOFAS who knew Kara Kennedy for more than two decades, said she was always positive, even when she was ill, and always available when the organization needed her.

"She was always there, but she was there for the cause and not for her own visibility," Lierman said Saturday. "I always found it so refreshing."

Kara Kennedy Dies: Ted Kennedy's Oldest Child Dead At 51

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

It's been 15 years since but his murder still remains unsolved, landing the shooting of Tupac in Time magazine's Top 10 Unsolved Crimes, along with the still-unsolved murder of fellow rapper the Notorious B.I.G.

But thanks to his impact on the industry and the musical legacy he left behind - and, we suppose, the insistent meme that Tupac is alive, well and walking among us - Tupac's name is still often spotted in headlines.

One of his songs, "Changes," made its way to the Vatican's official MySpace playlist in 2009, the rights to a screenplay he penned while in jail were acquired in May, and a potential film about his life has been talked about for the past few years.

The superstar rapper may be gone, but he is clearly not forgotten.

Remembering Tupac: 15 years since fatal shooting

2tweets retweet

Everyone knows the feeling of buying something for a great deal. Whether it’s groceries, shoes, computers, cell phones or a car, finding something you need or really, really want for an astonishing discount is exciting every single time. Even seeing a favorite toothpaste flavor on sale can brighten someone’s day.

And people like to tell anyone who’s willing to listen about their big steal. “You’ll never believe what I got this for,” or “Oh, this? I got it for next to nothing!” or my personal favorite, “Don’t tell me you paid full price for that. I saw it on sale at another store.” Thanks.

Don’t get me wrong, I like to celebrate a good find (usually by using it as an excuse to buy more), and there’s definitely a rush that shoots through me when the check-out person says my purchase total. However, there’s a popular practice out right now that takes sales, steals, deals and discounts to a whole new level – extreme couponing. Almost three-quarters of women and moms say the trend is on their radar.

The cable television channel TLC even has a reality show based on this massive savings phenomenon. Consumers carefully strategize a combination of retailer and manufacturer coupons, in-store promotions, rebates and any online deal they can find. The result: hundreds of dollars of groceries for $5 to $10 per trip. The savings add up to thousands of dollars each year. Sounds complicated, yet rewarding, right? Others must agree, because this trend is growing, and businesses are wary.

A report from Nielsen concluded that while coupon redemption is down from 4.4 billion in 2000 to 3.3 billion in 2010, the percentage of consumers who are heavy users (defined as those who bought at least 188 items in a year using coupons) is increasing. In 2010, 13% of consumers claimed to be heavy users (“enthusiasts”), up 2% from 2009. “Enthusiasts” redeemed 70% of coupons in 2010.

The amount of savings from this practice of couponing is at times unbelievable, and I can only imagine the rush these shoppers feel. However, some shoppers take extreme couponing too far and sometimes cheat the system. Retail chains are reviewing and changing their policies by adding more restrictions and rules to their coupons.

“One of the reasons why retailers have been posting their rules is because there has been fraud, there has been misuse of coupons [and] they want to control that,” said Todd Hale, senior VP-consumer and shopper insights at Nielsen.

What kind of misuse? A woman in South Carolina extreme coupon-ed so many boxes of rice that she would clear the shelves, leaving no rice for anyone else. The store believed she was turning around and selling the rice at a flea market for a profit, so they intervened and asked her to stop. Some shoppers buy obscene amounts of groceries and products for practically free just because they can, only bringing it home to more mass quantities of the same products hoarded away. Maybe their rush is more of a high – and addicting.

Retailers have to be careful, because this small percentage of coupon-abusers can’t ruin all of the fun for others. With more than two-thirds of shoppers claiming coupons influence their decisions to buy grocery items and people of all income levels using coupons, retailers’ restrictions must be fair and aim only at keeping out the abusers. Coupons and promotions are vital during a recession and will increase customer loyalty. Retailers must keep giving their customers the little joys of saving.

What do you think? Is extreme couponing hurtful to a retailer’s bottom line or a great way to encourage customers to shop in their store?

Source :http://www.ls-unscripted.com/index.php/2011/09/01/extreme-couponing-on-the-rise/

Extreme couponing on the rise

Eric Gay - ASSOCIATED PRESSMore photos »

For Mack Brown and Texas, the 2011 season is all about process.

Hallelujah, game week is here at last, the season is upon us, the slate is clean and anything is possible. This may not be the most promising season of the Mack Brown era in terms of wins and losses, but I'm nonetheless as excited and intrigued by the future as I've ever been -- including, by the way, 2009, a season set up for a title run, but which for all its promise felt as though it was setting up to be an exercise in survival. And indeed it was, as Texas' sputtering coaching staff was fortunate to survive a rocky season and a near-calamitous Big 12 Championship Game.

But five plays into the national title game, their luck ran out. Texas lost Colt McCoy to injury, lost the game to Alabama, lost its entire (two-man) offense to graduation, and then lost one, two, three, four... seven games in 2010. Not even Greg Davis could survive such spectacular failure. Will Muschamp could have, but decided not to stick around for the aftermath.

As ugly as it all was, a 5-7 catastrophe was exactly what Texas and Mack Brown needed. After 13 mostly successful years at Texas, Mack Brown was forced to hit program reset. Out with the old, in with the new, including two fresh coordinators and six new coaches in total, all of them young, impressive, and hungry.

Given the state of the program in December, it's tempting to look at the 2011 season narrative through that which was done in the months that immediately followed. Whether Mack Brown would respond well to the challenges facing him and the program was critically important, and without question his unqualified success in that regard has shaped the definition of the 2011 season.

Nevertheless, the 2011 season narrative is about more than what Mack Brown did in resetting the program. The 2011 season narrative is about what has to happen next -- about what is required for all this exciting potential to become actualized, maximized, and sustained on-field success. The 2011 season narrative is about process.

In connection with that broad theme, after the jump are four big points on process that I'm looking at to define the 2011 season.

Star-divide

1. Carrying over the energy, accountability, and improvements from the offseason program reset into the season.

Again, the 2010 meltdown was in many ways a good thing. As I've always insisted: Mack Brown is at his best when the going gets tough. He's tougher, wiser, and more resilient than many realize. And the manner in which he reset the program following last year's meltdown was nothing short of outstanding.

Laying that foundation was absolutely necessary, but the flipside of Mack's underrated strengths is a weakness when things are going well. When things are going well or looking good, Mack Brown has had a tendency to shift in to a mode of protecting assets, instead of continuing the process of developing them. Protecting strong assets is not inherently a bad thing, but there are real dangers in the context of a college football team/season/program. Opponents change, strategies change -- even your own players change all the time.

Mack Brown has responded exceptionally well to redeveloping and re-energizing the team and program, but one of the lessons it will be interesting to see if he's learned is how to sustain that energy, accountability, and effort to improve. It needs to carry over into the season and inform everything that he and the staff do, whether Texas is struggling or rolling.

2. Managing the team and coaching staff.

I think it's easy to misunderstand Mack Brown by his media appearances. That's not to say that there's nothing revealing about Mack Brown in what he says on camera or to reporters, but I think you have to carefully digest it through a filter or you risk mistaking noise for substance. For the most part, when Mack Brown is speaking on record, he is managing media; he is not talking directly to you or me or any of the most hardcore football fans. He is managing reporters, speaking to broad audiences, and managing a brand/message/image. Not every coach does it that way, and it doesn't particularly matter whether you like it or not, just that you digest it through that filter.

What really does matter, though, is how Mack Brown manages his coaching staff and the players. And there it's his actions, not words, that do the talking you should be listening to. It didn't matter what Mack Brown said about running the football, or what Pat Forde wrote about how he was managing the team; what mattered was what we saw in the first half against Rice in Reliant Stadium. Keep that in mind as you evaluate Mack Brown's management of this year's team, as well.

It doesn't much matter what he's saying publicly about Garrett Gilbert or managing the quarterbacks. What matters is what we see on the field on Saturdays. Are the back ups getting meaningful snaps? Do the assistant coaches appear to be protecting egos or seniority, or are the best players playing? Are we pushing to improve both when we're struggling and playing well? Win or lose, is this season developing this team and program for what's ahead, this season and next?

I don't much care what message Mack wants to try to sell through his words to the media. What I really care about is the message he's giving his staff and players. I want Mack Brown to: (1) foster urgency, (2) facilitate the use of that energy to produce development, (3) instil meaningful accountability, and (4) challenge everyone.

3. Challenging everyone.

If anyone should understand just how important it is to challenge everyone, it's Mack Brown, who by now should recognize that he responds best when he is under the gun. Everyone's a little bit different and there's room for degrees of difference in terms of approach and handling, but anyone who can't respond to being challenged is probably not someone on whom you want to rely, whether it's football or anything else.

Challenging everyone, all the time, is among Mack Brown's most important tasks this fall. If everyone is being challenged and decisions are being made the right way, for the right reasons, with the right goals in mind, that's mission accomplished, whether or not the results are optimal. Because if the process is optimal, you're giving yourself the best chance to achieve those optimal results -- the process itself is geared towards improving on the deficiencies.

That may seem a bit abstract, but it's the concrete foundation on which everything else rests. When the process started to break down in 2006, it was only a matter of time before the whole house came tumbling down. Above all else, Mack Brown's job this season is to solidy that foundation, and doing that is about instilling the right process all the way from the top on down. Mack must challenge himself, challenge his staff, and challenge his players.

4. Developing the roster.

As far back as I can remember I have memories of my father telling his favorite running joke. "Q: Who's the most popular player on Texas's team? A: The guy who's not playing."

We all have our favorites, as well our guys that we value more than others and think deserve more than they're getting. Sometimes you're the only one yammering that Chris Ogbonnaya can develop into a nifty little player and you look like a genius. And other times...

Refund, please.

...well, sometimes you're wrong. That can't be helped, not only for fans but for coaches, too. Sometimes a kid who excels in practice proves incapable of delivering in a game. Sometimes you choose a starter but the back up proceeds to outplay him. The objective is to get your program to the point where the process provides the coaches with the right information they need to make the most correct decisions, but even in the best of times there will be a fair number of misses. But whatever the state of your program at any given time, what matters is whether (1) the right guys are getting a chance to prove their worth (whether in practice or games or both), (2) the evaluation process is thorough and ongoing, and (3) there is a commitment to making changes where needed, as needed.

Heading into 2011, Mack Brown and Texas are in a period of learning and transition. That's fine and mistakes can't be helped. It is important, however, that the staff make the most of the 2011 season in terms of player identification and development. It doesn't matter if the best player is a junior or a freshman, or whether the best player is the one you named the opening week starter or his back up. What's important in 2011 is that you challenge everyone to develop, give the right players opportunities, make critical evaluations, and be willing to adjust.

It's going to be exciting to watch and root for this team, but whether they go 7-6 or 11-1 the 2011 season can be a success if the process that led to the impressive offseason improvements carries over to how the staff and players do things this fall.

Do that, and the wins will follow. Soon, and lots of them.

Two days to kickoff... Hook 'em

Source:http://www.burntorangenation.com/2011/9/1/2394340/texas-longhorns-football-the-2011-season-narrative

Texas Longhorns Football: The 2011 Season Narrative

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

With the whereabouts of Libyan strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi still unknown, an adviser to Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega said Tuesday that his government would consider granting him asylum.

Asked whether Nicaragua would offer Qaddafi asylum, economic adviser Bayardo Arce said he didn't know how Qaddafi could even get to this Central American nation, whose government has been a strong ally of the Libyan leader.

"I do not know how Qaddafi could get here from Libya, because we do not have an embassy in Libya," Arce told Channel 63 television.

But Arce said "if someone asks us for asylum, we would have to consider it positively, because our people got asylum when the Somoza dictatorship was killing us," Arce said, referring to the 1979 uprising that overthrew dictator Anastasio Somoza.

Ortega made a public speech Tuesday but did not mention Qaddafi.

Rebels overran Qaddafi's command compound in Tripoli on Tuesday, but his whereabouts are unknown.

The leftist governments of Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia are staunch allies of Qaddafi and have criticized the military intervention by U.S. and European air forces.

In late February, after Qaddafi's government began cracking down on the uprising, Ortega said he had telephoned the Libyan leader to express his solidarity.

Ortega said at the time that Qaddafi "is again waging a great battle" to defend the unity of his nation.

This article is based on the Associate Press.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/08/24/nicaragua-open-to-qaddafi-asylum-request-says-official/#ixzz1Vy9CvbuN

Nicaragua Open to Qaddafi Asylum Request, Says Official

School children practice their "drop, cover and hold" technique, as they participate in the "Great Southern California Shakeout." (Damian Dovarganes/AP) In the past 24 hours, a whole lot of shaking went on. Tuesday morning, the strongest earthquake to hit Colorado in 44 years struck near the town of Cokedale. In the afternoon, the East Coast roiled with shock at the strongest earthquake to hit Virginia since 1897.

West Coasters immediately started to mock the shaken and nervous East Coast, but they also got to share in some of the earthquake experience when a 3.6-magnitute quake hit near San Leandro, Calif.

Writer Mat Honan sized up the quake felt throughout San Francisco with this tweet: “That’s what we get for making fun of the East Coast today.”

The news swarm over the rare earthquake in Virginia, coupled with the other earthquake reports had some speculating on doomsday scenarios.

“I sure hope this whole earthquake-thing hitting Massachusetts, Colorado, and every other place doesn’t turn into ‘The Day After Tomorrow,’” wrote a Twitter user going by the name of DJ Knight Sweetie.

However rare earthquake may be in Virginia, earthquakes are extremely common in the U.S. The past week saw 728 earthquakes in various parts of the country. Colorado had a smaller earthquake on Monday in the same area the larger quake hit Tuesday. The U.S. Geological Survey has this map of where quakes hit in the last seven days:

Earthquake in California gives West Coasters their own fair shake

U.S. Geological Survey

The U.S. Geological Survey has posted this map of the 5.9-magnitude earthquake that hit central Virginia just before 2 p.m. today, sending tremors up and down the East Coast.

The yellow glow represents the area where potential damage is deemed "light" and perceived shaking is "moderate."

The quake’s frequency hit the geology of the region just right, like a tuning fork, and reverberated outward, said Alexander Gates, the chairman of earth and environmental sciences at Rutgers-Newark, and an earthquake expert. But there’s no likely danger for aftershocks of the Virginia quake, which will be significantly more minor, he said.

“That was pretty good, huh? I was impressed,” Gates said. “You don’t get earthquakes like that so often on the East Coast.”

Though small earthquakes occur in New Jersey all the time, earthquake experts said today's shaking was highly unusual.

"It's probably the largest one people have felt in New Jersey in decades," said Martha Withjack, professor of geological sciences at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

The Virginia-centered earthquake was felt all along the East Coast because of the nature of the area's rocks, Withjack said. Unlike the West Coast, where the underlying rocks are broken from frequent quakes, the older rocks beneath New Jersey are long and solid. That means the shaking in Virginia was easily transferred to New Jersey.

"The energy all the way from Virginia got transferred to us," Withjack said.

The magnitude of the earthquake was a 5.9, according to the USGS.

The USGS is also expected to release official intensity numbers, which use a different scale to document how intensely the shaking was at various points along the East Coast. The intensity scale goes from 1 to 12, with 12 being the highest. It is likely New Jersey was at a 3, which is considered the low end of the scale with no damage, Withjack said.

"California wouldn't even blink about this," Withjack said.

According to the scale, an intensity of 3 is described as: "Felt quite noticeably by people indoors, especially on the upper floors of buildings. Many do not recognize it as an earthquake. Standing motor cars may rock slightly. Vibration similar to the passing of a truck. Duration estimated."

There is a chance this earthquake was a precursor to a larger quake that will happen within a few days. But the chances are very small.

"It's not likely," Withjack said.

Earthquake map shows epicenter in central Virginia

These are the locations of the world’s major plate tectonics. A tectonic plate (also called lithospheric plate) is a massive, irregularly shaped slab of solid rock, generally composed of both continental and oceanic lithosphere. Plate size can vary greatly, from a few hundred to thousands of kilometers across; the Pacific and Antarctic Plates are among the largest. Plate thickness also varies greatly, ranging from less than 15 km for young oceanic lithosphere to about 200 km or more for ancient continental lithosphere (for example, the interior parts of North and South America).

The main features of the plate tectonics are:

- The Earth’s surface is made up of a series of large plates (like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle).
- These plates are in constant motion travelling at a few centimetres per year.
- The ocean floors are continually moving, spreading from the centre and sinking at the edges.
- Convection currents beneath the plates move the plates in different directions.
- The source of heat driving the convection currents is radioactive decay which is happening deep in the Earth.
- The edges of these plates, where they move against each other, are sites of intense geologic activity, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building.
- Plate tectonics is a relatively new theory and it wasn’t until the 1960′s that Geologists, with the help of ocean surveys, began to understand what goes on beneath our feet.

Tectonic Plates Locations – Earthquake Map

Rather than being redundant with a report about the quake here, I’ve decided to list some sites that are doing excellent reporting on the phenomena…

Washington, D.C. Earthquake 2011: 5.8 Earthquake Hits Nation’s Capital, Felt In New York

Earthquake in Maryland: D.C. area rocked

Earthquake hits D.C. area

5.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Virginia, shaking felt in New York; White House, Pentagon evacuated

The Earth Quake…

At 1:51 pm today, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 occured near Richmond,Virginia. Tremors could be felt from North Carolina and all the way up to Toronto, Canada. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake had a depth of about 3.7 miles.

A world map view of reported earthquakes over the past week. Pan and zoom the map to focus on hot spots and click the details button to see the quake report.

Earthquakes Today Earthquake today about 75 miles out of Richmond, VA. A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck around 1:50pm EST about .5 miles deep. Earthquakes are very unusual in this region of the United States. earthquakes So I propose

Earth Quake Videos from Earthquakes Today. As many living on the east coast of the United States already know, there was a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that shook several areas today. On the bright side,

The Middletown Fire Department reported receiving no calls related to the earthquake since it struck. The Fredericksburg, VA Patch has created a special Faceboo.

Rare Earthquake Hits Virginia, Rattles US East Coast

As many living on the east coast of the United States already know, there was a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that shook several areas today. On the bright side, "the Dow has recovered from its post-quake dip, and the New York Stock Exchanged never stopped trading." Videos after the break.

The USGS also says this is the biggest quake to roll out of Virginia since 1897. That's a long time ago! How would 19th century bloggers like me have found out about it in New York?

Earthquakes Today

Friday, August 19, 2011

During the State of the Union address in January, the first Twitter search results for #SOU were not tweets from likely suspects such as CNN, The New York Times, Time or The Economist. Rather, they came from satirical news source The Onion.

The Onion’s prevalence over real news outlets on Twitter, even when it comes to real news, has become something of a norm. This week, The Onion welcomed its 3 millionth follower on Twitter. That’s about 300,000 more than Time, three times more than The Economist and 1.6 million more than Newsweek.

Granted, The Onion also boasts the largest print and web circulation out of the four publications, but there’s more at work on Twitter than sheer eyeballs. The attention that The Onion gets on Twitter is a testament to its success of continuing its satire of news organizations onto social media.

“The newspaper’s content is delivered constantly, tweeted at optimum times and posted on Facebook during high-traffic periods,” explains the site’s online media kit.

Project Manager Matt Kirsch says that when the publication first began tweeting in 2008, it used the platform mostly like an RSS feed. Since then, its strategy has grown to encompass many of the same tactics used by real news outlets.

The Onion live tweets events like the Oscars and the Super Bowl from its various accounts. Sometimes it queues up jokes in advance, but for unpredictable events like the Super Bowl it has writers contribute in real time.

It also uses the platform to report on developing stories, both made up or real. In May, when The Onion reported that a 500-foot-tall Osama bin Laden had emerged from the sea, for instance, the Twitter account kept the public updated with Twitpics and quotes from government officials exclusive to Twitter. The method is not unlike that of a legitimate news outlet’s Twitter stream during breaking news situations.

“I think we use similar strategies,” Kirsch says. “The Onion is perfect for Twitter because our headlines are so entertaining — we can create our own news and make it seem more exciting.”

Real outlets often post hyperbolic headlines on Twitter, but not without scrutiny. Sticking to the facts, which are rarely as clickable as a 500-foot-tall bin Laden, can be a disadvantage on a platform that rewards pithy one-liners. If you ask Kirsch, this difference doesn’t make a comparison between his and other news outlets’ Twitter success unfair.

“We put out the same kind of content,” he says.

The Onion‘s most recent Twitter-generated content certainly does fit in with that of major real news outlets. Just as broadcasters are increasingly using Twitter to highlight reactions to news, The Onion has started incorporating Tweets into its video newscast, The Onion Review.

“We really try to engage our users even though The Onion doesn’t really care about our users — that’s kind of our line,” Kirsch says.

How The Onion Surpassed 3 Million Twitter Followers

Andy Benoit is previewing all 32 N.F.L. teams. He starts his look at the A.F.C. South with the Jaguars.

Dec. 19, 2010. Indianapolis: The Colts lead the Jaguars by 10 with 1:42 remaining in a do-or-die bout for the A.F.C. South division title. Jacksonville has the ball at its 29. On first-and-10, quarterback David Garrard drops back and dumps a pass to backup running back Rashad Jennings, who had come in for the injured star Maurice Jones-Drew (knee). Gain of 12.

Next play: a 14-yarder to Jennings, but a Jordan Black holding penalty brings it back. So, first-and-20. Garrard finds Jennings again for six yards. Then again for another six. On third-and-eight, he fires a 26-yard strike over the middle to wideout Jason Hill. First down. Jags call their final timeout. They’re in business. Except one problem. There are now only 39 seconds left in the game. The risk Garrard took on third-and-eight was one he needed to force on first-and-10.

This problem was like credit card debt: symptomatic of bigger issues. Down by 10 with just under two minutes left – that’s when you call on your quarterback. It’s a steep uphill climb, no doubt, but it’s not impossible. The Jaguars learned on that December day in Indianapolis what they probably already knew deep down: they didn’t have someone to call on. It would have been better if Garrard had thrown a deep interception on first-and-10. At least then he would have been striving for the climb. Instead, he whimpered out with safe but irrelevant dinks-and-dunks. It’s not that Garrard didn’t have heart or confidence – it’s that he didn’t know any other way to play.

The most painful part of this for the owner Wayne Weaver and the Jacksonville front office was that, two and a half years before, Garrard had made several big plays (primarily with his legs) in the team’s wild-card road win at Pittsburgh. Not long after that triumph, in a move that now looks like an impulsive marriage proposal made right after a night of passion, the Jaguars signed Garrard to a seven-year, $63 million deal, making him the highest-paid player in franchise history. But Garrard would go on to be exactly what he was all along: a middling N.F.L. quarterback.

And so the Jaguars filed for divorce this past April by trading their first-and second-round picks to move up six spots and draft Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert 10th over all. The last time the Jaguars traded up in the first round to correct a glaring weakness was 2008, when they gave up a first-round pick plus two third-rounders and a fourth-rounder to draft defensive end Derrick Harvey. Long story short, Harvey is now a backup in Denver and the Jaguars have ranked 30th or worse in sacks each of the past two years.

The Harvey whiff set this franchise back and helped lead to a managerial change (the new general manager Gene Smith replaced the vice president of player personnel Shack Harris as the top decision maker in 2009). But its ramifications would feel mild compared with what a Gabbert whiff might entail. The ninth-year coach Jack Del Rio probably isn’t even concerned with that right now. If the Jags don’t continue their upward trend in 2011 – they were 5-11 n ’08, 7-9 in ’09 and 8-8 in ’10 – he’ll be long gone by the time an accurate assessment of Gabbert can be made.

For Del Rio, the organization’s decision to go in a different direction at quarterback came at least a year too late. He’s now caught in “win now!” mode – Weaver even said after last season that failure to reach the ’11 playoffs would result in the coaching staff’s termination – which means that in choosing his starter for 2011, he can’t afford to give any extra consideration to Gabbert’s development.

Maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be, though. After all, this is one situation where we can fully believe the coach when he says he’ll play the guy that gives the team the best chance to win.

Offense

Before training camp, it looked as if the lockout was going to make Del Rio’s decision easy. No off-season activities meant no experience for Blaine Gabbert, who is making the difficult transition from college spread offense (which bears little resemblance to an N.F.L. spread offense) to Dirk Koetter’s traditional dropback offense (which also bears little resemblance to an N.F.L. spread offense…or a college spread offense). Thus, the 33-year-old David Garrard would be the starter by default.

But then Garrard showed up with back problems, which tend to be mercurial. And so it was Gabbert taking the early reps in camp and starting the preseason opener. Maybe he’ll be the starter by default. Or, more likely, maybe Garrard will get healthy but be rusty, and Del Rio will be faced with the same agonizing dilemma he started with.

We know the Jaguars don’t believe they can be great with Garrard. They’re right. His arm strength is ordinary at best and he’s not a sharp progression passer. Scrambling ability aside, he can only play within the basic confines of an offense, which means just about any big play the Jags strive for has to be deliberately manufactured by Koetter. That’s a caretaking quarterback to a T.

Exacerbating the passing game’s mediocrity is an underwhelming stash of resources at wide receiver. Jason Hill runs well and can go over the middle, but there’s a reason he has caught only 51 passes in his five-year career. Mike Thomas can admiringly be described as a compressed version of Hines Ward, but stocky 5’8” receivers with good track speed but only decent football speed don’t become stars, no matter how excellent their blocking might be.

The fight for the No. 3 receiving job is uninspiring. In one corner is the oft-injured third-year pro Jarrett Dillard. In the other is Cecil Shorts, a fourth-round rookie from Division III Mount Union. Possibly in the mix is Kassim Osgood, whose business card has always had “special teamer” written in bigger font than “wide receiver.”

Barren as the wide receiver position might be, it’s not a completely hopeless passing game for Gabbert or Garrard. Pro Bowl tight end Marcedes Lewis is coming off a breakout season in which he not only posted career numbers but, perhaps more important, proved he could be genuinely effective as a movable chess piece in a variety of formations. Koetter can now line Lewis up just about anywhere on the field, which, with Maurice Jones-Drew’s receiving prowess out of the backfield, lends the Jaguars mismatch-creating opportunities they haven’t had before.

Jones-Drew is the near-perfect football player. He’s a smart, tenacious leader. He catches passes and picks up blitzers with estimable aptitude. He totes the rock inside with authority – you’ve heard the bowling ball analogies by now – and even more effectively outside with speed. He’s the reason the Jaguars ranked third in rushing last season and the reason there’s hope for this fluctuating offense.

If Jones-Drew is unavailable (he spent the off-season rehabbing from knee surgery but should be fine), the Jags are in trouble. Backup Rashad Jennings flashes some intriguing tackle-breaking potential (he runs with the same springy power of Ryan Torain) but he’s not a featured back. Then again, perhaps anyone could excel behind fullback Greg Jones, the quickest, nastiest lead-blocker in the N.F.L.

Whoever is quarterback will be reading the defenses diligently (slowly), which puts pressure on high-drafted offensive tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton to grow considerably in their third seasons. Monroe must get more assertive on the left side; he has a tendency to get caught with his hands down in pass protection and become reactive. Britton is a bit of a fistfighter who is more inclined to survive than thrive, which is fine for a right tackle. To survive he must bounce back from last season’s torn labrum (shoulder) and this season’s lingering back issues. If he doesn’t, journeyman utility backup Tony Moll will have to step in.

Will Rackley figures to start at left guard at some point, but even though he’s unusually polished for a third-round rookie from a Football Championship Subdivision school (Lehigh), there still figures to be a learning curve. Thus, injury prone ex-Packer Jason Spitz could fill this spot initially. Well-worn veteran center Brad Meester and limited but improving right guard Uche Nwaneri round out the interior front.

Defense

Pass-rushers don’t grow on trees, but even if they did, this team probably wouldn’t know how to pick ‘em. Whether it’s draft picks like Harvey and Quentin Groves or free agent signings like Reggie Hayward or Hugh Douglas, this organization has never had success with infusing instant pass-rushing talent. The most recent disappointment is Aaron Kampman.

The Jaguars signed Kampman last season knowing he was coming off a torn left ACL. Eight games and four sacks into 2010, he tore his right ACL in practice. He’s returning again but in a reduced role. Usually that means a role off the bench, though Jacksonville doesn’t have an abundance of options at end. They did, however, help their cause by signing Matt Roth, one of the most underrated all-around edge players in the league. Roth will work ahead of Jeremy Mincey (a semi-explosive run defender but low-impact player over all) and somewhere in a rotation with last year’s fifth-round picks, Austen Lane and Larry Hart. Lane is a willowy athlete; Hart is a pass-rushing specialist who needs to be a tad faster to justify his slight 6’0”, 248-pound build. He reportedly came to camp out of shape and could lose his job to undrafted second-year pro Aaron Morgan.

There’s the possibility for a long-term potent one-two punch at defensive tackle if Tyson Alualu can learn an array of N.F.L.-quality pass-rush moves to augment his considerable initial burst, and if Terrance Knighton can stop ordering seconds at his mother’s kitchen table (or wherever else he goes to put on pounds). When fit, Knighton has the size and methodical power to clog the pile and consistently command double teams. Rounding out the interior front, Leger Douzable is an intriguing run-defending sub who can spell both defensive tackles.

The hope is that the continued growth of the defensive tackles and a revamped linebacking unit can fix a run defense that gave up the third-most yards per carry in football last season. Dependable do-everything veteran Daryl Smith, the only returning starter, will line up primarily on the left outside. On the right will be ex-Colt Clint Session, a fierce competitor who is expected to be more physical and consistent than the departed Justin Durant. Working between the two and ahead of aggressive utility backup Russell Allen is Paul Posluszny. The ex-Bill is not in the Urlacher class of middle linebackers, but he brings the inside thumping and flawless tackling that has been sorely lacking here.

Posluszny can also run down the seams and hunt underneath crossing patterns in coverage, which is something Jacksonville’s nickel linebacking unit lacked aside from Smith last season. Posluszny’s presence allows Jack Del Rio and defensive coordinator Mel Tucker to stray even further from the usual banal zone concepts and venture deeper into the land of blitz they’ve explored with better frequency. It’s critical they do so, as this secondary won’t be getting much help from the traditional four-man pass-rush.

It’s a secondary that needs the help, too. Strong safety Courtney Greene is not a comfortable decision maker in space (teams like the Colts can be particularly cruel in the way they attack him with dual receivers screaming down the seams). Athletically, new free safety Dawan Landry is an upgrade over the deluge of duds that paraded through this spot last season. But Landry is also better suited as a strong safety, closer to the line of scrimmage. It was not Gene Smith’s first choice to sign the 28-year-old to play out of position, but the free safety market dried up after Eric Weddle rejoined San Diego.

The Jags fortunately have a solid cornerbacking tandem that can help offset the vulnerabilities at safety. When he’s right, Rashean Mathis is a stopper who can also make plays. Derek Cox struggled at times last season and was even benched at one point, but athletically, the ’09 third-rounder has the necessary tools to play man or zone. It’s just a matter of focus and execution.

Tucker must take advantage of new nickel back Drew Coleman’s versatility in the slot. Coleman is not a dominant presence, but he can cover adequately and disguise blitzes extremely well. He’s a definite step up from David Jones.

Special Teams

New punter Matt Turk has been in the N.F.L. longer than the Jaguar franchise, but he doesn’t show any alarming signs of decline. Josh Scobee is one of the best long-distant field-goal kickers in the league. Though not an electrifying athlete, Mike Thomas can make things happen as a punt returner (he ran one back 78 yards for a score last season), while kick-returning third-string running back Deji Karim produces quality field position on a fairly regular basis.

Bottom Line

Too much about this team smells average. The loss of off-season activities could prove especially harmful to a pass offense that’s young and still needing to come together. Defensively, if you can’t pressure the quarterback these days, you generally can’t win.

2011 Jacksonville Jaguars Season Preview

HP may have decided to terminate its webOS devices but that doesn’t mean existing tablets that have already been built will magically disappear. And since they won’t be selling anymore webOS tablets in the future, they’ve decided to get rid of the existing tablets the fastest way they know how to (well, second fastest if you include incinerating them all) – by having a fire sale!

In a memo that was sent out to HP affiliates today, the company has announced that the price of the TouchPad tablet will be reduced by 70-75%! Starting tomorrow (and in some stores, today) you’ll be able to purchase the 16GB TouchPad at $99 and the 32GB TouchPad at $149. No word about the 64GB model though. Talk about low, low prices! Taking into consideration the average cost of a digital photo frame or an eBook reader and you know you have a great deal on your hands. Maybe the sudden surge in sales will make HP reconsider their decision. Will any of you be picking up the TouchPad now that it’s going to be dirt cheap?

HP TouchPad receives massive price cut

Country	Channels
Canada	GolTV Canada
Spain	TVE, Televisió de Catalunya
UK	Sky Sports 2, Sky Sports HD 2
USA	ESPN3.com USA, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN Deportes

Other Countries
Algeria	Al Jazeera Sports
Andorra	Televisió de Catalunya
Angola	SuperSport
Argentina	DirecTV Latin America
Australia	SBS One Australia
Bahrain	Al Jazeera Sports
Belgium	Be TV
Brazil	TV Esporte Interativo
Brunei	Astro SuperSport
Burundi	SuperSport
Cameroon	SuperSport
Cape Verde	SuperSport
Central African Republic	SuperSport
Chad	Al Jazeera Sports
Chile	DirecTV Latin America
Congo	SuperSport
Djibouti	Al Jazeera Sports
DR Congo	SuperSport
Ecuador	DirecTV Latin America
Egypt	Al Jazeera Sports
Eritrea	Al Jazeera Sports
Ethiopia	Al Jazeera Sports
France	Al Jazeera Sports, Canal+ Sport
Gabon	SuperSport
Gambia	SuperSport, Al Jazeera Sports
Germany	ZDF
Ghana	SuperSport
Guinea Bissau	SuperSport
Iraq	Al Jazeera Sports
Ivory Coast	SuperSport
Jordan	Al Jazeera Sports
Kenya	SuperSport
Kuwait	Al Jazeera Sports
Lebanon	Al Jazeera Sports
Liberia	SuperSport
Libya	Al Jazeera Sports
Madagascar	SuperSport
Malawi	SuperSport
Malaysia	Astro SuperSport
Mali	SuperSport
Mauritania	Al Jazeera Sports
Mexico	ESPN Deportes Radio
Morocco	Al Jazeera Sports
Namibia	SuperSport
Netherlands	Sport1 Netherlands
Niger	SuperSport
Nigeria	SuperSport
Oman	Al Jazeera Sports
Palestine	Al Jazeera Sports
Portugal	Sport.TV2
Puerto Rico	ESPN Deportes Radio
Qatar	Al Jazeera Sports
Rwanda	SuperSport
Saudi Arabia	Al Jazeera Sports
Senegal	SuperSport, Al Jazeera Sports
Singapore	Starhub
Somalia	Al Jazeera Sports
South Africa	SuperSport
Sudan	Al Jazeera Sports
Syria	Al Jazeera Sports
Tanzania	SuperSport
Togo	SuperSport
Tunisia	Al Jazeera Sports
Turkey	NTV Spor
Uganda	SuperSport
United Arab Emirates	Al Jazeera Sports
Uruguay	DirecTV Latin America
Western Sahara	Al Jazeera Sports
Yemen	Al Jazeera Sports

Live Streams and TV Channels Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Even in darkened parks within the City of Madison these meteors can be seen.

The Perseid meteor shower is underway. International observers are now reporting more than 20 meteors per hour as Earth passes through a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on the night of Aug. 12-13. The best time to look is during the hours before dawn on Saturday morning, August 13th, when the glaring Moon is relatively low and meteor rates are highest.

Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight

Fri Aug 12, 2011 11:00am GMT
* Veteran revolutionary increasingly out of public view
* Physically frailer, but still seems alert mentally
* Helping Venezuela's Hugo Chavez through cancer treatment

By Jeff Franks

HAVANA, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Revolutionary legend Fidel Castro turns 85 on
Saturday, still an important figure in his communist-ruled Cuba, but
increasingly a fading presence in the life of the country he ran for 49
years.

He gave up his last leadership post this year when he stepped down as
head of the ruling Communist Party and has retreated further and further
from public view.

His gradual slipping away appears to be a product of choice borne of
necessity, but also of a transition plan to wean Cuba from its once
near-total dependence on the charismatic Comandante's leadership.

He is rarely seen or heard from and has stood largely on the sidelines
as his younger brother and replacement, President Raul Castro, struggles
to reform Cuba's Soviet-style economy.

"His role has diminished significantly. He has stepped away more so than
at any point in the last five years," said Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, a
Cuba expert at the University of Nebraska in Omaha.

"It may be a case of Raul Castro solidifying his governing style and
Fidel willingly receding," he told Reuters.

Cuba was to celebrate the birthday on Saturday with a nationally
televised "serenade" by a lineup of musicians. Organizers said this week
they did not know if Fidel Castro would attend personally.

He came to power on New Year's Day 1959 when his guerrilla forces swept
down from the eastern Sierra Maestra mountains to topple U.S.-backed
dictator Fulgencio Batista.

As Cuba's president, he outlasted nine U.S. presidents and five decades
of U.S. hostility, but in July 2006 he underwent emergency intestinal
surgery and suffered complications from which he never fully recovered .

He handed power provisionally to Raul Castro, then did so officially
when he resigned in February 2008 and his younger sibling was elected
president by the National Assembly.

The fading of Fidel's political presence has mirrored a physical decline
that was most notable at a Communist Party congress in April when he
made just one appearance and had to be helped to his chair on the stage.

The man once famous for his hours-long speeches sat wordlessly as his
brother did all the talking in a silent passing of the torch.

TENDING TO SICK CHAVEZ

A year ago, when he reappeared in public after four years of
semi-seclusion, he was vigorous enough to launch a campaign warning the
world that U.S. moves against Iran's nuclear capability could lead to a
nuclear holocaust.

Now, like many elderly, he is tending to the health of a sick friend, in
this case close leftist ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who is
being treated in Cuba for an undisclosed type of cancer.

Fidel Castro has not been seen since the party congress except in videos
chatting with Chavez, in which his physical frailty was clear, but he
still seemed mentally alert.

Chavez' illness inspired the only opinion column, or "reflection," by
Fidel Castro this summer. Until three months ago, the old revolutionary
had written regular opinion pieces on world affairs assiduously
published by Cuban state media.

In his July 3 piece on Chavez, in which he predicted the Venezuelan
leader's full recovery, he said he had "momentarily" been writing less
because he was "attending to other matters that are now top priority."
He gave no more explanation.

After his five years out of power, life without Fidel Castro is not as
unimaginable for Cubans as it once was.

He is loved by some and hated by others, but increasingly Raul Castro,
80, has supplanted him as the man considered critical to the future of
the Revolution. His importance is magnified by the lack of younger
potential leaders under him.

"People used to worry about what would happen if Fidel died, but now
it's Raul. Raul replaced Fidel, but who will replace Raul?" said
mechanic Rafa Marrero.

Nevertheless, Benjamin-Alvarado said Fidel Castro's death will be a
"historical moment" for Cuba and perhaps the catalyst for more change.

Whether they like Fidel Castro or not, Cubans "are ready to move on. So
that will be the point where there will be pressure on Raul to extend
the changes he has initiated," he said. (Editing by Pascal Fletcher and
Anthony Boadle)

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFN1E77920H20110812?sp=true

Go to article

Cuba’s fading Fidel Castro turns 85 on Saturday

Sunday, August 7, 2011

It was appropriate then that Fan Day, heralding the start of a new football season, falls Sunday, just a day after momentous ceremonies and remembrances that, this year, came with an uneasy blend of joy and sorrow, hope and despair.

A killer tornado twisted and turned through Tuscaloosa April 27, reshaping the lives of the latest batch of graduates at the university that dominates this otherwise sleepy town. Six of their own were among the 47 dead.

After the storm, the university ended the semester. School finished abruptly. Many students joined the community's relief efforts or went home.

This weekend's graduation helped bring closure, students said, and will help them start anew.

Friday night, the names of the six students who were killed were said aloud at a candlelight vigil on campus.

Scott Atterton, Danielle Downs, Ashley Harrison, Melanie Nicole Mixon, Morgan Sigler and Marcus Smith.

Their families watched as former student government President James Fowler laid down a red rose for each of their loved ones.

"Tonight we honor them," Fowler said. "Tonight we heal."

At the first of two undergraduate commencement ceremonies Saturday, University President Robert Witt called the names of their parents. They stood to applause and then accepted their children's diplomas awarded posthumously.

David and Darlene Harrison pinned photos of Ashley on themselves. It was hard to keep eyes dry.

"It was huge for those families to see the university body to recognize what they are going through," said Shannon Lindamood, who earned her degree in dance.

She could not imagine her own family -- her parents or her brother -- having to accept on her behalf.

"I know it will never be the same for them," Lindamood said. "But I hope this helped them."

After tornado, Alabama students finally get graduation day

42 people were arrested and 26 police officers injured following a riot in Tottenham, London Sunday. The riot was sparked after a Mark Duggan, 29, was shot and killed Thursday when London police tried to apprehend Duggan from a minicab he was in.

Officers of Scotland Yard's elite firearms squad CO19 were following Duggan--a known offender--when he became aware of the tail and began shooting at the officers Daily Mail reports. The shootout ended with the death of Duggan. The officers were working as a part of Operation Trident which deals with gun crime in African and Caribbean communities the BCC reports.

Two days after Duggan's death, hundreds of residents of Broadwater Farm estate--Duggan's place of residence--gathered around the Tottenham police station in a peaceful protest demanding justice for the undue death of a respectable father of four. Violence followed soon thereafter.

From BBC News:

(Aug. 6, 2011 - 20:20 BST) The violence begins as bottles are thrown at two patrol cars close to the police station. One of the vehicles is set alight, while the other is pushed into the middle of the road before also being torched.

Unconfirmed reports say the incident was sparked off by a confrontation between a teenage protester and a police officer.

Riot officers from the Territorial Support Group and police on horseback are deployed to disperse the crowds but come under attack from bottles, fireworks and other missiles.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which is currently looking into the death of Duggan has reported it believes two shots were fired by police and an illegal firearm was recovered in the scene.

Soon after the start of the riots, looting began in nearby Wood Green.

Those involved in the riots say this was an unfair treatment of the poor ethic minorities in significantly black population of Tottenham.

"How many black people have to die around here?" an onlooker, Pablo, told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I hate the police."

Police have not provided information of any fatalities involved with the riot, but some have speculated the scorched shops have contain dead bodies.

Riot and Violence Ensues In Tottenham Following Police Shooting

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 06: Buildings burn on Tottenham High Road, London after youths protested against the killing of a man by armed police in an attempted arrest, August 6, 2011 in London, England. Twenty-nine-year-old father-of-four Mark Duggan died August 4 after being shot by police in Tottenham, north London. (Photo by Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***

Violence ... Firefighters struggle to put out burning buildings and police cars on Tottenham High Road after hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against the death of Mark Duggan. Photo: Getty Images

LONDON: Hundreds of mostly young men armed with makeshift missiles hurled bricks and aimed fireworks at riot police against a backdrop of burning vehicles and buildings in north London as what began as a protest became a riot.

Demonstrators had marched to a police station in Tottenham to protest against the death of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four who was shot by police on Thursday in what The Guardian described as a ''shootout'' with officers from the Trident unit of the Metropolitan Police, which investigates gun crime.

An officer may have had a lucky escape in the clash - a police radio was found to have a bullet lodged in it.

The unrest followed a protest march from Broadwater Farm, a 1960s public housing estate widely known for the killing of Police Constable Keith Blakelock, who was hacked to death during a riot there in 1985.

Before midnight on Saturday, the protest had turned violent, leading to 42 arrests. Police say 26 officers were hurt, including one who sustained a head injury. Two police cars and a double-decker bus were burnt and ''bottles and other missiles'' were thrown at police by the crowd, police said in a statement.

By midnight, the crowd had grown to several hundred and thick black smoke hung over the area after several shops were set alight.

Most of the crowd consisted of onlookers, The Guardian reported, who jeered as riot police, police vans and mounted units arrived. There were chants of ''we want answers'' and ''whose streets? Our streets.''

Eight police were treated in hospital.

Tottenham is home to a high proportion of poor ethnic minorities with a significant black population. ''How many black people have to die around here?'' asked one of the youths, who gave his name as Pablo. ''I hate the police,'' he said.

The anarchy even spread to another suburb several kilometres away where looters attacked a shopping centre in Wood Green. Clothing and coat hangers littered the street as young looters smashed the doors and ransacked nearly every shop.

Startling pictures claiming to be from the scene popped up on Twitter almost instantly, with some posters saying the destruction included the bus, a police station and another building.

Photos posted on the website Hashalbum.com/tottenham, described as being from the scene in Tottenham, showed a bus engulfed in flames and people in the smoke-choked streets.

By 3am, it appeared that parts of the riot zone had spiralled out of police control. A fire raged in a block-long building. More fires raged unabated in narrow streets and alleys.

A group of young men laden with looted groceries sprinted down a side street, screaming, ''Let's load up!''

The youths seemed to be both jubilant and deadly serious and the street had an almost party-like atmosphere, punctuated by intense violence.

The young men seemed unconcerned about how the night might end. ''I don't care,'' Pablo said.

By early yesterday, riot police were patrolling the streets and restored order and all fires were under control. The BBC said a friend of Mr Duggan, who gave her name as Niki, 53, said that the demonstrators had wanted ''justice for the family'' and that ''something had to be done''.

Some of the demonstrators lay in the road, she said. ''They're making their presence known because people are not happy.

''This guy was not violent. Yes, he was involved in things but he was not an aggressive person. He had never hurt anyone.''

The New York Times

Breaking News Best Site News