The Weekly Poll
Results
The '2011 Crystal ball' Edition...
I read somewhere this past week that some manner of 'seer' has predicted that Michelle Obama will become pregnant this year. O-o-o-kay... Not sure how the Obamas feel about that, but I think it might give the White House a much needed PR boost... Anyway...
Anybody game to make some 2011 Predictions?
Well, then, Poll-fans... We did end up with some interesting responses after all... And I thank the responders fer 'em... So... Have at it, then...
Joe B...
I think the Tea party people are going to be disappointed when things don't go the way they want them to
(One can always hope, I'm sayin'...).
Chief John from Issaquah...
The Price of regular gas will reach $5 per gallon!
(I say... 
(Thanks, Berkeley)
Adam in NoHo...
I'm not very good at this sort of thing. (It's not about that, my friend, It's about having fun!) I suppose the biggest thing is that as the 'Economy' 'Improves, it will not bring back all the jobs we need to keep everyone employed. The simple fact is that we have streamlined and automated ourselves into a hole. Computers and robots depend on a much, much smaller population to make real economic sense.
(Yeah, ask the UAW!)
Baron Dave...
I predict:
Right wingers will be in complete denial over the Tucson shootings, and blame everyone else but themselves. You can't have an adult conversation with children.
Still, it's worth reminding us: Conservatives are the problem, they are not the enemy. (True...)
Nonetheless, things will get worse before they get better. (Hmmm)
Americans will find something new to be scared about. (Mebbee we should have a Poll on that, eh?)
The Patriots will win the Super Bowl. (my pick, too... I'm a 'Brady' guy... A 'Michigan Man', ya know)
Millions of girls will dream of unicorns, and millions of boys won't. (My Ever Fabulous Maddie Muffin loves 'em)
Ventriloquism will make a comeback. (Really?... Interesting...)
Eat, Pray, Love; pick two. (Um... Ah... Er... Dagnabbit!)
"Science Fiction has been a notoriously bad predictor of the future." -- Baron Dave Romm
(I know, I know... But, I do like so...)
"Not any worse than the Western." -- John Clute
"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going." -- Professor Irwin Corey
(Wisdom there, I'm thinkin'...)
Tom R...
These are all off the top of my head, but what the hey... (Yeah! What the hey, I say!)
1) Fans have been eagerly waiting for the Marvel Comics "Avengers" movie. It will disappoint them. Something will simply smell wrong about the movie. I'm guessing that it will be the attempt to please both the hardcore comic book geeks, and simultaneously attract the mass audience that doesn't really know or love comics. That disappointment might begin with the "Thor" movie, with the Christian Right sniping at kids watching a non-Christian "god" in the flesh, and with people disliking a character more muscular and cliched than Schwartzenegger and Stallone combined.
(Is that even possible?)
2) The Vampire Empire will collapse. (I hope so. Enough, already...) Bookshelves, movie screens and science fiction cons have been saturated with vampires for a long time. A major force was Anne Rice, who has turned in genuine horror at what she created and has gone all Christian Right in her recent books. She spawned "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and a thousand bad imitations of her vampire books. It's time for that trend to reverse. Vampires won't even be the subjects of mockery any more. People will simply be bored with the immortal serial killers, even if they have been used as symbols of gays and lesbians in a lot of the books.
3) J.K. Rowling will announce she's working on new books set in her Harry Potter universe. There's enormous love for the universe. Just as Ian Fleming was forced to resurrect James Bond, after he tried to end Bond's career in "You Only Live Twice," Rowling will have to go back to her Wizarding World. My guess is that these won't be the stories of Harry Potter continued, but will be the stories of new young characters growing up in the post-Voldemort period.
(Egad! Doesn't she have enough money? She's richer than the Queen, fer cryin' out loud!)
4) Former teen celebrities will start falling badly. Even as Justin Beiber is being promoted as the new male Hannah Montana, a lot of the young stars pumped up by Disney and Nickelodeon will start showing the traditional failings. You can't be that famous, that fast, and be worked that hard without having severe emotional problems. I feel that it won't be Miley Cyrus with the worst problems, but the second-tier kids, like the ones in Disney's stupid kid sitcoms like "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and "That's So Raven." Look for them in your local supermarket tabloids soon.
(I've heard that very thing not long ago from someone in the know... Sad... and pitiful...)
Richard McD...
I don't think they would have a child just for the sake of poll numbers. On the other hand I believe that other people would do it.
(Nah... But, there's always that 'Oopsy' thing, ya know, haha...)
Dan 'The Stan' D...
"Boy" Obama, that well-healed, half-white house-nigger of the Rothschild's Banking, Military Industrial Empire, will continue going where no other war criminal has gone before (and this includes the planet's former war-criminal champion, Dubya). You see, the Lesser Bush of bad-ass White-man's Land ALWAYS had serious PR issues with blowing masses of little brown babies up in other parts of the world, especially in Afghanistan. Therefore, he actually moderated some of his most murderously vile conduct.
But boy, Obama -- as a former little brown baby himself -- really doesn't need to display any such humanitarian sensitivities ... and doesn't. I wonder however, how many military geeks directing all
those slaughtering drones are fat-assed, pudgey Caucasians? And do they smoke a cigarette after every mass slaughter?
Life is always good when your war-crook is in charge!
Management neither endorses or approves of racist or inflammatory words or phrases.
However, it is believed that the reader possesses the intellectual maturity to form their own judgements and opinions.
Then there's that Free Speech thing (as well as letting DanD be DanD). ~marty
SallyP...
I predict that B2BB will be so over come by remorse (remorse? Puh-leeze!) from leaving his poll, that he will take a break and then resume the mission, much to our delight! I am sorry to see this feature go away, the replies have been so interesting, and varied, it provided some very good reads, Mr Bone. You will be sorely missed!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: The Murderous Rampage Next Door (San Francisco Gate)
Every tragedy births a supplication. Every assault, violent attack, assassination attempt and murderous spree begets the same series of questions, a palms-open appeal to the gods of law, society, humanity.
Froma Harrop: Crazy Gunman, but a Political Attack (Creators Syndicate)
House Speaker John Boehner seemed truly appalled by the murderous rampage against Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and constituents at a supermarket in her Tucson, Ariz., district. But the Republican's contention that this was "an attack on all who serve" wasn't quite right.
Jim Hightower: BOEHNER'S PEOPLE
Statesman Boehner and other Republican leaders promptly proceeded to stomp on the will of the people throughout the busy December session of Congress. A big majority of folks, for example, favored extending jobless benefits to the millions of Americans who're out of work, some 4.5 million of whom have been unemployed for more than a year.
Paul Constant: The Classical Tradition Is Huge and Awesome (The Stranger)
You can't really review "The Classical Tradition." It's a reference book, and it's not afraid to look like a reference book: It's an enormous beast of a thing, with two dense columns of text to a page and illustrations throughout. Items are arranged in alphabetical order, and each entry comes with its own brief bibliography to assist further research.
Paul Constant: Make Me a Woman (The Stranger)
The Hunger Games Defeats Twilight's Heartthrob Vampires in Hand-to-Hand Combat.
"Flatland" by Edwin Abbott: A review by Colin C. Adams
In 1884, the English minister, headmaster, and biblical and Shakespearean scholar Edwin Abbott Abbott produced a thin volume titled 'Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.' It was both an introduction to the notion of higher dimensions and a satire of Victorian society and norms.
Sue Townsend meets the Guardian book club (Guardian)
The author of 'The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾' and eight subsequent books about him, talks to Professor John Mullan at the monthly Guardian book club.
Timothy Noah: I Like Dwight (Slate)
Let us now praise Dwight Garner, 'New York Times' daily book critic.
"Saul Bellow: Letters": A review by Michael O'Donnell
If we needed reminding that Bellow -- who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976, and every other major literary award besides -- warrants mention in the same breath as Mozart, we now have it in his collected letters.
Jennifer Howard: The Afterlife of David Foster Wallace (Chronicle of Higher Education)
When David Foster Wallace committed suicide, on September 12, 2008, at the age of 46, he put an abrupt and shocking end to what was already one of the most distinctive writing lives in contemporary America.
Germaine Greer: Frank Gehry's new building looks like five scrunched-up brown bags (Guardian)
The lionised architect's new design for the Sydney suburbs verges on self-parody.
Luaine Lee: Thanks to one special fan, Uhura became a lifetime role for Nichelle Nichols (McClatchy-Tribune News Service)
Though the part of the comely communications officer Uhura on the original series "Star Trek" turned out to be a lifelong role, actress Nichelle Nichols wanted to quit after the first season.
David Bruce has 39 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $39 you can buy 9,750 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
didn't take
yesterday off after all -
yahoo delivered it late.
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warmer.
DVRs Give Coco The Lead
'Conan'
After two months on the air, Conan O'Brien's late-night talk show is the favorite of younger viewers - that is, when DVR usage is factored in, according to basic-cable network TBS.
Most ratings figures count TV viewership only within the 24-hour period after a show is aired. By this standard, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" is the champ in total viewers, as well as in the desirable 18-to-49 demographic.
But "Conan" ranks No. 1 in the key 18-to-49 and 18-to-34 audience segments when "time-shifted" data is included, which adds viewers of the show up to a full week after its airing.
By this measure, "Conan" has topped all cable and broadcast late-night talk shows since its premiere Nov. 8 through the end of the year, TBS announced late Tuesday.
'Conan'
Breaks BET Ratings, Gets 2nd Chance
'The Game'
After nearly two years off the air and in limbo "The Game" has returned to TV, giving BET a big ratings boost and fans another chance to share the highs and lows of a football wife and her athlete husband.
The show premiered its fourth season Tuesday night on BET after a three season run on the CW that was canceled in 2009. "The Game" set a ratings record for BET, which said 7.7 million viewers tuned in, making it the No. 1 original telecast on the network, and No. 2 of all-time, behind the 2009 BET Awards, which had 10.2 million viewers and took place three days after the death of Michael Jackson.
While BET hasn't announced a fifth season, "The Game" is helping the network change its image. The show is the first scripted series for BET, which also premiered its own original show, "Let's Stay Together," right after "The Game" Tuesday night; 4.4 million viewers tuned in to watch "Together," which airs at 10:30 p.m./9:30 p.m. Eastern.
The new season of "The Game" picks up two years after it ended. The relationship for newlyweds Melanie and Derwin is still rocky since Derwin recently had a child with another woman. Malik Wright (Hosea Chanchez) is second string to Derwin, who is now the San Diego Sabers franchise player. Tasha Mack (Wendy Raquel Robinson), Malik's mother and former manager, is guiding Derwin's career. And Kelly (Brittany Daniel) is still separated from Pitts and has her own reality series called "Ex-Baller's Wife."
The show's resurrection is mainly due to those fans, who long waited for the show's return, watching reruns on BET and petitioning online.
'The Game'
Three Actors Exit
"Law & Order: Los Angeles"
Three series regulars have left U.S. networks NBC's "Law & Order: Los Angeles" amid a creative revamp of the first-year procedural, sources confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Skeet Ulrich, who plays Detective Rex Winters, has exited his role along with Regina Hall and Megan Boone.
The departures follow former cast member Wanda de Jesus' exit in September ahead of the series premiere.
Despite an underwhelming reception from critics, the show debuted fairly well in the ratings but has since seen some dropoff. Still, NBC gave it a full-season pickup in October.
"Law & Order: Los Angeles"
Expands Reach In Digital World
Archie Comics
The company behind Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica is expanding its reach by making its comic-book titles available for digital download the same day their printed counterparts go on sale.
Archie Comics said Wednesday that starting in April, several of its titles featuring the gang from Riverdale will be released simultaneously in print and digital versions, including "Archie & Friends," "Jughead" and "Betty & Veronica."
That decision makes the privately held Archie Comics Publications Inc. one of the first major comic book publishers to do that and reflects what co-chief executive Jon Goldwater called the goal of making Archie stories available to everyone everywhere.
Like other publishers, including Marvel and DC, Archie has made several of its titles available through apps for the iPhone and iPad, but often after the print editions had been on the stands.
Now, in a nod to the growing use of such devices by not just comic fans but a wider audience, many of whom like the convenience of reading digital offerings and are not collecting the books, the industry is giving digital platforms more credence.
Archie Comics
New Films
Imax
Imax Corp. has booked four upcoming tentpole films from Hollywood studio Paramount Pictures for its 2011 slate.
The pact with Paramount will see Toronto-based Imax screen super-sized versions of "Super 8," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" and "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn."
Each movie will bow worldwide on Imax screens day-and-date with its traditional 35mm release.
"Super 8" will be released on June 10, 2011, with "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" bowing on July 1, 2011.
Imax
Settles "Hope" Lawsuit
Shepard Fairey
The Associated Press's long-running legal battle with Shepard Fairey over his use of one of the news agency's Barack Obama photographs for the artist's iconic "Hope" poster has ended in a tentative settlement - one proposing a new artistic collaboration between Fairey and the AP. In effect, it appears that the two parties will take their wrangling out of the courtroom and into the boardroom, collaborating on a line of AP-Fairey branded merchandise.
As a result of the development, the judge presiding over the lawsuit has terminated the copyright case. In a statement released today, the AP declared that it and Fairey have "agreed in principle" to settle the convoluted case, which has been riddled with counterclaims and accusations of evidence tampering since its commencement in February 2009.
The grueling and convoluted battle over the poster, which was based on a picture taken for the AP by photographer Mannie Garcia, began in February 2009 when Fairey filed a federal suit seeking a declaratory judgment finding that his appropriation of the image was protected under the United States' "fair use" statute, which allows for the limited use of copywritten material for creative purposes. The AP countersued, and Fairey later admitted that he had provided the court with faked evidence to suggest that his source for the poster was a different AP photograph than the one he actually used. However, he maintained that his "Hope" artwork was legitimate under fair use.
In settling the case, according to the news agency's statement, "the AP and Mr. Fairey have agreed that neither side surrenders its view of the law," and have forged a partnership that could capitalize on the success of the "Hope" poster. The tentative settlement, the AP states, holds that the parties have "agreed to work together going forward with the Hope image and share the rights to make the posters and merchandise bearing the Hope image and to collaborate on a series of images that Fairey will create based on AP photographs." Fairey has said that his use of the image was not intended for monetary gain but as an artistic political statement, but since the poster caught fire during Obama's campaign it has become a lucrative merchandising source.
Shepard Fairey
Legal Woes
Eddie Furlong
Prosecutors say "Green Hornet" and "Terminator 2" star Eddie Furlong has been arrested in Los Angeles for violating a court order to stay 100 yards away from his estranged wife.
City attorney's office spokesman Frank Mateljan says the 33-year-old actor was in court Tuesday for a hearing on the three-year restraining order obtained by Rachael Kneeland when the judge ordered his arrest. He was released on $75,000 bond about three hours later.
Kneeland and Furlong, the parents of a 4-year-old son, are involved in divorce proceedings.
Prosecutors say Furlong pleaded no contest in November to violating the court's order, and a progress hearing Tuesday determined he violated probation terms several weeks later.
Eddie Furlong
Director Reveals Family Objections To Series
"The Kennedys"
The Canadian director of "The Kennedys" says he is stunned by the History channel's decision to yank the controversial eight-part mini-series, given that he made every script change the U.S. channel and its lawyers demanded.
"We were very surprised," Jon Cassar told the Canadian Press newswire service Tuesday night at a Fox network press event in Pasadena, Calif. "The actual product takes no political stance one way or the other."
Cassar said allies of the Kennedy family were likely behind the decision by the A&E Television Networks' channel to cancel the show, starring Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes and masterminded by conservative 24 co-creator Joel Surnow.
(THR previously reported that Caroline Kennedy, daughter of John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, and Kennedy scion Maria Shriver personally lobbied to have the miniseries scrapped.)
"The Kennedys"
Dictator's French Chateau Sold
Jean-Bedel Bokassa
A French chateau where Africa's most ruthless dictator Jean-Bedel Bokassa lived after French paratroopers ousted him was auctioned Wednesday for 915,000 euros ($1.2 million).
An individual bought the residence of Bokassa, the late self-proclaimed emperor of Central Africa, for "his own and his family's personal use," the buyer's lawyer said, declining to give the man's identity.
Bokassa, who died in 1996, moved to Hardricourt chateau overlooking the river Seine near Paris in 1983, after four years in exile in Ivory Coast following his overthrow by French troops in 1979.
Bokassa's son Georges, who was present at the sale, had earlier called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to intervene to prevent what he called the plundering of his family's heritage.
Jean-Bedel Bokassa
Poles Want Their 'W' Back
Lithuania
Poland and Lithuania are bonded by history, culture and Catholic faith but deeply divided over the letter w.
Used a lot in Polish, the letter doesn't exist in Lithuanian. That and other spelling differences are irritating Lithuania's Polish minority, who demand the right to spell their names in Polish in passports and other documents.
This linguistic row may seem trivial but in recent months other disagreements have helped escalate it to a full-blown diplomatic standoff. Poland's ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, and sharp statements have been made by both governments.
Since independence in 1991, successive Lithuanian governments have promised to give the country's 200,000 Polish-speakers - representing 6 percent of the population - more freedom to use their native language, but little has happened.
Lithuania
Symbols Found
'Mona Lisa'
Forget her smile. An Italian researcher says the key to solving the enigmas of "Mona Lisa'" lies in her eyes.
Silvano Vinceti claims he has found the letter "S" in the woman's left eye, the letter "L" in her right eye, and the number "72" under the arched bridge in the backdrop of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting. According to the researcher, the symbols open up new leads to identifying the model, dating the painting, and attesting to Leonardo's interest in religion and mysticism.
The newly found symbols are not visible to the naked eye. Vinceti said Wednesday they are "very small, painted with a tiny brush and subjected to the wear and tear of time."
Vinceti has not studied the painting directly at the Louvre Museum, where it is on display. He said his research was based on high-definition scanned images from the Lumiere Technology in Paris, which specializes in digitizing artworks. Back in Italy, a Rome laboratory digitally excluded reflexes and other colors in the eyes in order to isolate the letters and make them stand out, Vinceti said.
'Mona Lisa'
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Jan. 3-9. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs. Arkansas (Tuesday, 8:35 p.m.), ESPN, 9.51 million homes, 13.64 million viewers.
2. Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Stanford (Monday, 8:38 p.m.), ESPN, 7.82 million homes, 10.68 million viewers.
3. "BCS Bowl Showcase" - Sugar Bowl (Tuesday, 8:29 p.m.), ESPN, 6.35 million homes, 9.02 million viewers.
4. Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech vs. Stanford (Monday, 11:38 p.m.), ESPN, 5.80 million homes, 7.79 million viewers.
5. "Jersey Shore" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 5.71 million homes, 8.45 million viewers.
6. "BCS Bowl Showcase" - Orange Bowl (Monday, 8:29 p.m.), ESPN, 5.68 million homes, 7.58 million viewers.
7. "BCS Bowl Studio" (Tuesday, 12:20 a.m.), ESPN, 5.14 million homes, 7.06 million viewers.
8. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 4.86 million homes, 6.63 million viewers.
9. "BCS Bowl Studio" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 4.53 million homes, 6.29 million viewers.
10. Movie: "The Craigslist Killer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Lifetime, 4.02 million homes, 5.39 million viewers.
11. "BCS Bowl Studio" (Monday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.65 million homes, 4.96 million viewers.
12. "BCS Bowl Studio" (Monday, 11:55 p.m.), ESPN, 3.62 million homes, 4.81 million viewers.
13. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.13 million homes, 4.66 million viewers.
14. "Hannah Montana Forever" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.06 million homes, 4.34 million viewers.
15. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.03 million homes, 4.34 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting, the sweet-voiced singer who sold millions of records in the 1940s and '50s with sentimental ballads such as "Moonlight in Vermont" and "It Might as Well Be Spring," has died at age 86.
She died Monday at the Lillian Booth Actors' Home in Englewood, N.J., home administrator Jordan Strohl said. She had lived in New York City for many years before moving to the home in March.
Whiting grew up with the music business. She was the daughter of Richard Whiting, a prolific composer of such hits as "My Ideal," "Sleepy Time Gal" and "Beyond the Blue Horizon." Her family's home in the posh Bel-Air community in Los Angeles was a gathering place for such songwriters as George and Ira Gershwin, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer.
It was Mercer, her father's lyricist and close friend, who inspired the young Whiting to take years of vocal training when he told her following an early audition, "Grow up and learn to sing."
After Whiting's father died in 1938, Mercer remained close to the family. When he became a founding partner in Capitol Records in 1942, the 18-year-old Whiting was the first singer he put under contract.
Fifty-five years later, Whiting and her fourth husband, Jack Wrangler, honored Mercer with a musical tribute called "Dream," which ran for 133 performances on Broadway.
Like most recording stars of the 1940s and early '50s, her career was eclipsed by the rock 'n' roll revolution, although she continued to find work in such Broadway productions as "Pal Joey," "Gypsy" and "Call Me Madam."
She also toured regularly with the big bands of Freddy Martin, Frankie Carle and Bob Crosby and sang in cabarets, in auditoriums and with the St. Louis Symphony. With Rosemary Clooney, Helen O'Connell and Rose Marie, she crossed the country in a revue called "4 Girls 4."
In all, she recorded more than 500 songs during her career and was one of the first mainstream artists to delve into Nashville, Tenn., combining with country star Jimmy Wakely on the hit "Slippin' Around." She also recorded rock, novelty and sacred songs.
Whiting, born in Detroit on July 22, 1924, moved with her family to Los Angeles after musicals became the rage and her father headed west to write for them. He turned out songs for Chevalier and Bing Crosby while at Paramount and composed "Hooray for Hollywood" and "Too Marvelous for Words" for Warner Bros.
Whiting's romance with Wrangler turned heads in the 1970s: He was an openly gay porn actor 22 years her junior. But he told the Chicago Tribune they "see things the same way, comically, professionally and romantically." He turned his attention to theater and cabaret, crafting Whiting's cabaret acts and several shows. Their marriage lasted until his death in 2009.
Margaret Whiting
In Memory
Susana Chavez
Susana Chavez, a 36-year-old poet and activist who adopted the slogan "Not One More Death," was found strangled, mutilated and dumped on a street in this border city infamous for a series of murders of women - even before drug violence made it one of the most violent places in the world.
She befriended three teenagers, who authorities say invited her home to drink with them, then killed her in an argument and cut off her hand to make it look like an execution.
The three suspects, who are in custody, told authorities they are members of the local drug gang Azteca and became enraged when Chavez told them she was a police officer and was going to report them, according to a statement from the state Attorney General's Office.
Her body was found last week but not identified until Tuesday, authorities said Wednesday.
Chavez was a well-known artist in the city across from El Paso, Texas, a prominent member of the group May Our Daughters Return Home, comprised of family members and friends of the slain Juarez women and girls. Her only book, "Song to a City in the Desert," grew from a cry from the heart against violence, she wrote, and included the poem "Blood," written from the perspective of a victim.
According to the statement from his office: Chavez's mother said she left home the night of Jan. 5 to go to a bar to play dominoes with friends. The suspects told authorities they met her in a convenience store and invited her to drink with them. After several hours of drinking, they argued, then took her to the shower, covered her face in adhesive tape and started to drown her until she suffocated.
The suspects - one of them a neighbor - told investigators that because the boys had been drinking and taking drugs, they found it "easy" to kill her over an argument, said Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office. They dumped her body in the street, forgetting that they left her hand back at the house, the statement said.
The fact that Chavez's killers were so young rocked the community already jaded by more than 3,000 murders last year, which now dwarf the more than 100 women and teenage girls who were raped and strangled over a decade, starting in 1993.
Chavez is the second Juarez anti-crime activist killed in less than a month. Gunmen shot Marisela Escobedo Ortiz as she protested in front of a governor's office in the state capital in December to demand justice for her dead daughter, whose ex-boyfriend is the prime suspect in both killings.
Susana Chavez
In Memory
Christopher Trumbo
The writer-son of Oscar-winning blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo has died at age 70.
Christopher Trumbo, who wrote scripts for "Ironside," "Quincy, M.E." and "Falcon Crest," died Saturday at his home in Ojai.
His sister, Mitzi Trumbo, told the Los Angeles Times he died from complications of kidney cancer.
Christopher Trumbo was an expert on the 1940s House Un-American Activities Committee investigation into alleged communist infiltration of Hollywood. He wrote the play, "Trumbo: Red, White & Blacklisted," based on his father's letters.
Dalton Trumbo refused to cooperate with the committee and was imprisoned as a member of the blacklisted Hollywood 10.
Dalton wrote "The Brave One" in 1957 under the name Robert Rich. It won an Oscar.
Christopher Trumbo
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