Republicans are being raked
over the coals for a CD called We Hate the USA, which, like
Team America, lampoons liberals with such songs as John Edwards'
Poverty Tour, Wright Place, Wrong Pastor, Love Client #9,
Ivory and Ebony, The Star Spanglish Banner, and the song
that's caused the greatest stir, Barack, the Magic Negro. As usual, the
entire concept of satire is at stake.
Peter Yarrow, who wrote Puff, the Magic Dragon, the song satirized
in Barack, the Magic Negro, says
"What might have been wearily accepted as 'the way it was' in the campaign, is
now unacceptable. Obama is not a candidate. He is the President-Elect, and this
song insults the office of the Presidency, the people who voted for him, as well
as those who did not -- and taking a children's song and twisting it in such
vulgar, mean-spirited way, is a slur to our entire country and our common
agreement to move beyond racism."
Oh really? I can't use a children's song to make fun of the president? A
gracious but heartfelt fuck you. I'll use FrèreJacques and
Brahms' Lullaby to make fun of the president if I want to, and there's
nothing Peter Yarrow, Brahms, or the legal representatives of the Jacques estate
can do about it. To rise above mere parody, satire has to be making a point
about society in general, which includes absolutely everything, including
Puff, the Magic Dragon. There have been dozens if not hundreds of
parodies of Puff, the Magic Dragon over the years, including Buff,
the Horny Dragon and Puff, the Magic Tampon. If Puff, the
Magic Dragon is good enough to make fun of lesbians and hippies, then why
isn't it good enough to make fun of Obama? It's not racist to make fun of the
president just because the president is now half-black and they happened to
parody a song by Peter, Paul, and Mary. If that were true, nobody could make fun
of Obama at all for the next 4-8 years without fear of appearing racist. Fuck
that. I sure as hell intend on making fun of Obama, not because he's black, but
because he's president.
Nobody seems to have actually listened to the songs which, if sung on
South Park or SNL might seem suitably satirical, irreverent,
and "commentary" on racism, not racism itself. I withhold judgment on the song
Barack the Magic Negro until I hear it. Unlike some people who put down
Michael Moore movies without bothering to see them, I like to decide for
myself.
Hell if I'm going to contribute to any Republican Committees to get my copy
of the official CD, so off I slipped to Pirate Bay looking for the bittorrent. No
hits on Barack the Magic Negro.
Okay, the big guns, FrostWire, a
new version of LimeWire that works pretty damn well. Up it pops, and what a
surprise.
The file is called "Rush Limbaugh Parody- Al Sharpton - 'Barack the Magic
Negro'.mp3." Yep, Limbaugh's behind this mess, and far be it from me to defend
such a self-righteous scumbag, but the song is worth a listen before any
knee-jerk condemnation.
In it, Al Sharpton sings, "The guy from the LA paper said he made guilty
whites feel good. They'll vote for him and not for me cause he's not from the
hood." Pretty sharp satire, actually. Al calls Obama an "interloper's dream,"
and it becomes clear this is a satire of AL SHARPTON, not Obama, and totally on
the money. If SNL or Bill Maher had impersonated Al Sharpton doing this song,
everyone would have laughed their asses off, especially when Al forgets what
song he's singing, complains about the lack of buffets, and can't think of
anything else bad to say about Obama except "Yo mama is so fat" jokes. Bad
taste? You bet. Racist? Gimme a break.
Could all the songs on the CD be like this? I decide to check out one more.
I'm so far on the left of the immigration problem, I think we should give
California and Texas back to Mexico, so The Star Spanglish Banner looks
like it might be up my alley. Off to Frostwire again. I download the file. It's
a virus. Damn those Mexicans.
In conclusion, it's only the fact these songs are being distributed by
Republicans that has everyone off their rocker. Far be it from me to defend
Republicans, but they've got the same satirical rights as anyone else, Al
Sharpton deserves it, and nobody should be called racist simply by finding
Barack the Magic Negro funny. I'm not and I did.
NEW RULE: If the fact that Obama is black puts black humor off the radar,
let the fact that Obama is only half black put black humor only half off the
radar.
Christmas was established as a 'Federal Holiday' by Congress and President Grant in 1870. It has been said that their motivation for doing so was to help bring the country together during the difficult post-Civil War reconstruction period. Considering the 'establishment clause' of the constitution, the question is...
Should the status of Christmas as a 'Federal Holiday' be rescinded due to the religious nature of the celebration?
Well then, let's get right to it...
rdmcd, down on the Fundies, said...
Yes for all of the above reasons. Also to sit back and watch the right wing retard's heads explode.
(I'd pay to see O'Reilly's head explode, I'm tellin' ya. Hannity's, too, fer that matter. Coulter? Just throw a bucket of water on her and listen to her cry out "I'm melting!")
Adam the cine-sound Pro agreed...
Yes. Church in Government- Out, out, out. Then give employees some two unpaid, (unpaid?) unpenalized 'Free Holiday' days to take off of work as they wish. I prefer to celebrate Saturnalia (which the early christianist church co-opted for their made-up 'Christmas'). In ancient Rome men would exchange gifts and food with each other, have sex with each other, and beat their wives. Good times... Happy Solstice!
(or beat each other and have sex with their wives, haha)
Charlie reasoned...
Actually, since most people celebrate it whether they are religious or not (and I'm not), I'm okay with it's being a Federal Holiday. I think this matter has been in court, and the court pointed something like this
out. Besides, I don't want any right-wing idiots accusing me of being part of a "War on Christmas," as I suspect the good guys would lose such a war. (Probably)
That MadCat, JD, all caps, adamantly wrote...
ARE YOU KIDDING? NO PAID HOLIDAY AND NO BONUS?????? FUCK THAT
SHIT!!!!!!!! BESIDES, CHRISTMAS IS THE MOST SECULAR HOLIDAY ON THE
CALENDAR. THEY SHOULD CALL IT: SHOPMAS! WHAT PLAY STATION WOULD JESUS
WANT?
(Ya got the Shopmas thing right...)
litebug said No and here's why...
Because it is more than a religious holiday. It is also a cultural holiday celebrated by people, like me, who aren't Christians. There were celebrations at this time of year long before there were Christians. They just co-opted it from the "pagans". It's likely that Jesus wasn't even born at this time of year in the first place. Maybe to make it less biased toward one religion, the official name could be changed from "Christmas" to "Winter Solstice". Wouldn't that give O'Reilly and the "war on Christmas" religious nutcases a stroke! That would be quite a good reason to do it, in and of itself!
(Good idea, that...)
joe pragmatically says...
I say let it stay even though I'm an atheist, I would rather see President Obama work on Jobs, Health care and the Environment. All the Bart people have a Happy Holiday and may the new year be better for us all.
(Oh, I think that BHO aka 'The Man' will come through for us...)
Sally P(al) shoots the messenger here with...
All I can say is: You've got to be freaking kidding? (Pause for your Snarky reply here...) (OK... Snark!)
I pity any elected representative, i.e., government employee, who would even DARE to introduce legislation to TRY to can Christmas as a Federal, PAID DAY OFF!! Never mind rioting in the streets, I'm SURE the crazy "Bill O'Reilly's" of the country would reinstate PUBLIC HANGINGS, and YOU would probably be at the top of the list (when it was discovered that YOU dared to even question, "Should the status of Christmas as a 'Federal Holiday' yada, yada, yada!") (Pause for even more B2BB Snarky remarks here...) (Snark! Snark!)
You are skating on pretty thin ice, Pally - haven't your heard: There's an (alleged) freaking: "WAR ON CHRISTMAS" and Major O'Reilly and his Neo-Con "Christian" warriors are ready to FIGHT!! (Remember, HIS country is all White, and founded on HIS Christian principals, and he and his ilk are holding the public airwaves hostage to defend any and all anti Neo-com attacks!)
(Insert Super Snarky remark here...) (Snark-itty Snark, Snark... SNARK!) And, he could have other support too - I mean ANY, "Day Off" work - is a FREAKING "Day Off" WORK - CASE CLOSED!! (Stop yellin', would ya? Yer hurtin' my ears!) Jeeze - Who are you anyway, scrooge? (No) I may be a socialist, but I'm not bloody nuts. I know better than to even SUGGEST such heresy! No, my friend, if I were you, I'd take off to those UP back woods and hide out until the first signs of spring! Fa La la la la, (la la la la)
(Yikes! I guess I should consider myself properly chastised... Actually, though, I didn't suggest anything. I merely asked a question.)
DC Madman also reasoned...
As an atheist I'd like nothing more. HOWEVER, there's about as much chance of that as Muslims getting along with Jews and Christians in the Middle East. I'm a firm believer in the Serenity Prayer. There is no hypocrisy here, my higher power is the memory of my late father. As long as atheist notions and a Festivus pole can be displayed along with religious symbols on public property I'm happy. I can tolerate the bleating but don't want a Holy War. Let the Christmas holiday stay so long as it remains inclusive. I do have the courage and will fight to stop religion from creeping into other parts of government and people's personal lives that refute it. We non-believers are a larger minority than blacks, the NRA, or gays. We just don't seek the spotlight.
(Well, I think some do, but I'm cool with that. See, there's this thing called the First Amendment that I'm rather fond of... Say it loud! I'm ______ and I'm proud!)
mj with some historical points...
It's significance as a religious holiday has been marginalized. When Grant declared it as a unifying holiday, he was following in a tradition that included secular leaders including Constantine (first allegedly Christian emperor of Rome) who pegged its date as 25 December (Mithra's putative birthday) to make it a unifying celebration attracting influential members of the mystery cult. Christmas as a secular holiday is part of a long tradition of co-opting popular rituals for secular purposes. Besides, I like the time off.
(That marginalization is why the Fundies want to put 'the Christ back in Christmas', I assume. Well, they can for themselves, but please leave me alone if I choose to celebrate it in a different manner.)
Well, That's it... Great Stuff!... Thanks to all responders and readers!... Yer the Best!
Join Erin Hart as she fills in LIVE on Colorado's Colorado's Progressive Talk AM760.net, from 5am to 9am pst | 6am to 10am mst | 7am to 11am cst | 8am to noon est, today, Dec. 26th, and Monday - Friday 29th, 30th, 31st and Jan. 1st and 2nd.
And Change is Coming-what do you love or hate about 2008? Can Obama really bring the change we need?
Enjoy Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa and Celebrate 2009 with us!
Paul Krugman: Fifty Herbert Hoovers (nytimes.com)
Even as Washington tries to rescue the economy, the nation will be reeling from the actions of 50 Herbert Hoovers state governors who are slashing spending in a time of recession.
Timeless and Time-Tested Warren Buffett Watch Predictions (cnbc.com)
Of course, it helps when you can give your predictions plenty of time to come true. That's one reason Buffett's favorite holding period for investments in "outstanding businesses with outstanding managements" is "forever." After all, "We don't get paid for activity, just for being right. As to how long we'll wait, we'll wait indefinitely."
Interview with Annie Leibovitz (powells.com)
In case it wasn't enough to photograph Nixon's resignation, Annie Leibovitz covered the story alongside Hunter S. Thompson. And while you may know that many of her celebrity portraits were shot for American Express campaigns, you probably wouldn't have guessed that Amex only gave her a credit card after she left an envelope with thousands of dollars in cash at a pay phone during one of those shoots. Leibovitz recently visited Portland to discuss At Work, a career-spanning retrospective of her photos and the remarkable stories behind them.
A Conversation with Kristin Cashore, author of "Graceling" (bookbrowse.com)
Q: Have you always wanted to be a writer?
A: I always wanted to be a reader and a daydreamer. Then, in college, I discovered that I also loved to write. I think it would be fair to say that I always suspected I wanted to be a writer, but didn't know it for sure until I was about nineteen or twenty. And then, of course, it took a few more years for me to get serious about actually doing it!
Lawrence Ferber: The Divine Miss M. (advocate.com)
Since the death of performer Wayland Flowers in 1988, his over-the-top puppet creation Madame has been seen only sporadically. But with the launch of her new casino tour, Madame is back.
Lawrence Ferber: The Other White Meat (advocate.com)
As one of the subjects of the documentary about the drag pageant circuit, Pageant, opening in select theaters, and one of the contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race, premiering next month on Logo, Victoria "Porkchop" Parker may not look or act like your typical female impersonator, but make no mistake, she is one of the best.
DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL, "Mad About Marlee: Extended Interview" (curvemag.com)
Q: I know you're married, but how would you rank yourself on the Kinsey scale (where 0 is exclusively heterosexual and 6 is exclusively homosexual)?
A: As an actor who's dedicated to my craft, I am full and proud 6 when it comes to The L Word. But with my husband, who is the love of my life, I'm a big 0.
The driver of a cable car is known as the gripman. This is a highly skilled job, requiring the gripman to smoothly operate the grip lever to grip and release the cable, release the grip at certain points in order to coast the vehicle over crossing cables or places where the cable does not follow the tracks, and to anticipate well in advance possible collisions with other traffic that may not understand the limitations of a cable car. Only a portion of the people who attempt the training course actually pass (about 30%). As of December 2005, there has only been one grip woman, Fannie Mae Barnes, hired on January 15, 1998.
Source
Charlie was first, and correct, with:
I'll go with
B 1
And it seems to have been this remarkable person
Joe S ("Fannie Mae Barnes became the first woman to operate a cable car grip on 15-Jan-1998.
Barnes was 52 years old at the time. She became a Muni bus driver in 1981. Before taking the grip, Barnes had served as a cable car conductor for six years.
The 25-day training class has an 80% washout rate. No other woman had made it past the first day of training class."
~ Joe Thompson, The Cable Car Home Page) respnded:
B 1
Alan J answered:
B 1
Sally answered:
You queried, "How many women have held the job of driver or gripman of a cable car?" Shouldn't that be GRIPPERSON? (As in being, "Politically Correct?) Hahaha... Okay, seriously, the answer is, 1 (B).
MTC -- News -- Transactions - October 2008
Fannie Barnes, "First and Only Female Cable Car Grip," had the honor of pulling the grip on Cable Car 9 as it carried the Olympic torch up the Hyde Street hill in the run-up to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. As the only female to ever become a San Francisco cable car grip, she¢s still carrying the torch.
Adam in NoHo replied:
As of Dec 2005, B-1 female gripman; Fannie Mae Barnes, former bus driver.
Marian the Teacher, still in Philly, responded:
3
Jim from Ca answered:
l...
Kappy in Philly wrote:
I'm gonna say B, 1, since the first one was in 1998. They are also known as grip operators. It would have been sooner had they used some "women" from the East German swim team.....
And, MAM replied:
Answer . . . B 1
Fannie Mae Barnes ~ first and only female cable car grip, hired on January 15, 1998. See VIDEO: Fannie Mae Barnes:
Milk - In Limited Theaters Now - WIDE Release on December 12th
After moving to San Francisco, the middle-aged New Yorker, Harvey Milk, became a Gay Rights activist and city politician. On his third attempt, he was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977, making him the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the USA. The following year, both he and the city's mayor, George Moscone, were shot to death by former city supervisor, Dan White, who blamed his former colleagues for denying White's attempt to rescind his resignation from the board.
Mr. Milk had been the subject of several books and the Academy Award-winning documentary feature, The Times of Harvey Milk (1984); but Milk (2008) is the first fictional feature to explore private aspects of the man's personal life and career.
Milk was filmed on location in San Francisco. Many of Mr Milk's real-life surviving friends and former associates participated in the making of this film, several appearing on camera.
Prizes:
4 prizes in all - 3 first-prizes:
Levi's Canvas Tote Bag filled with:
o Hat
o T-shirt
o Soundtrack
o Milk: A Pictorial History of Harvey Milk
And, 1 grand prize:
Levi's Canvas Tote Bag filled with:
o Sweatshirt (made from recycled materials)
o Script Book
o Hat
o T-Shirt
o Soundtrack
o Milk: A Pictorial History of Harvey Milk
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'NCIS', followed by the FRESH but pre-taped and heavily edited The 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors'.
On a RERUNDave (from 12/12/08) are Meryl Streep and Jeff Altman.
On a RERUNCraig (from 11/18/08) are Kevin Bacon, Sarah Shahi, and the Bacon Brothers.
NBC starts the night with a RERUN'Law & Order', followed by a RERUN'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', then another RERUN'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
On a RERUNLeno (from 12/8/08) are Will Smith, Paula Deen, and k.d. lang.
On a RERUNConan (from 8/25/08) are Daniel Radcliffe, Steve Coogan, and the Hold Steady.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 12/11/08) are Rob Corddry, Butch Bradley, and Gym Class Heroes.
ABC opens the night with the chestnut 'Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!', followed by 'Rudolph's Shiny New Year', then a FRESH'Jim', followed by a FRESHEli Stone'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 11/25/08) are "Dancing with the Stars" winner Brooke Burke, and the Jonas Brothers.
The CW offers a RERUN'90210', followed by a RERUN'Privileged'.
Faux has a RERUN'House', followed by a RERUN'Fringe'.
MY has 'Shaken Not Stirred', and another 'Shaken Not Stirred'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'The First 48', another 'The First 48', followed by a FRESH'Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force', and another 'Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force'.
AMC offers the movie 'Ride With The Devil', followed by the movie 'The Wild Bunch'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 13
[12:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 14
[1:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 8
[1:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 9
[2:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 1 Bonapartes
[3:00 PM] Gordon Ramsay's F Word - Episode 8
[4:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 9
[4:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 11
[5:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 4 Moore Place
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 Piccolo Teatro
[7:00 PM] BBC World News
[7:30 PM] My Family - Ep 5 Embarrassment of Susan
[8:00 PM] Calendar Girls - Calendar Girls
[10:00 PM] BBC World News
[10:30 PM] Coupling - Ep 7 Dressed
[11:00 PM] Calendar Girls
[1:00 AM] Calendar Girls
[3:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 4 Minnie Driver, Jimmy Carr
[4:00 AM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 3
[4:30 AM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 4
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 5 Gill Last
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 6 Finch
[6:00 AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Real Housewvives Of OC', another 'Real Housewives Of OC', still another Real Housewives Of OC', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of OC'.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', 'Futurama', another 'Futurama', 'South Park', another 'South Park', still another 'South Park', and yet another 'South Park'.
Jon Stewart is pre-empted.
Colbert Report is pre-empted.
FX has the movie 'Basic', followed by the movie 'Men Of Honor', then the movie 'Men Of Honor', again.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Seven Deadly Sins' (lust), followed by a FRESH'Seven Deadly Sins' (envy), then a FRESH'Extreme Trains'.
IFC -
[6:05 AM] Turtles Can Fly
[7:45 AM] At the Death House Door
[9:30 AM] Double Happiness
[11:05 AM] IFC Short Film Showcase
[12:05 PM] The Prince of Pennsylvania
[1:45 PM] At the Death House Door
[3:30 PM] Turtles Can Fly
[5:05 PM] IFC News Special
[5:15 PM] Double Happiness
[6:50 PM] The Prince of Pennsylvania
[8:30 PM] CQ
[10:00 PM] IFC Film Blast
[10:15 PM] IFC Music Blast
[10:30 PM] The Henry Rollins Show
[11:00 PM] The IT Crowd
[11:30 PM] IFC Web Blast
[12:00 AM] Wilfred
[12:30 AM] Hell Girl
[1:00 AM] IFC Film Blast
[1:15 AM] IFC Music Blast
[1:30 AM] The IT Crowd
[2:00 AM] Witchblade
[2:30 AM] IFC Web Blast
[3:00 AM] Wilfred
[3:30 AM] CQ
[5:05 AM] 4 cylinder 400
[5:35 AM] Once Upon a Crime (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has 'Star Trek: TNG', another 'Star Trek: TNG', 'ECW', 'Scare Tactics', and another 'Scare Tactics'.
Sundance -
[05:00 AM] I Love Your Work
[07:00 AM] The Milagro Beanfield War
[09:00 AM] Pulling: Episode 6
[09:30 AM] Big Ideas for a Small Planet - Season 1: Fuel
[10:00 AM] The Tunnel Dwellers of New York
[11:15 AM] Flower & Garnet
[01:00 PM] Keane
[02:45 PM] Play It As It Lays
[04:30 PM] Only Human
[06:00 PM] Iconoclasts - Season 4: Venus Williams + Wyclef Jean
[07:00 PM] The Shape of Things
[09:00 PM] Big Ideas for a Small Planet - Season 2: Decorate
[09:35 PM] Eco Documentaries - Season 2: The Unforeseen
[11:15 PM] The Sierra Club Chronicles: Episode 1
[11:45 PM] Play It As It Lays
[01:30 AM] Stanley Kubrick's Boxes
[02:35 AM] Garden
[04:00 AM] Shameless Season 3: Episode 8
[05:00 AM] The Apostle (ALL TIMES EST)
Volunteer Michelle Ferguson, right, takes a picture of the Bayer float named Garden of Oz in preparation for the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. The theme of the 120th Rose Parade is 'Hats off to Entertainment' to be held on New Year's day.
Photo by Damian Dovarganes
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be resolved militarily, conductor Daniel Barenboim said Monday.
"There are still ... far too many people who are still convinced that they can resolve this conflict militarily," Barenboim said. "That can't be done. That absolutely can't be done."
Barenboim grew up in Israel and, together with the late Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said, formed an orchestra that brings together young Israeli and Arab musicians.
Barenboim is a contentious figure in Israel for championing Palestinians' rights. He has accepted honorary Palestinian citizenship in recognition of his work to promote musical education for young Palestinians.
U.S. film director Woody Allen (L) poses with the Spike's Honor Award of The International Cinema Week beside the mayor of Valladolid, Francisco Javier Leon de la Riva in Valladolid December 29, 2008.
Photo by Felix Ordonez
Once again, bookworms in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest have beaten out Yankee types to reach the very top of a researcher's list of the most literate American cities.
Minneapolis and Seattle tied for the top ranking this year, based on local newspaper and magazine circulation, library data, online news readership, book purchases and resources, and educational attainment.
The AMLC study attempts to capture the literacy of major U.S. cities with populations of 250,000 and above, presenting a large-scale portrait of the nation's cultural vitality.
An attorney for 20th Century Fox says the studio will continue to seek an order delaying the release of 'Watchmen.'
U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess last week agreed with Fox that Warner Bros. had infringed its copyright by developing and shooting the superhero flick, scheduled for release March 6.
Feess said Monday he plans to hold a trial Jan. 20 to decide remaining issues.
Lucy and Ethel lose their struggle with a chocolate assembly line. Joe Friday demands "just the facts" with a penetrating gaze. A secret word brings Groucho a visit from a duck.
Folks who grew up as television came of age will delight in a 20-stamp set included in the Postal Service's plans for 2009 recalling early memories of the medium.
Besides commemorating black-and-white TV, the service's 2009 postage stamp program ranges from commemorating President Abraham Lincoln to the Thanksgiving Day parade, civil rights pioneers, actor Gary Cooper, poet Edgar Allan Poe, Supreme Court justices and Alaska and Hawaii statehood.
Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, named 'Pathetique,' is seen on the table at a museum in his last residence in the small town of Klin, about 85 km (60 miles) northwest of Moscow, December 6, 2008.
Photo by Denis Sinyakov/Reuters
The teenage daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, whose quest for the vice presidency began to go downhill the day she announced the pregnancy, has given birth to a son, a magazine reported Monday.
Bristol Palin, 18, gave birth to Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston on Sunday, People magazine reported online. He weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Colleen Jones, the sister of Bristol's grandmother, told the magazine that "the baby is fine and Bristol is doing well."
The governor's office said it would not release information because it considers the baby's birth a private family matter.
Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, have five children ranging in age from Trig, 7 months, to Track, 19. In between are Willow, 14; Piper, 7; and Bristol.
Here are some of the worst predictions that were made about 2008. Savor them -- a crop like this doesn't come along every year.
1. "A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!" -- Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008
At the time of the prediction, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 12,300. By late December it was at 8,500.
4. "The market is in the process of correcting itself." -- Resident George W. Bush, in a Mar. 14, 2008 speech
For the rest of the year, the market kept correcting and correcting and correcting.
5. "No! No! No! Bear Stearns is not in trouble." -- Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Mar. 11, 2008
Five days later, JPMorgan Chase took over Bear Stearns with government help, nearly wiping out shareholders.
9. "In today's regulatory environment, it's virtually impossible to violate rules." -- Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007
About a year later, Madoff -- who once headed the Nasdaq Stock Market -- told investigators he had cost his investors $50 billion in an alleged Ponzi scheme.
Madonna's "Sticky & Sweet" concert tour was the biggest-grossing music tour of 2008 in North America, raking in $105.3 million, concert tracking magazine Pollstar said on Monday.
The Material Girl, whose 58-show world tour finished in Brazil last week, was closely followed by another solo diva -- Canadian-born Celine Dion, who made $94 million in North America from her first tour since ending an almost five-year residency in Las Vegas a year ago.
Rock veterans The Eagles were third on Pollstar's list, grossing $73.4 million for their tour to support possibly their last studio album "Long Road out of Eden".
Country music star Kenny Chesney ($72.2 million) and rock band Bon Jovi ($70.4 million) came in fourth and fifth.
Visitors tour the warehouses where volunteers work on floats in preparation of the Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 29, 2008. The theme of this year's parade will be 'Hats off to Entertainment' held on New Year's day.
Photo by Damian Dovarganes
Teens who take virginity pledges are just as likely to have sex as teens who don't make such promises -- and they're less likely to practice safe sex to prevent disease or pregnancy, a new study finds.
"Previous studies found that pledgers were more likely to delay having sex than non-pledgers," said study author Janet E. Rosenbaum, a post doctoral fellow at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "I used the same data as previous studies but a different statistical method."
This method allowed Rosenbaum to compare those who had taken a virginity pledge with similar teens who hadn't taken a pledge but were likely to delay having sex, she said. She added that she didn't include teens who were unlikely to take a pledge.
"Virginity pledgers and similar non-pledgers don't differ in the rates of vaginal, oral or anal sex or any other sexual behavior," Rosenbaum said. "Strikingly, pledgers are less likely than similar non-pledgers to use condoms and also less likely to use any form of birth control."
Researchers have found out what made the 1918 flu pandemic so deadly -- a group of three genes that lets the virus invade the lungs and cause pneumonia.
They mixed samples of the 1918 influenza strain with modern seasonal flu viruses to find the three genes and said their study might help in the development of new flu drugs.
The discovery, published in Tuesday's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could also point to mutations that might turn ordinary flu into a dangerous pandemic strain.
Squirrel monkeys stay warm near a newly installed heater to get them through winter at the Chengdu Zoo, southwestern China's Sichuan province on Monday, Dec. 29, 2008.
Ellie Nesler, who sparked a national debate about vigilantism after killing her son's accused molester in a courtroom in 1993, has died of cancer. She was 56.
Nesler made headlines when she shot Daniel Driver five times in the head in a Tuolumne County courtroom during a break in his preliminary hearing for allegedly molesting four boys, including her then-6-year-old son William, at a Christian camp. Some hailed her for exacting her own justice, while others condemned her for taking the law into her own hands.
Nesler was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, but her 10-year sentence was later overturned because of jury misconduct. She cut a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to manslaughter and get out after serving three years because she had breast cancer.
Freddie Hubbard, the Grammy-winning jazz musician whose style influenced a generation of trumpet players and who collaborated with such greats as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, died Monday, a month after suffering a heart attack. He was 70.
A towering figure in jazz circles, Hubbard played on hundreds of recordings in a career dating to 1958, the year he arrived in New York from his hometown Indianapolis, where he had studied at the Arthur Jordan Conservatory of Music and with the Indianapolis Symphony.
Soon he had hooked up with such jazz legends as Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley and Coltrane.
In his earliest recordings, which included "Open Sesame" and "Goin' Up" for Blue Note in 1960, the influence of Davis and others on Hubbard is obvious, Weiss said. But within a couple years he would develop a style all his own, one that would influence generations of musicians, including Wynton Marsalis.
Hubbard played on more than 300 recordings, including his own albums and those of scores of other artists. He won his Grammy in 1972 for best jazz performance by a group for the album "First Light."
As a young musician, Hubbard became revered among his peers for a fiery, blazing style that allowed him to hit notes higher and faster than just about anyone else with a horn. As age and infirmity began to slow that style, he switched to a softer, melodic style and played a flugelhorn. His fellow musicians were still impressed.
Zookeepers Andrea Sassenberg and Reiner Reusch (L) try to measure a grouper during animal stock taking at the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg December 29, 2008.
Photo by Christian Charisius
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