| Senator Feingold Charts Course
We really need a national policy on it. We're going to be in a real fight on this one but it is bipartisan. The Clean Water Restoration Act is to take us back to that authority. Others will say that it tries to create new, broader authority than before. But we were very emphatic and careful that that's what this really is. The opposition, I think, is trying to push back the clock to before 1972. So this is an important battle. On the presidential line-item veto I've always been a Democrat who supports the idea of a reasonable line-item veto for the president. I don't want the Wisconsin "Vanna White," "Frankenstein," whatever the latest name is for it. I think that's nuts. But I do want the president to say, "Here's a bill and these 15 things were shoved in at the last minute and I'd like you guys to vote on it as a separate package." Now I did support John McCain's efforts on this in the past.
Moody metal from Sonata Arctica
When Sonata Arctica needed a new keyboardist in 2002, the band received applications from some of the best-known players in all of its native Finland. Since the guys were already aware of each applicant's skills, they decided to deploy a less conventional method of auditioning. Each Sonata hopeful was dragged one-by-one to the bar to spend a night partying with the band, the idea being that the chosen one should get along mentally as well as musically with the existing band members. Henrik Klingenberg came out on top and it looks like the band's unusual method has proven to be a success. "We just went out and got wasted," Klingenberg recalls of his 'audition.' "I don't really remember that much of that night. So we had a good time, obviously." Sonata Arctica is bringing its melodic metal stylings to the Starlite Room Sunday night with Carolina's Sanctity warming up the stage.
Men do it better
When Jakki Chrysler wants to know why a guy hasn't called her, she does not consult her girlfriends. The 21-year-old knows they will be concerned, and would eagerly sit down to hash over the possible reasons why her love interest is not acting interested in return. But she usually opts to approach her male roommate, seeking out a perspective her female friends cannot provide. "My girlfriends will stay positive for me. They're more likely to say don't worry about it, he's probably really busy," said the currently single fashion student. "Whereas my guy friend will say you should just date other people and not be hung up on it." The notion that men give women more honest dating advice was famously introduced in an episode of Sex and the City, in which Miranda was informed by a male friend that a guy was "just not that into you." The line spawned a bestselling book called He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo that was then turned into a film, set for release this summer, starring Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore.
NFL hesitant to reinstate Pacman
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated Friday that Adam “Pacman" Jones' suspension might not be lifted when it is reviewed sometime after the Pro Bowl.Goodell, speaking at his annual press conference at the Super Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., was asked about Jones' year-long suspension meted out last April.Goodell said his original message to Jones with the suspension was for him to change his behavior, which, Goodell said, reflected poorly on the entire National Football League.“If he needs more time to get that message, I can accommodate him," Goodell told a media gathering Friday.Jones had two misdemeanor charges dropped Thursday in Rutherford County, but still has an unresolved issue pending in Georgia from a 2006 incident. He pleaded no contest to a gross misdemeanor of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct in Las Vegas last December, after originally being charged with two counts of felony coercion in a strip club fight last Feb.
Fun facts about leap years
A leap year is a year in the Gregorian calendar with one extra day added to the end of February, making the month 29 days long. The day was established to keep the seasons and the calendar in sync. A year is measured by the amount of time it takes the sun to return to the spot directly above the Earth's equator. Although it actually takes 365.2422 days, we round it to 365. But this results in an error of 0.2422 days, or almost 6 hours, per year. After 100 years this calendar would be more than 24 days ahead of the seasons, but leap day makes up for the inaccuracy. Years that end in "00" would only be a leap year if they are divisible by 400. So 1900 was not a leap year, but 2000 was. In honor of the day that comes but once every four years, we give you 29 great leaps and leapers.
Widow doesn't let loss bury her stilettos
SANTA ANA, Calif. - Carole Brody smiled when she saw the police lights flashing in her mirror. She knew it was just Mike. Mike Fleet, an all-star Santa Ana, Calif., cop, responsible for seizing more than $50 million in drug money and 20,000 kilos of cocaine. "Uncle Mike" to Carole’s young daughter, Kendall, and one of Carole’s best friends. A few weeks earlier, Mike had asked Carole why they weren’t a couple. "Need a list?" she’d asked him. "City girl, cowboy. Jew, Baptist. Democrat, Republican." She said they were too close as friends for it to work. He courted her anyway. He’d sneak into her office and leave flowers, and visit her at lunch. He’d park along her route to work. When she drove by, he’d pull up behind her and turn on the flashing lights so he could give her a muffin and juice.
Kemp's road gets a little smoother
Willie Kemp enjoys the home comforts of FedExForum. The shooting background is familiar, the rims have a certain feel and, more often that not, the ball rips through the net when he lets fire on his home floor. On the road, however, the University of Memphis' sophomore guard has had an inexplicable aversion to nylon. .
Falun Gong activists make appeals
Members of the Covina City Council heard a convincing plea last month familiar to many officials in San Gabriel Valley cities. "After the brutal crackdown on Falun Gong I was sent to work in a forced labor camp," said Bin Li, a local Falun Gong practitioner who was asking the City Council to pass a resolution condemning the Chinese government's persecution of her group. "I was brainwashed and mentally, spiritually and physically tortured," she added. Reacting as most people would to Li's plea, Covina Mayor John King promised council members would vote on a resolution at the following meeting. Two weeks later, enthusiasm for the resolution faded quickly after Councilman Walter Allen quoted passages from the group's founder that condemned marriage and reproduction between races.
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